The Adventures of Chopper Chick!: A little bit of movie work.....

Saturday, March 24, 2007

A little bit of movie work.....

Flying away from the LZ to go film up in Latigo Canyon.

Getting ready to lift.

After the shoot!

On our way out to Latigo Canyon to film from the LZ

Director Austin Smithard and myself.

The location for the rigging of the camera for the commercial.

Flying up the coast to the LZ

Yesterday, Friday the 23rd, I flew on a Volvo Commercial. It was really fun. The location we landed at in malibu was just above the marine layer which burned off later in the day anyway. Filmed new volvo vehicles driving up Latigo Canyon Road. After the shoot I flew news for nbc till midnight. Long day but fun! I will get back to everyone's comments sometime tomorrow if I can, but really quick, Laguna, I saw those explosions last night while driving home on the 118. Funny.

5 comments:

Laguna said...: Just woke up. Drove to Gelson's, bought beer and sushi for breakfast and Los Angeles magazine.Wow & Congrats!!!!!
Don't be surprised after this article floats around for a few moments that the phone is going to ring a lot!
Good luck!!!
Funny you saw the "Boom!" I thought you might!; 4:11 PM
Laguna said...: Extraordinary, creative gentleman that was in your chopper.
He holds a very nice list of credits.
Get ready to be around more creative people as time goes on Desiree.
Many comments ago I wrote "the best is yet to come." Sit back and watch the unfoldment. Wonderful things are about to begin so protect yourself, watch and listen.
As an old Movie War Horse, I have seen these things before.
Fantastic!!; 7:49 PM
Desiree said...: laguna, yep, saw the explosions. pretty cool. i was talking to kevin who works atc at BUR late nights, the guy who has the nice voice, he's like the phil of vny, he's the phil of BUR. lol. anyway, i was chatting with him on freq the other night and pointed out to him the movie shoot in the pass which you can see from bur's airspace.

i was at vons today and it was actually really cool to see los angeles magazine at the checkout. i felt like a famous person knowing that i was in there. pretty cool. i hope the phone rings like you say. i am open to new ventures in regards to work opportunities and whatever may come. it's all good.

austin aka the chief, is an amazing man. smart as he is creative. he is always challenging himself and learning something new. he is a rated instrument fixed wing pilot as well. i've known him for a while and am honored to say that he is a friend. he is really cool and super nice. thanks for the kind words and comments. i am looking forward to what you say. lol. i would love more opportunities to do creative things with creative people with the helicopter. thanks!!!; 7:28 PM
Laguna said...: We resume shooting at Rocky Peak on Monday night for a week. All night work, yep. We are back in Afghanistan, lol!
Got some business at WHP on Friday. Can give you the particulars if you want to come up and visit the set.
The pd bird that showed up a few nights ago which I thought was hilarious after you mentioned that maybe if I was lucky I might have a ship come over to my "Hood" came and went, no PA speaker stuff, no boots on the ground running through yards which has happened in the past. Bought this 1924 house in Van Nuys for a song several years back, awesome commute times being centrally located. Laguna Beach commute after a 16 hr. day was ridiculous, yet I know of a fellow "Lagunatic" who does it. Can't blame him, he wakes up in a nice, sleepy little town.
Got stuff for Little Lou, Scooter and the rest of the Horde in my truck. Will drop it off at the office or if I see Karl first I'll leave it with him.
Fly Right Baby Sister!; 2:20 PM
Desiree said...: laguna, i will let you know when i have some time to come up. maybe friday night after our shift here. i'll see if stu wants to come as well. i still see it everyday from the 118. i know what you mean about the drive and those who would rather have a nice place somewhere else and drive far. me, i love living in the valley to be close to work and sort of semi-centraly located. big thanks again for the care package you brought by. the cats love the toys. scooter actually has too many now! jill is starting to put some of them away so they're not all over the office floor. we had lena, dennis's dog there last week and also another dog from down stairs came up for a visit. it's animal central at coastal. lol. i love it. my cats loved the chew toys by the way! thanks for the wine and the snacks too! all very thoughtful and nice of you! i'll be in that trailer back up in independence next month!!!!! i'll bring the wine and the crackers you supplied!; 9:21 PM

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PHPA / Professional Helicopter Pilots Association

Promoting safety and
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helicopter pilots, the PHPA
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Coordinating efforts towards improving communications, methods of operation within the airspace system, or any other area that will contribute to the safety and education of all pilots;
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Board of Directors
Executive Officers & Board of Directors
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Morris Cohen
Guillaume Maillet
Chuck Street
Ed Story
Desiree Horton
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How I got started..........

For those of you who are looking at a life of flying helicopters or just curious how I started and got where I am today, read on.......................

I have been flying helicopters for over 18 years and mostly here in Los Angeles until recently in 2005 when I started fighting fire as a contract pilot all over the U.S. during the summer and in the off season on occasion. Currently I fly for about six different companies as a free lance contract pilot. My main company that I work for is Heli-Flite/Aris Helicopters in Riverside, CA, where I do Aerial Construction flying, fly for Corona Police Department, and fly fires during fire season. In the off months outside of fire season I fly some news and photo and movie production flights for various other companies which some of them I have been working with for over ten years. Since I have received many emails in regards to how does one become a helicopter pilot.....I am giving a little insight to those of you who ask how I got started and how much it costs to become a pilot, well it's a long story and everyone has a different story as to how they got their start. Some people had it easy, some people had it tough, some joined the military, others did the civilian route. There are so many different ways to do it and no one has the same story. As far as cost, well it was alot less 18 years ago, so you will have to check with a flight school on that one. I started flying when I was 19 years old and at the time I couldn't get a loan, so I worked two jobs 7 days a week and after two years, finally got my private. If you can get loan, it will not take you that long as I could only afford a couple of lessons a month. I never got my CFI as I found other ways to build time. Even 18 years ago being a CFI did not pay the bills, so I worked other jobs and flew part time over the years to build my time. I washed helicopters in exchange for flight time. I even paid for left seat time for quite some time to build hours. I jumped on any chance I could get for free flight time riding along with other pilots in an empty seat. I made lots of sacrafices and had no time to myself. It was all about flying, kinda how it still is today. hahaha. Anyway, I started a dba and made brochures and brought myself my own flight business doing tours and photo flights out of a Hughes 269 and an R22. Eventually I had some money to put myself through Bell Factory School which enabled me to fly a Jetranger early in my career with very little time. Back then insurance companies did not require massive amounts of flight time. With just 300 hours and factory school, I now had a jetranger to run my tours in. It eventually led to flying for other companies. Sending myself to Bell school opened up opportunities and possibilities for me. It was also my reputation that opened doors. Attitude is everything. You will not suceed in this business with a poor attitude. Keep that in mind. Trust me, I'm not perfect. We all don't have perfect attitudes, but you know what I mean. My job offers took off from there. I was doing tours for various small tour companies and flight schools and then started flying traffic watch, then soon I was flying news in a 206 which later led to an astar. When I got into fire, I sent myself to long line and mountain flying school. Sometimes if you want something, you will have to pay for it to get ahead and open doors for yourself. I found a company that hired me with no fire experience. With my training I had paid for and experience from flying over the years I was on my way to do what I had always dreamed of doing, fighting fire from a helicopter. I was patient as it took time to get where I am today. You have to be patient sometimes. I still get impatient on occasion and want it all now, but it just doesn't work that way. So my advice to up and coming pilots who ask how to do it? Find a good school, find some money, stick with it, don't ever stop, don't make excuses, don't let others discourage you as that will happen your entire career, and you will suceed and get what you want eventually. Good luck!

By the way, some pilots never stop paying their dues. Sometimes if you want certain things to happen in your career you will find yourself making the same sacrafices later on, but the sacrafices seem even greater because with time, comes more responsibility and more to lose when sacrafices are made. But sometimes the gain is worth it!