lol whoops (no.10)
now back to our regularly-ish scheduled programming.
We are actually SUPER BACK for another edition of Rent’s Due, the latest and greatest in reader-supported journalism (if you consider a blog where I drop clips about Ugandan wrestling journalism1). But enough with my preamble, let me explain where I’ve been.
where did i go lol?
I”m going to answer that, but also not right now.
I want to start off by giving a super special thanks to everyone in my life that have gone out of their way to support me during this mini-break. Whether it’s been people catching up to the first batch of articles or even friends who’ve asked me what the fuck this is about, I sincerely appreciate any word that came my way the past few weeks. Y’all know who you are 🫶.
so:
Like I’m sure is the case with many personal projects throughout all of time, a lot of life things got in the way of my initial promise for this site, which was to publish at least two articles/week about things we (but mostly me) thought was cool to read about. It’s not like I had a list of ideas that quickly dried up either, I’ve got a notes sub-folder with a ton of things to research through at least October. As the saying goes: shit just kinda happened.
And said shit had got me thinking: instead of coming back to Rent’s Due with another editorial about my thoughts regarding something nerdy and/or niche, why not be mostly-transparent about what’s been going on in my life recently? A couple of Storytime anecdotes that are mostly non-fictional and won’t get my ass in trouble IRL. So yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do right now.
To the shock of no one, a huge chunk of the hiatus was due to my commitments as a wage-slaving individual. That’s not a dig at my job(s) at all, btw. I work in Film and TV production whenever work comes by locally, and I part-time as a manager for a non-profit arts org. Without giving much away, I genuinely love what I do (gas mileage aside). Things started to pick up in both my fields to the point that I couldn’t really pass up. I got promoted in one job and got more credits under my belt in the other, so that’s good at least.
Okay so forget that I said “without giving much away” for a second cause I want to give my thoughts about local production work rq. Over the past 5 weeks I was lucky enough to get on at least *six* back-to-back projects that were shooting in Miami, with at least one of them as a Script Supervisor. I’ve been working as a Production Assistant for most of my career thus far, but to finally get opportunities where I was able to advance up has been so fucking sweet right now. That’s also not a dig at PA work, btw. A lot of distinguished workers in South Florida still do it so long as the time and money is right, and most times we have to take whatever we can get.2 It hasn’t been easy for anybody since the strikes ended last year, but hopefully this is a sign of more jobs to come. And if it isn’t, support your local IATSE more than ever this summer, folks!
While a lot of my offline work was spent in various film and TV shoots, a big formative one for me was working a couple weeks straight with Untitled Established Reality Show That I’m Definitely Not Allowed to Reveal Here. There’s not much I want to legally say about this gig, but it did give me some newfound appreciation for the ways every department comes together to create genuine moments of wild random shit for millions of audiences; an appreciation that I’ll hold for the rest of my life. I met a lot of funny people and got to work with some of the best PAs in my career so far. It’s one thing if you’re driving around downtown in the middle of the night with a crew you don’t care for, but it’s another thing when you’re doing that with cool people who basically become your second family throughout a shoot. If any of you are reading this, I hope you’re well and our paths can cross again soon. And to the woman from Kentucky, thanks for recommending me those Chappell Roan songs. They were actually pretty good! I mean it though, I wasn’t just nodding profusely to it cause I thought you were hot. Think you are hot? Idk, I gotta buy a new style guide to figure out which tense to use. But yeah thanks.3
Someone probably died while I was working an overnight gig??? Basically I was hired to play security guard for the night to some talent on a competition series. It was a chill job for the most part, but while I was chatting it up with the concierge over coffee, I got called to check in on said talent because they told me there was someone screaming in pain nearby. I didn’t hear anything at first, and when I knocked on the talent’s door they opened with asking “hey do you hear the screaming going on right now?” (a completely normal thing to say, mind you). I told them no before hearing what sounded like the loudest cry/laugh I’d ever heard through thick hotel doors. I told the talent that I’d handle it and to lock their door for the night, before tracing the sound to a couple rooms away from theirs. I would just hear these really off-putting masculine(?) sounds that were unironically similar to this, with huffing screams of “I LOOOOVEEE YOUUU” placed in between. I asked the concierge to see if they could check on it while I went to grab some Denny’s (I was technically on break, and my ass was starving). When I came back, the concierge noticed me and told me it was all taken care of. “No worries! It was exactly what I thought,” he said, and didn’t elaborate further. That last bit honestly made me more confused than anything else tbh. What do you mean it’s what you thought lmfao? “Oh don’t worry sir I figured it was a homicide from what you told me. Have a pleasant evening!” I would find out later that it was some lady whose stitches popped out from a recent surgery, which I guess checks out. But doesn’t explain the “I LOOOOVEEE YOUUU” part. If she was by herself she would basically be saying it to her or his stitches, right? Idk I still think someone died there that shit was weird.
I’m actually *not* going to get into a lot of my time with this year’s Miami Film Festival and Record Store Day, cause they’re the subjects for future pieces dropping soon. For now I’ll say that for MFF it felt good to properly network alongside my peers and represent films that we either supported, worked on, and/or both! I had my cute lil’ scripty badge and everything, and it was cool to talk to people who were in need of one. Look forward to a recap on what I watched there soon. As for RSD, I bought a nice haul that I’m slowly listening through, so also look forward to me bringing out my Anthony Fantano glasses while I flex my pretentious music theory knowledge. En serio, I haven’t had a place to really talk about music in awhile, so this will be somewhat cathartic for me and hopefully entertaining for you.
Despite how busy I’ve seemed from the anecdotes above, it’s this last bit that’s kept me mentally checked out from writing sooner. Within the span of two weeks I had two people who are very close to me suffer a serious injury. One was thankfully just a sprain that’s gotten better since, but it was a family health scare that I took really seriously. During this time there were a couple of days where I went to a nearby cafe to *try* and get myself to write, but the thought of my family member was all I could think about. I’m not saying she’s to blame for why I couldn’t come back to this (that would be literally insane), I’m just trying to color where my mind was at. The important thing with her is that she’s feeling much better. Really all I could want from the world right now.
The other, unfortunately, was a very sudden event to someone I’ve known for more than 10 years; a brother in practically every sense of the word. Now, I’ve been to the hospital plenty of times before, but this one felt different because not only was it someone my own age, it was a person that has been a constant part in my life. An Affleck to my Damon, or whoever’s supposed to be the short one there. Thankfully, same as the first person mentioned, he’s more than okay now. Which, again, I couldn’t be more grateful for.
If there’s anything that I learned from those recent health scares, it’s that nothing in this world should be taken for granted. We are not in control of how long we’re put on this Earth, but we are in charge of how we choose to spend our time in it. If I were a doctor, I’d suggest spending it with the people who love you back, taking care of yourself, building bridges towards peace and collaboration rather than disdain or isolation, and conquering whatever fears you have so you can do the things you’ve been wanting to do forever. I’m not a doctor though, but I’ll suggest it anyway.
what’s next, then?
OKAY. So with that all out of the way, here’s a short list of things to expect from Rent’s Due as we approach the summer months:
Definitely a lot of X-Men shit.
MFF and RSD recaps, the latter featuring Joe Pesci!
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at some point.
Piracy: why you CAN steal things you’re not allowed to own.
Something about Columbo.
Something Something YouTube Drama.
A look at the Chris Benoit Facebook freaks.
Queens of the Stone Age if I can still get tickets to see them.
And finally, a look back on UFC 001: Bloodsports at its finest.
Until then, give your loved ones a call and treat yourself to something good. Give me a subscribe if you can and I’ll see y’all soon.
P.S. I was leaving the hospital the other day and someone keyed this person’s car. At a hospital!
Seriously though have y’all seen this shit lmfao it’s amazing. A bunch of Ugandan orphans fighting in the dirt against their colonizing heel manager named Lord WHITE is already better than most or all of pro-wrestling right now, besides anything Cody and Danielson/Ospreay. I’ll leave this podcast interview with the owner here cause I’m legitimately enthralled by what they’re doing.
PAs do a lot of work for what can easily be very little money. While there’s not much we can do about the demands of another random home-care crew coming down from California, it’s important to remember your worth and (most specifically) your time on a project no matter how “new” you are in the industry. Do your best to negotiate a good daily rate for yourself if you *know* the time/travel costs aren’t sufficient. And if that doesn’t work? Fuck ‘em. More opportunities always come.
Apologies to you and your partner if there is one in the picture, but (respectfully-speaking) dude what can I say 🤷♂️.