Retirement Life
This one is going to take a bit to explain. There’s a 2002 movie called, “About A Boy” starring Hugh Grant. It’s a cute, feel-good movie about an immature young man named Will (Grant) who learns how to act like a grown-up through his interaction with a little boy. Anyhow, as part of his character development, we learn from Will how he divides his day into blocks of time or “units”, which equal half-hour periods.
For example, watching a TV show, well that’s one unit. Internet research (flash cut to Will typing into the url field
supermodelswithseethroughtops.com): two units. A visit to the local pub: three units. You get the idea. For years, I've been using this in various forms, so I decided to put this concept into play as a way of measuring my purchases through the work I perform.
As you might have gleaned from past posts, I pass some of my spare time by being an Extra in local TV and film production here in Vancouver. We aren’t referred to as Extras really, I think because that implies something trivial, or added as an afterthought, when we really can be integral to the scene, and sometimes play a pivotal role for the actors to put themselves into character. Referred to in the industry as Background (or BG for short), we are placed on set to add realism and a moving environment for the camera.
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| Covid-era Background Holding |
Most days on set involve a lot of downtime; sitting around in “Background Holding”, where you can read a book, watch some Netflix, chat with friends, or even have a brief nap. Sure, when the Background Wrangler calls you to set, you need to drop everything, and go do your thing, but you’re effectively being paid for doing nothing most of the time. My wife was chatting with our neighbour over the fence one day, and she was telling her how I had been working in Background. She told her, “It’s great for him; he gets fed, meets up with his friends, can read a book, and it fills his day.” Our neighbour exclaimed, “You put him in daycare!” Which is not far from the truth, in reality.
Anyhow, since this retirement hobby isn’t a revenue-generation necessity, I consider the income I receive from Background work as sort of a bonus. And sometimes, it can be substantial; while a minimum day is only $225, a longer day brings in overtime pay, and sometimes double-time, and can total $450 or more! And not long ago on a brief 4-hour shoot, I was “upgraded to actor” (more on that in another post), which tallied up to over $1,100!
But the basic day, after commissions paid to my agent, is about $200, or what I refer to as one “Background Unit”. So for the last few years, when I consider buying something, especially a purchase that might seem extravagant or perhaps a little out of range for my Scottish financial upbringing, it becomes defined by the number of Background Units it would cost. A new pair of Gore-Tex shoes? One Background Unit. Seat selections for our upcoming overseas flights? Two Background Units. New patio dining chairs? Well that was five Background Units.
Anyhow, I don't think it will be recognised by the IMF, but for the time being, it's my new way of measuring value.
"About a Boy" images courtesy of Universal Pictures.
