Laura SturzaParty Poopers units would not be...
Laura Sturza
Party Poopers units would not be caught on just any construction
site, and entry to their executive mobile washrooms does not require
climbing up the corporate ranks.
Instead, business owners Jeff Renfro and Michael Marr deliver
mobile bathrooms that feature flushing commodes, air-conditioning,
stereos, granite and porcelain sinks and Kohler fixtures to industry
customers NBC, ABC and Warner Bros., Renfro said.
“I needed bathrooms for producers when they’d have big parties ...
black-tie affairs,” Renfro said. “They didn’t want anybody going into
their bathrooms and going through their personal belongings.”
Renfro started the company in 1989 after years of working as a
film and television transportation coordinator, overseeing the
transit of people and equipment from one location to another.
Not only are the high-end toilets used by industry executives for
special events and fund-raisers -- often with a personal attendant to
keep them tidy -- but they are also sent on location for use by movie
extras, crew members and, in some cases, actors.
Some units are used onstage at the “Drew Carey Show,” which shoots
at Warner Bros. Stage 17, because it is too far from the nearest
bathrooms, Renfro said.
In most cases, cast members working on location have their own
trailers that include restroom facilities. Marr, who lives in
Burbank, also runs Hollywood Honeywagon and Renfro owns High Noon --
both companies rent mobile dressing rooms.
Resident Cliff York is a transportation coordinator who rents from
Party Poopers, and is working on two NBC pilots -- “Ripples” starring
Adam Arkin and “Once Around the Park” starring Heather Locklear.
The movable units -- which are delivered on trailers -- are high
quality, and Marr is responsive to the last-minute changes to orders
that are regular to the business, York said.
“Everything comes very clean,” York said. “Everything works,
nothing breaks down, and if there is a problem, [Marr] comes out and
fixes it.”
Even so, Locklear will not use one when she begins shooting, as
she will have a star trailer with its own bathroom, York said.