Deviation Actions
CLICK THE PIC TO READ THE SCRIPT
I have been supplementing my life in the arts by working as a 9-1-1 Operator. I've been doing it now A LOT of years and have worked in 3 police departments including L.A.P.D. This job came to me because I needed a night job with benefits. I had been working Off-Broadway as an actor in a show called TONY N' TINA'S WEDDING where I was getting paid $65 a show and during the day I was selling used office furniture on Houston Street just outside of the mouth of the Holland Tunnel in New York City. I was actor "who writes" back then and was just learning how to write officially for stage and screen when one day I pulled my back while moving furniture. The job paid me cash off the books and that meant…. no heath care… and I couldn't do the show at night since I was laid out, so I came to terms that I needed another job… boom… that's how I ended up working in a police station. I thought it was the end of my career, but being a 9-1-1 Operator has opened more doors for me in Hollywood than any Pitch Conference or Writing Workshop.
See one of the departments I worked for was called "THE MOST CORRUPT SMALL TOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT IN THE UNITED STATES" so when I tell people what I do they ask about the job and the stories from the job. Once I tell them my best 9-1-1 stories they usually say "You should write a script about that." I usually respond with "Funny you should mention that!"
Link to THE SHIFT a short film I wrote based on these stories. THE SHIFT went all the way to the EXPO at THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL in 2007 vimeo.com/8084986
Recently, the police department this is based on made national headlines again when one of the disgruntled patrolmen decided to firebomb his captain's house. I saw some crazy things working there and I fictionalized some of this because… well… it's not a documentary version; I had to make it a film. You'll have to figure out what's real and what's made up. It's received over 8,000 hits and was features as a Daily Deviation. It continues to get random hits daily and I love that! I hope you like it!