#9 loves horses! loves pulling weeds out of cracks! loves terrorizing females in the workplace!
part of me wishes i kept track of everything he tried to get me in shit for on this production. the title is a reflection of the only things he loves more than anything. i know far too much about how much he enjoys pulling weeds out of the cracks in his backyard then i should.
one time he yelled at me for daring to boil a full kettle of water in the kitchen. why? wasting hydro (aka power). i only needed to boil enough water for my one cup of tea, didn't i? (gross)
i just googled the film. it was a $15M USD budget per IMDB. where the production manager thought it was a good idea to criticize kettle usage as a way to add to his bottom line. pretty sure hydro was included in our weekly studio rental rate, but, i could be wrong.
i actually wanted to work with him. i was excited to work with him. he had worked with my bestie V back in the day and she loved him. but, that was when he was just the production accountant. now he was a PM, with the sights on being a Producer, Line Producer etc from now on.
he immediately started picking on me. why? he saw me as a threat. why? i had been producing a short film with his executive producer and he did not like me for it. as well, i was also an easy target: my father was currently dying from cancer, and up north, and i was getting panic phone calls from family back home, usually while i was working nights (i was sleeping during normal work hours as this show had a lot of nights), and so this dill hole witnessed at least one of these conversations, where i really didn't care that i was at work. this was a year before my car accident (which happened in 2012), but, i was already experiencing "the shunning". why? a lot of people knew my father was sick and i was travelling back and forth to my hometown to help with things, and he was coming to toronto for treatments. so people stopped offering me jobs: right at a point when i really need extra money.
remember, this is SHOW BUSINESS, not SHOW FRIENDS. i had some kindness thrown to me from a couple of my bosses during this point, but, i also had "friends" who used my good nature for years steal any opportunity they could, from me, based on my father being sick. some of my "friends" ruined my reputation with a couple of my mentors. which, on top of everything else i was dealing with, was absolute greedy shit.
because my father was ill, it meant i may need to leave a show, so i wasn't getting recommended for jobs anymore. which made me un-hireable, or, only hireable by indie films who wanted me to save their asses because the producers or the production manager had fucked up prep. this is not something my union took seriously (i had already learned not to complain, cause fuck all happened and you got no support), and because my former local is a cess pit of rich, female, bitches (i will swear up and down that most IA 411 male coordinators are the most normal people on any show i've had the honour of working with any of them on. not one bad seed in that bunch. i say most because you can never really 100% know anyone. but they were definitely all rad, probably because they were all fucking verbally abused and shamed when they were office PAs...BY FUCKING GROWN ASS WOMEN.)
i've met a few people in my time who have been treated shitty by "the old school" and became the "new school" of filmmakers. the ones who once were shit on, were now in charge, with only some of the bad habits that were taught to them by their bosses.
i'm not new school.
i'm fucking new new (or as i like to call it: "nouveau nouvelle") school.
which means: i do not, and will not, take shit again, EVER, in Ontario Film. my voice, is only one voice. i am fuelled by those who are still to afraid to speak up, still afraid to report, the ones who are hoping the things they witnessed or covered up for others are not leaked to the media because they know what they know. the ones that are still working, often, and still for abusers, because this is ALL THEY KNOW. they have been trained to think this behaviour is normal, that Ontario Film doesn't follow labour laws as there are limited resources offered by the government to actually deal with the labour breaches because there are SO FUCKING MANY OF THEM. and 98% are NOT BEING REPORTED.
why? FEAR.
don't be afraid. the labour board WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU. call them. they want you to apply. they are aware of the rampant corruption going on in Indie Film Ontario, as some productions have been brought to the labour board. one whole crew in Nova Scotia earlier this year won against their producers. why? they were forced to work excessive over time for low flat daily rates and lied to by the producers on the regular. i'd guess too that they were most likely not fed properly too (because this is another way bad producers try to save money). this behaviour, especially with projects funded with OUR TAX DOLLARS needs to stop. so don't be afraid anymore.
just like i'm not afraid that #9 isn't going to die some day from the c-word. he smokes like the g-d damn sudbury smoke stack. i have faith in that.
oh, and because when my father was much more ill, this dill hole (#9) was not brought back for the one month of prep & reshoots, but, i was. and i kicked ass at my job. and the dill hole came to visit my boss one day and tried to be all chill when he came in, and i was civil, and ignored him just as much as he ignored me. but, i could tell, he hated that i was in the office. he may of still did some work from home on this project and got paid for it, but, for me at the time, it was all i needed.
a few weeks later my dad died. (more on that at another point, this isn't the place right now to speak about that). my executive producer left some really kind comments on the online memorial, my associate producer gave me some westjet points to fly home on her, before he passed away. they were cool. they are still cool. and both of them protected me from this dill hole at work. because eventually me and my direct supervisor had to threaten to leave the show (on the original shoot, not the reshoot), and the PM was told to never speak to me abusively ever again by HIS bosses. and when i had other issues with him, the associate producer had my back every single time. i never reported any of this to my union at the time because my producers protected me, as did my direct supervisor.
so the lesson here is: protect your damn crew from on going harassment and believe them. if you are being harassed by your production manager or 1st AD or on set crew rep (people that you normally report the harassment to) you need to go ABOVE them to the most trust worthy producer and have a private meeting. bring a witness with you. if you are being "financially abused" (eg: your rate has changed, your work hours cut or unpaid) figure out which producer is in charge of the budget, and go to them directly. sometimes ridiculous budget overages push unexperienced production managers to cut and hope no one notices it. guess what fuckers: THAT IS FRAUDULENT BEHAVIOUR. especially when you are not paying for days or hours worked.
i remember thanking my associate producer months later, when i read an article about bullying in the work place. i fwd'd her the link and said something like: "thank you for being this person for me, during a time of unbelievable stress." she wrote me back and said she was crying, in a waiting room (i think she was at the airport), after reading my email. she has been harassed so much too in this industry. why? because she is smart, talented, and beautiful. all i see is a fucking rock of a producer who if she was a man, she'd of had a different career. i'm hoping the changes happening in the business, for the better, help her. she is one of the most talented producers i've worked for and i hope we will cross paths again in the future. she is the best.
i'm still waiting to see any sort of benefit to my career, as reporting & being the mouth of a lot of scared people has earned me the respect of many of my peers, but, many doubts from gov funded employees who haven't been supervising funding very well. abusers are STILL being funded in Ontario & Northern Ontario film. many gov people are more worried about losing their jobs then actually stepping up to the plate and ROOTING OUT THE CORRUPTION. this industry is huge, yet, many of the same people get the same pockets of money, and many others completely break every fucking rule they can to make the most money off the backs of their crew.
from MPA-CANADA:
The film and television industry supports a dynamic Canadian creative economy, employing people in every province, and across a diversity of skills and trades. In 2016/17, 171,700 people – from special effects technicians to makeup artists to writers to set builders to carpenters and more – work in jobs supported by the industry, with total volume of film and television production hitting $8.38 billion and generating a GDP of $12 billion for the Canadian economy.
more to come. stay tuned. i'm fighting for 171,700 people to get some sort of equal rights and actual labour rights protection. the unions are not doing enough. and the non-union people are being exploited daily.
one time he yelled at me for daring to boil a full kettle of water in the kitchen. why? wasting hydro (aka power). i only needed to boil enough water for my one cup of tea, didn't i? (gross)
i just googled the film. it was a $15M USD budget per IMDB. where the production manager thought it was a good idea to criticize kettle usage as a way to add to his bottom line. pretty sure hydro was included in our weekly studio rental rate, but, i could be wrong.
i actually wanted to work with him. i was excited to work with him. he had worked with my bestie V back in the day and she loved him. but, that was when he was just the production accountant. now he was a PM, with the sights on being a Producer, Line Producer etc from now on.
he immediately started picking on me. why? he saw me as a threat. why? i had been producing a short film with his executive producer and he did not like me for it. as well, i was also an easy target: my father was currently dying from cancer, and up north, and i was getting panic phone calls from family back home, usually while i was working nights (i was sleeping during normal work hours as this show had a lot of nights), and so this dill hole witnessed at least one of these conversations, where i really didn't care that i was at work. this was a year before my car accident (which happened in 2012), but, i was already experiencing "the shunning". why? a lot of people knew my father was sick and i was travelling back and forth to my hometown to help with things, and he was coming to toronto for treatments. so people stopped offering me jobs: right at a point when i really need extra money.
remember, this is SHOW BUSINESS, not SHOW FRIENDS. i had some kindness thrown to me from a couple of my bosses during this point, but, i also had "friends" who used my good nature for years steal any opportunity they could, from me, based on my father being sick. some of my "friends" ruined my reputation with a couple of my mentors. which, on top of everything else i was dealing with, was absolute greedy shit.
because my father was ill, it meant i may need to leave a show, so i wasn't getting recommended for jobs anymore. which made me un-hireable, or, only hireable by indie films who wanted me to save their asses because the producers or the production manager had fucked up prep. this is not something my union took seriously (i had already learned not to complain, cause fuck all happened and you got no support), and because my former local is a cess pit of rich, female, bitches (i will swear up and down that most IA 411 male coordinators are the most normal people on any show i've had the honour of working with any of them on. not one bad seed in that bunch. i say most because you can never really 100% know anyone. but they were definitely all rad, probably because they were all fucking verbally abused and shamed when they were office PAs...BY FUCKING GROWN ASS WOMEN.)
i've met a few people in my time who have been treated shitty by "the old school" and became the "new school" of filmmakers. the ones who once were shit on, were now in charge, with only some of the bad habits that were taught to them by their bosses.
i'm not new school.
i'm fucking new new (or as i like to call it: "nouveau nouvelle") school.
which means: i do not, and will not, take shit again, EVER, in Ontario Film. my voice, is only one voice. i am fuelled by those who are still to afraid to speak up, still afraid to report, the ones who are hoping the things they witnessed or covered up for others are not leaked to the media because they know what they know. the ones that are still working, often, and still for abusers, because this is ALL THEY KNOW. they have been trained to think this behaviour is normal, that Ontario Film doesn't follow labour laws as there are limited resources offered by the government to actually deal with the labour breaches because there are SO FUCKING MANY OF THEM. and 98% are NOT BEING REPORTED.
why? FEAR.
don't be afraid. the labour board WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU. call them. they want you to apply. they are aware of the rampant corruption going on in Indie Film Ontario, as some productions have been brought to the labour board. one whole crew in Nova Scotia earlier this year won against their producers. why? they were forced to work excessive over time for low flat daily rates and lied to by the producers on the regular. i'd guess too that they were most likely not fed properly too (because this is another way bad producers try to save money). this behaviour, especially with projects funded with OUR TAX DOLLARS needs to stop. so don't be afraid anymore.
oh, and because when my father was much more ill, this dill hole (#9) was not brought back for the one month of prep & reshoots, but, i was. and i kicked ass at my job. and the dill hole came to visit my boss one day and tried to be all chill when he came in, and i was civil, and ignored him just as much as he ignored me. but, i could tell, he hated that i was in the office. he may of still did some work from home on this project and got paid for it, but, for me at the time, it was all i needed.
a few weeks later my dad died. (more on that at another point, this isn't the place right now to speak about that). my executive producer left some really kind comments on the online memorial, my associate producer gave me some westjet points to fly home on her, before he passed away. they were cool. they are still cool. and both of them protected me from this dill hole at work. because eventually me and my direct supervisor had to threaten to leave the show (on the original shoot, not the reshoot), and the PM was told to never speak to me abusively ever again by HIS bosses. and when i had other issues with him, the associate producer had my back every single time. i never reported any of this to my union at the time because my producers protected me, as did my direct supervisor.
so the lesson here is: protect your damn crew from on going harassment and believe them. if you are being harassed by your production manager or 1st AD or on set crew rep (people that you normally report the harassment to) you need to go ABOVE them to the most trust worthy producer and have a private meeting. bring a witness with you. if you are being "financially abused" (eg: your rate has changed, your work hours cut or unpaid) figure out which producer is in charge of the budget, and go to them directly. sometimes ridiculous budget overages push unexperienced production managers to cut and hope no one notices it. guess what fuckers: THAT IS FRAUDULENT BEHAVIOUR. especially when you are not paying for days or hours worked.
i remember thanking my associate producer months later, when i read an article about bullying in the work place. i fwd'd her the link and said something like: "thank you for being this person for me, during a time of unbelievable stress." she wrote me back and said she was crying, in a waiting room (i think she was at the airport), after reading my email. she has been harassed so much too in this industry. why? because she is smart, talented, and beautiful. all i see is a fucking rock of a producer who if she was a man, she'd of had a different career. i'm hoping the changes happening in the business, for the better, help her. she is one of the most talented producers i've worked for and i hope we will cross paths again in the future. she is the best.
i'm still waiting to see any sort of benefit to my career, as reporting & being the mouth of a lot of scared people has earned me the respect of many of my peers, but, many doubts from gov funded employees who haven't been supervising funding very well. abusers are STILL being funded in Ontario & Northern Ontario film. many gov people are more worried about losing their jobs then actually stepping up to the plate and ROOTING OUT THE CORRUPTION. this industry is huge, yet, many of the same people get the same pockets of money, and many others completely break every fucking rule they can to make the most money off the backs of their crew.
from MPA-CANADA:
The film and television industry supports a dynamic Canadian creative economy, employing people in every province, and across a diversity of skills and trades. In 2016/17, 171,700 people – from special effects technicians to makeup artists to writers to set builders to carpenters and more – work in jobs supported by the industry, with total volume of film and television production hitting $8.38 billion and generating a GDP of $12 billion for the Canadian economy.
more to come. stay tuned. i'm fighting for 171,700 people to get some sort of equal rights and actual labour rights protection. the unions are not doing enough. and the non-union people are being exploited daily.
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