Just before my time in her presence came to an end the door opened and a colleague walked in. She was very kind and patient with this young shaver and welcomed me in to her office with great kindness when she didn’t have to. I was invited to sit, my CV was duly received and I was advised that in order to have a chance to be considered for any role on a future Bond production I would need to get experience one or more feature films. I was welcome but I knew my time was short and her time was limited.
To be honest I can’t remember the whole of the conversation and in hindsight I think I felt like a bit of an intruder in a stranger's garden. I introduced myself and proceed to handover my limited CV.
Ms Rose was seated behind a large desk surrounded by piles of files of A4 paper. I was greeted with curiosity as I think I was about to or had walked in on a conversation. Still armed with my envelopes I knocked and entered.
An industry stalwart who's track record at that time included working on 8 Bond Films and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I walked along the thinly carpeted floor until I came across a door with the familiar name of the epically and botanically named Unit Manager Iris Rose. In order to tell who was working in each individual office and to act as an effective disturbance prevention solution each identical office door has a clearly a labelled name card in a slot which can be swapped out with ease on completion of the project or expiry of their lease be their landlords. Keeping to the ground floor I made my way along the corridor to the area which held the production offices for Eon Productions which was in the process of winding down on The World Is Not Enough which was due for release. This particular building, the hugely adapted Heatherden Hall, holds its place in Irish political history as it was the place where The Treaty was signed in 1921. The doorway into this building is impressive as it’s made from an old fireplace but it leads to a foyer with a treasure trove of awards and statuettes celebrating the work made here. Having parked in the Car Park 2 I approached the administration building with its endless corridors lined with the posters of productions old and new all made on the lot. Since 1999 time the site has been through a major renovation and expanded across the road into a field next to the M25. Watching benevolently from above is the twice burnt down/thrice built Albert R Broccoli 007 Stage a mammoth structure which dwarfs the other stages. The first thing that hits you is the sheer size of the property and vast soundstages within. Pinewood has many movie connections so certain corners of the complex look somewhat familiar: A Metropolis alleyway from Superman, Auric Enterprises from Goldfinger, the embassy from Who Dares Wins and Carry on up the Khyber or Dandy Dan’s Mansion from Bugsy Malone. So, following a quick print I headed off with my A4 manilla envelopes stuffed with my CV to the hallowed acres of studio space on the Buckinghamshire borders.
Lead by Bertie Miller the directors slate included Daniel Kleinman who as to date been responsible for 8 title sequences from the most recent 9 Bond films.Ī few weeks later I had a free afternoon and as I lived on the west side of London I thought I would try to drop off some CVs at Pinewood Studios which was about a 30 minute drive from where I lived. I found myself called out to Beak Street in Soho to a company named Spectre but unlike their villainous namesake they were a lovely group of people making some amazing content. After a year out of university and having moved to the big city in search of opportunities I had recently gone freelance as a Runner complete with diary service who found me work and took bookings from me on shoots and office roles with production companies which produced commercials and music videos. So, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise for people who are associated with the series to be known to the film going public at least their name and job title. Afterall if you look at the early entries in the series many of the technicians stay from film to film. And if like my you avidly watch the opening titles of each film the same names appear over multiple entries in the series. This is the foundation of the legend of the Bond team being a family. For a number of people, it is repeat employment and a long association with a select group of media professionals, film technicians and executives has been built up over a number of years. It is a career ambition for many people and brands to have been associated with the Bond series and to have a little bit of the 007 magic on their CV. This week sees the UK release of the much-delayed but highly anticipated new and to date 25th entry into the James Bond series from Eon Productions No Time To Die.
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