So we've had two days of production and we're now in pre-production for Day 3. (Please consider a contribution.) Day 1 was exciting and exhausting. We managed to get everything done that we scheduled, but it took 15 hours, rather than the 12 we scheduled. That's to be expected. Shooting in someone's home always brings about novel technical challenges that must be solved right there.
I learned a few things about myself in the course of this day. For one thing, I learned that when I'm in charge of production, as I lose spoons, I lose the ability to do simple things like pour myself a cup of coffee, or chew food. I suspect that when neurotypical brains are running at near capacity, it's higher level activities that get dropped, but for me, it's the subroutines "pour coffee" and "coordinate chewing and swallowing" that get dropped. Well, fortunately, one can usually find a PA to pour your coffee, but I've learned that I need to have soft food on set for me to eat because I literally cannot coordinate chewing and swallowing when I'm thinking about too many other things. (Also, remembering where my body is in space, whether or not I'm wearing pants, locking the door to my apartment, etc.)
But on the whole, this day was a success. Everything that we needed to shoot got shot. And it felt like the first successful party I ever hosted. (I mean, people actually came and did their thing! They like me! They really like me!... Ummm...no. People came to work and they did a great job and had a good time doing it, I think. If I ever go full Sally Fields in real life, please shoot me.) I'm still gobsmacked that I got so many people to cosign onto my insanity and that this trailer went from mere idea to full production in less than three months.
So how did I pay for this (and stop clogging public toilets before political candidates had a chance to use them)? I got a loan. I was not willing to let the hard work of so many people go to waste, nor was I willing to let anyone financially suffer because they chose to work for me. That meant I paid to rent the equipment, and paid for the Ubers to transport it, as well as fed everyone on my dime. And when one of my gaffer's lights took a walk on Saturday, I paid to replace it. If people choose to work for no money to make your dream come true, taking care of them is just the right thing to do. That said, because it's a loan, I have to pay it BACK. We still have one more day of production, as well as post-production. If you want to see a funny show with a positive and realistic portrayal of autistic people on television, please consider a contribution. ANY amount will help.
(Hold up! What happened to Day 2? Well, that was a much shorter shoot at the Brooklyn library, and it was only one scene. It was a smaller cast and crew that day and we did not have a photographer on set. Sorry. But it went well. And I discovered that I can eat mashed potatoes just fine.)
