Canfield native makes heroic effort


By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

Brandon Brocker doesn’t have super powers — unless you count being in the right place at the right time. That’s how his two-day job unloading trucks for the Cleveland shoot of “The Avengers” turned into a six-week stint as a production assistant for the superhero movie.

Brocker, a 2005 Canfield High graduate, worked in the costume and wardrobe department for the duration of filming and then stayed on to break down equipment and finish paperwork.

It started as a long shot and worked out better than he ever could have imagined.

Brocker has a degree in film studies from the Art Institute of Nashville and some experience in the film industry. He sent a r sum to the filmmakers early last year when he learned “The Avengers” would be partially shot in Cleveland. Just before the crew came to town last summer, he got a call to work two days unloading trucks.

“I later found out that they just pulled my r sum out of a stack,” said Brocker.

It was soon discovered that, through some error, a production assistant had not been hired for costumes. Because Brocker already was on the set, he got the job.

“I did errands, handled phone calls, bought supplies and took care of ordering food,” said Brocker. With the Hollywood crowd, that last task proved more difficult than it sounds. “I had to stock very specific snacks for the people on the set — hypo-allergenic, gluten-free, flax seed. ... I also had to keep finding new restaurants for lunch orders. It was a constant battle to keep everyone happy.”

The job wasn’t all about food, however. Brocker also handled the logistics for the wardrobe and actors, fielded emails, mediated conflicts, did paperwork and kept track of petty cash. “It was organizational work,” he said.

He reported daily to the set in downtown Cleveland for the entire month of August and about half of September.

The work taught him that while making a film — even one with a whopping $220 million budget like “The Avengers” — there is always something to do. “It was a constant juggling act,” he said. “There was always a list of things that needed to be done. You have to stay on schedule. There is no redundancy in jobs, and no room for error.”

Brocker also handled costumes for the hundreds of extras who worked on the film. “Almost every extra was given the same outfit every day, and then they had to return it to me at the end of the day,” he said. “It was all orchestrated and very specific. There is nothing left to chance.”

Although Brocker never got to see the film’s stars, he did sneak down to watch the much-talked-about scene in which an entire block was blown up. “You could feel the air vibrate,” he said.

Brocker said he earned a lot of praise for his work ethic and also his cost-consciousness. “They would jokingly make fun of me for always trying to find the best price,” he said. It’s a habit he picked up while making his own films, though it was hardly necessary on a big-budget film such as “The Avengers.”

After attending the film’s Cleveland premiere Tuesday, Brocker will head back to New York, where he lives. He is keeping busy now doing video work and some free-lance graphics and animation.

Before his stint with “The Avengers,” Brocker had worked as an intern for the E! Network show “The Soup.” He also worked for “The Rachel Ray Show” in New York and for a script-development company.

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