Semi-Pro

Yep that's me there to the right of Will Arnett and Andy Daly and no that is not a wig😏

The year was 2007, I was 23 years old and freshly moved to LA. Soon on arrival I met fellow comrade and aspiring filmmaker Rich Hoban. We both had a long hair/care free attitude going at the time and we were desperate to get on a movie set. When we spotted a call for background actors in a 1970's comedy we were all in.

The first morning we hung out in a large tent packed with an eccentric mix of "wanna be" actors, musicans, modern hippies, drifters, ex-cons and the likes of what a 70's movie "cattle call" brings out. I haven't smoked a cigarette in 15 years and I would rarely give any credit to that old habit but on this day we could say smoking paid off. Rich and I stepped out of the tent for a smoke and before I could even spark my lighter a gentleman from the wardrobe team came over and asked my height and waste size. I responded "6 ft, 32 inch" and he said "you want bumped up to a union spot?" "Sure" was my answer and I gave Rich a grin as I passed on the smoke and went in to get suited up in my "scoring table assistant" polyester suit. My day rate had doubled and my holding tent was now luxury with top notch craft service. A score for me. Apparently the guy cast for this role got a better gig for that day and was a no show.

For the next two months I sat for 10-15 hours a day sandwiched between Andy Ritcher and Will Arnett watching Will Ferrell, Andre 3000 and Woody Harrelson riff it up on the court. This was all entertaining but I was more cued in on the decisions and dialogue the cinematographer was having, the skills of the steady cam operator and the rhythm of the grips and gaffers. I learned allot just sitting and witnessing this Hollywood machine in full force. I wanted to be an artist/indie filmmaker and this scene was far from that but I also knew that I should enjoy and learn from this crazy and surreal moment in my life.

After I left that set I worked mostly as crew on smaller projects - independent films, spec commercials, music videos, editing documentaries. All of this took some serious skill, determination, grit, etc. Sitting at that scoring table took absolutely nothing but a little luck. I was just the right height, weight and had some killer 70's loc's but that was it. There was a time when it bothered me that my high school buddies couldn't care less about the award winning documentary I made but want to talk for hours about what Will Ferrell is like. I went years keeping my Semi Pro Cameo on the down low because of this.

With the perspective time gives I look at things differently now. Showing up for a "cattle call" and getting bumped up to the front row of the Will Ferrell show was pretty cool. Pouring my heart and soul into a film and a story I believed in was pretty cool too. But maybe the greatest chapter is the latest one. Starting a small production co in the Midwest and creating videos for people that I care about 🎥😀

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