On Good Gigs

“500 DAYS OF SUMMER / A DREAM JOB”

Christian & a few of his colleagues

Christian Vincent

“As soon as I got off the plane from NY I met choreographer Michael Rooney for lunch to discuss the film 500 Days of Summer. Tracey Phillips and I would be assisting him for the next four days. This job was one of the really good ones for many reasons and I will explain why…starting with the dancers.

Michael had a stack of thirty pictures of dancers he wanted to use. He likes to hire dancers who are easy to work with, pleasant to be around, quick to adapt to changes, work fast, and are not complainers. If you are familiar with LA dancers then names like Nathan Prevost, Michael Higgins, Sybil Azur, Nadine Ellis, Brian Anthony, Jennifer Keyes, John Corella, and John Jacquet should ring a bell. Basically, Michael likes to hire individuals who come to do their job, do it well and have fun in the process making the job seem less like work but more like a party/reunion. The dancers were not the only great thing about this film.

On the second day of rehearsal I was asked to go work on set with the lead actor in the scene. His name is Jonathan Gordon- Levitt. I soon realized I would be teaching him his moves in the parking lot. It is always an experience working with actors because you never know how receptive they are to learning dance. Working with Michael I have seen some nightmare actors who make it known they hate having to dance in a scene and refuse to do it. Jonathan was GREAT! He was extremely pleasant, musical, hard working and receptive to learning. He got the routine in a matter of an hour and a half and my work was done. Jonathan's talent and positivity made the scene look pretty great and the job more enjoyable. With a great actor came a great director, Marc Scott.

I really appreciated Marc from the get-go because he trusted the choreographer's talent. Michael presented Marc with a group of capable dancers and he trusted Michael's judgment and approved them all. Working with Michael, I have seen directors who try and re-choreograph the scene themselves after it is rehearsed and on set. In effect, the director usually destroys the scene or complicates it just because they want to feel as though they needed to add something. Marc looked at the choreography on set, discussed with the choreographer what needed to be done and let us do our jobs. In effect a smart director who knew how to do his job and allowed everyone else to theirs.

I could go on and on about the pros of this job but these were some of the key elements that made it great.