your butt. Then they'll call you and say, `Hey, man, you worked really
hard for nothing. I got a show next week and I need a PA'--and you're
hired. Do whatever you can to just get in and meet people."
Professional Profile: Detdrick McClure, Soundman (Writer/Director)
Star Wars was the film that made Detdrick McClure want to be a film-
maker. He was only eight at the time. As he grew older, movies seemed
out of reach for a kid from Georgia with neither contacts in the business
nor a bankroll to fund the endeavor.
McClure enrolled at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) as a
graphic design student, switched his major to painting and then architec-
ture, before settling in as a film and video major. "It was the mid-to-late
'80s, when independent film started to happen with Spike Lee and Jim
Jarmusch--filmmakers like that, making movies for about $30,000 to
$100,000. No money at all, no stars; just writing a script and making a
movie. That was the first time that I saw you could just do it. You could
be nobody, from nowhere, and just do it. That was like a light bulb going
off. It was the first time I knew I wanted to and could be in this industry."
After graduating in 1990, he returned to his Atlanta home to work for
the summer and save money. That Fall he drove out to California,
"because Los Angeles is the center of the entertainment industry." He
stayed with a college friend who had graduated a year earlier, who gave
him five names with telephone numbers to begin his job search.
One of McClure's first jobs
was as a runner for a produc-
tion company that was prepar-
ing for an out-of-town shoot.
He drove all over Los Angeles,
delivering airline tickets to the
cast and crew. His next break
was working on the American
Music Awards show: "My job
was to answer the phone on
the stage. I was there for about
four weeks and the phone rang
probably four times. That was
my job." With many of the
awards shows crewing up, he
was able to go from one show
to another. "You get on one
show and meet people and when that show ends, those people go to
something else and you bug them for work until you're working with
What do you love
most about your job?
"What I love most about
my job is sitting down to
do an interview with
someone that is interest-
ing to hear talk. They
could be a plumber or they could be a presi-
dent. I've listened to the top and the bottom:
Louis Farrakhan to OJ, and every celebrity
you can think of--Jesse Jackson--amazing
people that I admire. The best thing is, you
get to sit and listen to people and learn some-
thing about them."--Detdrick McClure
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
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