As a child, Yudi Bennett dreamed of running away with the circus. Though a circus career never materialized, she did find the adventure she craved — on dozens of features and television shows as assistant director. Bennett's career achievements, as well as her tireless service to the DGA, have earned her this year's Frank Capra Achievement Award.
On a lunch break from her current show, NBC's Watching Ellie, Bennett reflected upon her career thus far, her eyes lighting up whenever she remembered a particularly exotic or adventurous assignment, starting with her very first job on a movie set — as PA on a 1976 low-budget horror film, Dark August.
Attending graduate school at the University of Vermont, Bennett heard about a film crew shooting in nearby Stowe. "I hitch-hiked out there," she said, "and when I arrived I found out that all the other PAs had quit because their pay was only $25 a week. But I was young and adventurous! They needed someone for a month, and I thought, if nothing else, this will be a really great adventure."
The crew took pity on Bennett, buying her dinners and teaching her the basics of a movie set. "I got hooked really fast. I finished graduate school, packed up and moved to New York. I called the five people I knew from that movie, and each gave me two other people to call."
Eventually, Bennett found work on commercials and industrials and applied to the DGA Trainee Program. After two years as a trainee, Bennett became a 2nd AD; two years after that came a phone call that would change her life.
"It was Alan Alda calling to tell me he was directing his first feature [The Four Seasons], and would I be his 1st AD! I was stunned and flattered. I thought, 'He remembers who I am?'" Bennett had worked as 2nd AD two years earlier on The Seduction of Joe Tynan, directed by Jerry Schatzberg which starred and was written by Alda. Clearly, Alda had taken notice. "It was a huge shot," she said. "Alan jump-started my career. It's always hard to move up from 2nd to 1st, and I might still be a 2nd if he hadn't called!" It was a perfect match — Bennett has worked as Alda's 1st AD on all four features he has directed. (On March 1, Alda presented Bennett with her award.)
Bennett has also AD'd some 30 other films, including Broadcast News, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Client, Star Trek: Generations, Pleasantville, and Disney's MOW Annie. She was part of the directing team on two DGA Award winners, Kramer vs. Kramer (2nd AD) and The Beach Boys: An American Family (1st AD).
True to form, the experiences that most stand out in her mind are those which involved exotic locations or fascinating subjects. In Washington to research Broadcast News, for example, she found herself in the CBS newsroom when the Iran-Contra scandal broke. In Peru to shoot a miniseries about Shirley MacLaine, she had to work with extras who spoke only their native Incan language. "I looked at it as the most incredible life adventure," she remembered. "Every job is different — everything's a learning experience. You do a period piece and all of a sudden you become an expert on how people lived in another century. It's an amazing way to make a living."
Lately, Bennett has concentrated more on TV work, as it offers the steadier lifestyle she and her husband need to raise their 8-year-old son. It's also allowed her to be even more active in Guild affairs, though she has been heavily involved since she joined in 1978.
She's currently serving her third term as 1st Vice Chair of the West Coast AD/UPM/TC Council. She has been a member of the National Board of Directors since 1995 and has chaired both the Safety Committee and the Community Service Committee. She now serves on the Administrative and Orientation Committees, and has served on several others, including the Mentor Committee. In addition, last year she became a Trustee of the Pension and Health Plan and joined the Benefits Committee. She's been a Trustee of the DGA Foundation for 10 years.
As she admits, "I could stop working tomorrow and probably have a full-time volunteer job at the Guild. Part of the reason I'm active is that I think you have to give back, whatever you do in life, to your community and to your profession."
Bennett is especially proud of her work on the Safety Committee. "We've tried to get safer conditions for Guild members working long hours. We've revamped some of the safety bulletins and drafted a bulletin that encourages safety meetings. It's a pretty active committee."
To Bennett, runaway production is one of the most pressing Guild issues today. "It's what I'd most like to see something done about," she said. "Years ago we saw it coming. I worked a lot on MOWs and they were the first to go to Canada. I'd love to see legislation passed to try and bring some shows back. It would benefit the whole film community so much."
Bennett pointed out that the DGA's membership growth has made runaway production an especially critical problem. "When I was working in New York in the early 1980s, there was actually more work than there were ADs. It's hard to believe. Now there are many more ADs than there is work. It makes me very sad to see people work so hard to get into the Guild and then not be able to get enough work to make a living. That's something our council is constantly trying to change — it's part of the reason we have a Mentor Committee, to try and get people to improve their skills and be able to compete better. But certainly bringing back some of the runaway production would help."
Remaining active in the DGA is a challenge, "but you make time for what's important to you. I want to do as much as I can in my life, so I juggle things. And, I am married to the most extraordinary man, who happens to also be a DGA member [production manager Robert Schneider]. He's as involved as I am, and my stepson Benjamin is also in the Guild. We're the total DGA family!
"The great thing about the Guild is that it's a democracy. Any member in good standing can run for Council. Anyone can have a say and make changes. I encourage members to be a part of the process. It seems to me, why wouldn't you want to have a say? "
