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In this week’s episode of Martini Shot, host Rob Long mulls over the idea that, in Hollywood, everyone is an artist and is very used to doing things the way they do it. Which makes the unexpected sometimes impossible to comprehend when it happens (and it does). And as artists, they often feel entitled to a certain amount of eccentricity and perfectionism, including, but not limited to, having their cake and eating it, too (metaphorically speaking). Cue the Cake Guy…
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Rob, I’ve been a Martini Shot fan for years. You bring our business alive perfectly with your Hollywood shorthand. Understanding the language makes one feel like an insider and that’s great. We “prop guys” recognize your not well-veiled contempt regarding things like birthday cakes and flipped scene orders. We hear it constantly. I won’t apologize for my species but I will say it’s unfortunate that your prop guy wasn’t able to absorb the change more gracefully. We try not to put our own needs before that of the production. There is no doubt that the cake from his cake guy would have been infinitely better but sometimes Ralph’s really can make life so much simpler. We “prop guys” get rubbed raw over the course of our careers. I’m sure being able to take a beautiful handmade cake home to his family that night helped him get over the indignity of throwing a Ralph’s birthday cake in the scene.
Ron Seigel
Props in Hollywood
So true! Most of the prop guys -- in fact, most of the crew in every company I've ever had -- have been excellent. This guy was too, actually -- but I thought his digging in and lack of flexibility was emblematic of the business as a whole. I've seen more My Cake Guy Tunnelvision in exec offices, to be honest.