Two Cents & Five Questions With...

... Richard Gonzales, 2nd 2nd AD, "The Office".

Another new episode of "The Office" airs tonight at 8:30pm EST on NBC and The Two Cents has found another member of The Office family to spend some time with us and share their Two Cents and Five Questions.

Richard serves as the 2nd 2nd Assitant Director on "The Office" and has directed shorts films which you can watch here.

Let's dive into the world of Richard Gonzales!

Two Cents: Would you please tell the Two Cents readers a little about yourself, and what your duties are on The Office?
Richard Gonzales: I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. Always the class clown, I enrolled in the CSUN teenage drama workshop. This is where I directed a scene from Marx Bros "The Cocoanuts". Then in high school I was involved in play production,speech club & film club. I directed the play "God" by Woody Allen, directed several short super 8 films & won several speech & drama awards. I then began a short acting career having several bit parts in the 1980s on "General Hospital", "Diff'rent Strokes", "Silver Spoons", "Spencer", "The New, Love American Style", "What's Happening Now", "Stingray", "Free Ride", "Like Father, Like Son". Then nothing. A friend called asking, would you like to PA on "Unsolved Mysteries" and from 1989 till 1993, I traveled all over the western United States with the show. I began to PA on several movies "Volcano", "Face/Off", "Virtuosity", "Metro" to name a few. Another friend called and asked if I wanted to AD on a low budget movie. So from 1994 till 1996, I worked as a non-union AD till I had enough days to join the DGA. In 2005 I was nominated for a DGA award as part of Director George Clooney's DGA team for "Good Night Good Luck". Recently I has been directing a series of short films that have hitting the film festival circuit. "Mystery Man"(Best Family film Tulipanes Film Fest 2004) & "Capt. Undergarments"(LAShortsFest 2005)(Audience Award Valley Film Fest 2006), "The New Old Capt. Undergarments" (LAShortsFest 2006) & "My Wallet" (Nosotros Film Fest 2006). I currently work as a 2nd 2nd AD on "The Office".

My duties as a 2nd 2nd AD on THE OFFICE are getting the cast ready. Making sure they are going through hair, make up & wardrobe. Making sure they know what scenes are being shot and in which order.
I also assist the Director, the 1st AD and the Key 2nd AD in getting whatever elements are needed in order to shoot a scene and I also direct the background(extra's).

TC: How did you end up working on The Office?
RG: I landed on THE OFFICE because one of the AD's(Melissa V. Barnes) worked with me on GOOD NIGHT, GOOD LUCK which had a large cast & THE OFFICE has a large cast.

TC: What fun websites do you visit for your own entertainment?
RG: YOUTUBE... doesnt everyone?

TC: What is the most embarassing 'fad' you completely bought in to?
RG: Wow, you know, I work long hours during the week and on the weekends I try to shoot my wacked out short flicks..I dont have time for fads. Or put it another way.. fads? I dont need no stinkin fads!

TC: What is your dream job path leading from where you are now?
RG: And the Oscar goes to....best director, best actor, best screenplay.

*Two Cents Bonus Question*
TC: If someone were to climb off a desert island and only have time to watch five movies to learn what American cinema is all about, what five movies would you show them?
RG: Chaplin's "The Kid", Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup", "Citizen Kane", "North by Northwest", "The Godfather".

Many thanks to Rich for sharing with us! You can find Rich's MySpace page as a friend of The Two Cents on our MySpace. Be sure to check out his short films and watch The Office tonight on NBC.