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The Making of "The Rook" – Part II

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We shot "The Rook" in the early nineties, a time in independent film that I find different in a number of ways than the way independent films in New York are made now.

The crew deal was one which we would have trouble putting together now. All "paid" crew were paid three hundred dollars a week, and deferment if the film made a profit. Deferred deals were very popular at the time - many films were made under that arrangement. The idea was that if the film made a profit, a specific amount of money would have to be paid to each deferred member. This is not quite like points in a film, where you are offered a share of the profits if the film makes money.

Deferred deals have become rarer and rarer because so few pay off. Films are legendary for not showing a profit even when they are sold. In this case, the film had a number of sales but truly did never make a profit. In any case, it would always be years before the crew saw any money. It is my experience as a line producer that few crews will work for deferred pay today.

The production schedule of the film was three weeks in New York City, and one week at Mohonk Mountain. Mohonk Mountain Resort, in the Catskill Region of upstate New York, it absolutely beautiful. The resort itself would serve as the exteriors of the small town from the past. It was perfect, complete with horse and carriages and old houses.

The original plan was to bring only those people who were essential. As the film wore on, everyone became essential. This is something all aspiring producers should remember when they plan on doing portions of the film with "small crews."

One of the incidents on Mohonk I have already written about in these columns (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/maki... However, we had more adventures than just that one.

As often happens on low budget films, we had a very young crew, although a few of the department heads were older with a good deal of experience. For many of the younger crew members, the out-of-town shoot became a "road trip", complete with parties at the hotel, and in town. This was not hard, since New Paltz, the closest town, is a college town.

Or grip and electric crew was awfully young.. Although the key grip and my gaffer were a little older and more experienced, this was clearly my youngest grip and electric crew. One night, I was awoken by a knock on my door. Charlie Houston, the gaffer, was standing there, informing me that almost all of his crew had been picked up for drinking while driving.

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