Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546058
MOTIONPICTUREC O S T U M E R S .O R G 35 to offend the Pope," says Gerber. "They had this funeral scene with the Pope, and they wanted me to do all these fake dignitaries, and I just had a blast. I made dignitaries for two weeks. Once again, my first introduction to the film industry was three months of night shoots on a major motion picture. I don't know how people do this. Like a rookie, I wore the wrong shoes on my first day and my feet were killing me; I was exhausted leaving work at 6 a.m. and geing stuck in LA traffic and then going home and not being able to sleep in the height of summer. It was an absolute nightmare. Then I saw the check because we went into golden time the first week; the money was incredible, but in my humble opinion, it wasn't worth what it took. Those night shoots were very tough; I was fortunate to have that kind of experience right out of the gate." Working as a Set Costumer, Gerber quickly realized that he preferred working at the Costume Houses. "I knew right away that I wasn't cut out for set. Set Costumers are very tough people. I went back into the costume house as soon as I could, and I was lucky to get here [at United American]. Luster Bayless and his daughter, Diana Foster, were moving their uniform collection into a new building [at the Fulton Warehouse] on the day I asked Paul Deluca if he knew anybody who needed a Costumer. He said, 'As a maer of fact, I do.' I had two years of experience at Western in the military department, and they just moved all this stuff over here, everything was still in boxes. Mr. DeLuca sent me to meet Luster Bayless: the man, the myth, the legend, needed some help moving some stuff, and Luster was very surprised that I knew military uniforms." Along with his Western experience, Gerber claims his love for film is what has goen him this far in the industry, and how he was able to identify uniform pieces and pick up the cra like he has. "My uniform experience was Rambo … Platoon, watching movies, that's all it was." He goes on to say, "I never really had any formal training. I always had a fascination with history, because history is very interesting if taught properly. If you just read something from a book, you could bore people to death, but if you talk about the details, if you show them what it's like to actually be in a war, and to see all that stuff: the blood, the guts, the gore, and all that, I guarantee not only will they pay aention, but they will remember it." With Gerber's experience in uniforms and his willingness to jump in and unpack the warehouse, Bayless took a quick liking to him. Gerber says, "I think Luster liked me because I was excited to be part of this business. I mean nobody had a beer story than Luster; We're so lucky to be in showbiz and we have to remind ourselves of that every day, because showbiz is hard! It's real work." Gerber has now spent over a decade working at United American Military Uniforms Fulton location, assisting Costume Departments with finding the correct uniforms for their period and contemporary shows. He has always had a fascination with historical costumes, so this career path fits his personality quite well. Being able to work with period accurate costumes and help productions find the answers they need by being able to research things when needed. He tells us when working with period costumes, "You have to get it right, you have to get it historically accurate. It's your job and responsibility to get it as accurate as humanly possible. Golden Time Under motion picture contracts, 'golden time' refers to a very high overtime rate paid out by producers for excessively long hours. The exact amount varies by contract.