At this point in our tale, it was the summer. Being a bit shortsighted and not at all aware of what was going on in the industry, I forgot that most shows go on hiatus. This means that my main source of grind it out income, extra work, became scarce. If there’s two things that New York City runs on, it’s dreams and money. I got dreams for days, but money, well, let’s say that for most of June my diet consisted of $1 pizza. It was not a banner month. Which means it’s a convenient time in our narrative to take a break—
By now, you’ve noticed that the pictures that I’ve been posting with this memoir/retrospective/word vomit are obnoxiously not representative of how I really look in everyday life. Adjectives that have been used to describe me in those pictures include “handsome”, “photogenic”, and “not as repulsive as usual”.
This is due to one woman, Ms. Gaby Deimeke.
The one basic constant in background work is that you meet people. If I remember correctly, the first sentence I ever uttered to Gaby was, “Hi, I’m an entitled douchebag and I want you to come to my table because I got bottle service.”
To put this in perspective we were working a Netflix movie where we were at a fake underground concert and I was supposed to drag her and her roommate Lauren to my VIP table. If you can’t tell, I was being facetious and very luckily Gaby got that. It was a long and sweltering day in the basement of some theater, so we ended up talking and learning about what brought us both to this exact point. The best people you meet on set are the ones who aren’t constantly self-promoting and have a quiet confidence of who they are and what they’re doing in New York City. Like I said, the city is fueled by dreams and money, and like me, Gaby wasn’t short on dreams.
Almost everyone has a side hustle in this business, especially when you’re at the bottom of the totem pole. For Gaby, background was her side gig. She was a photographer by training and she had just moved to New York City by way of St. Louis. It just so happened that I had been wanting some new photos for my portfolio so I broached the subject with her. She was enthusiastic, but I took it with a grain of salt. You always meet people on set who want to collaborate with you, but the follow through is suspect. You either discover that they can’t do what they claim they can do, or they flake like it’s their job.
Gaby was neither of these things.
Working together in this industry can be a minefield. As you can imagine the field is competitive and at the end of the day there are only so many spots open. It lends itself to an environment that can be closed off and inherently distrustful. Collaboration, especially creative collaboration is even more fraught with differences in opinion.
Getting your photograph taken professionally is an odd thing. In your mind’s eye you know what you want, but the gulf to cross between how to capture that image in reality and getting the picture you want (without photoshopping it to hell) can be insurmountable. For me, there’s always a bit of nervous energy when you work with someone creatively for the first time. First, I don’t do it that often, second, creative differences are hard to iron out. Often there are no ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’, just different opinions. There’s always a learning period between two people, but being honest, it seems like Gaby and I fell into lock step very quickly.
I’m full of ideas, but I don’t have a lot of experience in bringing them to life. Gaby brought an incredible wealth of technical knowledge to the table and could help me execute. Not only that, but she freely shared her expertise with me and when we worked together she would shoot down my idiotic ideas, filling the void with a vision that meshed my intention with what could be done.
I’m loathe to use the word ‘collaborator’ because it’s become such a buzzword, but Gaby is the first person that I want to work with on a project that I come up with. More than just working together, we’ve become friends and I’ve found that’s a rarity in this business. When you get to know someone, truly get to know someone, I believe that you can bring the best out of each other creatively. Personally, I’m not entirely sure what Gaby gets out of it, but she’s able to capture my personality in a single image, asking exactly what is needed of me. As both a friend and a fan, seeing her career blossom has been nothing short of incredible.
Gaby was the first person I ever really worked together with from meeting on set. She set the bar and as someone who is trying to learn and acquire more skills, Gaby is the first person I turn to. As she’s growing, I find myself pushing to keep up with her, which is always a good thing. Gaby certainly isn’t the last person that I would work with, but she was the first, and she’s made a lasting impression not only as artist, but as a friend. I don’t exaggerate when I say that her shots have been deciding reasons whether I’m booked or not for certain gigs and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.
Gaby was by far the most exciting development to come from the summer doldrums, but then we found out that ‘Manifest’ got picked up to series, and the email arrived that we would be working from July to December. Game on.
{Follow Gaby: IG: gdeimz}
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