On-Set Security? Even No-Budget Movies Need It

The first time I worked on a movie set, I was a featured extra in two crowd scenes. I played a photographer in one scene, and I got to use my own cameras. It was a friendly set, and I was able to get some pictures of the stars. The next scene, however, did not require my cameras. So I left them in the big "extras holding" room where we were supposed to stash our personal belongings.

That room was unguarded and unlocked, of course. And someone who was assumed to be one of the hundreds of extras entered it while the new scene was being shot. All of the set's security personnel were busy protecting -- or gawking at -- the stars. Meanwhile, the room-entering "extra" just happened to have a criminal record for thefts and burglaries. He grabbed my camera bag, plus numerous wallets from coats and purses, and left the set unchallenged and unnoticed. The thefts were not discovered for almost two hours.

The police later caught him trying to pawn my cameras -- I had kept track of the serial numbers. But people's money and most credit cards and identification documents were not recovered.

I remembered this disturbing incident the next time I worked on a movie with crowd scenes. In this production, I was a different kind of extra. My headshot was used as the photo of a murder victim. So I was given a day's pay, but I could not appear in the movie at any other time. With plenty of hours on my hands, I volunteered to help a friend -- one of the casting assistants -- as an assistant's assistant. I sat in and guarded the room where extras stored their personal belongings. All day long, cell phones rang and pagers beeped in coats and purses. And some of the real extras periodically entered to check messages, grab something, put something away, or find new wardrobe items for the next shot.

But the real extras and crew members were not the only ones who entered. I sat in a corner where I could not be noticed at first. Twice that day, people I did not recognize as extras or members of the movie crew suddenly slipped in. Just as they started to poke around, sizing up what was accessible, they realized I was watching them, cell phone in hand.

"Sorry, wrong room!" the first one said. He didn't ask where the "right" room was as he hastily departed.

The second one just said "Shit!" and ran out the door.

Movie production companies are notorious for disdainful and rude treatment of extras and featured extras. Yet even on a no-budget movie set, there is no excuse for failing to secure the belongings and identification papers of cast, crew and extras, when necessary. You expect and need people to bring certain items when they report to the set. But they can't watch over their belongings once they are in camera rehearsals and scenes that are being shot.

Someone you implicitly trust should be given this important (and hopefully paid) security job. Various PAs can take shifts, if necessary. But whoever is room guard, he or she should be supplied with an accurate list of who is authorized to store items in the location and retrieve them. Brief notes on what each person is storing -- purse, make-up bag, laptop computer -- also could be helpful.

And if there is a question, the room guard should be able to quickly contact someone by radio or cell phone and verify that Extra X is indeed Extra X, not some ex-con looking for unwanted ways to make some money off your movie. A little attention to this simple security detail can help minimize some potential major headaches for your production.

-- Si Dunn