Mike Krepfl, owner of AAA Pumping, had no idea what a boon it would be to win the contract providing portable sanitation for the set of Breaking Bad. It even ended with one of AAA Pumping Service’s portable restrooms having a cameo role in two episodes of the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based series.
“The unit was used as a prop in season one and season two,” says Krepfl, owner of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, company. “There’s a scene where Jesse Pinkman falls through the roof of a port-a-potty. They used our portable toilet for that [an older PolyPortables unit]. That scene was filmed right across the street from our yard.”
The company had been hired to provide portable sanitation for Breaking Bad’s on-location shoots at various sites around Albuquerque from 2008 to 2013. For a particular shoot, they would typically provide one or two trailers, two to four portable restrooms and several hand-wash stations, servicing them daily. They were also called on to provide units for several episodes of the spinoff series
Better Call Saul.
The series was filmed in and around Albuquerque. “When they started filming, they were looking for somebody to pump and service some of the actors’ trailers,” Krepfl says. “And they also needed portable restrooms and sinks on set. That’s when we got contacted. Then one of the producers contacted us about needing a portable toilet in the show for a couple of episodes.”
Service duration times varied for each episode. “Sometimes they filmed for a day, sometimes for a week or two,” Krepfl says. “It depended on how big of a scene it was and what they were doing.”
Krepfl says the crew and cast were excellent to work with and everyone enjoyed the experience. He met one of the show's stars, Aaron Paul, who played Pinkman, and had his picture taken with him. And the company received a signed photograph — and a signed portable restroom — from the cast and crew.
The use of their portable restroom in the scene had lasting repercussions. “They left the decal on it with our phone number," Krepfl says. "It’s calmed down some, but to this day we still get phone calls from people asking if it’s a real company. It’s like worldwide advertising. Normally movie companies don’t leave decals on things — or they want to charge you for it.”
Read more about AAA Pumping Service in this month’s issue of Portable Restroom Operator magazine.
