Click the "insert car" to for the "classic" picture section! it has some great pictures of those who paved the way!
Sorry do to a "Hitch in the Giddy up" as Tommy May used to say my Secret Grip Website was deleted! I am now in the processes of restoring it.
These pages may take some time to load depending on your connection. All pictures are at full "display" size so there is no having to click each picture and wait for full size picture.
Several years ago I looked at a box of photos in my garage from TV shows and movies I had done and wondered what to do with them.... No one wants to look at them on your coffee table, after all if you aren't in the "Biz" they do not mean much. So this site was born.
This page is about grips, friends, and sharing this place we call "A Grips World" it is also dedicated to all those Grips before me, around me, and those to follow after me who are and have been the "Backbone" of the Motion Picture industry! It is also for all the rest of you who have shared those 17 hour days standing under a 12' x 12' griffylon in the rain waiting for the call "That's a Wrap!"
I originally started this site as a just a place to put all those pictures I took on sets over the years but it is becoming something more. If you see yourself here drop me a line and say hi! If your someone looking to hire me and want to see a Resume click on my name (it gets updated from time to time). I usually get work by word of mouth as most of us do but nowadays everyone wants a resume.... its a MS word doc.
As I rebuild the site I will add shows on the opening page and if there are too many pictures for one show ad a link to a separate section for that show only.
Shows will be added at random as I get to them but will be listed in a chronological order according to timeline of production. If there are two many pictures or I have a particular interest in a show I may do a separate page and link. I will also update these show pages as I get more pictures and information out. Please forgive me if you appear here and I do not have your name or have misspelled it, I sometimes put things up quickly and will add names later or perhaps I have forgotten it! sorry but the years and number of people you meet on a crew are often staggering. Please email me with any corrections, omissions, or pics you would like me to ad! Also if you have a site you would like to link here PLEASE do email me! I and several others are trying to get our "Hollywood moviemaking" tradition and history online for all to share and enjoy!
Classic group of Movie guys from the early 30's. At this time Grips were not
a separate group as such. The truck in the back is from Republic Pictures. You
can see ladders, shiny boards, a back drop and I think folding "Wooden"
parallels on the back of the truck. You can see a camera platform hanging of the
out of picture truck on the left and also a over the front hood camera mount on
the truck in picture. For more on this early labor period in Hollywood check out
the story on local 80s page
here. I'm trying to assemble a collection of pre 1970 pictures of the
Hollywood back lot crafts and on production stills so if you have any of these I
would love a copy to use here.
All people named are left to right and start in foreground unless otherwise specified
I have more than once said I'll do most anything on the set... lol... here I'm shoveling mounds of Popcorn on the set of ARLISS. Not sure if that comes under the responsibility for a Key Grip but whatever it takes....
Dolly grips lead interesting lives to say the least. I love coming home and having the wife say " so how was work today?"
This shot was last summer on a shoot for the B3 video game Gary Dodd Key Grip, Jim Duggin Best Boy and me as the Dolly Grip. This is me dressed to impress running the arm of the Techno Crane. Click on the picture for the video of the shot in progress, pretty cool.
Click on picture below for a second pretty cool shot.
Even Jim Duggin gets a dolly shot in! While I was doing the crane Jim set up and did a dolly shot at the same time. No that's not Jim below but my Dog standing in for him until I get a suitable shot for Jim. Click on the picture for Jims video!
More pictures from the Desert adventure....
My Mother's Curse (2nd unit)
I got to do one of those great jobs you get in this business over the summer when Bruce Chimerofsky asked me and Jim Duggin to help him do Plate shots for "My Mothers Curse" a feature staring Barbara Striesand. We flew and drove to New Mexico, Tennessee, Virginia, New Jersey, and finally San Francisco. The Movie is a "road picture" and since Barbara did not want to hit the road most of the movie is shot against "green screen" and we go out and shoot all the plates to be laid in later.
This is one of our rigging base camps, a Newark, New Jersey fire station. The rig was always on a Lincoln Town car to make it easy to duplicate the basic rigging from state to state. This shot has one of the basic setups of 5 cameras of the back, two left and right sides, two rear 45s and one straight back. There would also be 1-2 cameras mounted in the front. We also had to mount 3-4 monitors, a large hard drive, a laptop PC, and still leave room for the Driver, DIT, Cameraman, and Director! A separate roof mount held the Honda 2k generator used for power. We got pretty good at this after a few towns and could get it all done in about 90 minutes.
If this rig did not go in exactly right (within 1/2 inch) the Diver could not get the car in gear! The top right monitor touches the upper right door frame and everything is one piece after another until you get to the very left of the hard drive next to the steering wheel where there was about 1/2 to 1/4 inch clearance! There are also one or two 19" monitors in the back set area.
SouthLAnd
2010-12
That last few years have found me as the Rigging Key on this series. A very good show produced by John Wells of ER, Westwing, and many other hit shows. A very challenging show to work on as it runs and guns all over the streets of LA, 189 locations in 10 episodes! The rigging crew is focused on getting as much ready ahead of the "circus" as we can. Much of our work involves rigging the cars ahead of time, mounts, insert cars, trailers, crane tracks, etc... so the main shooting unit can roll in, put the actors in place shoot, and roll out! Michel Barrere was the first unit Key, Bruce Chimerofsky the BB, Jerry Bertolomi the Dolly, with David Gamble, Mark Hamill, and Matt Hawkins rounding out the crew.
After 25 years of filming all over LA you start to feel that you know the place pretty well and there aren't many places you have not been but Southland will take places you "ain't never been before" and some you don't ever want to see again! We did no have a regular stage but used our production office area in La Center Studios for our Bull Pen and our normal base camp was a huge dirt lot in China town.
Michel Barrere (center with coffee) was first unit Key operating camera was Cameron Duncun. Hammer David Gamble is up on Jack Carpenters Camera car at right adjusting diffusion frame.
Rigging of the car shots was many times done in our base camp here in Chinatown. We had one car (shown here) that we tore the front end off, motor out and rigged permanent shooting platforms on. This allowed for real in your face driving shots. We rigged a lot of sliders onto these cars for wrap around shots and transitions from back seat to front seat while moving. We rigged several of our cars with platform that could be slid into receptacles on both side to allow operators to shoot while moving.
This was the "Pod Car" from 2010-11 where the storyline centered on the detectives and this was one of their cars. This is the basic start point rigging wise and we would move modify as we needed to for the shot. In the age of Safety monitor and Lawyers I always made sure to have railing and other safety gear in place and available, of course this gear might be modified or deemed un-necessary for the shot, but you need to have it available anyway. This car also had the ability to have 2' x 7' side platforms inserted into receptacles on either side (they are just visible if you look close along bottom of the car) and a second operator and assistant would be there.
This is a shot taken off the back of my grip trucks tail gate, a beautiful Los Angeles sunset over Chinatown. Spent many a sunset in this lot working on the cars.
Andy Richter controls the Universe 2003
I mess around with the set dressing so much on this show that I drove our on set Dresser mad! (? on set dresser)
CHARMED 2000-2005
Me on the Bucket of a crane in San Pedro harbor. Alvin Simmons and I were the
Dolly grips for the last 5 years of charmed.
Another "Magic Hour" Crane shot. Camera operator Kriss Koskove is at left with Alvin (dolly) peeking around lens and me up on arm. The crane is a Chapman Super Nova (Titan)
ARLISS 1996-2001
Steve Confer (DP ) looks for Indians over horizon. On the checkered Grif to the left is "Raini Bochardt" and over Steve's right shoulder is "Bobby Crocket"
Dress this! our
costumers make the scene at left.
Above John McGowan (gaffer) Alexander (Ad) and Steve (DP) make in those minute adjustments!
Robert Wuhl gets the "Prick" instead of being the "Prick" I liked working with Robert, he was all about how can we make this funnier! and he always succeeded.
(L to R foreground) Steve Confer DP, Alexander 1st AD, Hector (wardrobe) and ? 2nd AD
STAR TREK DS9
This page is dedicated to two of my friends from the Star trek years Jack White (BB grip) and Derek Garth (grip) both of whom are no longer with us. Jack White (at right) was the funniest man I have ever met on a set even funnier than my ex brother in law Ted Lewis! Jack had a cutting whit and an acid tongue! of course it was like a double edge sword made him a favorite of some and detested by others! It is so true that you do not really miss people till they are gone, I miss you Jack.....
My best bud and Key Grip Steve Gausche stands at one end of a 120' dolly track in Bronson Canyon (famous Hollywood location) I'm way back by dolly with push bar on camera left side.
HERO'S of the STORM 199?
Yes it doesn't get any better for me than this! Those of you who know me know I love military history and all things related to it. This was 29 day of heaven! I and my crew got to play with the BIG dogs! and I got to go to every major military base in the Southwest. Yes that me riding around in my own Bradley AFV!
Stake beds? who needs a Stake bed when you get to load into your own Humvee. The blue tank top man is Pete Portizo (Gaffer) a really nice guy wish I could have worked more with him. Joe Wright my BB is seen in the door on side of 40 footer. It was really HOT on Twenty nine palms Marine base where we spent 10 days on location.
MAGNUM PI 1985 - 1989
Lloyd Ahern was the guest DP while John Flynn Directed the episode "Sleepy Time gal" Yes that's me the studly guy behind the Dolly! We are on a cliff edge 1200 feet up above the pacific. Pat McGinnis is behind the camera Flynn to my right with red hat. Cold in Hawaii!
Magnum PI was a once in a lifetime show and I loved working on it. It was well written, acted, and just one of those shows where it all comes together in paradise! The picture above was taken during the filming of the "Black and White" episode were Tom and the cast go back to the thirties and do a take off on the Sam Spade detective movies. Lloyd Ahern was again our DP while John Flynn prepped his show. From left to right, Denny Hall (AC) Jimmy Lusk (cam Op) David Ahuna (Key Grip) Bill Witthans, me, (Dolly grip) Russ Mayberry (Director) Lloyd Ahern (DP) Pat McGinnis (Cam Op) Tom Selleck ( actor) ? (actor) Doug Olivaras (AC) and peeking through from back is Bobby Chaldu (Gaffer) seated in the front are ? (actress) Roger Mosley (TC actor) and John Hillerman ("Higgins" actor) and ? (actress)
THE OAKS 2007
The Oaks was a Surreal story of a Haunted house. Interesting but I guess it went nowhere. Probably took to much thinking to be a success today! Nicely photographed by Cameraman Peter Levy. I enjoyed working on this one despite it being done in Manhattan Beach and living in my Motor home while we shot it. While it looks like a giant moon most of us recognize what it really is.
FUDGE 1995
Joe Wright (BB Grip) "strikes a pose"
SMOLDERING LUST 1992?
later changed to BLACK TIE AFFAIR
Steel Hunter (Grip) and Robert Nelson (BB grip) load up.
ORPHANS! these are pictures that have no home!
Amazing rig I worked on with Joe Graham, Jim Saldutti, Ted Lewis and dozens of other grips during the filming of Rush hour III. There were over nearly 100, 40' containers stacked together to form the framework for this 240' Green screen. In the foreground just behind the orange condor you can see the 100' long 3' deep "Green Screen" water tank and above the stunt ring to fly Chris Rock and Jackie Chan down of the Eiffel Tower. To get a feeling for the enormity of this rig each one of the containers is 10' x 10' x 40' putting the container height at 70"' and the flag at just shy of 100' tall! The rigging for this shot was over a months work! Joe did a great job in laying this one out!
Joe Gram with the most important tool we have nowadays (a many days a pain in the %#$) the cell phone! I remember pre-cell phone days and how you had better have all your ducks in a roll cause there was no "quick call cinelease and have it delivered!"
