Cool Sam Eliot story, Brook. The topic of the period pictures and reenacting you reference is neat.

Makes me remember another quick story. When I was a kid we volnteered an hour south of here at Linclon's 'New Salem State Park' in the summer-time. We usually did costumed work where we filled roles as students in the one room school house, or some such, and we often learned frontier skills then acted out these skills to tourists. We made candles & soap- another time we worked with our Dad as a cooper...

Anyway- one summer they were filming a TV mini-series there called "The Awakening Land" that among others starred Elizabeth Mongomery of "Bewitched" fame. When they were "interviewing" for extras for the film she was one of the folks interacting with all those there in costume and I remember her being exceptionally gifted with all the younger kids there who obviously recognized and adored her.

>The topic of the period pictures and reenacting you reference is neat. <

And it all changed after that movie.

Used to be, because people are so impressed about being in a movie, that re-enactors were hired as extras for such films. They got paid ten bucks a day plus lunch. And, rule number one, is that you never approach or speak to a star unless he/she initiates the contact (a friend of mine, who was an extra in The Patriot, still thinks the most exciting part of the experience was when Mel Gibson said "good morning" to her, and she got to reply).

And many in Hollywood also hate Ted Turner and his approach to moviemaking, and try to stick it to him if they can.

The other part of the equation is that extras earn a certain per diem known as scale. If they have special, appropriate skills (such as being battle-trained, or weapons-certified, etc.) they are paid more than scale.

If they bring their own costum, they get a certain amount on top of that. If they bring their own weapons, another premium.

So the situation was that large groups of "extras," many of whom were certified in special skills, who brought their own costumes and weapons, were 1. Being paid far below industry standards (at the time, that should have added up to about $130/day), and 2. Taking work away from professional extras.

I'm not sure if its a subgroup of SAG, or if the extras have their own union. But they went after Turner, and insisted that reenactors be paid the same salary as any other extras. And so it remains to this day.

Speaking of extras' costumes, etc. I've written here before of cooking at a lodge near Valdez where Iditarod-winner Libby Riddles and her team of sled-dogs and handlers stayed w/ us during their stunt-doubling scenes in the Steven Segal/Michael Caine movie 'On Deadly Ground' (AWFUL flick, surpirse-surprise!). Many scenes involved oil workers in Carhardt coveralls and other pricy work gear. Warner Bros. purchased brand new, beautiful new Carhardts and work gear and traded it to the actual workers along the pipeline and at the terminus station to obtain the dirty, grubby used ones for filming. I'm sure the workers were only too happy to get the spiffy new duds!

Great story, Chubbs.

It never ceases to amaze me the kind of bucks Hollywood and the ad agencies will spend.

We were on a longhorn cattle drive once, outside of Dodge City, KS. This was long before City Slickers hit the big screens.

You remember that double truck Marlboro ad that used to be in the magazines? A handful of wranglers driving cattle through a cut. Lots of dust in the air, and you could almost hear them cussing the long-handled cow critters.

That ad was made where we were. At one point I mentioned to the owner/opeator of the ranch that this couldn't be a real cattle drive because there was no dust. "What's with you photographers," he demanded. "This is Kansas. We have grass, not dust. That's why they brought them cows here!"

Anyway, it seems the ad people wanted dust. So they brought in large, portable fans, and truckloads of bentenite. As the wranglers drove the cows, roustabouts shoveled the bentenite into the air, in front of the fans, to create the dust cloud.

They did that three times.

The man told me that by the time they got done paying the rent on his cows, the wranglers salaries, and all the equipment rentals, just making that picture cost $60,000. All for one final still photo.

How do I get a piece of that action?

Brook you made an excellent point and of-course we all know it too!

But there is just something magical about spotting a real live person that we only know by TV, or movies, or a song, or a cookbook, or hey a forum for that matter. Which brings me to this point We are coming for sure to the Tomato Festival, even my Eddie is excited not to mention Maddy!!!
So I just had to brag a little 'cause we are going to get to meet you and that will be special in my book!!!