You know, in the Hollywood machine, there are so many levels and so many people that feed into this system that it is really hard to believe. …Hard to believe for those who are not in the game. And, I believe this is one of the big problems in and with the industry. There are all of these people in the Out There who really do not understand the workings of the business. Yet, they talk and talk and talk. But, have they been here? Have they attempted to walk the dream? Did they ever get their headshots taken and send hundreds of them out attempting to get an audition in order to hopefully/maybe get a role? Do they or did they ever go through the process and actually getting an agent, which is not easy to do, and then go to a multitude of auditions that equal nothing? Have they ever signed a deal with a production company or a distributor or a… The answer for most is, no. Yet, they talk.
 
I entered the game, via the A-Market, much later in life than most people attempt to play their hand. Even there/then, I realized that what was going on was not what the people in the Out There saw as the truth. I remember I was cast as surfer on the film, Hot Shots! Part Deux, that starred Charlie Sheen. I don’t know if my bit ever made it to the final cut. What I do remember is that they did not have enough crew on the set, so they asked some of the actors, myself included, to help run cable from the generator trunks along the beach to power the lights.  Me, I was happy to do it. I was new to the game, and it all seemed like fun. Others, however, they were more seasoned professionals, and they got pissed, exclaiming we should be getting union electrician’s wages on top of our day player wages, and below the line crew screen credit, and the like. Of course, none of that happened. But, for me, all that was just part of the biz.
 
In the indie film game, it’s all another playing field. Everyone chips in and helps. There were movies I was acting in, in the early stages of my emersion into the game, where I even shot scenes for film, as I was the only other person on the set, besides the D.P., who had camera experience. All good with me. Though I did hope to get a screen credit reflecting my contribution, which I did not. All this was during a time when we all happily acted and did whatever else we needed to do and we did it for free. A better time, I believe.
 
What caused me to think about this was a blog I recently wrote, where I mentioned this one young lady. As the story goes, and has been told before, I was doing the soundtrack for The Roller Blade Seven. That task had come at me, all of a sudden, out of the blue, and it had to be created over one weekend. Yes, one weekend. That’s insane, I get it. Insane, at a time in history before computers came to play a big part in soundtrack creation. So, it had to all be analogue.

One weekend, that was all the time I had to work on it. …All explained elsewhere. The problem was, my drum machine had died. Me, I called up this sweet young lady, that I was seeing on the side, who was more than a bit in love with me. I had no time, as we were in the midst of editing the film, so I asked to go and buy me a drum machine at Guitar Center in Hollywood—not too far from where she lived. I didn’t even care what kind it was. I could figure it out. But, I knew I had to have one as Don and I had hoped to do a very rhythm-filled soundtrack for the film. She bought me one. And, that drum machine gave The Roller Blade Seven all of those great beats in the soundtrack. She did this, and received no screen credit, no on-screen thanks. Only the, “Thanks,” in my mind. For if I had never mentioned it, it would never be known.
 
If you actually know anything about Hollywood, if you have lived the game, you understand that anyone who has never really lived the life—lived it, here in the Heart of the Beast, that they do not truly understand the goings-on. Yet, they speak all the time—talk about what they do not and cannot truly understand, as all they speak of is not based upon experiential knowledge.
 
The fact is, this kind of, “No Credit,” stuff goes on all the time. It has happened to me. It has happened to a lot of people I’ve known. But, that does not mean that they did not provide a great contribution to a film or films or the industry as a whole.
 
Does no credit make their contribution any less? No, not at all. But, I believe it is sad—sad in the annals of history, that if no one mentions their name, their contribution is lost to the minds of the masses forever.
 
So, just remember, it always takes a lot of people to make something a reality. Many of them never receive the credit that they deserve. Though they may not receive the credit they deserve, that does not mean that they did not provide a great contribution to the creation of that whatever.