October 24, 2024 • 20 mins
Hippie chicks. Jam sessions. A bomb on wheels. In this quintessential "Hollywood coming of age" story, our confessor finds themselves in one wild situation after the next, starting with their cross-country road trip to LA.
"It was the middle of the desert. And it was the middle of the day. And we saw like a big, old pickup truck coming up behind us really fast. I can still picture it getting larger and larger in the rearview mirror. We barely had time to react before it rammed us from behind."
After miraculously surviving one near-death experience moving to town, our confessor soon found themselves in another while hustling as a production assistant on music videos.
Join us for a #TBT discussion of life in the early days of MTV, when rock bands would sometimes serenade crews and Kool-Aid was the most delicious drink ever. It's a story of resiliency and finding your way in this crazy industry... and it's also a damn good time!
Also be sure to check out the quick teaser of our upcoming oral history: Portrait of a Survivor at the end of the episode!
Connect with us:
Check out some of our favorite shows:
- Screenwriters' Rant Room
- Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss
- It Happened in Hollywood
- The Secret History of Hollywood
Hollywood Confessional is a Ninth Way Media production, produced by Meagan Daine and J.R. Zamora-Thal.
Sound Effects and Music provided by Zapsplat and Pixabay.
Keywords: filmmaking podcast, film podcast, screenwriting podcast, entertainment podcast, Hollywood, filmmaking, writerslife, actorslife, setlife
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
In nomine Cinema e TV Espiritu Streaming.
Amen.
Hello Hollywood.
Faithful Welcome back toanother episode of the Hollywood
Confessional.
I'm your podcast priest, jairZamora-Thal.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And I'm Megan Dane.
Thank you guys so much forjoining us again.
We're super happy to have youwith us today and some
interesting times.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Interesting is one word for it.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, in Hollywood and beyond.
But yeah, we're still here,we're still doing the hustle and
JR.
So how's that fun employmentthing going for you?
Is it like still fun?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, you know, the fun is no longer in all caps but
, we're still doing our best.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, a little lowercase.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Fun employment, yeah, it's really nice because I
haven't had a chance to work onmy own projects in a long time.
Thankfully, because I've beenvery employed, I had an
incredible run of just you knowconstant things to be doing, but
now is the time where, if Iwant to level up in my career, I
need to work on my own projectsand prove that I can do the job
, and so it's been nice to getdown to that and just kind of
(01:13):
sink my teeth into somethingthat's purely for me.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Oh, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
It is really nice, but even nicer than that is
getting paid.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh yes, this is always a good thing, and so when
we're all out here hustlinglooking for jobs and whatnot,
it's like, I mean, you neverreally know what you're going to
get, right, oh my God, Is thattrue?
I recently picked up a part timegig which I am really quite
enjoying and I'm super happyabout it.
And the funny thing about it isit's very similar to many other
(01:46):
gigs that I've had in the pastthat turned out to be fucking
nightmares and there was no wayto know.
Going in, I'm just like, well,I guess I'll take that leap.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well, at least you're getting some enjoyment now.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
But you know you, just you gotto take the leap and see what's
going to happen, and sometimesthat's how you end up in
situations like our confessortoday, who ended up with like a
Bomb on wheels.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I really am ready to hear about that.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Should we step?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
into the confessional booth.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Let's do it.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Let me take you back to the late 1990s.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, please 90s.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yes, please.
I was moving to Los Angeles,driving cross country with a
friend of mine in his 83 Rabbit.
The idea was that we were goingto split the drive from the
East Coast to LA, which is about3000 miles, but I did not know
how to drive a stick.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Always good to start a road trip without knowing how
to drive the car.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Before we left, my friend and I went to a parking
lot near my parents' house andhe's like I'm going to teach you
how to drive stick.
And of course I didn't get itright away.
He thought I was going to burnout the clutch or something and
he was impatient to just getgoing.
So to this day I still don'tknow how to drive stick.
He just drove the whole way.
We did the trip in about fivedays, sort of crashing with
(03:20):
friends and hanging out indifferent cities, and along the
way we had my first of twonear-death experiences.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
That is two more than any road trip I've ever taken.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
We were on a two-lane blacktop outside of Albuquerque
, new Mexico, yeah, and we werein the middle of the desert.
It was the middle of the dayand we saw like a big old pickup
truck coming up behind usreally fast.
I can still picture it gettinglarger and larger in the
rearview mirror.
We barely had time to reactbefore it rammed us from behind.
(03:54):
Oh my God, I don't know if theguy was like drunk in the middle
of the day or like he saw thatwe had a New York plane and was
like God damn New Yorkers.
I have no idea, but it was ahit and run and he hit us so
hard that we drove off the roadinto a ditch and the car flipped
over.
It was sort of like in slowmotion, like they say your life
(04:14):
flashes before your eyes andthings slow down.
We kind of slipped over.
We were both wearing ourseatbelts, so now we were upside
down and I just remember thetape deck, whatever we were
listening to, fucking Susie andthe Banshees or something was
still going.
It was just this surreal moment.
We were looking at each otherto be like, are you okay?
(04:35):
And it's like yeah, and then Iguess we sort of unclipped and
dropped down and got out the carand pretty soon after some guys
drove by and the first thingthey did is they helped us flip
the car back on the road, like Idon't know if you've seen one
of those cars, you know it'sbasically like a tin can.
So it was like, you know, fouror five guys could actually
physically turn it over.
Then they drove my friend totown to get a tow truck.
(04:57):
This was the pre-cell phone era.
So they had to drive into townto get a tow.
And I'm just standing there bythe car and then a family drives
up.
I guess they saw that I lookedkind of shell-shocked.
They could tell I was just inan accident because the car was
like bashed in on one side.
So they stopped and they'relike do you want some Kool-Aid?
(05:19):
Like they had a cooler in theback of their station wagon or
whatever and it was like, yes,and I don't know if it was low
blood sugar or what, but thatKool-Aid tasted so good it kind
of like snapped me back intoreality.
Eventually my friend comes backwith the tow truck and we towed
the car into town.
We had to stay overnight to geta part and the car was drivable
(05:41):
the next day with like a pieceof cardboard duct taped over the
back window.
So we kept on going to LA.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
This is the craziest how I got here story I have ever
heard.
All I did was hop on a plane.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Well, I remember rolling into the city at like
four in the morning and the carwas like really starting to
struggle.
We were kind of like, oh no,are we going to make it?
We finally did roll up to ourfriend's house in Hollywood
where we were staying and wejust like parked in front of
their house and you know the endof the Blues Brother movie
where they get out the car, slamthe door and the car just like
(06:15):
falls apart.
It was sort of like that, likethat was it.
The car never moved again.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Welcome to LA Elwood Right.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
You know, the funny thing is my friend didn't end up
staying.
He had met this guy back inTempe, Arizona, and when we got
here he was just like, oh my God, I sort of like this guy, I
think I'm going to go back.
So he went back to Arizona andthat guy ended up being his
husband.
They've been married for like20 something years.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Oh, this is the best how I got here story I've ever
heard.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
The one that ends with.
I immediately left and livedhappily ever after.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
So my friend left.
It was just me, and I moved outhere with basically nothing.
I had a duffel bag full ofclothes, my bass guitar and a
cowboy hat.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Pretty standard LA survival kit.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I had graduated with a film degree but it was like a
lot of film theory.
I didn't know anything aboutthe industry at all and I don't
think I was super ambitious backthen as far as, like, I'm going
to make it in Hollywood.
I was just looking for gainfulemployment.
It was really like I'm going tofind an apartment and pay rent.
At the time, kids there wasthis thing called MTV where they
(07:28):
played music videos.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Never heard of it.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
You shut up, Also cue the song.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So the first gig I got was as a production
assistant on music videos.
In the hierarchy of Hollywood,I think it would be like feature
films, TV shows, commercialsand then music videos.
They were like the bottom ofthe barrel.
The pay was like $100 or $150 aday.
We would never work less than12 hours a day, or 150 bucks a
day.
(08:01):
We would never work less than12 hours a day.
If you did the calculation, itwas definitely less than minimum
wage, but it was actually kindof a cool experience in that I
had some brushes with fame, LikeI once worked in a music video
with and I was a huge fan.
Unfortunately, before the shoot, a guy came out who was like
his manager and I think also hisbrother, and he instructed the
whole crew not just to not makeeye contact with but don't even
(08:26):
look at him.
So what we ended up doing wewould go in and do our setup and
then leave and then they wouldshoot.
So I never saw him the wholetime.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Oh, what a bummer it was like a little disappointing.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
But then I got to meet who was the exact opposite.
He just wanted to hang out withthe crew the whole time.
And then a sort of similarstory.
I worked on a video.
We rented them instruments andamps and whatever and they would
pretend to sing and play, butthey ended up saying like, yeah,
we're just going to play somesongs, and they played like a 25
(09:01):
minute concert for the crew.
It was like 50 people and Ilike to think that was the
beginning of their tour.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
So that part was a cool experience, but it
definitely was not all glitz andglamour.
A lot of my job as a PA wasjust driving trucks.
Like the day before shoot Iwould drive around town in a
cube truck doing pickups, driveto a rental house you know they
would load up the dolly orwhatever and then I would drive
to set.
I did that for about a year andthen I got a job on this
(09:29):
particular music video that wasshooting out in Malibu on the
beach, which is where I had mysecond brush with death.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Uh, yeah, I'm going to need you to keep telling this
story.
Yeah, I'm going to need you tokeep telling this story.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
The band was sort of this hippie white reggae band
not famous, shoestring budgetand I don't know if it was like
a beach party scene, but itdefinitely ended up with a
sunset and a bonfire.
You know they're sitting aroundthe bonfire and jamming or
whatever.
So once we got that set up,that was sort of the end of the
shoot and I didn't have anythingto do.
The plan was that I was goingto drive the truck back, but it
was getting to the end of theday and we had a generator truck
(10:07):
that we weren't using anymoreand the production manager
wanted someone to drive it backto LA so they wouldn't be
charged for a second day.
A generator truck is basicallya bomb on wheels.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Holy shit.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
It was a very large truck that is full of I want to
say, diesel fuel.
I think you're supposed to havelike a class A license to drive
it, which I definitely did nothave.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, you didn't even know how to drive steel.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Well, this vehicle wasn't automatic, but I had
never driven this particulartruck, and one feature of the
truck is that it had a driver'sseat but no passenger seat, and
I think the reason for that isthat it's so dangerous, like
you're not supposed to have apassenger I mean, that would be
my guess so I had one seat.
To set the scene we wereshooting on the beach and there
was a crew parking lot a littlefurther up and the production
(10:55):
manager was like okay, I needyou to drive this generator
truck back and then, forwhatever reason, it was, decided
that the girlfriend, slash wife, slash baby, mom of the lead
singer, who was visiting setwith their newborn baby, would
be riding with me.
I want to say it was also kindof drizzling, it was gnarly
conditions.
So they had a baby sort of likeswaddled, and the woman was
(11:17):
super young, I want to say like22 years old hippie chick in a
peasant dress.
I want to say she was alsobarefoot, but that might be an
exaggeration.
Maybe she was wearingBirkenstocks.
Anyway, the idea was I woulddrop her off in the crew lot
before I took the truck back.
So we're in the parking lot.
I got in the truck and Irealized there was no passenger
seat, so I'm in the driver'sseat and she's literally sitting
(11:40):
cross-legged with a baby in herlap.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
And I'm already a little bit nervous because I'm
in a vehicle I've never drivenbefore.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
No, I can't take this no.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
And it's getting dark , no, and the roads were a
little bit slippery, oh my God.
So I'm like, all right, I'mjust gonna shift into gear real
slow.
And then I realized the brakesare out.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
How did you survive this?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
The brakes are soft, put it that way.
You stomp the pedal into thefloor and it kind of rolls to a
stop.
It didn't feel right and I wasnervous, so I'm just like you
know what.
I'm sorry, but I'm not going todo this.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Oh hell no.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
So I parked and I walked back to set.
I was a little shaken up atthat point and I found the
production manager and I waslike look, I don't feel
comfortable with this.
And he was not cool about it.
He was kind of mad and I wasreally taken aback.
I was like OK, fuck it, I quit.
I don't know if I actually saidI quit, but I walked away and
started commiserating with oneof the other PAs and then I
(12:36):
found out, not even an hourlater, that the production
manager had another PA to do it.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
That motherfucker.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Without saying, hey, the brakes might be out.
He just told someone to do itand he did.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
God.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Now this is piecing together the story.
The eyewitness was thisoff-duty cop, but I guess that
PA came to the same conclusion Idid that the brakes were out
because he started driving itand he couldn't stop the fucking
thing and he had to sort ofbail out and the truck was still
moving and it hit a palm treeand I want to say it was sort of
like on the edge of a clifflike the Pacific Coast Highway,
(13:13):
and it's like if that treewasn't there it would have been
like boom, fireball.
End of an action movie, oh myGod.
So after all of this I sort offelt like wow, my life is worth
less than a day's rental on agenerator truck.
I did go into the productionoffice the next day and tell the
(13:34):
executive producer who ran thecompany.
She was actually very coolabout it, but I have no idea if
that PM got in trouble.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
He probably didn't.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, I certainly never worked for him again.
I want to say that was like mylast PA job and I rolled off
into the sunset.
But that wasn't the case.
It was more like in my mind Iwas like I'm done, I need to
find another way to make aliving.
You know, I went to film school.
I didn't come out here to drivetrucks.
(14:03):
Everybody has their own journey.
But when I moved out to LA itwas like intern PA or CAA
mailroom those were your choices.
So I'd just taken what I couldget.
But after this experience Irealized I didn't want to do
that anymore.
So when an opportunity arosefor another job, a job that did
not involve driving trucks, ajob that only involved me, my
(14:24):
brain and my computer, I wentfor it.
I didn't know where it wouldlead, I didn't know if I was
going to be the next MartinScorsese or Quentin Tarantino,
but I did know driving truckswas not for me and the new job
felt like a step in the rightdirection.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I love that.
Good for you for finding yourpath one step at a time.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I would say keep on trucking, but under the
circumstances I'll just say gocreate peace.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
There are so many things about this episode that
make it one of my favorites ofall time.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
You weren't kidding, it was a bomb on wheels.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
It was a bomb on wheels, yes, and thank God, I
mean, you know, nobody wasseriously injured in the making
of this Hollywood Confessionalepisode.
But yeah, I mean, what can wesay?
This kind of insanity seems tohappen everywhere.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Oh, in every industry .
I mean maybe not a bomb onwheels in every industry but
there is insanity wherever yougo.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Yeah, is there ever an example of somebody who gets
an entry-level job and then sortof lives happily ever after?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
I mean, I think you're talking about my family
what AJ, my brother and oursocial media coordinator and
editor he decided that he wantedto switch careers and you know
I was super supportive because Ialso switched careers from
engineering to writing.
And when he didn't quite knowwhat to do, first we had him
(16:00):
start working on the podcast andhe was incredible.
He took it up super quickly,started editing, started making
our social media posts If you'veseen any of those crazy
graphics online?
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Yeah, the amazing graphics and videos that like
are no more.
And I'm really pissed aboutthat, because he created like
the most amazing and uniquestyle and it's like nobody can
imitate that.
And then he's like, oh, I gotto go get a job and I'm like,
well, fuck you then.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yeah, he needs 28 hours in his day or we need an
actual budget.
One of two, yes one of thosetwo.
I'm sure he would have beenhappy to work for this, for us,
full time if we had been able topay him yes, appropriately but
you know, he took the portfoliothat he made on hollywood
confessional and he went and gotan internship at the american
heart association, right, and heworked his ass off there for,
(16:48):
uh, I think he had two or threeinternships with them
consecutively.
So he's been working with themfor a minute now and, uh, he
finally got his first full-timeoffer with them.
What?
And he is so excited and wecouldn't be more proud of him aj
it's awesome this is amazing.
I'm so excited that I'm hearingabout this on the podcast and if
(17:09):
he's listening and I hope he isyou fucking better.
I just wanted to know how proudproud I am of him and and it's
so incredible to see him go fromyou know, trying to figure out
what he's going to do to fullysucceeding.
It's so exciting.
He even got rookie of the yearat american heart association oh
, that's so great yeah, he'sreally killing it.
(17:30):
It's so exciting to see as anolder brother.
I couldn't be more excited.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well, as a friend, I'm also super excited and just
as a fan, because, like, whatmakes this story so inspiring is
that AJ's.
He's such a unique creativevoice and he has such a vision.
And I feel like, you know, alot, of, a lot of us end up kind
of compromising who we are tofit what we think are the needs
(17:56):
of the market, and I don't thinkhe did that, and so the fact
that he was able to succeed inthis way, by being who he is and
like the fullest version of hiscreative self at least, I mean,
maybe, maybe there's somethings that it does help when
your brother is the one givingyou notes and you feel very
confident telling him no, nice,he did not compromise because he
(18:18):
did not want to compromise forme.
Oh, that's really cool, butanyway.
So to see him succeed is likeextra, extra cool.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Ah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yay, congrats, aj, and hey, congrats to any of our
listeners out there who got ajob recently.
There are some of you and I'msuper excited to hear about it.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Let us know about it.
We want to celebrate everybodywho's working these days.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Absolutely.
Hit us up at fessuphollywoodcomor, excuse me,
fessuphollywoodcom Sure, you canemail us, why not Old school?
Or on X or Instagram at Fess UpHollywood.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
And in two weeks we've got a very special pair of
episodes coming out.
The first one's going to air intwo weeks.
It's an oral history whereyou're going to hear from
multiple different points ofview, and this one's called
Portrait of a Survivor.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
That's right.
It's a story from, as JR said,many different points of view
about what it's like to dealwith a particular abuser who is
still out there in Hollywood andthe different people we're
going to be hearing from thedifferent people who were their
lives were impacted by him andhow they came to move on from
(19:34):
that relationship.
So it's going to be very, verymoving, very intense, and we are
very grateful to the people whohave shared their stories with
us and super excited to share itwith you guys.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
And until then, go create in peace.
Go create in peace.
The Hollywood Confessional isproduced by Megan Dane and JR
Zamorathal.
Our cast for this episode, seanRedding, special effects
provided by ZapSplat and Pixabay.
Hollywood Confessional is aNinth Way Media production.
(20:11):
Follow us on socials, atFessUpHollywood.
In nomine Cinema e TV Espiritu Streaming.
Amen.
Hello Hollywood.
Faithful Welcome back toanother episode of the Hollywood
Confessional.
I'm your podcast priest, jairZamora-Thal.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
And I'm Megan Dane.
Thank you guys so much forjoining us again.
We're super happy to have youwith us today and some
interesting times.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Interesting is one word for it.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, in Hollywood and beyond.
But yeah, we're still here,we're still doing the hustle and
JR.
So how's that fun employmentthing going for you?
Is it like still fun?
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, you know, the fun is no longer in all caps but
, we're still doing our best.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, a little lowercase.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Fun employment, yeah, it's really nice because I
haven't had a chance to work onmy own projects in a long time.
Thankfully, because I've beenvery employed, I had an
incredible run of just you knowconstant things to be doing, but
now is the time where, if Iwant to level up in my career, I
need to work on my own projectsand prove that I can do the job
, and so it's been nice to getdown to that and just kind of
(01:13):
sink my teeth into somethingthat's purely for me.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Oh, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
It is really nice, but even nicer than that is
getting paid.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Oh yes, this is always a good thing, and so when
we're all out here hustlinglooking for jobs and whatnot,
it's like, I mean, you neverreally know what you're going to
get, right, oh my God, Is thattrue?
I recently picked up a part timegig which I am really quite
enjoying and I'm super happyabout it.
And the funny thing about it isit's very similar to many other
(01:46):
gigs that I've had in the pastthat turned out to be fucking
nightmares and there was no wayto know.
Going in, I'm just like, well,I guess I'll take that leap.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well, at least you're getting some enjoyment now.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
But you know you, just you gotto take the leap and see what's
going to happen, and sometimesthat's how you end up in
situations like our confessortoday, who ended up with like a
Bomb on wheels.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I really am ready to hear about that.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Should we step?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
into the confessional booth.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Let's do it.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Let me take you back to the late 1990s.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, please 90s.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yes, please.
I was moving to Los Angeles,driving cross country with a
friend of mine in his 83 Rabbit.
The idea was that we were goingto split the drive from the
East Coast to LA, which is about3000 miles, but I did not know
how to drive a stick.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Always good to start a road trip without knowing how
to drive the car.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Before we left, my friend and I went to a parking
lot near my parents' house andhe's like I'm going to teach you
how to drive stick.
And of course I didn't get itright away.
He thought I was going to burnout the clutch or something and
he was impatient to just getgoing.
So to this day I still don'tknow how to drive stick.
He just drove the whole way.
We did the trip in about fivedays, sort of crashing with
(03:20):
friends and hanging out indifferent cities, and along the
way we had my first of twonear-death experiences.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
That is two more than any road trip I've ever taken.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
We were on a two-lane blacktop outside of Albuquerque
, new Mexico, yeah, and we werein the middle of the desert.
It was the middle of the dayand we saw like a big old pickup
truck coming up behind usreally fast.
I can still picture it gettinglarger and larger in the
rearview mirror.
We barely had time to reactbefore it rammed us from behind.
(03:54):
Oh my God, I don't know if theguy was like drunk in the middle
of the day or like he saw thatwe had a New York plane and was
like God damn New Yorkers.
I have no idea, but it was ahit and run and he hit us so
hard that we drove off the roadinto a ditch and the car flipped
over.
It was sort of like in slowmotion, like they say your life
(04:14):
flashes before your eyes andthings slow down.
We kind of slipped over.
We were both wearing ourseatbelts, so now we were upside
down and I just remember thetape deck, whatever we were
listening to, fucking Susie andthe Banshees or something was
still going.
It was just this surreal moment.
We were looking at each otherto be like, are you okay?
(04:35):
And it's like yeah, and then Iguess we sort of unclipped and
dropped down and got out the carand pretty soon after some guys
drove by and the first thingthey did is they helped us flip
the car back on the road, like Idon't know if you've seen one
of those cars, you know it'sbasically like a tin can.
So it was like, you know, fouror five guys could actually
physically turn it over.
Then they drove my friend totown to get a tow truck.
(04:57):
This was the pre-cell phone era.
So they had to drive into townto get a tow.
And I'm just standing there bythe car and then a family drives
up.
I guess they saw that I lookedkind of shell-shocked.
They could tell I was just inan accident because the car was
like bashed in on one side.
So they stopped and they'relike do you want some Kool-Aid?
(05:19):
Like they had a cooler in theback of their station wagon or
whatever and it was like, yes,and I don't know if it was low
blood sugar or what, but thatKool-Aid tasted so good it kind
of like snapped me back intoreality.
Eventually my friend comes backwith the tow truck and we towed
the car into town.
We had to stay overnight to geta part and the car was drivable
(05:41):
the next day with like a pieceof cardboard duct taped over the
back window.
So we kept on going to LA.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
This is the craziest how I got here story I have ever
heard.
All I did was hop on a plane.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Well, I remember rolling into the city at like
four in the morning and the carwas like really starting to
struggle.
We were kind of like, oh no,are we going to make it?
We finally did roll up to ourfriend's house in Hollywood
where we were staying and wejust like parked in front of
their house and you know the endof the Blues Brother movie
where they get out the car, slamthe door and the car just like
(06:15):
falls apart.
It was sort of like that, likethat was it.
The car never moved again.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Welcome to LA Elwood Right.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
You know, the funny thing is my friend didn't end up
staying.
He had met this guy back inTempe, Arizona, and when we got
here he was just like, oh my God, I sort of like this guy, I
think I'm going to go back.
So he went back to Arizona andthat guy ended up being his
husband.
They've been married for like20 something years.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Oh, this is the best how I got here story I've ever
heard.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
The one that ends with.
I immediately left and livedhappily ever after.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
So my friend left.
It was just me, and I moved outhere with basically nothing.
I had a duffel bag full ofclothes, my bass guitar and a
cowboy hat.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Pretty standard LA survival kit.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I had graduated with a film degree but it was like a
lot of film theory.
I didn't know anything aboutthe industry at all and I don't
think I was super ambitious backthen as far as, like, I'm going
to make it in Hollywood.
I was just looking for gainfulemployment.
It was really like I'm going tofind an apartment and pay rent.
At the time, kids there wasthis thing called MTV where they
(07:28):
played music videos.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Never heard of it.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
You shut up, Also cue the song.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
So the first gig I got was as a production
assistant on music videos.
In the hierarchy of Hollywood,I think it would be like feature
films, TV shows, commercialsand then music videos.
They were like the bottom ofthe barrel.
The pay was like $100 or $150 aday.
We would never work less than12 hours a day, or 150 bucks a
day.
(08:01):
We would never work less than12 hours a day.
If you did the calculation, itwas definitely less than minimum
wage, but it was actually kindof a cool experience in that I
had some brushes with fame, LikeI once worked in a music video
with and I was a huge fan.
Unfortunately, before the shoot, a guy came out who was like
his manager and I think also hisbrother, and he instructed the
whole crew not just to not makeeye contact with but don't even
(08:26):
look at him.
So what we ended up doing wewould go in and do our setup and
then leave and then they wouldshoot.
So I never saw him the wholetime.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Oh, what a bummer it was like a little disappointing.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
But then I got to meet who was the exact opposite.
He just wanted to hang out withthe crew the whole time.
And then a sort of similarstory.
I worked on a video.
We rented them instruments andamps and whatever and they would
pretend to sing and play, butthey ended up saying like, yeah,
we're just going to play somesongs, and they played like a 25
(09:01):
minute concert for the crew.
It was like 50 people and Ilike to think that was the
beginning of their tour.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Amazing.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
So that part was a cool experience, but it
definitely was not all glitz andglamour.
A lot of my job as a PA wasjust driving trucks.
Like the day before shoot Iwould drive around town in a
cube truck doing pickups, driveto a rental house you know they
would load up the dolly orwhatever and then I would drive
to set.
I did that for about a year andthen I got a job on this
(09:29):
particular music video that wasshooting out in Malibu on the
beach, which is where I had mysecond brush with death.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Uh, yeah, I'm going to need you to keep telling this
story.
Yeah, I'm going to need you tokeep telling this story.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
The band was sort of this hippie white reggae band
not famous, shoestring budgetand I don't know if it was like
a beach party scene, but itdefinitely ended up with a
sunset and a bonfire.
You know they're sitting aroundthe bonfire and jamming or
whatever.
So once we got that set up,that was sort of the end of the
shoot and I didn't have anythingto do.
The plan was that I was goingto drive the truck back, but it
was getting to the end of theday and we had a generator truck
(10:07):
that we weren't using anymoreand the production manager
wanted someone to drive it backto LA so they wouldn't be
charged for a second day.
A generator truck is basicallya bomb on wheels.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Holy shit.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
It was a very large truck that is full of I want to
say, diesel fuel.
I think you're supposed to havelike a class A license to drive
it, which I definitely did nothave.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, you didn't even know how to drive steel.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Well, this vehicle wasn't automatic, but I had
never driven this particulartruck, and one feature of the
truck is that it had a driver'sseat but no passenger seat, and
I think the reason for that isthat it's so dangerous, like
you're not supposed to have apassenger I mean, that would be
my guess so I had one seat.
To set the scene we wereshooting on the beach and there
was a crew parking lot a littlefurther up and the production
(10:55):
manager was like okay, I needyou to drive this generator
truck back and then, forwhatever reason, it was, decided
that the girlfriend, slash wife, slash baby, mom of the lead
singer, who was visiting setwith their newborn baby, would
be riding with me.
I want to say it was also kindof drizzling, it was gnarly
conditions.
So they had a baby sort of likeswaddled, and the woman was
(11:17):
super young, I want to say like22 years old hippie chick in a
peasant dress.
I want to say she was alsobarefoot, but that might be an
exaggeration.
Maybe she was wearingBirkenstocks.
Anyway, the idea was I woulddrop her off in the crew lot
before I took the truck back.
So we're in the parking lot.
I got in the truck and Irealized there was no passenger
seat, so I'm in the driver'sseat and she's literally sitting
(11:40):
cross-legged with a baby in herlap.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
And I'm already a little bit nervous because I'm
in a vehicle I've never drivenbefore.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
No, I can't take this no.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
And it's getting dark , no, and the roads were a
little bit slippery, oh my God.
So I'm like, all right, I'mjust gonna shift into gear real
slow.
And then I realized the brakesare out.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
How did you survive this?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
The brakes are soft, put it that way.
You stomp the pedal into thefloor and it kind of rolls to a
stop.
It didn't feel right and I wasnervous, so I'm just like you
know what.
I'm sorry, but I'm not going todo this.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Oh hell no.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
So I parked and I walked back to set.
I was a little shaken up atthat point and I found the
production manager and I waslike look, I don't feel
comfortable with this.
And he was not cool about it.
He was kind of mad and I wasreally taken aback.
I was like OK, fuck it, I quit.
I don't know if I actually saidI quit, but I walked away and
started commiserating with oneof the other PAs and then I
(12:36):
found out, not even an hourlater, that the production
manager had another PA to do it.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
That motherfucker.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Without saying, hey, the brakes might be out.
He just told someone to do itand he did.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
God.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Now this is piecing together the story.
The eyewitness was thisoff-duty cop, but I guess that
PA came to the same conclusion Idid that the brakes were out
because he started driving itand he couldn't stop the fucking
thing and he had to sort ofbail out and the truck was still
moving and it hit a palm treeand I want to say it was sort of
like on the edge of a clifflike the Pacific Coast Highway,
(13:13):
and it's like if that treewasn't there it would have been
like boom, fireball.
End of an action movie, oh myGod.
So after all of this I sort offelt like wow, my life is worth
less than a day's rental on agenerator truck.
I did go into the productionoffice the next day and tell the
(13:34):
executive producer who ran thecompany.
She was actually very coolabout it, but I have no idea if
that PM got in trouble.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
He probably didn't.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Well, I certainly never worked for him again.
I want to say that was like mylast PA job and I rolled off
into the sunset.
But that wasn't the case.
It was more like in my mind Iwas like I'm done, I need to
find another way to make aliving.
You know, I went to film school.
I didn't come out here to drivetrucks.
(14:03):
Everybody has their own journey.
But when I moved out to LA itwas like intern PA or CAA
mailroom those were your choices.
So I'd just taken what I couldget.
But after this experience Irealized I didn't want to do
that anymore.
So when an opportunity arosefor another job, a job that did
not involve driving trucks, ajob that only involved me, my
(14:24):
brain and my computer, I wentfor it.
I didn't know where it wouldlead, I didn't know if I was
going to be the next MartinScorsese or Quentin Tarantino,
but I did know driving truckswas not for me and the new job
felt like a step in the rightdirection.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I love that.
Good for you for finding yourpath one step at a time.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I would say keep on trucking, but under the
circumstances I'll just say gocreate peace.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
There are so many things about this episode that
make it one of my favorites ofall time.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
You weren't kidding, it was a bomb on wheels.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
It was a bomb on wheels, yes, and thank God, I
mean, you know, nobody wasseriously injured in the making
of this Hollywood Confessionalepisode.
But yeah, I mean, what can wesay?
This kind of insanity seems tohappen everywhere.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Oh, in every industry .
I mean maybe not a bomb onwheels in every industry but
there is insanity wherever yougo.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Yeah, is there ever an example of somebody who gets
an entry-level job and then sortof lives happily ever after?
Speaker 1 (15:40):
I mean, I think you're talking about my family
what AJ, my brother and oursocial media coordinator and
editor he decided that he wantedto switch careers and you know
I was super supportive because Ialso switched careers from
engineering to writing.
And when he didn't quite knowwhat to do, first we had him
(16:00):
start working on the podcast andhe was incredible.
He took it up super quickly,started editing, started making
our social media posts If you'veseen any of those crazy
graphics online?
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Yeah, the amazing graphics and videos that like
are no more.
And I'm really pissed aboutthat, because he created like
the most amazing and uniquestyle and it's like nobody can
imitate that.
And then he's like, oh, I gotto go get a job and I'm like,
well, fuck you then.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Yeah, he needs 28 hours in his day or we need an
actual budget.
One of two, yes one of thosetwo.
I'm sure he would have beenhappy to work for this, for us,
full time if we had been able topay him yes, appropriately but
you know, he took the portfoliothat he made on hollywood
confessional and he went and gotan internship at the american
heart association, right, and heworked his ass off there for,
(16:48):
uh, I think he had two or threeinternships with them
consecutively.
So he's been working with themfor a minute now and, uh, he
finally got his first full-timeoffer with them.
What?
And he is so excited and wecouldn't be more proud of him aj
it's awesome this is amazing.
I'm so excited that I'm hearingabout this on the podcast and if
(17:09):
he's listening and I hope he isyou fucking better.
I just wanted to know how proudproud I am of him and and it's
so incredible to see him go fromyou know, trying to figure out
what he's going to do to fullysucceeding.
It's so exciting.
He even got rookie of the yearat american heart association oh
, that's so great yeah, he'sreally killing it.
(17:30):
It's so exciting to see as anolder brother.
I couldn't be more excited.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Well, as a friend, I'm also super excited and just
as a fan, because, like, whatmakes this story so inspiring is
that AJ's.
He's such a unique creativevoice and he has such a vision.
And I feel like, you know, alot, of, a lot of us end up kind
of compromising who we are tofit what we think are the needs
(17:56):
of the market, and I don't thinkhe did that, and so the fact
that he was able to succeed inthis way, by being who he is and
like the fullest version of hiscreative self at least, I mean,
maybe, maybe there's somethings that it does help when
your brother is the one givingyou notes and you feel very
confident telling him no, nice,he did not compromise because he
(18:18):
did not want to compromise forme.
Oh, that's really cool, butanyway.
So to see him succeed is likeextra, extra cool.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Ah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Yay, congrats, aj, and hey, congrats to any of our
listeners out there who got ajob recently.
There are some of you and I'msuper excited to hear about it.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Let us know about it.
We want to celebrate everybodywho's working these days.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Absolutely.
Hit us up at fessuphollywoodcomor, excuse me,
fessuphollywoodcom Sure, you canemail us, why not Old school?
Or on X or Instagram at Fess UpHollywood.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
And in two weeks we've got a very special pair of
episodes coming out.
The first one's going to air intwo weeks.
It's an oral history whereyou're going to hear from
multiple different points ofview, and this one's called
Portrait of a Survivor.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
That's right.
It's a story from, as JR said,many different points of view
about what it's like to dealwith a particular abuser who is
still out there in Hollywood andthe different people we're
going to be hearing from thedifferent people who were their
lives were impacted by him andhow they came to move on from
(19:34):
that relationship.
So it's going to be very, verymoving, very intense, and we are
very grateful to the people whohave shared their stories with
us and super excited to share itwith you guys.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
And until then, go create in peace.
Go create in peace.
The Hollywood Confessional isproduced by Megan Dane and JR
Zamorathal.
Our cast for this episode, seanRedding, special effects
provided by ZapSplat and Pixabay.
Hollywood Confessional is aNinth Way Media production.
(20:11):
Follow us on socials, atFessUpHollywood.
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