The Places I Will Call

On a recent House episode, House calls the CDC in regards to a theory on small pox. He poses as a screenwriter. "Hi, I'm writing a screenplay. Is it possible that the small pox can survive for 200 years in a sealed glass jar on the ocean floor?" House holds up the phone and the guy on the other end says, "Well, theoretically, yes, it could..." House promptly hangs up on him. This sequence made me laugh because I make phone calls like that at least twice a month. "Hi, I'm calling from a movie production company in Los Angeles. We're working on a film and I have a quick question that I hope you can answer...."

Today, I made a phone call to Scripps Institute of Oceanography down in San Diego to ask them how to pronounce "Marianas Trench." We're in post-production on a movie and suddenly everyone's wondering if the actor said the word right. This has become part of my job. For some unknown reason, I am now the girl to go to if you have an obscure question that needs to be answered.

On Wednesday, I called Sunset Beach Town Hall in North Carolina to ask them about the Kindred Spirit mailbox. Mary said that she didn't know the history of the mailbox, but Judy should. But Judy was at lunch. When Judy called me back, she gave me Bill's home phone number. I called Bill yesterday. Bill is the Chairman of the Bird Island Preservation Society and did indeed know the history of the mailbox and also gave me the number of the person who put it up and tends it. I'm saving that information for the script process.

I also called the American Physical Therapy Association in Virginia to find out if a person with a MPT (Masters of Physical Therapy) would have the title of Doctor since our Art Department on one of films thought it was appropriate to put Dr. in front of a character's name, followed by MPT. APTA confirmed one can get a doctorate in Physical Therapy, but would have to complete a DPT (Doctorate of Physical Therapy). There's going to be a lot of CGI'ing on that one...

Back in August, I called the USO to find out what was served at the USOs back in WWII (whatever they could get donated). I called the Atlanta VA Medical Center to find out what volunteers are able to do at the local VAs past filing and making copies of files (yes, they can read to the vets). I called the L.A. Naval Recruiting Office to find out how old a chaplain can be (they top out usually at 42).

For the same project, I called the Atlanta History Center who directed me to the Kenan Research Center in regards to where Navy troops would have shipped out from Georgia for the Pacific theater. Mark said that they would have been put on a train to the west coast where they would have been shipped out from San Diego. So then I called the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth and spoke to Jeff about the path the train would have taken from Atlanta to San Diego and exactly which ones of the Atlanta area train stations are still around today (none, but Jeff could tell you the number of the train and what track it went out on!).

In the spring, I called a farm in Rhode Island to find out if local farms could be both a Christmas tree farm and a fresh produce farm (they can). I called the Salt Lake City school board to ask about integrating homeless students into public schools in the 1980s. I called Macy's in New York to ask permission if a character could work for them, and I called Amherst college in Massachusetts to ask if a character could go to their school (yes and yes). I called Century 21 about how real estate agents get their listings.

I used to hate making these phone calls. I used to scour the internet looking for answers before picking up the phone and just calling. However, I don't mind as much any more (unless it's a truly trivial question in which the answer is pretty evident). Why? Mainly because people are really helpful. Most people, when getting an out-of-the-blue phone call from a production company in Los Angeles are excited to answer whatever ridiculous question I can ask. And by the end of it, I'm usually getting invited out to wherever the person is. Which I think is pretty nice. "Make sure you call me if your ever in North Carolina," Bill said yesterday. "Stop by the farm if you're ever passing this way," invited the Rhode Island farmer. Amherst wanted me to send me a sweatshirt. Century 21 sent the set a real golden blazer and name tag with the character's name on it (we used it in filming). Macy's wanted to know if I could send a copy of the movie to them for their archive (which is interesting, especially if you've seen their new commercial in which they use clips from TV and movies with characters saying "Macys" -- our film did not make the cut). I won't go so far as to say that people are nice in general. My years as a cop taught me that they're not. And if I just called up and asked, "how do you pronounce Marianas?" I probably would be hung up on. But for the most part, I think people like to be useful.

At the end of every conversation, I tell the person the name of the movie, the month and station it will be broadcast on. Not only is it good marketing for the film, but because I know that it means something to people to see their contribution pay off. Even if it is only a farm that has both a Christmas tree lot and produce gardens.