Packed to the Brim, Ready for Anything
- bradbores
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
My 1994 Chevy S-10 “Primered Gray” Pickup was packed to the brim with everything I owned crammed inside the capped bed. It was still dark on a fall 2011 morning and I was preparing to drive from Los Angeles to New Orleans. Along for the ride was a 40 year old reformed gang banger, former golden glove runner-up, retired boxer and friend Dino Wells. I had just started the filming of a documentary about Dino’s life. He was moving to New Orleans to reunite with his estranged son and also train at the Crescent City Boxing gym. The timeframe of the filming was uncertain and I knew I had to make the move with him to keep the film going. Following the dream of the film and running on the fumes of my LA existence I decided to pack it up and get out of dodge.
6 years earlier I was heading West just days after graduating from Bowling Green State University in Ohio with an Arts degree. My 1993 Dodge Avenger radio cranked, windows down and (as you would imagine) it was packed to the brim. Without much of a plan I was ready for anything. On arrival I was enamored with the vast juxtaposition Los Angeles was to my Midwest haunts. It felt like a culmination of every Red Hot Chili Peppers song with a shot of Jim Morrison and a side of Guns and Roses rolled in. Head first and running on the naive bravado of my early 20’s I was on a mission to be a Filmmaker. My first gig had nothing to do with filmmaking but taught me the lay of the land and how to survive in the city. I was moving the highest end custom furniture you could imagine from the slummy east side where it was hand built to the mansions of Beverly Hills and Malibu. By the grace of craigslist I gradually started PA-ing, gripping, gaffing, and crashing every and any film set I could find. Low-budge, no pay, student films, non-union, it didn't matter. I was still working the typical LA side gigs like serving drinks at ritzy weddings and movie premieres to pay the bills.
I stumbled onto a Will Ferrell movie set and somehow ended up working 3 months as a Union Background actor nestled between Andy Ricther and Will Arnett at a scoring table (guess the movie?). I made some “rough around the edges” indie films with friends that we poured everything into. The only legit day job that I landed was as an editor at Fancy Film Post Production. Here I discovered my love of documentary films and the craft of editing. I helped start a gritty downtown film festival with my friend and comrade Rich Hooban that showcased zero budget filmmakers. I slept on the edge of the Grand Canyon, cut lanes on the freeway with my 1982 Kawasaki 500 LTD Motorcycle, road tripped up and down the West Coast and on a dare with my buddy Joel Dickerson jumped in the ocean in the middle of the night at Venice Beach where Jim Morrison still haunts the streets. It wasn’t all roses though as I had some low and humbling moments as well. A string of missed opportunities, heartbreak, credit card debt and the lack of responsibility were also in the mix. It was learning from the school of hard knocks all on my own without much of a safety net or the comforts of my midwest roots to lean back on. At the end of the day Los Angeles was a necessary stomping ground on my journey but it wasn't the last stop on the road.
I left with an empty wallet and a truck bed full of clothes, an acoustic guitar, milk crate filled with some keepsakes, a Panasonic DVX camcorder and a barely functioning macbook pro. I had the highlight reel in my memory for all these “rad” experiences from the past 6 years but in the “real world-career wise” category it all felt like a lot of nothing. My resume was "unresumeable". I didn't have much time to ruminate on all of this as coming at me like a freight train was an unrelenting documentary film to finish in New Orleans. With the help of a successful crowdfunding campaign and a new filmmaking comrade, Tony Ledet, I was able to become totally immersed in the task at hand. After a long and grueling year in New Orleans the film culminated to a triumphant end point. I went back to Monroeville, Ohio and meticulously edited the film with BGSU Intern Kevin DeVore while I worked construction to pay off debt and figure out my next move. The film- "When the Bell Rings", went on to be a success and changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. It played in film festivals, won awards, and got a digital distribution deal. The most meaningful and unexpected moment of all was when it screened in Fort Wayne, Indiana. That serendipitous night I met the love of my life Lindsay and the next chapter of my life as a Hoosier. After that screening Indiana slowly became my new home to raise a family and start a production company.
Back in 2005 at 21 years old I took a chance. I didn't stay home, I didn't take the obvious path, I did everything I wasn't expected to do. I stayed up too late, turned it up too loud, poured it all out and took every wrong turn until I found the right one. Now with about 15 years behind my days as a budding filmmaker I can truly appreciate how that era has shaped my career. Nothing mediocre, nothing cautious, relentlessly all in, all the way. Only now with some humble precision and consideration mixed in. As always packed to the brim and ready for anything.
