Houston Camera Crew and Camera Operator
We talk with a few Houston, TX based camera crews. We’ll talk about local projects, production life, experience, gear and much more.
Houston Camera Crew Panel
Houston Camera Crews and Camera Operator Services
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Welcome to this edition of crew talk brought to you by shoots.video. My name is Bonnie or Bobby. If you’re the baristas at Starbucks, and today we’re gonna be chatting, Texas camera crews. We’ve got Olivia, Justin Casey, and Shannon and Jeremy. I will open up the floor and ask if anybody would like to go first and introduce yourself, tell us where you are, what you do. Just kind of open up the floor. If anybody wants to go first. That way I don’t put anybody on the spot.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Okay. Well, no, Ben. Oh, okay. He said he’ll do it. Okay. Casey.
Casey Showalter :
All right. Yeah, I’m Casey. Schal, I’m just based south of Dallas. I’m a director of photography. Is that it?
Bonnie Marie Williams:
That works. That works for me. Short and sweet. I love it.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Great. I’m Jeremy, I’m Shanna. We are based in Beaumont, Texas, which is in the Houston area. We have a video production company called Light Strike Productions. I’m a writer director, she’s a producer and we do everything from film and television to commercial production corporate video, industrial work, a lot of industrial work with Patrick chemical in, in east, Texas and Gulf coast. So
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Awesome. I’ll jump in then. My name is Justin Fitzpatrick. I am a reality television producer in Houston, Texas. I was actually born and raised in Houston, Texas, and I just got lucky enough to book a show 15 miles from my house. So it’s probably been one of the coolest experiences I’ve gotten to be a part of going home every single day and sleeping in my bed instead of a motel. So it’s been, it’s been fun being here. Awesome.
Olivia Oppenheim:
My name is Olivia Oppenheim. I am a producer for Blueprint Film Company, and we specialize in documentary and nonprofit work and we are in the Houston, Texas area.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
So well, great. I’m so glad that you all are here. I’m usually not as involved in this side of things. So this is always a great learning opportunity for me. I’m just usually told, say this. Okay, bye. That you’re done. That’s all I do for my work. So this is always a really great opportunity for be to learn and everybody who’s tuning in. So thank you all first and foremost for being here, it’s been great meeting you and I’m really excited to start chatting with you all. My first question is always, how did you get started in production? I think it’s a very good place to start. Is how did you get started?
Video and Film Production in Houston, TX
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Well, I mean, I’ll jump in. I got started in film production in the about 1996. I went to grad school for directing and screenwriting in Virginia Beach at Regent university and got my master’s in film and started working right out the gate with NFL films just doing sideline shooting, actually the documentary sideline shooting they used to do on super 16 and 35 and spent a small time working at a company called new dominion and Norfolk that used to do some older discovery content like new detectives and justice files. I don’t know if you guys are old enough to remember those, but worked on those for a while and came back, moved back to Dallas, to Fort worth. That’s my hometown actually. And just started getting to work in the Indy. All markets worked on a couple of, sorry, I got a little sunlight here. We started work on some indie films for a while and then worked with the movie studios at Los Colinas for several years and had been involved in production ever since came back to Texas to produce a film and Shannon and I met. And we, you know, after we were married, we formed light strike and have been working actively for about 11 years, 11 years now. So,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
And I didn’t come out of film. I actually came, I thought I was gonna be doing human resources as my career. But then meant Jeremy was very interested in, he was doing, I learned everything from him. I also learned that he is not very organized. So my role as producer has made our company, I think, as successful as it is
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Very, very valuable.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I’m also excited to announce that we’re now officially female owned and I think that’s super cool. Yep. But yeah, so I learned everything from him and we make, we’re the dynamic duo. That’s what we say. It’s kind of corny. Sorry, but yeah,
Bonnie Marie Williams:
No, it’s cute. We
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Really like each other and we work together
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Most times we like each other usually. Yeah. But no, we do. We have a great time working together. So
Bonnie Marie Williams:
I love that. That’s really cute.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Well, I’ll go. Who’s next? Yeah. So I mean, it all started like when I was a kid, when there’s ever like ice cream social or like pumpkin patches and stuff, I’d always be interviewed by newspapers or the, you know, news. I literal went to British petroleum day in high school just because I wanted to skip class. I didn’t care about being an engineer. And I was on the news pretending why I wanted to be an engineer. And then, yeah, I was like, I dunno the first thing, but I’ll pretend. And then I, my senior of high school, I wasn’t an intern at the Houston Chronicle. And out of all those interns, I was the one doing video blogs and they got posted on the Chronicle. And then I went to school for Sam Houston at St. Houston. And it snowballed into working as a PA all the way to where I am today. Oh, cool. Still timing. Yeah. And I hooked up with blueprint, which is really funny. I accidentally wandered onto their set just cuz I was supporting my friend. She was the actress and you can actually see me as a background in one of the, their very first music videos that we figured out like three months ago. Like, oh my gosh. That is totally me. So
Olivia Oppenheim:
Yep. That’s how I got here.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
I love it. I love your manicure by the way. Yes. Please jump in. I’m just complimenting everybody being adorable and manicures and everything. Please jump in. Save me from myself.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Yeah, I think I just chewed off email here that I had. Yeah. So I’ll jump in. I I actually was an intern back in the day when when interning was a thing and it, it was no pay, but it was a there was a company called BT two and they made like local commercials and corporate videos. And then you know, they did, they hired out for stage hands and I got to go to Houston jingle jam concert, which back in the day starred, I think it was Jojo, the, the singer and rapper and the next thing, you know, I’m, I’m on stage wrapping a cable and I’m like, oh my God, this is the best life ever. I’m gonna do this forever. I don’t care if you’re not paying me. And did the intern for three months and then you graduate after the internship.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
And they actually asked me to do another three months. And I had so much fun doing it. I said, yes. And of course they weren’t offering me any pay. But I, I did another three months and during that time the unfortunate event of hurricane Katrina happened, but it caused Oprah Winfrey to come into Houston to do a one week long special. And she rented out the studio that I was working at and she had a policy that nobody on her payroll is unpaid. So I went from making $0 an hour to $40 an hour and I’m working directly with Oprah Winfrey’s editor in the edit days. And at that moment in my life, I was, I probably got to hang out with Oprah more times than anybody else, cuz she’s overseeing the edits. I’m like this, this is my life.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
This is what I want to do. And my internship ended and it, it was just luck that the first thing I’m putting, the only thing on my resume is Oprah win’s name. So my first job right out the gate was not a production assistant. It was you’re an associate producer. Then it was field producer, senior producer, segment producer, and then all the way up to supervising producer. So it was, it was a wonderful, lucky break I think. But then you also have to consider that it might not be luck if you’re willing to work for free for long enough. But getting, getting Oprah Winfrey’s name on my resume for the first thing and is really what kind of opened up the doors for me in the, in the very beginning and ever since then, it’s, it’s still been the same experience as me standing on stage with Jojo, just wrapping those cables. I’ll be on set sometimes. And we just had John Cena come on set the other day. Oh wow. For a, for a build. And I just, I was like, I just watched his movie the fast and the furious the other day and now he’s standing on our set and that, that excitement came back to me all over again. So it’s been a fun and, and, and wild ride, but that’s, that’s kind of how I got to where I’m at. Thanks. Thanks Harpo.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
That’s awesome.
Casey Showalter :
All right, I’ll follow that one up. I don’t, I didn’t get to meet Oprah damnit, but I actually, I’m originally from just south of Seattle Washington and I don’t know what got me into it, but I was really into animation. I think it was just, I, I, as a kid who isn’t, so I actually went to school down in San Francisco studying computer animation. I really wanted to work for Pixar. You know, it’s like the big thing and I don’t know what happened, but I just kind of learned, I started learning about computer animation and how it kind of worked. And it just started to Bo or me a little bit, you know, just being at a desk all the time. So then I kind of switched gears and started focusing on cinematography. And I moved to New York and I started working in, started working under a fashion photographer director.
Casey Showalter :
And that’s where I kind of started shooting for fashion and beauty and things like that. So I lived in New York. I just actually recently moved to here to Dallas about three or four months ago, but I lived in New York for probably about 13 years doing that whole thing. And it was fun. You know, I had a great time out there learned a lot, met a lot of people shot a lot of fun jobs, but now I’m relocated mainly just for a change of pace. I’d still love to work for Pixar, you know, I mean who wouldn’t, but you know, for now I’m just kind of taking it day by day, but I still go back to New York. I’ll still shoot really wherever, but trying to focus my energy on the Dallas scene now and in Austin, cuz I’m kind of a little bit south of Dallas. So, you know, thank you. Did that come through? Am I, am I breaking up here?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
No, we’ve got it. So but Bonnie is anything else that you want to hear from us?
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Just, oh yeah. I’ve got a ton of questions. Yeah. I, I thought my screen froze for a second, so that’s why I like, oh no. Okay. Who technology?
Justin Fitzpatrick :
We don’t get to hear your start Bonnie.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
You don’t. I, I get paid to talk all day. I’m not, they’re not here to see me. They’re here to see you.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
What about Bonnie? I wanna know about Bonnie.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Okay. I’ll give you the, I’ll give you the short answer. I’ve been an actor my whole life and I was doing, I know just a prop that eats according to one of the people I used to work with. And I was doing a lot of theater, which was great and then TV and film. And then I started hating to TV and film. I just didn’t like it. I didn’t feel like I fit in into any one category. I didn’t like how I looked on camera. I always had the RBF, if you know what that stands for. And I was getting pretty upset with just not, not booking work. And I had done a voiceover job a couple years prior and I just didn’t think anything of it. It was like a radio commercial, one off. I was like, that’s cool. I’m gonna go, I’ll be on SNL by, and then that didn’t happen. And then a couple of my friends in the industry said, you should really like actually give it a try. And I did. And it was that feeling of like, oh, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. And it, it brought me so much freedom and happiness that I hadn’t had in years. Like since I was getting my theater degree and I’ve been doing it ever since. So that’s, that’s the short answer and now I play eight to 10 year old boys, a lot with my job, so,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Well, it’s a good answer though.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I love it. Yeah.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. So now my next cause I have all these hard hitting journalist questions for you. Well what kind of clients do you work with? I know we touched a little bit on that. Some of you had answered that, but give us some, you know, if you wanna brag about some names you’ve worked with and name drop, anything like who do you normally work with? What types of clients do you work with?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I mind if I start
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Go for it
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Because we, we real, we have kind of a, you know, bottom to top kind of client list and we really love everybody we work with. And like I said, we do everything from you know, feature film in reality all the way down to, you know, commercial, you know, smaller scale commercial production, industrial film. And I think we find E joy and all of that.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
That’s yeah, it’s just freaking loving what we do, even if it’s yeah. A local commercial. It’s just, I don’t know. I just love it so much, but yeah.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Right. What, and right now we have a feature that’s under option by a producer named Jack binder who produced upside of anger with Kevin Costner and did first reform with Ethan Hawk and and ran, ran ran over me with Don she and Adam Sandler, which is a great film. And we’re really lucky to have him as a colleague. And so those are some of our kind of long term things that we’ve been working on for a while. It’s based on a screenplay that I wrote a few years ago. But we, as a, you know, as a coup and as a company, we produced a short film in Austin last year, actually in dripping Springs. It was a Western and we just got through doing pickups about three weeks ago and Wichita falls Texas out in the middle of nowhere and froze death on it and had a lot of people with us that we loved a lot
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
It was so cold.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
But you know, you know, we really love the entertainment, you know, content that we produce, but, you know, just today, you know, if you want to go as far, you know, opposite of that spectrum, I, I was working in Southeast Texas today for a client of ours, out doing some filming at, at a facility called blade one with which is owned by Exxon Mobil. And it’s just, you know, it was safety stuff and it’s stuff that fairly easy, you know, in terms of producing the contents fairly straightforward, there’s not a lot of gimmicks to it. But being able to deal and, and talk and, and interview and get testimonials from these people that work so hard and their main priority is protecting each other, cuz it’s such a dangerous environment and there’s a real, you know, you know, I, you know, regardless of what your you know, whether you love, love or hate the petrochemical industry, there’s a lot of people that love each other and support each other.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
And it’s really kind of a touching thing. You seeing these people that, you know, when we do these safety films, you know, the people that have been involved in accidents and have been hurt or, you know, by a mistake, hurt someone else. It, the, the real regret, the real love they have for each other it’s it’s, it is meaningful to me. I mean, I’ll put, I’ll put it that way. So we’re, we’re pretty lucky. We’ve got a lot of great commercial clients that we work for. So we do not only, you know, local, but nationwide commercial work. And so we like to travel, you know, any opportunity to get away from our three daughters is a break. So yeah. We’re but yeah, we, we love what we do and wild got a great, just have a great production crew. We work very closely. Oh Yeah. I dunno how we got celebrated and I’m gonna brag on a couple of, on a few things just for a second, then I’ll shut up. But I’ve been working Shannon and I’ve been working with another husband and wife team out of Houston. Our cinematographer is his wife, who’s a production designer, Donald and Liz K.
Olivia Oppenheim:
I love them.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Oh, you know, Don, you know, DK and Liz, there’s
Olivia Oppenheim:
I love Liz work on academy. A lot.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
DK was just texting me. I don’t think he knew I was on this, but he was like, Hey, call me when you’re done. But yeah, they’re very close friends. We use them exclusively for probably seven or eight years now. In fact, DK DP, the Western that we did and Liz was our production designer and they did a phenomenal job.
Olivia Oppenheim:
The photos I saw on Instagram with Jojo and she, yeah,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
She was there. Yes.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Huh. Okay.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Jojo is their daughter and she
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Is, Jordan is shes a,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Sweetheart’s a fashion icon. And she’s like, what? 10 or something?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Yeah. She came out and froze with the symbol falls and never complained. That’s she’s a great kid. And so, but also, you know, I, I, I think I had on the profile. I don’t know if I meant, well, I did mention it that I teach film and television at, or directing and screenwriting at Lamar university in Beaumont and being able to bring in students and kind of cultivate students has been a real, it just it’s been unexpected. I never thought that I would enjoy being a teacher, you know because it’s not something, I mean, even though I’m a full-time professor now, I’m a, still a, full-time working filmmaker along with Shannon. And so we have the opportunity via work to be able to bring students in and get, you know, watch them grow, pay.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Em’s amazing. And so it’s really,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
And it’s a beautiful thing. That’s cool. And watching them kind of get it out of the nest and go on, we just had one that we were extremely close to that left Beaumont just moved out to LA. I actually moved him out there. It’s a long story, but I, I had to go take some meetings and he had never driven a U-Haul. So I did it with him and got him, got him out there. And I took a couple of meetings and he was hired on a feature. And is now finishing up through may on the, this season of basketball, basketball wise and doing great. So just a lot of kudos. It’s just a joy. I mean, I think the thing we love most about the industry. Yeah. We like doing the content, but it’s the relationships. Oh God. Yeah. That are just, it’s the thing. Those are the things that stay with you, you know, product, you know, product and projects and content comes and goes and you make it one year and a couple years later, it’s in the past, but it’s those relationships that always blow us away about this industry. So yeah. Anyway, I’m shutting up. Yeah.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
He’s long winded next.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Well, next time I’m moving. I’m calling you to help me myself in a U-Haul I’m out here in LA, so you’re
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Familiar with it.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
You’ll do it. I promise.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Okay. In and out burgers on me, right?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Whataburger. Sorry, Texas. There, you gotta look
Bonnie Marie Williams:
In and out’s out here.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Classic rivalry garbage.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
We have Del taco. How about that?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Del taco down
Casey Showalter :
Del taco Del tacos. Overrated
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Del taco got me through college, late night rehearsals. And they had a veggie burrito and that’s what I lived off of for years. So,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Oh, veggie burrito, Del taco. Okay.
Casey Showalter :
Taco trucks. It’s California. They are everywhere. You just got taco trucks are legit.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Yeah know, I know. I know. All right. Anybody else wanna talk about some of the clients that they work with? Sure. Awesome.
Olivia Oppenheim:
I’ve worked with, you know, mattress Mac for people in the Houston area. Yeah. I’ve worked with Lady Gaga for the super bowl. Ally. I was a field producer for that, for all the halftime show, all the drones behind her that was a week long of night shoots. That was awfully awesome. I worked with George Clooney. He is a beautiful man. He was very nice too. He actually stopped and said, Hey, thank you for everything you did. Like, that was really cool. That’s cool. Wow. I’ve worked with, let’s see here. Those were the really cool ones. I’ve also worked with knots, so cool. People who travel now name nameless a lot of artists that are
Casey Showalter :
Music. Start with that. You gotta tell us all the juice.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
This is just between us here and nobody else. Yeah.
Olivia Oppenheim:
There’s a lot of divas out there that not like, you know, like the haha and M diva, which is actually not really about the green M and M it’s about contract, but more of like possibly bipolar manic per people. Yeah. So a lot of, lot of entertaining people that I’ve worked with from music videos, commercials, TVs documentaries movies. Oh, I, I met Henry Thomas who was the kid in ed, which was super cool. Yeah.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
That’s cool. That is pretty cool.
Olivia Oppenheim:
That’s really cool. He was nice. Yeah, a lot of people that I’m just really bad with names and faces, so there’s probably more that I don’t remember. So yeah.
Casey Showalter :
I I’ll jump in. I being in fashion and the beauty industry, it’s, I mean, just a lot of those labels, a lot of those fashion people, you know in New York it was mostly beauty wise. Cheto H and M I did a shoot for Michael’s, so I, I, I kind of run the gamut, you know, there’s who else recently? I even did a shoot for I’ve shot on cruise ship before for this one called Seaborn. That was fun. That was in the Mediterranean, that was kind of a, a task running through a tiny cruise ship. But you know, stuff like that who else Victoria’s secret back in the day? Not anymore, really, but they’re actually okay to work for not as, not as like annoying as you’d think it would be like a lot of the models, I guess, in the fashion industry.
Casey Showalter :
That’s always, the question I get is like, are the models kind of high maintenance or diva or whatever, but mostly they’ve always been really nice and, and appreciative and helpful, and they do what you ask them to do. And, you know, it’s just like any other industry, if you’re in TV or film or whatever, you know, it’s like, you know, it’s typically people are doing their job the way they should, and it’s a smooth shoot, but you know, for me, it’s, it’s yeah. Mostly just fashion out here in Dallas. It’s a lot of even Marcus in the fashion world, I guess recently did a JC penny thing. We did a thing for Marriot. Not here. We traveled out of town for that, but through a production company here. So, you know, stuff like that, but you know, typically it’s gonna be fashionable for me, but I’m trying to get, you know, more lifestyle and stuff like that under my belt as well.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Done. Love, really cool stories here. I wanna work with Lady Gaga. That’s awesome. There’s just so many cool things. It’s so cool. Just to hear people’s stories about who you’re working with and your experience with that. And it’s pretty cool. Justin, did you have any, you wanted to share,
Justin Fitzpatrick :
I mean, in the reality television space, your only client is the network. So, I mean, right now my client is discovery. I and then when the show ends, my next client will be whatever network buys the show and buys the rights. So you’re, you’re, you’re a one client kind of B band when it comes to making a television show, there’s really nobody else that you have to appease except for the network on time and on budget. That’s the two priorities. The,
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Okay. But you have to tell us, is it really real or is it scripted? It,
Justin Fitzpatrick :
It depends on which show. I mean, is, is the Kardashians real hell no. Is is life PD real? Yes. So there’s, there’s two different things. It would be it would be dependent on which show you wanna talk about
Casey Showalter :
Kardashians. Isn’t real. I didn’t need
Justin Fitzpatrick :
To no, totally fake. Oh, that just so happens to be a camera crew already in the restaurant that they just decided to go to at the last second and then the table. And there’s nobody else surrounding them. And at the table, the, the DP got perfect cameras lined up at this exact moment when it’s sunset. So the, those sun isn’t in your eyes at that exact yeah. That’s not scripted at all.
Casey Showalter :
No, no. That sounds perfectly natural. Yeah.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I agree. Very natural.
Casey Showalter :
I love the stories with her and, and, and, and Kanye right now though. I mean, this is just keeping the whole world entertained, you know? Yeah. The show’s still on is the show catching all of this.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
There’s gonna be a spin. No, they quit the show, but now it’s gonna be Kanye, Kanye, and Kim with a little Pete Davidson on the
Casey Showalter :
Side.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I dunno. What’s going on?
Casey Showalter :
Yeah. Oh God.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
I only know through me. I, I look, I’ll be the first person
Casey Showalter :
To make. Yeah. I only know.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Yeah. I don’t watch reality television. I, I watch the kind of shows that I make, which more like informative. I wouldn’t say docu, but I, if I’m gonna watch reality television shows, it’s gonna be documentary travel shows, informational shows, build shows, renovation shows and not Housewives, no offense to anybody that has ever worked on that show. We’ve all done stuff that, that pays the bills. But yeah, the, the, the, the scripted, it, it falls under the umbrella of reality television, but it’s not, it’s really, really not. When you’re doing any kind of ensemble cast 90% of the content is already written. Let me, let me backtrack that I would say a good 70% of that content is written out. So they’ll come up to you with a, with a theme of the day like, oh, today you’re gonna get a flat tire and you’re have left your cell phone at your house.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
And then now what are you gonna do? How do you figure that kind of situation out? And then what falls in after that? It’s not scripted where they have a line that they’re reading, but it’s like the, they know what they’re getting into that day. Oh my gosh, I got a flat tire, whatever can I do. And then somebody drives by, and then that’s kind of where that moment unfolds. So it’s definitely not, not really reality, but they get away with it because it’s not scripted because there isn’t a script. Mm. Even in the most generic, like the show that I’m working on right now is really authentic, but we still do pickups and we still do the talking heads to, oh, you know, maybe we didn’t get that OTF, which is on the fly interview in that moment. So now we need to do more of a formal sit down kind of interview. That’s gonna cover our basis, that cuts to supporting footage. So I mean, that part obviously is again, not, not, not scripted, but definitely, you know, for the most part is, is real and authentic.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Well, I was gonna ask you if Santa was real next, but I think I’m just gonna skip past it
Justin Fitzpatrick :
A course. Of course.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Yeah. I was on a, a courtroom show years ago and, and I met my sister the day we filmed and I, we were, I was suing her, I think it was years ago, but that was that weird. Like everything is, you know, you, you, the illusion is shattered. So it’s just very interesting to hear other people’s stories. It was it
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Like catching up with your lost sister after X amount of years that you had never met?
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Oh, I, it was interesting. We didn’t really look alike, so I didn’t quite understand that casting, but we’re still friends. We’re still friends on Instagram, so that’s cool.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
You should be friends with your sister on Instagram. That’s good.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
I mean, I lost the case though, which was nonsense, but whatever. Anyways, I
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Bitter much,
Bonnie Marie Williams:
It’s only been nine years. It’s fine. I’m totally over it. Awesome. Well, thank you for that. Let me see, I have a couple more questions, cause I know we, we touched base on some of them. Oh yeah. One we have to ask, how have things changed over the last few years for you in regards to everything? Just a broad gesture just encompasses everything. I don’t even think I need to say it. It’s just everything.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Don’t
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Say it. I’m not going to, I’m not going to, I’m just everything.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Actually. Not a lot has really changed for me, but for adding like zoom qualities onto remote people coming in, looking at what the set is happening. So the work never stopped for me. It’s just adding an element in as in like zoom or Vage or something along those lines and adding a camera to show them what the set looks like. And then plugging directly into the camera for someone who is distant to see what’s going on. That’s about it.
Casey Showalter :
For me, it was just masks. It wasn’t really, I mean, we kept shooting, we kept doing everything. They just had more protocols. We’d be testing every time we’d go on set and masking up. And just things like that, you know, that was, that was really the only, oh, there’s my daughter. That was the only like big so, you know,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
We’ve got one about that age. She’s with grandma, so yeah. Cause she, but she the same thing right now.
Casey Showalter :
Yeah. She loves she loves being on film.
Casey Showalter :
So go ahead. Yeah. But anyway, that’s, that’s about it. Everything else kind of, you know, they just tried to keep going
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Well, you know, for us as a company, we really have gone through a bit of a transit. You know, COVID, you know, I think for Southeast Texas, I know a lot of my colleagues in Houston because it’s so much commercial production, you know, it’s really driven by marketing dollars that it’s slowed down to a degree. Yeah. A lot. Yeah. You’re gonna be kind about that. I kinda
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Yeah. There were some times that we were white Ling, but it allowed us as well, you know, with every challenge, I think there’s opportunities. And we had, you know, we had time to kind of go after and, you know, number one, for example, the Western, I was talking about that we filmed that I directed China produced and in Austin last year, that was something that we’ve been wanting to do. But we have just been so wall to wall with work that you just never can do it. It meant it was costing you money. So to a degree, I think there, there wa you know, you gotta look at the silver lining and, and it’s turning out to be a great project, and we’re gonna be out in LA at the end of June to finish post on it, to try to get it ready for, you know, in time for next year’s festival run.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
But also another big thing, you know, Shannon mentioned, we are now 51 49 as a company in terms of female ownership, you know, so Shannon’s now majority owner on it. And, and so that’s been a good thing. I mean, there’s practical reasons to do that, but also, you know, there, it’s one of those things that giving, you know, kind of moving that over. There’s been a lot of benefits to it as well. You know, not the least of which is, you know, I’m a coward and I’m too weak with my clients and Shannon doesn’t have a problem putting the hammer down when it, you know, when you love what you do, it’s hard for me to ask for more money. I just tend to be one of those guys, you know, it’s like, sure, I’ll do it, you know? Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. I’ll do it. Shannon’s like, no, you’re getting paid.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
So yeah, I go, I like that. No, she didn’t have a problem. Do that for free anymore. We’ve did it for free for years.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Nothing. It wasn’t free, but it was, it was one of those things that I I am terrible. I, I, you know, I love my clients and they can see it a thousand miles away. He called
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Good cop bad cop, which I don’t, I’m not, I’m not mean
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I just, no, the clients love her too, but she just doesn’t have a problem holding their feet to the fire, you know, where I’m, you know, well,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I, I mean, it’s business, right? And he’s like, I love you so much. Let’s be best friends. And I’m like, yes, let’s be best friends, but oh, you want me this much money? You know, this is different, you know, sorry.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
But yeah, just a lot of things, you know, it’s been a good transition. It was, you know it, it’s just been the right move at the right time. And I don’t think a lot of it would’ve happened. Had we not had a slow moment. Yeah. Slow down in a moment to breathe. You know, COVID was scary, but you know, it did it, you know, we, we are fine and it, it was just, you’re used to a certain, you know, you know, consistency of work and when it starts getting sporadic, especially in this business, because, you know, it’s a, it’s a little bit scarier and we’re, we’re not salaried workers. You know, we are creative professionals and there’s a whole dynamic that goes with that, you know, where you’ve gotta have some intestinal fortitude if you’re gonna be in this business. So there are moments. So, but yeah, we’ve gone through some changes. And I think for the better and things are definitely on the upswing lately. And so I think the, you know, marketing is coming back and people are feeling more comfortable doing, you know, bigger, newer advertising. So it’s been, it’s been great in that respect, so.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Fantastic. Cool. Did I, yeah. Justin, you gotta tell us now.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
I it’s awkward. I, I don’t know how it worked out the way that it did, but I haven’t missed a day since, since COVID started. Oh it, it’s weird to even say that, but I guess I’ll backtrack. COVID hit. And I was producing a show called live PD and live PD was like the number one television show on cable. And we had just got picked up for another 50 episodes, which when you’re a freelance producer, that is like, okay, I could breathe for another year and a half, and I know what I’m doing. And I believe the riots started. And the, the defund, the police movement started and they made an executive decision to shut it down. And the night that I found out, I got piss poor drunk and was talking to all the other producers like, oh, I’m gonna remember you.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
And all, if I get brought onto a show, I’ll bring you onto my show. And, and all these, this back and forth talking, it was, it was a scary moment cuz we had all planned up the next year and a half in our life. And then boom show shuts down. COVID was going on. We were considered essential because police were considered essential. So our jobs were still going because the police were still out there, you know, protect, acting, and serving and doing their jobs to, oh my God, we’re not gonna get a job during the, the middle of a pandemic. And somehow I put out my resume that night to this day. I don’t remember it. And at 7 45, the next morning I get a phone call with a horrible headache and I’m like, hello, and it’s this, Hey, I got your resume. And I’m talking into this guy for 30 minutes and I finally had to go, Hey, listen I don’t remember sending you this email.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Can you let me explain to you my situation. And he was just like, oh yeah, you know, I, I heard about it. It was all on E news and the entertainment sites that the show got canceled. And he goes, when I saw your, your your resume, I figured I would give you a call immediately, cuz I figured you were throwing your resume out. And I was like, wow, cool. So long story short, he goes, Hey, well I have a position in Houston, Texas. And it’s actually where my home base was. And he goes, we we’re gonna try to work out some things and they’re gonna be some not full weeks, but we are trying to push through this COVID protocol because I was working, I’m currently working on the same show, but it’s, it’s a car custom and this is where it’s, it’s tricky to say, but it, it was also considered essential because it’s in the automotive business.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
And so the automotive business didn’t shut down. And as long as the, the car show that I was working on was filming, we were given access to film with a ton of protocols and testing and masks and all that good stuff. But it didn’t end up losing a day. And so it’s kind of, yeah, I’m, I’m grateful, but I’m like, man, I have some, I have some executive producers that were above me that I was looking to, you know, grow into that role that were like, dude, I could all operate a camera. If, if you have any openings and it was just eye opening and it was, it, it, it broke my heart during that whole whole thing. But at the same time, I’m, I’m just extremely grateful. And I, I don’t know how that worked out for me that it just got that lucky.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Let’s kind of, I guess, let me end on something positive here. If we’re talking about what’s changed. One of the things that we did and I say we, my executive producer had already kind of put this into play, but the company that represents us is sonar productions and they’re based out of Canada. So they have an entire post team that, and as you guys know, Canada’s like still, you know, shut down in ways. They were able to make a post team where they sent specific servers to the editors house and linked up this unity system. And now editors can work from home and we’re no longer dependent on FedEx as our means of shipping footage. So we don’t have to take the digitized footage and put it in the computer, make a backup hard drive and then do a shipping drive.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
And then it gets there in two to three days, we can now download or upload the, the moment we’re done filming for the day and that evening it’s ingested in Canada. And so at 7:00 AM, when they’re starting to work on things, they’re already seeing what we filmed yesterday. And so this pipeline has been a huge lifesaver for me. Somebody that doesn’t know much in post, one of my biggest complaints about production is it’s always this last minute thing where, okay, we’ve got these pickups that we have to do. I’m sending you, sending you a couple of lines that you have to get today. And it’s like, wait a minute. Why didn’t I get any heads up on this? Like, there’s no warning, well, the networks ask for these corrections and we need this and that. And the other, this pipeline that has been con kind of created ever since COVID has caused certain people to, to be, you know, at home and whatnot has created a streamline that is really, really translated from post being kind of independent and at their home to also the fluidity of my ability to move forward in, in the field because I’m getting instant feedback on footage seems that did, or didn’t work that more.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
We would have to wait a week or two to hear feedback on. And then pickups, aren’t this? Oh my God, we have to get it. Now. The second the network sends, you know, an email or an update it’s okay, cool. I’ll get this done by the end of the day, if not first thing in the morning. And then the response is all right, if you get it first thing in the morning, just upload it, pull your cards, upload it and get it to us, you know, before lunch time. And it’s, it’s been this huge headache that somehow during everybody kind of staying at home technical gurus or technicians and people that know way more than me, we’re able to put together this idea that we don’t have to be rely dependent on, you know, FedEx and its schedule. And it’s, it’s made things a lot, lot easier.
Casey Showalter :
Mm that’s great.
Olivia Oppenheim:
I have two questions for you, Justin. Do you know an Adam flex?
Justin Fitzpatrick :
I don’t, I don’t, I’m not great with names, but I don’t think I know an Adam FLA.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Okay. He’s a camera operator on live PD. So that’s why I was just asking,
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Oh, do you know what city he was in?
Olivia Oppenheim:
No. And also did what the car show you were talking about, about extensive Metalworks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So fun story. My ex-boyfriend actually got a car custom made from there.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Oh really? Was he on the show or was it off camera?
Olivia Oppenheim:
Off camera?
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Oh, very cool.
Olivia Oppenheim:
That, yeah. So
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Look at it. All of us know each other somewhere or the other. Well, that’s actually, you’re kind of the glue. That’s holding everybody together.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Oh, I’ll I’ll, I’ll figure out a degree away from Casey eventually. Oh, there
Justin Fitzpatrick :
You go.
Casey Showalter :
And I feel left out.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
No, go ahead. Go ahead, Casey. Sorry to
Casey Showalter :
No, I just feel left out. Everyone’s got a connection somehow. I’m like, what’s my degree here. What’s am I like 12 degrees out of this group?
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Yeah. Olivia are like five minutes and she’s got you.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Yeah, I do.
Casey Showalter :
Yeah. That’s true.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Well, Casey, you and I go way, way back to when I was on that show and you were there. Yeah.
Casey Showalter :
Yeah. True. That’s true. But I mean, that’s just you and me, but you know, it’s
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Hey man, I’m trying, I’m trying, man.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
You sued him too. Bonnie.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
What?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
You sued him too.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Wait,
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Sound
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Keeps cutting out. I’m sorry.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I’m sorry. I, you sued sued
Casey Showalter :
Casey. Well, it wasn’t.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
So your sister and Casey, right?
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Yeah. Yeah. Casey was there. I sued them both, but I was just trying to, you know, make it look good.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Yeah. So, but Justin, I was gonna ask you, I recently was introduced to a producer who is a field producer for orders named Jay Jones, I think from, do you know him?
Justin Fitzpatrick :
No, I don’t know.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Go ahead. Go ahead. No, I was just gonna say, I’ll be out in Abilene filming some stuff for a reality concept on the eighth and ninth. I was just curious if you, if you knew him, I, you know, sometimes the such a small world, you know, everybody knows every Bonnie
Justin Fitzpatrick :
And well, it is in that aspect, but it’s, this is again, this is my first time to work in my hometown. And for the last 15 years of my career, I’ve been traveling. So everybody’s like, oh, you work in Texas. Have you worked with this person? And, and it’s one of those unfortunate things where our crew has been the same crew since I came on. So there’s not a revolving door on my, which doesn’t open me, open up the opportunities for me to meet too many other, you know, camera operators and whatnot in, in my area. So I always do the best I can to try to help anybody. But it’d be great if you have recommendations, pass them along my way. And I’ll pass them along to the next person. Cuz you know, I do get calls like, Hey, are you still in that Texas area? Are you available? And the answer is typical. It’s always no, but I don’t let giving out a no. I like to give out a, a solution or, or a, an option, which actually is why I got invited on this. I couldn’t do one of the gigs. And I said, well hell let me try to get you in touch with some, some cam ops and some DPSS that I know.
Speaker 11:
Yeah.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
If you can’t do a job, it’s always good to try to be remembered one way or the other.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Exactly. That’s a good point.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Yep. If you can’t be the solution, then try to supply it.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Ooh, I like that.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
You’re welcome. You can use that.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Ready? Yep.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Go for it. That’s that’s
Justin Fitzpatrick :
A really nice joke
Bonnie Marie Williams:
And how I run my stuff. You
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Know what, if that shows up in my show you’ll know where it came from.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Okay. I’m counting on it.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
I’m counting on it. That’s, that’s kind of what I do when somebody comes to me and they’re like, Hey Bonnie, can you do this script as a 25 year old male? And it’s like, do I? No I can’t. But I know people who can let me connect you to them. They, they don’t suck B they’re reliable C I would put my reputation on the line for them and they will do a much better job than me trying to lower my voice down here to sound like a 25 year old man. I’m like, look, I can play a boy up to 12 and I’m out that’s that’s it?
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Is that your cutoff?
Bonnie Marie Williams:
That’s my cutoff is 12. Yeah. As soon as the voice starts cracking I’m out. I can’t play a boy anymore. So that’s, that’s my out for doing male voices. But yeah, that’s, you know, try to provide the solution if you can’t do it yourself. Yay. Look at that. We all have that and come and I love it. Got
Justin Fitzpatrick :
It. Yeah.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
I’m so happy. My legacy lives on. So this is a two part question. The second part is a little bit more important to me than the first part. So we all, you know, we have a lot of different areas that we work in, but what does a typical day look like on set for you? And the most important question? How much coffee do you drink?
Olivia Oppenheim:
Are we talking about pre-production production or post-production right now?
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Yes. Any one of them?
Olivia Oppenheim:
So I bounce from field producing to location managing because in Houston you can’t just be one thing cuz the pool here is it’s a big, city’s very small community. And so you just kind of have to do a lot of things a typical day from let’s just say field producing or production managing. I drink a lot of red bull. I don’t drink and coffee and sometimes I take the, the Yippy time, speedy drug Adderall to help nice getting it through. Yeah. I’ll admit to that.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Now we’re getting somewhere.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Yeah. It’s a lot of coffee, a lot of red, a lot of Adderall. And sometimes my days are like 18, 19 hours rinse and repeat. And it’s especially if you’re, if I’m like field producing, producing friction, managing it’s I’ll sleep when it’s over. Maybe and then location managing is a lot more chill. That’s actually more, what I like to do more is location managing because I’m really good at being like, Hey random person, can I come and film near establishment? No, we’re not that big of a circus. We’re a circus. But not that big. It’ll be fine. I’m actually a way better location manager than that’s not actually how I pitch it. But we’re
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Gonna have remember that Olivia, because if we could pick out one thing, we mutually hate more than anything doing our own location, managing and location scouting. Sweet.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I mean, people are so weird about it. They’re like, wait, what’s this sport cuz you know, it’s real back woods here. They’re like, oh y’all making movies. I’m like, oh you making porn? I’m like, no,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Just
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Talking. It’s usually a man that says that
Olivia Oppenheim:
For some reason. Yeah. Typically. but I hope that answered your question. Oh actually the, I have filmed in Beaumont before it was for a
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Lawyer
Olivia Oppenheim:
Ho documentary.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Oh, okay.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Which document?
Olivia Oppenheim:
Scientology.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Oh really? In Beaumont
Justin Fitzpatrick :
They have that in Beaumont.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Weird.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I don’t know. Not that I know of. But if they do, it doesn’t surprise me. Beaumont can be a bizarre place at times.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I don’t. Okay, cool.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
That’s cool. Where did you recall where you filmed?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Yeah.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Okay. You can’t tell us. Oh
Justin Fitzpatrick :
NBA.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Well just point us towards the documentary. Send us a link.
Olivia Oppenheim:
I mean it’s, it’s a safe house there. So like,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Oh, okay. Oh
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Go.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Oh, I see.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
By all the rednecks. Oh what?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
No, they it’s actually like, like people that are, you know,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Can’t
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Talk about it. Okay. If you can’t talk about it escaping,
Olivia Oppenheim:
I can tell you this. It already came out.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
It’s a three better agency.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
It wasn’t clear. Well, I mean what documentary? You can’t even say the name you can send me. I mean,
Olivia Oppenheim:
You can find my name and then
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Well back
Olivia Oppenheim:
Well from IMDB and worked out that way. Backwards
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
It to hear this,
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
You can
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Do it. Oh yeah. I can. I can find out a lot of things. I put myself through college as a private investigator before I went to the phone. So I’ve got lots of little tricks.
Olivia Oppenheim:
We’ll say that.I showed up and they’re like, Hey does, is what sometimes I just kind of forget to ask what project I’m working on. I’m just like what? Especially when I started out and they’re like, you know what you’re doing? I was like, now, you know, like you’re driving like, okay, cool. And they’re like, you’re driving and you’re gonna have to do some maneuvers to make sure we’re not being followed. I’m like, you know, what did I sign up for?
Casey Showalter :
My favorite type of driving. Wow.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
We were talking about fast and the furious earlier. So there it is. Where
Casey Showalter :
Are, where, what are we on right now? What question is this again?
Bonnie Marie Williams:
What does your typical day on set look like and how much coffee do you drink maybe to get through it or in general? Yeah.
Casey Showalter :
Dodging people while driving apparently is one of Olivia’s typical days. I mean, I’m just gonna nail, I’m gonna hammer this down real quick. I mean, mine, I walk in and I normally, if I’m, if I’m drinking coffee, it’s gonna be like maybe one in the morning because if I’m shooting, especially if I’m operating and it’s not fun if I’m drinking a lot of coffee and it’s like coming at me and you know, I’m like, oh, we’re right in the middle of the shot. And I don’t know when this is gonna end. I’m about to pee myself. So, so tend to avoid the diuretics when I’m, when I’m shooting. But you know, for, for me in my role, you know I normally get in pretty much right away checking with like the, the client and the director and then get to work with the, the G E crew.
Casey Showalter :
Everything set up for the shoot, you know eventually once they’re ready for the first shot, then I meet the talent, whoever we’re shooting and I, you know, introduce myself to, so I’m not some random creepy, big bearded redheaded guy. That’s sitting there staring at them through camera and you know, try and make myself as know polite as I possibly can be and, and make everyone comfortable and, you know, just roll with it. Obviously if the director’s there, I try and like put a lot of the heat on that person to just be the bad guy or the person that’s, you know, talking to everybody. But but yeah, and then we just shoot, you know, I get a camera, I just hold it. And I pointed at things and it’s a blast. Make sure people don’t go off their mark. You know, the lighting looks good, making sure like you know, just everything looks good. That’s the biggest thing. And that record has been pressed and you know, that we’re rolling and and that’s it, you know? And then I hand off that media and make sure that people are doing their jobs to back it up and the money’s made, you know, boom, you guys know you get it. Yeah, that’s it. That’s all I do.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I feel like a typical day for is like Olivia, I wear many, many, many hats from obviously pre pre-production you know, which is okay. I do have a lot of help if I need it. But most of it, you know, especially with commercials, it’s so super simple. And so I can do those on my own. Usually low location scouting though, is something that I hate doing. Like I said but during principal photography it gets hectic. And that’s my favorite part because I love the chaos. I do on set, I do wear mini hats still just because, you know, some client, it still have to, you know, watch money and budget. So I feel in as a production manager all the time, every time I’m hiring myself, because just because really, I don’t think there’s, there’s one other person. I think that’s, that’s qualified to do it. So
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
You mean in our circle?
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Yeah. In our circle. Right? Of course. And then, you know, sometimes I’ll PA like I don’t have any problem doing the, that kind of stuff at all. I just did. I was just a PA on a G L P still shoot and they’re pretty big. So that was kind of cool. So I don’t have a problem, but anyway, back to set life I do run into problems, especially shooting like westerns when there’s a lot. I know. I sound like I’m okay. I’m just gotta make this point. Because like these people, small town, they look at me and they’re like, oh, you a actress. I’m like, no, I’m a producer. And it’s like, it’s hard to get respect as a female on a film set a lot of times. But just especially in Beaumont, like bigger cities, like Houston, Austin and other places, no problem.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
People understand the role, but people really don’t understand the role. So it’s kind of a fight. Sometimes if I need something done, it’s always kind of a little struggle. And it’s almost like they’re kind of challenging me, like, oh, you’re asking me to do this. You know, I, I don’t know. They just feel insecure, I guess. So that can kind of slow down my day cuz that does happen a lot. Believe it or not shocking. But at the end, the day I look at what we do and I’m always so happy because our crew just it’s, they’re so great. They’re so wonderful. They work hard for us, and I’m so happy at the end of the day, even when there’s, you know, things that go wrong because things always go wrong and we fix it and it’s a great day. We’ll go 12, 14 hours and I’d get up and do it again every single day. So it’s great. And I don’t drink a lot of coffee cuz like Casey said he had to go pee every five seconds and I don’t have time to pee, so
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Oh well, okay. I do, I do drink a lot of coffee and a lot but I’m usually like, you know, I, you know, the, you know, on most of the productions, if not all the productions, I’m usually there, there’s very few that I don’t direct for the company. And so I’m, I’m, you know, before I was directing I was a first ad and, and so I think I’ve kind of got it in my DNA to kind of be the first one on set and the last one off and, and just, I’m always wanting to be there and just kind of with this just anxious energy that I’m ready to jump in and get moving. And I, I love, you know, I, I love production even, like she said, even when things are going wrong, you you know, I, you know, I, I still, I don’t think I’ve ever walked off a set thinking questioning, you know, whether this is what I, I want to do with my life.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I don’t think I’ve ever had that moment. Right. And so yeah, we, we stay very busy and we’re just really lucky, you know, whether we’re shooting here locally or whether we are traveling, you know, we did a shoot in Nashville last November, and we still were able to, you know, we hired some local Nashville crew, but we were still like our keys, like DK you know, Donald K Olivia was with us out there on that shoot. And it is just, it is just, I don’t know how to put it. It’s just amazing when you get to do creative work with people, you care about, you know, friends and, you know, there there’s times that, you know, people are busy and we, we branch out and he works with other directors, I’ll work with other other, you know, DPSS from time to time depending on the logistics of the moment, but it it’s great.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Just, you know, being there, it’s kind of like, you know, anybody that’s been involved in production, it’s kinda like going to war sometimes, you know, and depending on, you know, what you’re dealing with and it’s great having people you, you know, and you, you care about and you don’t get sick up because, you know, I I’ve been on sets like that many times where there were just, you know, it, it was a, it was work, but it tended to be a, a kind of a gut wrenching experience because there were so many conflicting personalities on set. And I think, you know, when I, and Shannon opened our company, we, there was kind of an unspoken rule that, you know, yeah, we want to be prosperous in our com company and we wanna make money, but we never wanna do it at the expense of sacrificing friendships and relationships, you know, and, you know, maybe that’s a naive mindset that, you know, as I say, nice guys finish last bit from our experience that has not been the case. You know, we’ve had a, we’ve got a great reputation in, in our community and beyond very proud of that, you know, and proud of the people we work with. So we just, we can’t wait to get to set, you know so even when you’re exhausted, you’re ready to fall down. Like we were up and Wichita falls was probably the coldest day onset I’ve ever experienced in my life. It was 19, you know, trying to direct. It was so cold.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Yeah, we were out was actually just out Wichita falls out in, on a ranch and in a little town called Henrietta. And it was so cold. I, I was having a hard time making directorial decisions because my body just, all I could think about was how much physical pain I was in at that moment. It was so brutally cold. It was so bad, but I’m, I looked over and, you know, I’ve got everybody on set and nobody was gonna be the first one to complain. No, no. And that was like, I was like, God, that’s a feeling. And you know, even my not, you know, knucklehead student that came out and only brought a sweatshirt, even though we told him it was gonna be 30, I don’t think he realized what that meant. He never complained. And I was like, so proud, you know, smiling, having fun. You know, I think he learned his lesson. He’ll bring a nice jacket next time. But he, that that’s every, day’s a great thing for us on, so I thought I had my phone off and my alarm is going off. So apologies. But that’s my take on, on it. Lots of love and lots of coffee, you know, that’s the way I feel, sorry.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I’m sorry. It’s our 16 year old Kia who looks just like her mom, so, okay, bye. But somebody else take the, you know, take it and run. I think I,
Justin Fitzpatrick :
I’ve been trying to find out what CIA FBI movie Olivia has been working on.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Oh, please tell us, tell us, tell us, I wanna know.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Well, no, it’s I could multitask as a producer, but I felt like you guys saw that I was looking down. So the majority of the time, I was just trying to stay here with you guys. But I, I gotta click on every single one of ’em. Cause there’s, there’s a lot of, there’s like cold justice sex crimes is on there and I’m like, I don’t know. Maybe that one’s it. But you did the vet life season one,
Olivia Oppenheim:
Season one.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
I directed season two.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Oh, I wish I was there on season two.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Oh, I’ve heard, I’ve heard many stories. I’ve heard many stories, one, which is why they changed up the format and brought in a whole bunch of new moving parts for season two. Yeah. Yeah. Good times. We’ll leave it at that. Coffee, coffee. We’re talking about coffee folks. If I’m, if I’m producing a show, maybe two cups of coffee, if I’m directing a show 15 cups coffee, because I’ll be moving around so much, I’ll set my coffee down and forget where I went. And then all of a sudden it’s cold. And then I’m like, okay, I need to go get another cup of coffee. So it’s, it’s it varies depending on how chaotic it, it can get when you’re just always moving scenes and changing lighting and talking to talent, wrangling talent, trying to ring. And then you set your coffee down. It’s gone.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
You gotta make another one. So while I’m producing, I’m kind of sitting in a chair or looking at a monitor and it’s nice and just drink my one or two cups of coffee. As far as hours are concerned. So any, any reality crew knows 12 is standard. 12 is standard for all crew, but you are the cool company. If you instill tens and they will remember you and work harder for you if you’re working tens, but it’s it’s, and it’s kind of sad that we’ve, we’ve gotten to this point that twelves are standard because you think about it. That’s half of your day and then another four or five hours are spent waking up eating, dressed, getting to work, but at, for crew 12, for sure. And then as a producer, you’re probably tack on another four after that, cuz you’re taking your job home with you, you gotta figure out scheduling and then you gotta figure out content and you gotta read, write up your notes.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
And then you gotta make sure, you know, what’s coming down the pipeline in the next couple of shoots who needs to be where and whatnot. So you could easily do 16, 17 hours. And by that time you’re, you’re hoping for six hours of sleep. So it’s rough, but it all depends on, you know, really I’m sure Olivia, you know, when you work in a reality television, but then you go to a corporate world where you work in management. It, it, it varies. But the one thing that is consistent is if you’re working on the field, you’re probably putting in twelves.
Casey Showalter :
Yes, that’s true. I will back him up on that.
Olivia Oppenheim:
I will third that
Casey Showalter :
It’s miserable, but I, I, I feel for the producers, I actually always feel really bad for them in that regard because it is like, I guess that’s why you guys must kind of push for tens though. Cause that means your day is gonna be more like 14 instead of
Justin Fitzpatrick :
16, right? Yeah. But, I’ve always had so much respect for the crew because I’ve done shows where I’m a producer/shooter. And then there are a few times where I’ve picked up a camera. Now I’ll never take a solo camera gig just cuz it’s it’s I’m never gonna give you what you need as a camera I’ll operator. But I’ve, I’ve subbed in where it’s like, you know what? Take an hour break. Let me shoulder up for an hour. And in an hour’s time, I’m peeling that camera off of my shoulder. So for these crew to be out there shouldered up for at least 10 of that 12 hour, it’s brutal. It’s two totally different things. Like as a producer, you are exhausted and your body wants to shut down. But yeah, as long as you get a little bit of sleep, your mind can recover from that.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Now as a shooter, as a DP, if, if you push your shoulder, as far as it can go, you need more than a day to recover from that. You’re not gonna recover. So it it’s I’m okay with being more mentally exhausted, then I am physically exhaust even though exhaustion is exhaustion. I just, yeah. That’s why I think that everybody should be doing tens cuz it’s like, look, you have a, and I hate to, I hope that this doesn’t sound a certain way, but you have a machine and that machine is your, your director of photography and your camera operators. Now in order for that machine to work, needs to be properly oiled and, and, and needs to function incorrectly. And if you’re hammering, if you’re I’ll use a car term, if you’re using 20 pounds of boost on a turbo charger, you’re gonna, you’re gonna blow out that engine a lot quicker. So it’s, it’s always in everybody’s favor, no matter what the executives say to, to shoot for tens, you know, shoot for tens because you know your, your crew, who’s doing the manual labor. It’s gonna have more time for their bodies to recover and producers to maybe get a little extra sleep.
Casey Showalter :
That’s true. I want you to be the producer on every shoot I’m on now.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Yeah. Well just spread the word.
Casey Showalter :
A lot of producers do not think that way. Yeah.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Well, and I will defend that aspect of things is a lot of times producers are that direct line between the network and they could be getting hounded or the production company could be behind budget and they don’t see the window or the light at the end of the tunnel, especially if you’re in the field and, and your execs are not. And they’re like our, our footage is not, you know, coming together the way we want it to. Well, the answer isn’t shoot longer and shoot more. The answer is let’s be precise. Let’s be snipers with our footage as opposed to shotgun blasts.
Casey Showalter :
Yeah,
Olivia Oppenheim:
Really like that analogy. That was great. Yeah.
Casey Showalter :
That’s Really, really, really shot me right in the heart. I was trying to, I was trying to throw a pun in there. I don’t know if that worked. Nobody didn’t
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Shut you right in the
Casey Showalter :
Heart didn’t land I’m pun Chobi
Justin Fitzpatrick :
I laughed. Right.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
I think
Casey Showalter :
We cut. Well, no, because you’re talking about guns. Yes.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
I had to, I, I had to, I had to throw in a gun reference at some point being a veteran in from Texas. It’s kind of in my Nate. Sure.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Awesome. Well, we do, we are a little bit over time. I wanna hang out all night with everybody and just drink copious amounts of coffee and red bull together. But you know, since Olivia is the,
Casey Showalter :
The blue that’s
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Holding us all together, what
Casey Showalter :
Or Adderall in Olivia’s case. Yeah. Or
Bonnie Marie Williams:
They do different drugs here in LA. That’s all I’m saying, but I would love to know how we can contact you to stay in touch after this, that way the world is a little bit smaller and then Casey, you and I can actually go on a show together. How can we stay in touch if you wanna put it in the chat? And then if somebody, how happens to be listening right now and they can’t get to the chat if you could just tell us and then put your information in the chat as well, and then that will be available afterwards in the replay. That would be awesome. Instagram. Sorry. I got very excited. I love Instagram.
Casey Showalter :
I should just, I should just put my home address here and that that’s good.
Olivia Oppenheim:
Also website and your social security number just to really make sure.
Casey Showalter :
I mean my, my emails and then I’ll put my website as well, but Caseyshowalter.com and Caseyshowalter on Instagram. Caseyshowalter everything, you know, it’s just that’s that’s it. Nobody knows you
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Love a consistent brand. Consistent brand is great. We love it. Makes it easy to find you.
Bonnie Marie Williams:
Fantastic.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
You guys stay in touch and yeah, you
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Guys are awesome.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Yeah. A pleasure meeting you. Casey, what do you shoot on by the way? What’s your, do you own your own camera package or?
Casey Showalter :
I do. I, I have a red, I shoot on a red monstro right now. Oh, Cool. It’s I’m not like RED through and through, but you know, I’ve shot a lot of cameras. Yeah.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Yeah.
Casey Showalter :
Just, I gotta represent, you know, the red beer. No, I, I, I love, I love airy, but I love red. I’ve shot Sonys I’ve shot every, you know, pretty much anything. But I have red just because I like the color science and it just makes sense for me for fashion stuff. So
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
That does make sense.
Casey Showalter :
Cool. It’s a fun world out there. Very expensive world out there.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Extreme, expensive
Bonnie Marie Williams:
And relate. Awesome. Everybody’s got their stuff in there. Well, thank you all so much for being here. This was really fun and it’s a small world that just got smaller. But thank you all very much for being on the panel with us today and thank you to everybody who’s watching live and who is watching the replay whenever that is whenever you’re tuning in. But yeah. Thank you all so, so much and happy Wednesday, have a great evening. Or I was gonna say it’s evening, cuz it’s evening here have a great evening and we hope to see you all again soon. Thank you so much.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Thank you for having us.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Bye Bonnie. Thank you.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Bye.
Casey Showalter :
Good chat guys.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
Pleasure meeting.
Casey Showalter :
I hope to work with all of you. We have to come together.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I know. Well she knows. And so that puts her in the inner circle last chance.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
Olivia, tell us the name of the Show.
Shanna & Jeremy Hawa:
I wanna know where this is, I wanna know where Scientology up. I know we gotta hang out. I’m curious.
Justin Fitzpatrick :
All right. We’ll leave. We’ll leave with that mystery. You’re right. Bye bye.
Casey Showalter :
Later guys!
