Parking Lot Batman
Where did YOU come from?
I was sitting in my office when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
It was a friend from high school who I hadn’t seen in quite some time. We spent a few minutes catching up before moving on to the real reason for the call. My friend told me that he was now working in a client development position for a local web marketing firm. They were starting to offer online video as a service for their clients and needed a producer to partner up with. The web design, development, and SEO stuff they could handle. Video, they could not.
“So,” my friend asked, “Are you interested?”
“Absolutely.”
This was around 2010. I was in my early 30s, about 6 years in to my career as an independent video producer. Although YouTube had already been around for 5 years, this was still the early days of online marketing video. Businesses were just starting to realize the importance of utilizing embedded video as a tool and I was happy to help them.
My friend’s agency had signed up a few law firm clients and they wanted a brief overview video to include on their websites. Once a few of these videos were produced, my friend could use them as a sample in order to sign up new law firm clients.
The videos would be quick to produce and would be lower budget, but the goal was to go for quantity. I would spend 1/2 day on location, interview one or two partners in the firm, then shoot the generic office b-roll. You’ve seen it all before:
walking down an office hallway looking at a file
shaking hands with a client
meeting in the conference room
Add in a few head nods and friendly smiles and Bob’s your uncle.
On the day of the shoot I rolled up to the law firm which was located in an older building on a very narrow street with absolutely no curbside parking. I found a small lot opposite the building and miraculously saw an open space. I maneuvered my Suburban into the narrow slot.
A few hours later and we were loading up, shaking hands all around and congratulating ourselves on a job well done. It had been a great shoot.
We rolled our gear out to my SUV which was still parked in the small lot across the street. That’s when I saw the notice stuck to the driver’s window. It was one of those parking violation stickers indicating that I had parked in a reserved spot. But it wasn’t from the police; just from an association of tenants that monitor the lot. I didn’t think much of it, so I reached my hand out, grabbed the sticker, and tried to rip it off.
Big mistake.
I guess I wasn’t thinking because that notice did not come off cleanly. Only a piece of the sticker came off in my hand. What was left on my window was a streak of paper shards and sticky adhesive. This really triggered my OCD.
Ugh. Why did they have to put a sticker on my window? Why not use a piece of card stock and slip it under a windshield wiper?
I stood there, muttering to myself while trying to scrape the rest of the sticker of the glass. That’s when the woman accosted me.
She swooped in out of nowhere, ready to lecture me. She was like the parking lot Batman; standing atop a neighboring building, vigilantly watching for the first offender; the hero that the tenants association needed, but not the one it deserved. And once she saw me amble out to my car, she bat-a-rang-ed herself down to ground level to give me a piece of her mind. And she didn’t hesitate to give me a big piece of it.
In short order I learned that each space in the lot was rented by employees of nearby businesses and by parking there I had thoughtlessly deprived another of his or her parking spot for a few hours. It was no use trying to explain myself; no use in playing ignorance. I did manage to ask her why in the world they have to use these adhesive violation notices and suggested they use something different. She didn’t appreciate my constructive feedback. I was frustrated. She was frustrated. We parted in less-than-amicable terms. What else was there to do or to say? I messed up. She let me know I messed up, and that was that.
I never had a run-in with that individual again (although I did more video work for other law firms in the area) and there were no monetary fines associated with my offence. But I think every encounter and experience in life teaches you something that can help you in your career, in life, or both.
First, you better believe I was consciously aware of parking regulations for every subsequent job I went on after that. Just a quick, “Hey, is it okay to park here?” or “Where is the best place to load/unload my gear?” goes a long way. It only takes a small amount of time, but it can save you a lot of grief. I made sure to inquire about the parking situation on every pre-production phone call.
Second, never assume anything. I thought that the lot I was parking in that day was the lot for the law firm. After all, it was right across the street. It was the only available parking. So, I parked my car and went about my day. I didn’t think twice about it. But, in video production (as in any other logistical operation) there are no small details. Everything is important. Nothing should be overlooked.
Third, you have to learn how to deal with unpleasant people. There are plenty of them out there and I’ve had my fair share of run-ins. Oh, it’s so tempting to lash out in return and put people in their place, but that’s just like throwing gas onto an open flame. Believe me, I’ve learned that isn’t a good idea. I even wrote about one such incident:
Major anger management issues
I had done everything right. I talked to the right person; the one in charge. I had the terms, the agreement, and the proper signature.
Fourth, you just have to learn how to put things behind you. This is the hardest one for me to live out. I have a very difficult time moving on from incidents like this, no matter how small. They stick in my mind and I replay them over and over, asking myself what I could have said or done to make the situation better, or avoid it entirely. Writing this story down for you to read proves it. Twenty-plus years later and I’m still thinking about it. Maybe by reflecting on what I’ve gained from incidents like this can I both move on and make myself better.
And maybe by reading my stories, you can too. That’s what Persistence of Vision is all about.
If you have a great story from your own experiences in film and video production and want to be featured in a future newsletter, I’d love to hear from you. I’m in the process of expanding the stories that I share here and would love to include yours. Send me a message and tell me about it. Or just reply to this email.