Case study: Canadian Property Master’s entertaining life story goes behind the scenes of film and TV hits
Canadian Prop Master Dean Goodine’s new life-story book details the highs and lows of 36 years working with stars such as Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Jason Momoa and more.
They Don’t Pay Me To Say No: My Life in Film and Television Props, by FriesenPress, goes behind the scenes to show how props are integral to the success of any movie or TV show.
Goodine has worked on everything from Oscar-nominated feature films like Unforgiven, network TV shows like Stargate SGI, streaming hits like A Series of Unfortunate Events plus small independent films.
Forever Young Autobiographies caught up with him to find out more about his book, how he wrote it plus suggestions for first-time writers …
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Dean Goodine’s memoir They Don’t Pay Me To Say No
A life spent telling many stories
I am a Canadian Film and TV Property Master from Summerland, British Columbia.
I have had a wonderful 36-year career in my craft.
And my wife of 32 years, Janice Blackie-Goodine, is an Academy Award Nominee for her work as a set decorator on Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven.
For example, some of my film credits include: Unforgiven, Legends of the Fall, The Edge, Open Range, and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Also in TV I have worked on Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and SEE.
Why write They Don’t Pay Me To Say No?
I noticed with the tremendous growth in streaming the past 10 years that young film people were not being given the type of mentorship I had.
But people were advancing into positions on shows that they were not ready for.
And I felt I would write They Don’t Pay Me To Say No to help young film-makers understand the world they were entering.
Mentorship was the foundation for my generation of film worker.
However, now it is pretty much gone.
So I wrote the book for all film-makers.
In short, it is full of stories of what works and what does not work in regards to my experiences in film making.
Also it is funny.
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Friend’s support helps uncover story
My friends and family were all surprised I was writing the book.
Certainly I had no idea where it was going.
But when I finished the first draft of They Don’t Pay Me To Say No, a friend offered to read it.
First he came back with an honest assessment.
In short, he found the stories interesting and humorous but said I needed to create a thread to tie it all together.
So I wrote another 30,000 words and sent it back.
Finally he said: “You have a book now.”
After that I soon learned the real work begins once you have a good first draft.
Such started the process of the rewrite and edit.
I had no idea how long it would take.
Starting and finishing They Don’t Pay Me To Say No
Getting the first draft down
Over the years I wanted my Facebook page to be funny, not political, so I would tell short set stories.
I had friends say you should write a book.
Certainly I never gave it much thought.
But one night, while working on the Sandra Bullock film The Unforgivable, I came home and looked at a few of the stories.
I thought maybe there was a book there.
So in the evenings, as a form of stress relief, I started to write.
Making the book interesting
In addition I had to figure out a format and I realised I would start at the beginning of my career and take the reader on my journey.
In short, from having no experience to becoming a world-class department head in Props.
Most importantly I had to figure out how to make somebody who did not work in film, enjoy the book.
I started writing They Don’t Pay Me To Say No in January 2020 and had the first draft done 3 months later.
After that the subsequent rewrites took another year for me to get it to a place of publishing.
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Working to make the story relatable
One challenge was how to introduce the craft of Property Master to the public and not lose the reader early in the book.
Indeed establishing a book’s main character is sometimes a slog for a reader.
Certainly it was hard to figure that out and also be comfortable putting myself in the book more than I wanted.
To overcome this, I tried to keep my writing almost lyrical and at a quick pace.
For example, I wanted to be informative in the intro but not bogged down on details.
Therefore, I kept all the chapters in the pace of a good magazine article or a short story.
So each had a story-craft intro, main story and a conclusion that led into the next chapter.
Finally, I wrote a happy book. It is funny, heartfelt and positive, which is an important message to leave in your legacy.
Rewards come from across the globe
Publishing They Don’t Pay Me To Say No was such a surprise for me.
Certainly having my family, friends and co-workers tell me how much they enjoy it was one thing.
But getting messages from people around the world was very surprising.
For example, one of my first messages was from Australia from a woman who had done Props for three decades.
She told me how much she loved the book.
Above all it proved to me that my stories were very universal to a worldwide audience.
Reflecting on They Don’t Pay Me To Say No
Highlights from the book
I have so many favourites but to have worked with Clint Eastwood on Unforgiven would be No. 1.
Another was a message from an 87-year-old retired Prop Master in Los Angeles whose credits included Patton and Papillon.
He said I captured the essence of our craft so well and that if he were to write a book, he would have nothing left to say.
Meanwhile I have also enjoyed working with a lot of Australian film-makers in my career.
For example, Quigley Down Under director Simon Wincer on a western called Crossfire Trail.
So many stories in They Don’t Pay Me To Say No are favourites.
But I know how lucky I am to go to set every day and say: “I am being paid to be here. This is a wonderful life to have.”
Tips for new life-story creators
Firstly don’t be intimidated by the task.
Each and everyone of us has a unique story to tell.
Second, if you can, set aside a certain time of day to write.
For example, I wrote from 9am-12 noon and then stopped and did other things.
Also, don’t be discouraged if a publisher passes on your project.
Every publisher I sent my book too said: “We don’t know the audience for a book like this.”
So just keep the belief in yourself and keep going.
Certainly, in my case, I chose to self-publish.
And although I would have preferred a publisher take it on, I had a great company FriesenPress guide me along the journey.
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Last thoughts
When the publishers passed, I did shelve They Don’t Pay Me To Say No for a few months.
However, then the Rust tragedy happened that took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
After that my wife convinced me I had to put the book out as young film-makers could learn from it and it could prevent another tragedy.
I am so happy she believed in what I wrote because now the book is out I feel like my career is complete.
Indeed it is being used in the film program at the school I went to 37 years ago.
Final say
They Don’t Pay Me To Say No: My Life in Film and Television Props by Dean Goodine details nearly four decades on sets with Hollywood stars.
Certainly this book gives a humorous and sometimes hair-raising account of what it takes to deliver the goods on screen.
You can purchase a copy from FriesenPress, Amazon and Booktopia.
Also find out more about Goodine’s book and amazing career at his website.
Happy writing!
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