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| Key Medic Brian Lax clowns around with actor Giancarlo Esposito on the set of "Breaking Bad." |
It almost seemed like something out of a dream. Somewhere in
the middle of the desert, paramedic Carol Thornton found herself standing with
a film crew on the set of a multi-million dollar movie, Disney’s The Lone
Ranger.
And just like everyone standing with her, Carol had her eyes
fixed on actors Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, who were riding in full costume
toward the camera, both perched on their horses, which were running at top
speed.
Portraying Tonto, the faithful sidekick to Hammer’s Lone
Ranger, Depp had become accustomed to riding horses, and this was supposed to
be another routine shot—something Depp had performed several times while
shooting this film. However, on this occasion, something was obviously very
wrong.
The saddle Depp was riding on had come loose. Carol watched
with the rest of the crew as Depp found himself slipping off his horse, still
going at full speed. Suddenly, the choreographed illusion of Tonto riding high
on his mount had become a crushing reality of Depp falling off his horse,
striking the ground hard.
In a flash the film’s director, Gore Verbinski, stunt
coordinator and Depp’s security guard all raced toward the injured actor,
followed closely by Carol, who, as always, was hoping for the best, but
prepared for the worst.
Depp was quickly surrounded by his security and stunt team,
all attention focused on him until someone in the crowd shouted, “Make room for
the medic!” And then all eyes, including Johnny Depp’s, turned to focus on
Carol.
“That was pressure on a whole different level,” says
Thornton. “Luckily, Johnny was all right. I saw him immediately after it
happened, 30 minutes later, and about 3 hours later when he was finally out of
makeup and wardrobe so I could thoroughly check any trauma or bruising I may
have missed earlier.”
A concern was that the horse may have accidently stepped on
Depp’s chest after his fall. But according to Thornton, there were no signs or
symptoms she could find to raise alarm.
A 21-year paramedic, Thornton has spent most of her career
responding to 9-1-1 calls with Albuquerque Ambulance Service (AAS). In her
career, Thornton has treated almost every type of trauma there is: gunshots,
stabbings, burns—you name it. However, performing a full trauma assessment on
someone as famous as Johnny Depp was relatively new for the veteran paramedic.
“I’m kind of getting used to it,” says Thornton. “You see
them on the set almost every day and realize they’re just like any other
person. But if someone as iconic as Depp goes down, the whole movie is
impacted. How I perform can affect the entire schedule of this multi-million
dollar movie. So yes, pressure on a whole different level.”
Two years ago Thornton decided to retire from her position
as a supervisor at AAS and focus on being a set medic. Working on the numerous
film projects being produced in New Mexico, Thornton has become just one of a
growing number of EMS professionals in the state who are forgoing the “normal”
career route of steady employment at an ambulance service or fire department.
“It is definitely a feast or famine type of business,” says Thornton. “There
can be weeks where you are not called and you have to take that into
consideration. But after 20 years working for AAS, I felt it was time to move on.
Working in the film industry seemed like a fun thing to do.”
Hollywood in the Desert
Throughout the years, New Mexico has played host to several
films. With diverse, oftentimes isolated scenery and clear blue skies,
filmmakers have been able to transform New Mexico into the Old West (Young Guns
I & II, Wyatt Earp, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), other planets
(Ghosts of Mars, The Man Who Fell To Earth) different states, (No Country for
Old Men, The Longest Yard) and different countries (Traffic, Transformers I
& II). However, lately New Mexico has begun to show a boom in film and
television production of all types.
In the past five years alone, several summer blockbusters
such as The Avengers, Fright Night, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Last Stand, Due
Date, and Cowboys and Aliens, not to mention television series, Longmire, In
Plain Sight and, probably most famous of all, AMC’s Breaking Bad have all been
filmed in New Mexico.
Almost certainly the chief reason why New Mexico has become
such a hot location to film are the numerous tax incentives and lower
expenditures many film producers are offered to bring their project to “The
Land of Enchantment.”
In June 2007, New Mexico began to offer a 25% tax rebate to
any film production working in the state. And this is a refund—not a credit—on
the full cost, not just the tax of any item used in the process of making the
film. In other words, if the expense of an item, including tax, is $100, the
rebate is $25. And there is no cap on this rebate—effectively cutting the cost
of a production shot in New Mexico by a fourth.1
And the breaks just seem to keep on coming for the film
industry. Earlier this year, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez (R) signed
into law the so called “Breaking Bad” bill, which allows qualifying films an
additional 5% in tax rebates.
So with these types of incentives, New Mexico continues to
see an unprecedented rise in the number of productions being filmed or planning
to be filmed in the state. According to an Albuquerque Journal article
published on May 12, 2013, there were more than a dozen major film and
television productions being filmed, or scheduled to be filmed, this year alone
in New Mexico, including Johnny Depp’s new sci-fi movie, Transcendence, Mark
Wahlberg’s The Lone Survivor and a western starring Seth MacFarlane.2
Union Rules
With each production shot in the state, New Mexico film
union IATSE Local 480 stipulates at least someone who can administer first aid
be present on the set. However, most film sets, construction sites and stunt
rehearsals usually have at least one set medic, if not an entire team,
available to respond should something go wrong.
IATSE Local 480 is a chapter of the International Alliance
of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied
Crafts. Medical services that work on film production fall under this umbrella
of organized labor and are labeled as a craft, like carpenters or lighting
technicians. And you must be a member to be allowed to work. However, the price
to play is not free. In order to become a member of Local 480, you must first
be nominated by someone who is a member in the union. Next, if selected for
induction, you must pay an entry fee of $600. After that you must pay annual
union dues of $300.
The union also retains a payroll deduction of 4% of all
gross wages earned from every IATSE member. “Last year, I paid fees in excess
of $4,000,” says Brian Lax, a key medic on several productions filmed in New
Mexico.
These fees could make a new EMT or paramedic shy away from
this line of the profession, and possibly with good reason—entry into the union
is absolutely no guarantee of work. There is, however, a tremendous upside to
joining the union. Higher pay and the amount of work one could potentially find
working on a film production make joining very tempting.
Union pay for a medic is normally $27 an hour, usually
higher than most ambulance services pay their paramedics.
Also, union rules force employers to pay overtime after 8
hours and double time after 12 hours, even if you only work one day each week.
There is also about $80 worth of union-negotiated benefits, such as medical,
retirement and pension plans, paid tax-free into member accounts for every day
worked.
Similar rules apply extra payments for sixth and seventh
days worked in a week and even a “meal penalty” of an additional $27/hour when
crew are not given a break, sat down and fed a hot catered meal every six hours
at work. Added up, these wages are arguably among the best pay EMTs can earn
anywhere. The minimum qualifications needed to apply for a medic position with
the union is an EMT-Basic certificate and a current CPR card.3
Medic on the Set
Using the term set medic on a film is often a misnomer.
Actually, there are three types of medics employed for every film production:
set medics, off-production medics and the key medic.
The key medic is often the first medical provider hired for
a film production and works as the first aid department head. Hired by one of
the film’s producers, the key medic is the person who is ultimately responsible
for staffing the medical department with the right crew for the job. It’s a job
with tremendous responsibility and usually reserved for people well known in
the industry who have displayed on multiple films the ability to handle the
job.
One person who has gained a reputation for being able to get
the job done is Lax, a critical care flight paramedic.
With over 20 years in EMS, Lax understood the potential of
“what could be” with being a set medic. A veteran paramedic who has been
involved in EMS since 1990, Lax started working on movie sets early on. In
2007, Lax first worked as a key medic on the pilot of the Fox TV show
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Since then he’s gone on to be the key
on several well-known films and television series.
In that time Lax has learned the skills necessary to be a
successful key medic are often the same skills used working on an ambulance or
flying in a helicopter as a critical care medic.
The way Lax describes the position is very similar to an
incident commander at a large-scale event. The incident commander will remain
above the minutiae and worry about the bigger picture.
“I can’t possibly be everywhere at once, but I have to be
available to everyone,” says Lax. “We’re filming a movie right now where we
have three different shooting locations, and three more construction mills
building sets non-stop. All of them are spread out across miles and miles. I
hire the right people and place them where I’m comfortable they are going to be
able to handle what’s going on.”
In addition, scheduling the medics—and knowing where they
are at all times—is also a responsibility that falls to the key medic.
“All of the medics hired work directly for the production,
not the union,” says Lax. “I’ve got to be able to have the right number of
medics, with the right skill sets available, when and where I need them.”
Set medics are those who are actually assigned to work on
set while filming is being done. They work closely with the stunt coordinators,
the on-set fire marshal and usually assistant directors. They attend meetings
to see exactly how the day’s film schedule looks, whether or not there are any
potentially hazardous stunts being performed and what the exact plans are
should something go wrong.
Usually if filming is being performed in an urban area, like
Albuquerque or Santa Fe, contact has been made with local EMS providers to
ensure prompt response. If the filming is being performed in a rural area,
ambulance service or air transport may have to be coordinated prior to
shooting.
“Being able to look at a shooting script and recognize what
kinds of potential dangers are going to be involved, then mapping out all of
these preparations, is what I’m able to do very well,” says Lax.
For instance, just one stunt filmed for an episode of
Breaking Bad involved two experienced stuntmen being T-boned at a high rate of
speed by another car driven by a third stuntman. This potentially dangerous
stunt required several meetings between the set medic and the stunt
coordinators. The stunt was deemed dangerous enough that it required not only
two set medics on hand, but also the series key medic, an ambulance, a fire
coordinator and, should the need arise, a landing zone for a helicopter.
One shoot Lax was on set to personally supervise involved a
scene filmed for the vampire film Fright Night, where stuntmen were going to be
set on fire in a cramped basement.
“I had more than the normal number of medics on set that
night, because the potential risk was so high,” says Lax. “I mean, we were
intentionally setting people on fire!”
The off-production medic is the one responsible for watching
over the various laborers, carpenters and set designers, etc.—basically,
anything that goes into the building of the sets used in the filming process.
There are usually no cameras or actors around the construction site, and the
pace is certainly more laid back and casual. And while being a construction
medic may definitely seem less glamorous, it certainly appears to be the more
practical job in terms of steady work and stability.
Off-production medics usually work regularly scheduled
12-hour days—the last four paid at an overtime rate. This type of stability
attracts a lot of medics who have families or use film work as a second job.
“It’s certainly the job I’d have if I wasn’t doing key work,” says Lax.
“Working off production you can still have a fairly normal life. Working on
set, you may have a call time of 4 or 5 a.m. and not get off until late that
night. You just never know.”
Also, off-production work is much easier to get. Whereas
usually one medic works as set medic, eight or 10 more medics will be working
that same day off production.
And, working off production also may require a lot more of
the skills one is accustomed to learning throughout EMT or paramedic school.
“There’s always somebody getting their fingers caught,
pinched or cut off, and it’s more than likely going to happen on construction,
where they’re constantly working with those heavy saws and drills,” says Lax.
Developing Movie Set Protocols
In 2009, Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad,
approached Lax and asked him if there were AEDs on set as part of the medic
kit. “Mr. Gilligan felt it would be important for them to be available, if
needed,” recalls Lax, who could not have agreed more, but had to inform
Gilligan they were not available.
New Mexico requires medical direction for the use of AEDs
and set medics at the time were considered to be providing first aid skills on
set without medical direction.
Not one to be happy with an unfulfilled need, Lax contacted
the New Mexico EMS Bureau and wrote a one-page protocol for AED use, which got
approved. He then hired a medical director and created a registered special
event medical rescue service, which he named Motion Picture Set Medics (MPSM).
The next year, Lax kept writing until he had a full set of
ALS protocols and expanded the capabilities of MPSM to support medics on film
in working up to their levels of licensure—something that has not been done
anywhere else in North America.
Lax followed that up by assembling a group of medics who
purchased two ambulances that would serve their needs of providing standby
service on larger stunts and remote location work. Their company now owns four
vehicles, including a 4x4 go-anywhere ambulance, which was widely used on The
Lone Ranger. More information about MPSM can be found at their website,
www.movieambulance.com.
References
1. New Mexico Film Office. www.nmfilm.com.
2. Gomez, A. Star-studded N.M. offers TV series, movies new
incentives. Albuquerque Journal, May 12, 2013.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
3. IATSE Local 480. www.iatselocal480.com.
Paul Serino, AS, CCEMT-P, is a 10-year medic currently
working with Albuquerque Ambulance. He has an associate degree in EMS from
Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell and a bachelor’s degree in
journalism/communications from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
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