We here at Office Ninja Central (I just coined that, don't steal it) have our own unsung heroes - the people that helped make the film possible, the ones who held everything together behind the scenes so the actors could do what they do. We thought we'd pick a few to highlight this week.
The Executive Assistant
You've seen him or her behind the desk, answering 16 phone calls at once while directing people to offices, and simultaneously setting appointments. Without this person, your office would be a mess. Or empty. On the Office Ninja set, those people are the Assistant Directors, which in our case were Allison Vanore (1st AD) and Brandy Rhea (2nd AD). Allison made sure everything ran on time (and even ahead of schedule!) and we got all the shots we needed to make the movie complete! Brandy kept our paperwork in order and made sure people showed up on time each day with all the correct information necessary.
The Janitor
This person gets no respect. Whether it's missing the trash can when you throw away your lunch leftovers, spitting your sunflower seeds all over the carpet, or peeing with the seat down, the janitor is the one that has to make the office look good again by the next morning. On a film set, this person is the Editor. The editor has to take everything you shot for the film - which is generally just a big mess of files on a hard drive - and turn it into a pretty movie. Usually they work late into the night and into sunrise - just like the janitor- and get none of the accolades and no wrap party when they are finished. Those pesky cast and crew members take all of those. On our set that person was the irreplaceable Tim Leavitt.
The Office Manager
Ahh, the Office Manager. Without this person, you'd have no staples for your stapler, no tape for your dispenser, no pens that you can use to make weapons (see previous blog post). This person has to keep up with all the supplies you waste and replace them, almost like a ninja.... Anyway, on a film set, this is the Art Department. They're in charge of not only designing and creating the sets we shoot on, but making all the props needed to make the movie look real. Yes, we wish Ninjas in Space was a real comic book but alas, it was a prop. So who were these creative people? We were fortunate to have Allison Veilleux (production design) and Alice Wilsey (prop master).
The Payroll Department
For most of you, this is the most important person in the office. Without them, you wouldn't even show up for work. Unless you're crazy, and you like working for free. This is the person in charge of making sure there's money in the bank to cover payroll. This job is handled by the Executive Producer. And that person was our fearless leader Bin Lee. Bin was our general, the man we all stood behind while we made this awesome film, and he was unwavering in his resolve! Also, he threatened to give all our paychecks to that sneaky Ninja if we didn't behave, which was oddly effective.
The IT Person
Finally, someone has to handle all the technology. Someone to fix the computer when we try to heat Pop Tarts on the tower and they melt onto the motherboard. Someone to erase all the porn-- err, cat videos that somehow infected the computer with spam. On a film set, that's the person most connected to electricity - the gaffer. The gaffer plugs and unplugs things, and then plugs things in again. They set up all the lights the way that makes the actors look best, and sometimes they can can turn day into night! On Office Ninja, we had Raphe Wolfgang, and on the days he had other business (he moonlights as a Ninja Assassin) we had Justin Moran-Duquette & Tom Wood who were similarly awesome.
That's it for now, but in future posts we'll be highlighting other amazing people that helped make Office Ninja a reality!
Here's a fun group photo of some of our team - all heroes in our comic book!
