It's hard to find a more reviled profession than the meter maid. Dentists, tax men, and telemarketers can't hold a candle to the folks who make their living assaulting innocent dashboards with those evil little slips.
But is the hatred unwarranted? Turns out, meter maids are (gasp!) people too. And it's this hidden humanity that a group of Miami filmmakers parlayed into an award-winning short, The Meter Man of Le Moutrechon. The flick won UM's Canes Film Festival and is now in front of LA studio execs, festival committee members and other bigwigs.
And until they hit the big time and leave the 305 behind (though they swear they're sticking around), producer Nick Katzenbach, screenwriter Luke Fronefield, and director Ronnie Khalil are all about the meter man love. Check out their reasons to love these civil servants after the jump.
See also:
- Miami International Film Festival's "Home Movies": Films By Locals
10. They drive weird tiny cars.
They're like the Shriners of law enforcement.
9. They're relatively cheap.
Bitching to one over a ticket costs you $18 -- bitching to a therapist costs you $200.
8. They're tenacious lovers.
Once they start writing a ticket, they can't stop. Maybe that dedication transfers to the bedroom.
7. Their job is (way) worse than yours.
Unless you're a garbage man or the guy who puts puppies down at the pound, you really can't argue.
6. They could go postal.
In Florida, it's probably their right to pack heat and shoot whomever, whenever, wherever. So maybe give them a little space, huh?
5. They're a refreshing human alternative to cameras and robots
LONG LIVE THE METER MAIDS!
4. At least they're not actual cops.
That parking ticket is a good reminder that there's already a warrant out for your arrest--so keep a low profile.
3. They put you one step closer to sports royalty.
Getting a parking ticket is the only thing most Miamians have in common with LeBron James. That and being way too important to live in Ohio.
2. Parking tickets are the universal language ... not love.
What's love got to do with it, anyway?
1. Because there are already more than enough assholes in Miami.
So there you have it. And you'll definitely feel differently about your local meter man (or woman) once you watch the flick -- which you can do right here. Best of all, it was filmed in Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, and the team extols Miami as a filmmaking destination.
"Hopefully we can keep attracting talent and keep shooting a lot of stuff here. With the Gables, the Grove, Wynwood, the beach -- you have any kind of setting you could ever ask for," Fronefield says.
Let's hope more filmmakers feel the same way. In the meantime, feed your meters, folks! The city needs your spare change.
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