Shhhhh....Quiet on the Set.

I'm on a tv set now, watching as a commercial I wrote is filmed. Everything, from the location to the wardrobe to the make-up to all the people (there are like a hundred people listening to little headphones watching screens running cameras holding microphones handing me bottles of water yelling things) seems in-motion and rapid and overwhelming. I'm kind of wondering what I'm doing here. There's no reason for my presence, as the actors are just reading my lines.

It's giving me insight, though, into the immensity of the television commercial industry. If this much effort is put into one 30-second spot, think of all the time, money, resources and energy that goes into all the commercials we see. I mean, already - it's noon - I've seen dozens of water bottles in the garbage can instead of the recycling bin. Plus, the fact that we're using water bottles in the first place...wasteful.

As I sit here, killing time on the set of my fairly small scale commercial, I'm trying to imagine how much money is spent on commercials every year. Even this spot, with its anemic budget, commands big money. Larger commercial budgets run into the millions. Imagine if every company cut one commercial from its annual budget and gave the money to a charity, a non-profit organization, me...

No, no, not me. Something worthwhile. And I know this is a silly, immature daydream, but I don't have much else to do, so I'm allowing my mind to run.

And yes, I'm taking issue with the very industry that signs my paychecks and buys me lovely things like the adorable outfit I'm wearing, but I can't help it.