Make a Documentary or Talk to a Documentary-ist



Kristin shares her foodie expertise



JP protects the camera from the rain

Last night, in the midst of the "Pineapple Express" (the affectionate name of the current So. Cal. storm), I came upon Patricia and her video camera. While walking across the parking lot, Patricia was was trying to hold a shopping receipt in one hand, simultaneously attempting to set the white balance on her camera with the other hand, while also keeping a careful eye on the umbrella resting on her camera to protect it from the rain. With all of this going on in a Santa Monica parking lot late on a Tuesday night, I had to stop and inquire. "Hello, do you need a hand?" I ask. She replied, "Yes, would you mind holding this paper in front of my camera, I'm trying to set the white balance." "Sure," I respond. While she shifts back to her camera and looks through the lens to adjust the color settings, I ask, "What are you doing?" She responds, "I"m taping B-roll. I'm making a documentary on the food trucks." 

Without a second passing I exclaim, "I LOVE the food trucks!"

Patricia responds, "You do? May I interview you?"

Uhhh, well I'm not so sure about an interview but I do love them. 

Then we start chatting food trucks. You see, every Tuesday in Santa Monica there's a gathering of gourmet food trucks, 10 trucks, different each week. They take over a local parking lot and serve food to anyone and everyone. I've seen the sign up for months and have been wanting to go but it wasn't until last week that I made my way with friends to Ocean Park and Main - otherwise known as food truck heaven and home.

I told Patricia about my wonderful experience last week: the delicious, authentic Filipino food I ate for a very reasonable price, the good company and the good fun. And again, she asked, "May I interview you?"

"May I get a few friends?"

"Yes."

So off I went to recruit my fellow food truck believers.  

Thus ensued our sharing of stories with Patricia. We all spoke of our experiences last week or our fond connection to food trucks. Bryan said he wasn't going to be a food-truck-goer but we "made him." Made him or not, if this Tuesday's trucks weren't cancelled due to rain, he was going to have it again. Good friend Kristin, a food blogger extraordinaire, talked about her $5 large and delicious Vietnamese sandwich from NomNom Truck in addition her appreciation for the entrepreneurial-ship of the food-truckers themselves. While I don't have quite her foodie expertise or business-savvy, I know when food is good and the food from Tapa Boy was good! I offered my two cents on how the food trucks are very "L.A." and the experience I enjoyed of eating good food along with the company of good friends. A dynamite combo these food trucks got goin' on! 

Maybe we'll get to see more of our interviews with Patricia when Masa Revolution premiers. Until then, know that we appreciated not only sharing our food truck joy but we also soaked in (quite literally) the rare opportunity to share our story with Patricia. It's not so often that you stumble upon a documentary-ist who happens to be filming on a topic you love!

Thanks, Patricia! 365 Days of Service salutes your efforts to bring greater awareness around the food truck revolution and we look forward to seeing your great project! And a huge shout out to our friends Lisa, Corinne, Camille, & JP who cheered us on!



Clearly, I can hardly contain my excitement.



Bryan: "They made me come."