My last job that I worked as a production assistant before joining the Directors Guild was on the movie Baywatch. We filmed the movie over 58 days in Savannah, GA and mostly on Tybee Island, GA. So many countless days running up and down the beach setting up the BG. So many production assistants locking up two miles of beach. Over and over again, for what seemed like a lifetime.
One of the many things I remember from working on this film was the massive footprint and disruption we caused on that island. We basically forced the general public to one section of the beach during the peak vacation season there. Setting lock ups up and down the beach with production assistants having to deal with angry tourists just wanting to enjoy the beach.
We attracted a lot of looky-loos and fans each day on location. We always knew who was arriving from basecamp at the beach drop off spot. If we heard a bunch of girls screaming it was most definitely Zach Efron arriving. If we heard a bunch of men yelling it was most definitely Dwayne Johnson arriving.
When the crew was enjoying some down time we would always coordinate which bar we were going to go relax at and sometimes the cast would join us. I remember one time Zach Efron joined us at a bar and within an hour the entire street was shut down with fans and SCAD students trying to get a glimpse.
Going home every night to the “PA Palace” to get some much needed sleep was always interesting. The PA Palace was a two bedroom condo on Tybee Island housing 5 Production Assistants. Won’t ever miss that!
I remember after one particularly rough day the first AD inviting the AD team and some of the PAs back to his rental on Tybee Island. He cooked a full meal for us, then, while we ate, he went and sat by his computer working on a new version of the schedule. Things had been rough that week, weather delays, actor delays, tough days to accomplish, and he needed to reschedule the remaining work. I will never forget that he cooked that meal for us before diving into work. Taught me to always take a moment, even when things get rough.
One positive take away from that movie: after weeks and weeks of running up and down that beach for 12, 13, 16 hours a day, I was in the best shape of my life when we finally finished.
