BREAK IS BACK BREAKER; DIRECTOR LIVES MURPHY'S LAW.

Byline: Steve Carney Staff Writer

Actors and crew members went missing, authorities got cranky about permits, and on Friday even the sun wouldn't cooperate with first-time film director Joanne Small.

The Studio City resident was on location in the arid hills near Castaic Junction, making a short film she hopes will launch her directing career. But she was on day two of the tight shooting schedule for ``Joey Was Here,'' and the midday sun was throwing glare and reflections on her actors' faces during a crucial scene.

``I had to do it over and over again. We're two hours behind,'' she said. But instead of her stress increasing with the noontime temperature, Small tried to maintain perspective.

``You have to have a sense of humor about this,'' she said. ``It's not brain surgery - it's making a movie.''

And in movies big or small, no matter how carefully every shot is plotted in the script, obstacles rear up. But the key to avoiding disasters is to plan for them.

``If something goes wrong, you have to switch gears automatically,'' she said. ``I've been making movies too long. There's nothing that has caught me off guard.''

Small toiled for years in Hollywood and New York City editing, writing and script supervising while working toward a career directing. This year she got the break she was working toward when she was picked for one of eight slots in the Directing Workshop for Women, an exclusive program offered by the American Film Institute.

The winners - chosen from 150 applicants - have a $20,000 budget and only five days in which to shoot their 20-minute masterpieces.

So Small has neither time nor money to spare.

``This was our hardest day, by far,'' she said Friday. ``I'm not surprised we're a little over schedule.''

In the movie she planned to include a scene with different views of two characters conversing. But she'll just go with one perspective - the glare problems Friday cost her the time she needed to shoot the other. But she had already planned in her mind how to edit around the problem.

``We start the day with a wish list of all the wonderful shots we'd like to have,'' she said. ``When you're Stanley Kubrick and you have 10 months to shoot, you get your wish list.''

Small, however, has to keep wishing.

Last year the average production cost for a movie from one of the seven major Hollywood studios was $52.7 million. With a budget like that, Small could make sequels up to ``Joey Was Here 2,635.''

Instead she's working with equipment on loan from AFI, and a volunteer cast and crew of friends and acquaintances from the industry who have lined up to help.

``We had a guy who didn't show up this morning, and we had him replaced within an hour,'' said Scott Carlson, one of Small's two producers.

``You just bob and weave,'' he said. ``She trusts us to know we'll get it done.''

Other problems popped up like targets in a shooting gallery.

Crew members couldn't secure permits from Agoura Hills before the City Hall there closed Friday, so locations for scenes planned Monday had to be relocated.

A crane and a Steadicam needed for weekend shooting suddenly became unavailable, and the crew scrambled to replace them - making calls from Orange County to Massachusetts.

Three separate California Highway Patrol officers showed up Thursday to demand permits and scold the crew in what turned out to be a scheduling mix-up.

The wardrobe mistress had a car breakdown the same day, and someone had to meet her at the repair shop and pick up the actors' clothes.

An actress slotted for one of the roles in the movie had to quit Friday.

``She called to say she got a paying gig and had to bow out,'' Carlson said. ``They're working actors. We know going into this, if they get a paying gig, they've got to go. There's no hard feelings.''

But Small's lead actor - the Joey in ``Joey Was Here'' - called six days before filming began with his regrets. He too had gotten a paying job.

``Normally, my first reaction would've been to scream,'' Small said. ``But my reaction was, hmm, this is interesting. This happens all the time in the real world.''

So she contacted a budding actor she'd just met, George Stults, a square-jawed 23-year-old blond from Detroit. Small took it as a chance to give him his first shot and see how well she does coaxing a performance out of him.

``What looks to be a disaster turns out to be a miracle,'' she said. ``He's a star. There's no question he's going big places. And, hopefully, with me.''

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Photo

PHOTO Filmmaker Joanne Small looks through the camera Friday morning on location near Val Verde.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer