Behind The Scenes With .... Karen Gardner

Behind The Scenes With …. brings to SoGoPro Street Team special interview series with amazing guest stars who are involved with film, theater or television. Every two weeks the series is hosting interesting personalities to share their outlook on industry and life.

We are happy to host - Karen Gardner! You all remember Karen from KT’s vlog interviews where she shared with us her scope of work as Production Secretary Extraordinaire. Now, with season 9 of One Tree Hill in progress we have Karen back in the production office to learn what happened since we’ve first met her!

Kasia: Welcome back, Karen! Nice to have you back here with the SoGoPro Street Team and it’s ever growing community!
Annie: Karen, can you just explain to us, and for those who may have missed the vlog interview what your role is within the Screen Gems Production Office?
Karen: I work in the One Tree Hill Production Office which is located on the Screen Gems Studios Lot. We are kind of the hub of the production... a lot of info gets passed through us.

Kasia: What made you go for a career in tv/movie production ? How did a major in Business Management turn into a film making?
Karen: I have to say it was never my career plan to be in tv/movie production. I knew nothing about it and honestly fell into it. I’m not involved in the creative aspect of the show(s) (which everyone should be thankful for) so in a way I’m still using my business degree. It’s just all about being organized and willing to work hard... it doesn’t really matter what your degree is.
Kasia: True, you might not be involved in creative issues but organizing the whole filming process is crucial when there’s a lot of going on and sometimes you need to be creatively thinking to get things done! So, it’s a different creative aspect!

Annie: Karen were there/are there any members of the cast of OTH that you had already worked with or met ii a previous life? I have a hunch that you and Hilarie Burton may have crossed paths at some stage...care to share?
Karen: I did work for Hilarie’s publicist in NYC “back in the day” and we crossed paths a couple times, although she probably doesn’t remember :)

Kasia: Little Bird told us that your first interview for job with OTH was with Kathy Rayle who also appeared in Kt's vlog. Was it tough in the interview with her?
Karen: No! Kathy is the best! She’s so easy to talk to and it didn’t feel like an interview. We love her :)
Kasia: Hey, no flattering!(laugh)

Kasia: It's been almost a year since we last heard from you, so tell us if you have travelled anywhere in the meantime for pleasure?
Karen: I didn’t have any big trips this hiatus... time flew by. It wasn’t a far trip but I did visit Savannah, GA for the first time and had a blast! I loved it there!

Annie: So, from the vlog, we know you are really very well traveled, I guess you speak some foreign languages? Whats your favourite language, come on now, give us a few sentences in your foreign language fetish!
Karen: I don’t speak any foreign language...and some would say I can barely speak English! I wish I spoke other languages, it was just never something I picked up. I took Latin in High School, so you can imagine the use I got out of that - and in college I took Italian which I loved but have never kept up with it and don’t really remember anything.

Annie: Italian is a beautiful language! That’s funny about the Latin, I studied it too actually for a period of time in High school, I always thought it was a punishment. Not sure its relevant but we had a fabulous rhyme that was usually chanted before, during and after class, “latin is a language as dead as dead can be, it killed the Roman boys and girls and now its killing me” enough said! Kasia: I like Italian .... coffee.

Kasia: In the office, how do you handle stressful situations when something is not going as planned (like your favorite FedEx , or airlines issues for location shoots)?
Karen: I usually get red and blotchy and laugh. I’m pretty sure it’s completely inappropriate and unprofessional but it’s my natural response :)

Annie: Speaking of logistical nightmares, II guess you were lucky enough to be in Utah, and Puerto Rico for OTH filming; tell us a little about how that worked out for you?
Karen: Ohh and don’t forget about the bustling city of Honey Grove, TX :) I feel very lucky that I was able to go to these places (for free) that I would have prob never visited otherwise. I’ve always heard great things about Park City, UT but I’m not sure I would have ever planned a trip there. I absolutely LOVED it!!! We had the best time snowmobiling and Kelly and I snuck off and did the Olympic bobsled... just things that I would never do otherwise.

Annie: Puerto Rico - official languages are English and Spanish. A lot of SGP street teamers are not native English speakers, so apart from being sheer paradise, how challenging was it communicating in a different language for work, rather than throwing together enough phrase book Spanish to ask for more than just a beer?
Karen: The language barrier wasn’t much of a problem. We hired a local that works in production offices down there and she was very helpful with the other locals that didn’t speak English (and she taught us dirty Spanish sayings:)). The hardest part as far as being in Puerto Rico was the driving!!! Kelly and I had a Jeep Wrangler as a rental and whipped that thing all around the island picking up things for the crew that we weren’t able to ship and traffic there was terrifying! They don’t really have the same laws/rules so there were quite a few honks honked and me screaming. But we survived. Kelly has counted 5 times that I’ve almost killed him in a car... I think that after 6 years that’s not that bad... right?
Annie: Note to self - say NO to Karen where 4 wheeled vehicles are concerned!
Kasia: So now you can go and audition for Fast And Furious 6 with ease!

Kasia: You said before that filming on location is even more work that on set shooting. What is the biggest challenge when it comes to work outside the office and studio?
Karen: You basically have to set up a mobile office where ever you are going. It’s your job[Image] to make sure the crew has everything they need and so it takes weeks of planning and things change constantly so you just have to stay on top of it and make sure that when you get to that mobile office it runs as smoothly as it would here in Wilmington.

Annie: In the interview we had with Kelly a little while ago, when we asked how he felt about the last season of OTH wrapping, his answer was “Honestly - we’re all geared to the film/tv/gypsy lifestyle. I’ll miss Mark Schwahn and Joe Davola the most when we break camp. Yes - 100’s of technicians and actors in limbo again - but strong bonds have been formed... oh - and maybe I’ll miss a couple of the actors...”. How do you see things going for you, once OTH wraps?
Karen: It’s true what he said... I’ve been very lucky and for the past 6 years I’ve had a steady job and OTH has always come back... I haven’t had to look for anything else. It will be difficult but it’s the nature of this industry, it is what it is and you can’t be in it if you aren’t prepared to deal with that. I think I would hate a 9-5 job thinking “this is where I’m going to be 20 years from now?” Personally, I like the not knowing what’s next.

Kasia: Where do you see yourself in a few years time? In production or something else (but still film/tv related)? What is your ultimate career goal?
Karen: I have no goals :) Seriously. I’m a bit of a gypsy and go with the flow, I don’t like concrete plans.. it freaks me out.

Annie: If you had to rat someone out, who is the biggest Diva in the production office or beyond?
Karen: The copier....I hate that thing!

Annie: Got to ask, the question that kills, but do you have a favourite Character in OTH, and you can’t say anyone under the age of 10!
Karen: I was always a fan of the Brooke and Julian storyline. I like them a lot in real life so I’m always rooting for them.

Annie: If you could choose to work with anyone anywhere in the world, who would it be, where would it be and why?
Karen: I love me some Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs... I think he’s such a hottie and soo funny. I also love Jon Stewart. I have a thing for old funny men...I swear its not a daddy issue thing, I don’t think. :)

Kasia: Do you happen to follow SoGoPro website or the Street Team blog? What’s your favorite part of SoGoPro and its community?
Karen: I sure do know how to Internet shop but I’m not very Internet savvy. I don’t follow anyone on twitter or anything but I do check in on the website from time to time. It’s been great to see Kelly and Hilarie start this company and see how the fans have been so supportive.

Annie: Ok, so I have been reliably informed that nothing is off limits with you, which I think is admirable, so what had been your most embarrassing moment in the film industry to date?
Karen: You know we have this discussion a lot with Kathy Rayle over dinners, our most embarrassing moment ever, and I can’t think of one! People say I don’t embarrass easily so maybe that’s it. I say really inappropriate things a lot and sometimes go... “Whoopsie was that too far?” That can be embarrassing.

Kasia: SoGoPro brings up a lot of interesting literature, music, theater to the table. Can you share your favorite authors/artists/titles with us?
Karen: I pretty much just copy whatever Little Leigh is reading :). She made me read Harry Potter (no one try and kill me, but me no likey) however I did enjoy The Hunger Games, Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Chelsea Handler’s books :), and right now I’m reading Room. I do loooovvve me some musical theater also, it’s one of the things I miss the most about living in NYC.

Annie: Is there anything you want to tell us about any addictive habits you have, um, I don’t know, gambling??????
Karen: Gambling for sure! When we were in Puerto Rico you could always find me at the tables with the Producers, I convince myself it was a bonding technique...my parents are very proud :). I also pick my face a lot (ewww, I know). Kelly and Leigh put pepper on my desk and told me if they caught me picking my face I had to eat the pepper. I just went to the bathroom and picked it. :) Ok see now you are just freaking me out, ick, ick and double ick, face picking? Really? As for the gambling, I would be proud too, just hope you weren’t betting the same amounts as the producers!

Kasia: Now that you’re in the business that is dominated by men tell us what a girl’s got to do to be appreciated and treated equally? What would be your advice for girls working in men’s environment?
Karen: I’ve never felt that because I’m a girl people have treated me differently... maybe it’s the guys I work with or I’m too oblivious to notice! Our Warner Bros Executive is a woman and we have women writers, producers, department heads. At least here at OTH I feel like women are treated equally, they are just as smart, just as funny, and just as creative as any of the men. I think as long as you believe it in yourself that you are capable as any man, they will believe it also...and if they don’t...screw ‘em (not literally) :)

Kasia: It seems there is a lot of paperwork and fax/mail/shipping to do during the production and filming process. I can’t imagine how you manage to keep everything running smoothly! How long did it take you to learn how it is all done?
Karen: You are definitely thrown in the fire and it’s a learning process throughout the years. There’s never a time when you go, “now I know it all”.

Kasia: I must say I’m pretty impressed on how well you handle working late hours considering you start your work day really early (most of us usually flip over to another side in beds) . *Annie :Speak for yourself, K* What’s your secret ? *Kasia: Oh, shoosh!*
Karen: Ha, there is no secret. We don’t even have the worst hours on the show! You can never complain to a Teamster or someone in the AD dept because they have been there 2 hours before you got in and they are still there when you leave :). We all look pretty rough and worn out most of the time... we look forward to the Wrap/Christmas parties when we can wear dresses and look like real girls. It is what it is and, to be honest, you just get used to it.

Karen it has been fabulous hearing from you, thanks so much for taking the time out to join our random world and give us a few interesting tid bits, enjoy the shoots for Season 9 and come back and visit some time!

As promised to some here is a quick blog about our SGP Paris meet. Hopefully you are still interested in hearing about it - Dani Hanne and I are excited at the idea of sharing some of our memories with you all. Volcanic eruptions, budgets and family commitments meant our meet was marginally smaller than we had initially imagined, but hey, start small – it can only get bigger! So here we go for the first Euro/global reach meet of SGP.


The Commandments:
Thou shalt frequent as many of the 20 arrondisements, on foot in heels
Thou shalt consume a minimum of one hot chocolate
Thou shalt not dine with a party greater than five
Thou shalt have photographic evidence of many happy moments
Thou shalt communicate regularly with mom
Thou shalt only eat at locally owned restaurants
Thou shalt have the choice to not order a full French menu
Thou shalt not be pickpocketed
Thou shalt stalk lovers by the Seine and photograph them
Thou shalt create new friendships and cherish these moments

I am Northern Irish, I met The Netherlands (Hanne) by the Arc de Triomphe. Here comes the Mary Poppins reference (and I know) Hanne won’t mind, but I was waiting to meet her in front of the Arc de Triomphe when she appeared red faced at the top of the escalator with the biggest suitcase I have ever seen.

And this suitcase – man it was solid, not a soft top, but rock sold hard top, not a rucksack /backpack or trolley case in sight – this case was so big and so heavy that she could have been hiding as much crap as Mary Poppins had in her own carpet bag! Poor Hanne had been dragging the darned case around all morning and so we decided to head off directly to the hotel in St Germain des Près to meet Switzerland (Dani). Hanne got all checked in and we went to go up to the room to unpack. USA may be super sized – over here it is far from the case, Europe is tiny, coffees are tiny, portions are tiny, elevators are NO exception. The elevator was the smallest thing even I have ever seen, Hanne was lucky enough to get her case in it but only standing on its end (the case not Hanne). Then came another teaser reference, the room with the view – that is one thing I will say for the hotel room it had a fantastic view of les Invalides and the Eiffel Tower and Parisian rooftops as far as the eye could see.

We headed back down to the lobby to wait for Dani and the foolishness began, another of my references - there were free sweets in the hotel lobby and a dubious metal box with some random vapours escaping from it – we reckon it was laughing gas, we laughed alot! It was awesome, to see these two in the flesh so to speak. Missing the sidebar from the previous chat room format means a lot of folk communicate personally via MSN/Skype/Facebook now rather than on the cbox, as we don’t like seeing SGP chat straying too far off topic! Hanne and I have spoken over Skype a few times and I have marvelled at Dani’s pictures on more than one occasion, but have never spoken to her or met her.

So this very sunny spring Saturday was spent getting to know each other, each of us with very different lives, aspirations and even language! So 26°C and no polar bears to hand, how better to break the ice than walking, chatting, dancing around, taking silly pictures and above all supporting the same one common theme that brought us together in the first place. That, dear Street teamers, involved us being dressed pretty much the same, we were walking, talking, laughing happy adverts for SGP. Actually I think Hanne deserves a special mention for the “triple combo” white signed t-shirt the sweat shirt and the wristbands – SCORE!


So, I hear you ask, where did we parade ourselves and the short answer is pretty much everywhere it this fabulous city that has become my home. The hotel was right by the Sorbonne University which is a gorgeous area steeped in culture and history. Our first wander took us up to the Jardins de Luxembourg and the Fontaine de Medicis this is where the majority of our silly icebreaking pictures were taken and it was a lovely place to catch some sun, and relax by the ponds.


We were all starving by this time and headed over to a brasserie for some lunch. Note to anyone travelling to Paris, remember patience is a virtue but if you don’t speak up at some point you will need to be virtuous all day long! After a good 20 mins waiting at a table that needed to be cleared we eventually were graced by the presence of our waitress, who actually handed us a note book and pen and asked us to write our own order down as this would save her some time – her boss was less than impressed and I just hope she didn’t get fired! All fuelled up, fed and watered we headed down towards Notre Dame too see some creepy gargoyles, then wandered by the Seine. It was round about now that the ‘telling mom’ reference came into play, but I don’t want to give silly ideas to any impressionable young things we may have reading this, so the ins and outs of that one will remain confidential! So there we were ambling along the left bank of the Seine, book stalls as far as the eye can see 'Les bouquinistes' as we call them stretch the whole way down left bank of the Seine. You can get lost in your own thoughts browsing and buying, UNTIL your juice opens up in your bag (Hanne) again a moment of pure Parisian Chic! Following our trail led us to Pont des Arts then Pont Neuf, and the Tuilleries. I left our friends at this stage, I had to get back to my kids to start my second day!



Sunday was an exhausting day for me as I went back into town to meeting Hanne and Dani this time with my own kids. * tangent * many thanks to both Hanne and Dani for putting up with my mom attitude that kicked like an automatic weapon on day two. So, rendez-vous under the Eiffel Tower and it was to be another scorcher of a day. Another day and another group of ladies who lunch, we had fun in a restaurant I know fairly well France (by means of Jessica) joined us for a while on Sunday afternoon too, so that was nice, and added another string to our bow! ! All in all a lot of fun was had by everyone! We enjoyed researching firsthand the city which has won the hearts of SGP and is the setting for the graphic novel, (there were some fabulous gargoyles to be seen too!) You know, what I loved most of all about this meet is the fact that three ‘likeminded strangers’ met up together, and became ‘likeminded friends’ – all thanks to a mutual interest in a production company based in North Carolina! I will never cease to be amazed!

The FIRST SoGoPro Street Team Award goes to....

(A GIANT THANK YOU to MeganMary for giving us this graphic :) )

Congratulations Anneliese!!!! Let's all leave her some nice comments to celebrate yes? :)

Voting for the next month will begin today as well! Same time next month, Feb. 15th- our second award will be given out!
Woohoo!

Sucessful Secret Santa 2009

Dear all,

Apart from a couple of last minute panics with gifts not getting to destinations on tim, and a few threatened 'beheadings' for gift opening on 24th December, the SGP Secret santa 2009 was pretty darned awesome. Thank you to everyone who played along, I hope everyone enjoyed giving and receiving the gifts this year. I know I did.

I was delighted to see the care that the steetteam took in finding appropriate gifts for people - the majority of which have never even met. It was pretty inspiring. If you want to check out the gifts that were received many have posted photos on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/sogopro.

At the same time, if you really don't know who your Secret Santa was and you really want to know, drop me an email and I shall put you out of your misery!

Thanks again, looking forward to playing again in 2010!

A

Secret Santa

Just a reminder guys, 32 days 10 hours and 40 odd minutes until Christmas.......

By now you should all have received your secret santas so get thinking and buying and sending.

If you have signed up and received your giftee, remember they are counting on you. It would be a shame to send a gift and not receive one, so try your best to get it there on time.

The idea is to get your gift to the person concerned for Christmas day. Be aware of shipping times and so on to different continents. Hopefully on christmas day we can see some pictures up on flickr, use the description box to guess who bought you your gift.

Remember to gift wrap your gift - so the inital sending wrapping can be disregarded and the little gift can live under the tree for a few days!

Happy Shopping

Anneliese

If you have lost your email/cannot remember your giftee/lost address contact me by email or via SoGoPro.com and I can remind you.

Secret Santa - Draw this weekend

Hi guys,

Just to let you know that I will be making the secret Santa draw with my Elf at some point this weekend. We are 31 participating this year, so thanks to everyone who kept to the admission rules and got their details in on time.

Now to the 'other rules'.....

I will email each of you the name and address of the person for whom you are Secret Santa. Your task is to buy a gift for a value of NOT MORE than 30 USA $ - I really mean not more, and there is no lower limit. If you think you have an awesome gift for 5$ - go for it! The point is not to spend as much as possible, but to give something you think someone might like!

You MUST not reveal the name of the person you got! The idea is to keep it secret until Christmas day....

Any other questions and you can always get me on chat or leave me a message here.

Happy random Friday!

xx

SGP Secret Santa REMINDER

Hey guys,

Anneliese here, just a quick message to remind you about our SGP Secret Santa that I am 'trying' to organise this year.

Well we are doing pretty well on inscriptions for our very own Southern Gothic Secret Santa and remember inscriptions will close on 10 November! A few of you have raised quite a few reasonable queries/comments and so as to keep y’all on the same page so to speak I thought it merited a brief update...

Inscriptions will close on Tuesday 10th November at bedtime for me (which embarrassingly, I have to admit) is at the “not very rock n’ roll time” of 22h30 CET. I will be strict and very mean and will turn anyone away after that deadline (unless I get a really nice gift/bribe, or indeed if the numbers are odd!)

I need you all to send me a valid postal address by Friday 13th November (if you actually want to receive the gift). This address can be work, home, school, parents, local pub, or ‘nice-non-thieving-friends-house’ in fact pretty much anywhere. I understand your privacy concerns and I hereby to solemnly swear that only me and your secret Santa will be given the address. For my part, come 25th December I will burn, explode, eat, bury and generally bin all addresses and would ask the Secret Santa’s to do the same.

This brings me onto the second point, the senders address....
Most of us are supposed to put a senders name and address on the parcel/packet/envelope, and in order to keep a little of the mystery it was suggested that we all try ingenious ways of keeping to the postal rules, whilst not completely divulging our identities. Name of sender, Mary Christmas, Mr. S. Claus etc.... clearly the postage stamps etc may give things away, as indeed may the country, so I still think the best thing to do is get someone else in your family/friends to take the postal packaging off without telling you where it is from! (*note to self DO NOT FORGET TO GIFTWRAP GIFT*)

For the moment the last thing I need from you are a few words to express serious likes and or dislikes, in order to help your Secret Santa in their gift search. I do not want sentences, I want words (less than 10 on each). Please follow the format below.

Yes please if it is : “useful, intriguing, traditional, cultural etc........”
No thanks if it is: “alive, yellow, edible etc...”

Another hint is to put some info up on your profile on SGP, you never know you may stumble across some likes/dislikes on there (mine for reference are: White gold not yellow, diamonds not pearls..... so good luck to whoever gets me !)

For those of you interested you can FB message me, you will find me easily enough on there or leave a message on this blog.

Look forward to hearing from you