Life On Set

I remember so vividly the day I received an email saying “you’re hired!”. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon and I was on my phone lying in bed. Hungover and lazy, I had a notification saying that I had received an email from someone unknown not knowing that was an email that could possibly change my life. Time and time again I would reflect on my doings and ask myself “what is it that you are doing wrong David?”. It was almost half way through 2018 and yet I still didn’t have anything solid or interesting happening in my life. I would pray and attend church every other Sunday thinking “okay, maybe if I did this than God would hear my prayer” or “Ok it’s been 4 months now and nothing’s happening, am I not praying hard enough? Or am I just impatient?”. So many thoughts lingered through my head as I searched for something that was fresh and life-changing and behold, everything started to align on the 9th of April 2018. I was hired to be an Assistant Costumer for two Hallmark movies that day and part of the job required me to move to Sigatoka on the coming Monday. Girlllll you have no idea how excited I was. I was overwhelmed and happy and filled with so many emotions that I couldn’t wait to tell my family. I wasn’t ready for anything at all. I had no idea how I was going to do the job, I had no idea what working on a film was like, I wasn’t mentally and physically prepared to move for that long. All these different thoughts but none of it stopped me. I was going to wing it and hope for the best because I felt that this was the ‘something new’ that I’ve been praying for for months. Monday came and I eventually packed my bags and caught the 11am bus to Sigatoka. I met with Producers and signed my contract and I was ready to roll. The crew stayed at the Gecko Resort located right opposite the Fijian. I was new and didn’t know anyone at all so I would lock myself in the room and binge on DVDs and Doritos until one night at about 10pm I decided I would step out for a cigarette. I opened the door and saw some people sitting down having a drink at the common area. Marie called out to me “are we making too much noise?”. I replied “no you’re good” as I lit my cigarette. She then invited me to join them and so I did. I’m very shy when I’m around new people but I had to force myself to be sociable. I mean, we will be living together for the next two months so it’s either I be sociable and step outside my comfort zone or be a loner for the next 60 days. Ok so back to the experience. My job as Assistant Costumer involved so many things and because I was local and knew our stores very well, I sometimes was tasked to go shopping for ‘looks’. That was my favourite! But apart from that, I sort of dipped my fingers in other parts of the department. I would help on-set sometimes, I would work on the “Continuity Book” which is a Costumers Bible lol, setting the line for the next day, doing laundry to even taping receipts and petty cash. These were things that I’d never do on my regular job but because I was keen to learn and because this was the change that I was looking and praying for, I accepted it all. I was a sponge taking ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING in. I got to meet so many people who I shared a bond with and it’s funny how that works. We meet as total strangers from different parts of the world, we live and work together for a few months and than we eventually depart as a family. It all happened too fast for me and if I was given a chance to work with the same crew again, I would definitely take it! To the best Costumers and mentors on this production who taught me everything I needed to know about my job, Toni Cunningham, Brianna Murphy and Audrey Elliot, I thank you all so much. It wasn’t easy having to work and teach me at the same time but you did it and for that I will be forever grateful.

And to my other sisters Marie Koroi, Crystal King, Senia Burr, Sisilia, Sinu, Wendy, Megan, Prell, Adina and Sam, thank you for sharing this experience with me and making it a memorable one together. Not forgetting the other crew members in all the other departments for sharing that moment with me. I couldn’t have asked for a better crew!

I came out of all this learning so much, most importantly the two P’s - Patience and Prayer. I learnt to wait for the right time which is God’s time. I learnt that through the power of fervent prayer He will listen and He will move in response to your plea. I learnt that hard work pays off and that resting on your laurels isn’t the path towards greater things. I learnt that taking risks makes you a more confident individual and that even in your darkest times, there is still hope out there for you. I especially wrote this blog for whoever is feeling worthless and to whoever is waiting for a reply from the dozens of applications he or she has sent out months ago. You are not worthless and there’s nothing wrong with you. Keep hustling , keep that determination and keep that fire burning. There is light at the end of the tunnel. That’s just a little somthin’ somthin’ from my experience the past two months.