Making “A DIRTY JOB” (2010)
THE STORY
After a brutal run-in with a drunk thug, Mike is run down by a motorcycle cop and promptly arrested. Mike’s attorney springs him out of jail but, with his work-visa revoked and his name all over the papers, Mike is forced to con his way into a new gig at a taco shop. But with a big-mouthed boss ordering him around the kitchen, it ain’t long before Mike’s hot temper lands him in even hotter water than before!
Nick Pellegrini‘s A DIRTY JOB takes us on a 10-minute trip to hell and back — sweeping from creepy, dark alleys in
Burbank to busy Hollywood restaurants, buslting office buildings and finally to the majestic desert plains of Inyo county. Co-Produced by writer-producer John Ortí of [indelible, inc.], A DIRTY JOB was shot using a 24-frame, HD “film-look” process developed by writer-DP Lance Johnson and features a cast of both established stage and film actors (Jeff Murray, Al Burke) and two of THE funniest, most natural newcomers we may see all year (Mario Hernandez and Irner Gomez)!
BACKGROUND
For his third directorial project, writer-director Nick Pellegrini wanted to do something special. His last outing
, The Interrogation needled audiences with tense, 10-minute examination of a murder investigation. For A DIRTY JOB, Pellegrini, a student at Theater of Arts, planned to up the stakes in a big way: Rather than settle for a linear tale and shoot in a single, closed location, Pellegrini penned the 12-page A DIRTY JOB screenplay in 2009 with the specific intention of opening things up, widening the scope and pulling off something much bigger for his audience.
With a 12-page script in hand and a firm commitment from his favorite restaurateur, Pellegrini next invested some time in finding the right partner to photograph the project. By February 2010, he stumbled upon an intriguing viral video dubbed Death Valley, a 4-minute experimental clip from Lance Johnson of [ indelible, inc.]. The clip featured the elusive cinema color, gamma and sound (courtesy of Tobias Wilner, a.k.a “Bichi“) Pellegrini envisioned bringing to A DIRTY JOB. Days later, Pellegrini met the guys at [indelible, inc.] and, after getting a good feel for the young director’s story and vision, the three set dates and by March 2010, the imaginative short was in production.
Shot over the course of 3-months in spring 2010, the production spent two full days at Mario Hernandez’s El Chile
Taqueria in Hollywood, one day at LA Theater Works (above the prestigious El Capitan Theater), a pair of nights in and around Burbank Airport and finally a remote stretch of desert just outside Palm Springs. Using a set of modified HD cameras (Canon HV30), cinema lens adapters, optical filters and high contrast lighting, Pellegrini guided his cast and crew through a series of demanding shoots.
Post production began in July 2010 and concluded in September, during which time Pellegrini experimentedwithnumerous cuts of the film, working hard to create a riveting, high-energy experience while still adhering to the basic tenants of great storytelling. With only 10-minutes to move the hero through three distinct locations (as well as three dramatically different states of being), A DIRTY JOB put Pellegrini’s chops as an editor to the test. As a lover of the pulpy, “grindhouse” look and feel, Pellegrini also went to great lengths to infuse A DIRTY JOB with loads of high-grain film jitter, blemishes, skips, spots and scratches — all combing to give the film a fun and truly classic feel.
By October, Pellegrini had the cut he needed. After taking copious notes in a series of private screenings, the time had come and A DIRTY JOB was finally ready for release….
