Somebody Save Us: How a Bad Situation Got us Great Teammate

I hate firing people. The bending over backwards trying to make a way to keep someone you like. The ending up flat on your back, knowing it's cut them loose or  sink everyone who's worked so hard. The gaping hole they leave, gushing time and production value while you scramble to fill it.
 
I had a void in my cast, and three weeks left to shoot. That's one day a week with a max of 2 hours 30 minutes that day, if no one wanted to eat.

I had just fired someone. I needed a replacement by the end of the co-op's lunch period.
 
It sounds simple, right? You're asking someone if they want to be in a movie.  But what happened isI went table to table in every lunch room, asking every appropriately aged girl if she could save our film, and every one of them said no.

We'd worked for more than a year on this thing. I didn't want to lose it because I couldn't find one girl.

Chemistry classes. Biology classes. Pottery classes. Financial Peace. Table to table to table and not a single highschool, middle-school, mercy! I'd have taken an elementary kid, not a single person was available to save us.

I combed three lunch rooms and walked down the hall empty handed. I was praying, my chest tight and my head swimming from the lack of food, and I opened a classroom door. And there was Brilea, sitting alone in an empty classroom with her lunch, reading book.

I'm pretty sure I didn't get down on my knees to beg. But I did consider it.

A few minutes later I had explained the schedule, and she was telling me she'd have to talk to her teachers, but she was pretty certain they'd say yes. And she said, "I don't know how good I will be at this, but I will try my very, very best."

If I was gonna cry, I would have done it then.

I wanted to hug her. I reached my hand out, and shook. "Thank you. That's all I need." 

Brilea saved our movie, and a year later, she's still with Rabid Camera. The last week of the shoot year, I realized that she'd never heard the story before, so I told her. And I was like, man. That's a story worth telling.

We're really grateful for every member of our team, but Brilea has the weirdest origin story. Yay.

Sometimes when you have to fire someone it doesn't turn out so bad.