The Bird in Flight

Reading about Kevin’s brief summer vacation after taking Step I, I remembered my own post boards trip to NYC last year. Mixing business and pleasure, I worked as a production assistant on the shoot of the film Love Ludlow, which later premiered at Sundance 2005.

PA’s are the by far the lowest members of the production team. The position was therefore the perfect experience to prepare for hospital rotations during my third year of medical school. My comrades on set included film students, aspiring filmmakers, and siblings of senior staff.

The first shoot required us to begin setting up at 4 AM, a time of day I would grow to be eerily familiar with over the coming year. While the cinematography crew was busy setting up for the dawn shot at the beach, my fellow PA’s and I attempted to assemble an oversize tent to cover the snack table. After several unsuccessful hours, we gave up and quietly disposed of the evidence. “What tent?”

On the second day I was promoted for my excellent work on the tent. Now, brandishing a walkie-talkie and headset, I was posted outside the door to a bar to implore passersby to keep their voices down while filming was in progress.

I had great time with the actors and other crewmembers eating dry bagels and bad coffee between takes. My medical training came in handy when I was sent to the drugstore to buy a band-aid for one the actors who cut his forehead ducking under the bar. All in all, I gained a lot of respect for the production of filmmaking. After all, it took 35 crewmembers, a broken tent, four parking tickets, and six hours to wrap one three-minute scene at the beach.

Here’s a sneak peak of the trailer and some reviews: www.loveludlow.com