My Work History | Jennifer Burkley-Cudar, 34, St. Petersburg
Working in movies was a temporary role
Lyra Solochek, BayLink Editor
In Print: Sunday, July 13, 2008
Jennifer Burkley-Cudar, who has worked for actors Diane Keaton and Sean Connery, now runs Quality Wall Beds with her husband and father in St. Petersburg.
Jennifer Burkley-Cudar, 34, runs Quality Wall Beds, a Murphy bed and custom furniture business in St. Petersburg. She started the business with her father, Lloyd Burkley, 68, and her husband, Darren Cudar, 36, when she was eight months pregnant with hopes to build a college fund for her daughter Grace, now 2 1/2. "As it stand right now, the economy is not too kind," she says. Lyra Solochek , BayLink editor What was your first job?
Working behind the counter at Spartan Restaurant for the Chakas family, in south St. Pete, making pizzas, subs and taking to-go orders. I worked there for almost a year, until we were robbed at gunpoint. My parents made me quit, of course! I was 15 years old, attending Lakewood High School (1989). I was training my brother to take over for me behind the counter that night. Needless to say that was his first and last night working there!
What was your best job?
Working for Diane Keaton in Los Angeles in 1998. I got to "act" out a part in a movie she was directing. She would hire production assistants (terrible pay) to do the lines of the actors in the locations she was using for the real filming. It was like we were a live sketchbook — she would block out the scene and someone would videotape it. She would act with us, in whatever role was needed if no one else was there. This was for the movie Hanging Up.
Also, I did get to work as a local assistant to Sean Connery (photo at left) in 1994 in Naples and Miami. This was a good job but definitely more stressful than I could have ever anticipated. This was for the movie Just Cause. I consider myself very fortunate and humbled by having a chance to work with some very great actors/crew in my TV/film production career. It has taught me a lot about myself, and how much I can do!
What was your worst job?
My first job in L.A. I had to recruit people to see a free, unscreened movie in Los Angeles. They would get free passes, all they had to do was show up. This was basically a "test audience" for the major movie studios. I could not believe how many people got insulted by an invitation to a free, unseen movie! I was so depressed by the way they acted toward me, I quit after a month.
What is your dream job
Something that would involve or benefit my daughter in some way, so it could give us more time together. I seem to yearn for working with groups of people/personalities. I am used to working on a crew of many people, on a TV/film set or office. I like how we all do our jobs and get the project finished together.
What is your work motto?
Find the solution first, don't dwell on problems. Never be late, and always listen.
What would you do differently if you had a second chance?
The only thing I would change is having more patience with a lot of jobs I have had. I wish I would have taken more time to think things through and weigh the options before making certain life-changing decisions. I tend to be a little too spontaneous — I am an Aries! Some people have told me I was a fool for not going with Sean Connery's team to London, and working as their assistant for First Knight. I turned them down, because I had one semester left in college (FSU) and I was taught by my parents that a college degree means more than anything else. I didn't want to give up on it when I was so close to finishing! I graduated in fall '95 with a degree in media production.
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