The Two-Hundred-Thousand_Dolllar Mistake
Corruption knows no bounds in Hollywood
The Show Must Go On
The glitz and glamour of Hollywood became the backdrop of my childhood. I danced on American Bandstand, played Family Feud, watched sets being built, and worked on The Price is Right, General Hospital, and In Living Color while watching actors rehearse their lines. It felt like quite the privilege.
Growing up behind the scenes in Hollywood made me privy to a whole lot of corruption and devious acts. My dad worked as the lead prop master for television series, concerts, plays, the Emmys, the Grammys, or anything else that came his way.
Smoke and Mirrors
In that era, studio executives would hand my dad thousands of dollars in cash, and his job was to find unusual props needed for the sets. For instance, my dad knew where to find a six-foot pink teddy bear as soon as the request came.
He and his other prop coworkers all remained on the lookout for Hollywood gems as they drove around the back streets of Wilshire Blvd.
However, without computers, receipts made up the accounting system that dutiful employees handed to the accounts payable department. The studios were unaware that all the prop men and women (not as many at the time) bought their own register that printed out fake receipts. Therefore, much of the propman’s stash could be pocketed but somehow accounted for without notice.
Oops…
Every once in a while, an overzealous new accountant would jump on board and notice discrepancies. Quickly, he would announce to the executives that a problem of missing money had occurred. Well, those executives knew all about it, too. They, too, had their own ways of pocketing the studio’s stash.
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In the middle of the hustle and bustle, management would placate the new accountant by explaining,” It was just a mistake.” The accountant would not argue, and the money remained distributed among the inner lining of many of the employees’ pockets.
A Day in The Life
Besides the day drinking and onslaught of cocaine used by the majority of those who worked in Hollywood, including celebrities and everyone else, the stealing of money and the buying of six-foot teddy bears continued. Until one day…
My dad mentioned that he would like to write a story about the studio’s “Two hundred thousand dollar mistake,” wink, wink, tug, tug. The guys would laugh because they all knew what he was referring to.
Photo by Chelsea Mandler
One day, an executive came stumbling down the stairs, stepping over his own feet and racing towards my dad.
“No, David, no,” exclaimed the executive. “No mistake, no mentions, no story.” Word spread about my father’s impending story.
Understanding that his job was more important than his story, my father obliged. But he kept those execs on their toes for years. They assigned him the best schedules, and his union elected him to a leadership position. But the “Two-hundred-thousand-dollar mistake” disappeared.
Break a Leg
I knew at a young age that stealing was wrong. I do not condone the actions of the crew. But this story is not about judgment. It is a story about how life unfolds in the backdrop of production. It is a fast-paced world; anytime a staff member was at home, they knew they could be called to work. The schedule is a revolving door. This weighs heavily on all that work there.
To this day, employees and union members find ways to pocket the studio’s money, and corruption persists all the way from the top because, as they say in Hollywood, “The show must go on!”
