Chapter 12: Saturday and Sunday, Week One

Saturday

I was up and on the quad by 5:45am (that is 2:45am California time) and pleased to see Heather joining me a couple of minutes later.

The instructors quickly divided us into three groups and I soon figured out that all the actors were in one group. What was surprising was that the wheelchair girl was in my group. And she was attaching something to her legs. I couldn’t help wandering over to introduce myself.

“Whatcha’ doing?” I asked innocently.

“Why, I’m getting ready to run your sweet ass in the ground!” she told me with a little attitude.

“You think my ass is sweet?” I asked.

She paused and looked me up and down. “I’m putting on my blades,” she finally said. “They’re usually called running blades. Technically, they’re athletic spring legs, which are a type of carbon-fiber prosthetics designed to store and release kinetic energy during running and jumping. I find them great for high-impact sports. They give me great energy return and performance compared to my everyday prosthetics.”

“I’m sold! Where can I get one?” I teased.

“The only way you are going to get anywhere near one of these, is on the set!” she claimed. And then she laughed.

“This is going to make me sound like a stalker, but can I run behind you?”

“Just to watch my runners?” she asked, confused.

“And your fine ass, of course!”

“Well, if you can keep up...”

“Just take it easy on me. My body’s still on California time and it’s three o’clock in the morning there.”

Just then, the instructor led us off down one of the paths. We weren’t running exactly. More like a fast jog and the girl with no legs was almost out of sight.

I did see the guy with the tattooed arm. And he didn’t appear to be the only one. In fact, visible tattoos seem to be prevalent on at least four of the eight other guys.

“Oh, well. Whatever floats your boat,” I thought.

I caught up with the handicapped girl when the instructor stopped us in front of the metal buildings that I had seen from my window last night. And as she kept us running in place, she told us a little about the studios.

“There are a total of eight sound stages, with two soundstages in each of these four large buildings. They are equipped with the latest technology for producing movies. Buildings One and Two are the ones you will be using the most. Building Three has special accommodations for drone filming and building Four, in addition to soundstages seven and eight, also has the closet. That’s a large storage area for costumes and props that will be used throughout your time here.”

Then she herded us on our way.

When we got back to the quad, she dismissed us for breakfast and most everyone made a beeline for the café. I hung back a little, watching as the wheelchair girl changed out of her running prosthetics. Then, when I judged she was ready, I simply walked up behind her and started pushing her wheelchair for her.

She was startled at first and then acted like she was slightly peeved.

“My name is Ryan. I don’t have my porn name yet. I can’t seem to find anything that works. I’m from LA and just started in the business a couple of weeks ago,” I told her in two sentences.

“Hello, Ryan. Thanks for the hand. This thing can be a bitch to get up the ramps sometimes,” she said as I pushed her towards the café. “By-the-way, I’m Stephanie St. James from Las Vegas, but my real name is Julie.”

I helped her through the line, although she really didn’t need it, as we shared some small talk the entire way. At the table, you could never tell she was handicapped if you didn’t see her chair.

“Do you mind if I ask how old you are?” I asked her. It was considered a safe question to most actors.

“I’ll be twenty-one in December. I lost both my legs in a plane crash when I was sixteen,” she told me. “I was flying my dad’s Cessna 172 and came down too hard. I was lucky. No smoke, no fire, just the engine compartment crushing my lower legs. But it took me two years to even walk again.”

I winced because it was a painful thought. “I’m eighteen and broke my ankle playing basketball a couple of years ago and it still hurts when it rains sometimes. How did you get into the business?” I asked.

“I was horny,” she replied quickly. “You see, no one wanted to date a crippled girl, even if all my other parts work just fine. So after I graduated last summer, I finally worked up my nerve to answer one of those open casting calls. Fortunately, one of the producers saw me there, and after much discussion and a serious casting audition right there on his couch, he agreed to give me a shot.”

“I didn’t get many scenes, but finally, a lady producer at another studio called and offered me a three-scene deal if I would play up the wheelchair/handicap aspect. I took it. That led to the studio looking to find more and finally deciding to develop their own genre. That’s why I’m here.”

“That is way chill!” I said. “Can I help?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t we see what happens?” Julie suggested.

After breakfast, they started our medical exams. I saw Heather coming out of the clinic building while I was going in, but we didn’t have much time to talk. She said she would look for me at lunch.

However, the late nights, long days, and the time change finally caught up with me and I crashed in my room for a nap before lunch. I missed lunch with Heather completely because I had to hurry back to the auditorium for the second part of orientation at 1:30.

This time they really excited everybody. They started with the admin staff. That’s basically the ones that wanted to be active behind the camera. They mentioned all the leaders and guest lecturers they would have and then led all of the admin campers out of the auditorium.

Then they started the technical staff introductions and as each instructor came forward, they talked a little about what they’d be teaching. New technology was prevalent through most of them and I was fascinated. Drones and computer controlled trolleys dominated the camera operators attentions. And the sound engineers went gaga over new pickups and remote controlled booms and extensions. I thought the editors were going to riot when she mentioned who some of their guest lecturers were going to be, with several names associated with well-known movies at the top of their list. They too then left the auditorium.

For the actors, it wasn’t so much new things as learning to work with all this new technology. They also talked about the basics and certain tricks of the trade. Overall, the emphasis seem to be more to the creative side, discovering new niches for the product, and creative new ways to present it. Finally they dismissed us.

I was headed back to my room for a quick shower when Anne approached me in the lobby of the Wolf Lodge.

“Ryan? Mr. Nobles would like to speak with you,” she said. “If you’ll come with me.” Then she led me back across to what I discovered was the administration building. The outside design followed the stone and timber motif of the other buildings, but the inside was still just run-of-the-mill commercial office building. That was ... until we reached Mr. Nobles office. A secretary greeted me in a normal reception room and I sat on a small couch for less than a minute when she said that Brad would see me now. I looked around but didn’t know where to go.

She just pointed to a faux Indian teepee stuck to the wall. It was as if it had been cut, top to bottom, and half of it glued to a wall of spruce pine paneling. I cautiously raised the flap and stuck my head in. Then I just laughed in glee.

His office was like an Indian campsite, complete with a couple of other teepees and what looked like an electric log fire in a firepit. Mr. Nobles was sitting on a large faux stone, on one side of the fire pit wearing Khakis and an orange knit shirt with a University of Tennessee logo on it. The idiosyncrasy appealed to me and I decided I liked him immediately.

“Mr. Nobles?” I said.

“You mean you can still call me that after you’ve seen all this?” he asked waving his hand around his office. “Just call me Brad and come on in and take a load off.”

I settled on a nearby rock and waited to see what he wanted.