Imagine my excitement on Friday night when Nathan informed me that our friend Jim Wright had invited me onto a photo shoot with him the next day. My mind immediately began reeling and imagining whom the “talent” (as they say in the business) could be. Nathan soon enough told me that the shoot was in actual fact with –“McDreamy”- that is, Patrick Dempsey in the non-Grey’s Anatomy reality we actually inhabit.
I did a little dance of joy, Nathan kindly pretended to share my enthusiasm, and I immediately demanded he ring Jim’s partner, who had extended the invitation on behalf of Jim, to accept this glorious offer. Of course, my excitement was 90% about watching Jim work, and only 10% around seeing, meeting and daydreaming about impossible interactions with “the talent”.
An hour passed, me in complete euphoria, Nathan being pseudo-excited but supportive. I gleefully posted a note on the online netball message board the reason for my planned non-attendance at training the following day. Soon the little red flashing light on Nathan’s blackberry alerted us to the arrival of the “call sheet” from Jim providing details for the shoot. Upon reading this, I discovered the talent was in fact Eric Dane. Following a quick Google search I discovered that Eric Dane is better known as Grey’s Anatomy’s bad boy, A.K.A. “McSteamy”. This changed everything. My excitement was now 10% watching Jim work and 90% seeing/meeting and daydreaming about impossible interactions with “McSteamy”.
The Day of the Shoot:
Following a disappointing viewing of the Wallabies defeat by England in the Rugby World Cup, Nathan and I headed downtown. We arrived “on location” to find it already abuzz with “crew”, though no Jim and no McSteamy as yet. After about 5 minutes of hanging in the background, we were approached by Betsy who explained she was the ‘On-Set Producer’ (though we had absolutely no idea what that meant). She encouraged us to have a look around the location whilst we waited for Jim’s arrival. Feeling completely intimidated by the other 10 people – all of whom looked as though they actually belonged on set, and knew what they were doing, we milled around the entrance of the warehouse until we saw Jim arrive.
We were then introduced to Nick and Tate, the ‘Prop Stylist’ and ‘Prop Stylist Assistant’ (or the guys who carry all the heavy furniture up and down stairs for the various shoots and control the smoke machine). It was upon meeting Tate and whilst touring the facility with the three of them that our real LA experience occurred. Tate asked us, “So are you two the models for the shoot today?” Bless his little heart!!
Within half an hour of arriving on location there were over 30 people on the set. Some of them had distinct roles – make-up, caterer, wardrobe. Others we were later at least made aware of their title – even if their role was still unclear). Some were indistinguishable in role or title, though I think the best term for them would be ‘fan club’ or ‘clucking hens’.
The technical crew consisted of:
• Photographer (obviously Jim)
• Photo Assistant 1, 2, 3 and 4!
• Photo Agency Rep
• Producer
• On-Set Producer
• Stylist
• Wardrobe
• Designer
• Make-up
• Groomer
• Prop Car
• Prop Car Assistant
• Prop Stylist
• Prop Stylist Assistant
• Motor home driver
• Caterer
• Caterer Assistant
The magazine crew consisted of:
• Executive Director
• Creative Director 1 and 2
• Account Director
• Editor in Chief
• Director of Photography
• Writer
Finally, the talent crew consisted of:
• Eric Dane (A.K.A. McSteamy)
• Talent Agent
• Groupies (A.K.A. Clucking Hens) – of which there were at least 5. Their role was unclear, though the phrases “You look beautiful”, “It looks beautiful’ and “That looks beautiful on you”, were obviously a large part of their brief for the day.
Who could have imagined that for a magazine cover and few inside pages, so many people could possibly need to be involved in the actual photo taking. One thing Nathan and I both agreed on, other than that Eric Dane is hot, was that ‘Photographer’ does not even come close to describing Jim’s role in the whole process. He embodied: Photographer; Artist; Choregrapher; Creative Director; Counselor; Director; Human Resource Manager; Pacifier; Manager; Marketer; Mediator; Modelling Coach; Motivator; Scientist; and Wardrobe Consultant. In short, other than the immediate and obvious technical assistant provided by his 4 staff of photo assistants and the 2 Prop Stylists, as well as the role of the actual ‘talent’, we concluded that all other positions were in actual fact fulfilled by Jim.
Of course, much of our day was spent watching McSteamy look – well ‘McSteamy’. I even caught a few glimpse of shirtlessness (though I didn’t mention this to Nathan). I tried to leave the clucking and fawning to the middle-aged hens, and focus much of my attention on the technical and artistic skills of Jim and his crew. These skills were impressive and it was not hard to feel completely in awe of Jim and his talents. The Polaroid’s of the photos looked amazing - Jim even made his assistant look like a supermodel in the test shots. Smoke, lighting, water on the floor, and reflection boards all transformed an old warehouse into a thousand different scenes. All of this done to the atmosphere-creating tunes of Bruce Springsteen from Jim’s boom-box.
The different shoots involved a 1967 Continental, a dark and dingy hallway, an old desk and chair, and an antique sofa. Six hours later it was “a wrap”. It then dawned on me that due to my determination to steer clear of appearing as one of the “clucky hens” I had in actual fact lost most of my opportunities to talk with McSteamy. Whilst Nathan attempted to discourage me thanking him for allowing us to sit in on his shoot (it was slightly voyeuristic in retrospect) I persevered and waited outside his dressing room for him to emerge.
Upon him alighting from behind the curtain I thanked him for allowing us to sit in and “observe Jim at work”. He said (and I quote), “Not a problem. I am sorry I didn’t get introduced to you earlier. I am Eric. What’s your name?” Extending my hand to shake his and replied, “I’m Bree.”
“Right on Bree, it was a pleasure”, he said clasping my hand in both of his. He then jumped on his motorbike and rode away into the sunset…
Okay, so he didn’t ride away into the sunset, though I am sure he would have if my husband wasn’t standing at the car with my door open, eagerly awaiting for me to get in so he could speed away into the sunset with me himself.
It was our ultimate LA experience.
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