Hello again, it has been about 3 months since i've last updated and I figured since i'm back to unemployed....what the heck else am I doin?!
As you probably already know, the WGA (writers) and SAG (actors) are still on strike and that has made our industry come to a grinding halt.....after all, what can you film without writers and actors? (well, more on that to come!) The WGA has been on strike since May 1st and while my show still has nearly a month and a half left of filming for the season, we are all in limbo until these strikes are over. But today I didn't want to focus on the WGA or AMPTP or the strikes, most recently i've started to think of what the strike has given me instead of taken away.
Because of the strike: we (Ray, Lauren and Amy) were FINALLY (after years of talking about it) able to do our Six Flags day (in the middle of a "work" day!). We were able to have a little longer trip to Austin to visit Kelly and Brian before they moved back to LA (more on that to come!). I was able to help Lauren with her garage construction project she was hired for. I was able to spend a week with my fam in Florida and meet my new nephew (!!). I was able to work on a reality show I normally NEVER would've worked on (more on that to come!). I was able to leave mid-week for a camping trip up north to celebrate my good friends birthday. I was able to learn and take up a new hobbie of pickleball. I've been able to spend so much time with my wife- hanging out, playing games, and just generally enjoying each others company. I was able to randomly fly to St.Louis for a day for the world's longest commute for a 1 day tech scout. I was able to help my friends move into a new apartment. I able to spend a week in St.Louis running around like a crazy person with my best friend filming 1 last week of said reality show. I was able to help my other best friends move into a house (welcome back to LA Kelly and Brian!!!) I've been able to make and have homemade thai tea at least half (if not/probably more) of the days the industry has been shut down.
Thinking back now to all i've been up to since the strike started, it really does make me feel blessed. (Even though i'm broke, lol. But money comes and goes and the industry will pick back up again) One of the biggest things to happen during the strike was me working on The Boulet Brothers Dragula. Since this is a nonunion reality competition show, there are no writers or actors so the show could carry on! One of my best friends produced it and while we used to work together so much when I first got started, we never work together anymore and it was so so nice to finally be working with him again. As this was a drag competition show, you can imagine that the creators and everyone involved in producing this show are gay....or part of the LGBTQ+ community. I never even considered how different it could be/how it could make you feel to work with a majority queer team and let me tell you, to be surrounded by my kin was nothing like i've ever experienced before. To all be able to understand our quirky jokes and language, it was comfortable, it felt right. Even though the budget was strained we were a scrappy little crew and we got the job done and i think this will be their best season yet! After spending so much time together and traveling to random places in the country, it really made me so fond of these people. I can't imagine my summer without our laughter, really!
All of this to say- it really has been a pretty shitty season for everyone in the film industry. I know a lot of people struggling and it's hard. I hope and I pray that we can all get back to working on our normal shows soon. But until then, i'm going to try to keep focusing on the positive. Being thankful for all the extra time I get to spend with my friends and my wife. All the extra trash TV I normally wouldn't watch that now I binge on days with nothing on the calendar (come on Married At First Sight!) Tomorrow we'll pickleball and Thursday we'll learn how to line dance at a gay line dancing/2 stepping bar. Friday Lauren and I will go back to where it all started 6 years ago having dinner at Pa Ord Noodle. And after that, who knows (probably another season of Married At First Sight) but i'll focus on the rights instead of wrongs and we'll make it through this weird time. Who knows, maybe Crumbl cookies will finally hire me and the next time I write to you i'm a baker!!?
