Prior to his work on Star Trek, Bookout worked as grip, best boy grip, and dolly grip on productions such as the war drama MacArthur (1977, with Randall Robinson), the drama The Betsy (1978, with Gene Griffith), the music drama The Buddy Holly Story (1978, with Gene Griffith and Randall Robinson), the television drama Seizure: The Story of Kathy Morris (1980), the television drama Top of the Hill (1980), the comedy Under the Rainbow (1981, with Sunny Johnson), the television drama Love Is Forever (1983), the drama The Proigal (1983), the television drama Anatomy of an Illness (1984), the crime drama Quicksilver (1986), the music drama La Bamba (1987, with Sam Emerson), the crime comedy Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), the science fiction film Second Sight (1989), the drama Avalon (1990, wit