WTF - FILM SET POLITICS
Sometimes the best wisdom is found through funny stories.
Once I made the mistake of accepting a gig to replace a cinematographer, which included working with and taking charge of his crew. This film was a mess to begin with and even worse when I had to come in week three of a six week shoot and tell his crew what to do. Adding to that was an AD who was a friend of the director and who had originally wanted the coveted DP position for himself. Hiring me meant he'd been passed over a second time.
Day one was miserable. And the AD was on my back about the dumbest stuff. All he did was get in my way. My usual tactic for handling that sort of thing is to ask the AD for help in flying out some equipment so as to look like we were speeding things up. This distracts the AD at least for a little while so you can focus on catching up the schedule. But this technique didn't work this time. So in desperation I called in a friend who was an actor.
I instructed my actor friends to do as follows: show up on the set the next day in grip gear ready to be a set grip. Keep ears opened for what the crew is saying and funnel back to me. Make sure to arrive separately from me and act as if we don't know each other. He obliged and reported to me what I expected, a disgruntled, overworked crew who hated this gig and were only on it for experience and a reel. The next day, I instructed my actor to copy negative comments the AD was making about me behind my back, and to become more public about it as the day wore on. Finally, on the third day my actor friends was there, I instructed him to make the comments within earshot and in front of the crew. I gave him a little lee-way to get a few good ones in and then fired him loudly and publicly in front of everyone. He sulked off the set and I had no more troubles with the crew (including AD) for the rest of the shoot. I bought my actor friend a pizza and gave him a $50 dollar gift cert to Starbucks all for a job well done.
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