Fastest Way to Get a Heart Attack?  Be an Onset Writer!

            I’ve worked in entertainment since I was 18 years old.  I’m not going to mention how many years ago that was since that’ll just depress me.  What I will note, though, is that out of all of my experiences onset, nothing comes close to the stress of being an onset writer.

            I am on the set of Jess Meyer’s Tale of a Weekend Suicide for Reel Gem Films and Shae St. Films.   I was originally hired onto this film as a co-producer.  As production time approached, the other producers decided to have me write revisions of the script.  Just like that I became co-producer/writer of the film.  

            When we came to Big Bear to shoot the film, I thought I was just going to do typical producer duties like manage crew and write checks.  If only I were that lucky.   We came here with a very aggressive schedule in mind but were unable to get all of the shots that we needed, so the assistant director asked me to do rewrites on the spot. 

            I had to take off my producer cap and put my writer cap back on.   I literally locked myself in the production office and commenced writing onset revisions.   Everyday the assistant director would bring me a list of scenes they shot so I could cross them off my list.  He would tell me how many pages we were able to shoot with our budget and time constraints; I would then cut the script down and still try to keep the integrity of the original story.

            Let me tell you right now, this was a pretty stressful experience.   I had to write on a consistent basis against the clock.  Then I would have to redo everything I had already done according to what they shot.  I persevered and made changes as the schedule tightened.  I compromised with the directors and argued with the actors on a daily basis.

I am not bitter about the experience.  If I can handle being an onset writer then I should be able to handle everything else Hollywood throws my way – hopefully!

Victor Phan & Rylie Potter

Torture Chamber Productions

August 29, 2009