It’s a Family Affair #1
There were several reasons I decided to go independent and work from home. Being “there” for our newly minted daughter was the biggest. I wanted to have a flexible schedule so I could be a part of every milestone moment, every school event and every sports experiment. I passed up potentially lucrative and high exposure opportunities to be half of our stay-at-home parenting decision (Spike did the same thing) and I don’t regret it for a minute. Practically since the day she was born, she was in my lap during creative and edit sessions. I was “that dad” who brought the big gear to the school concerts and soccer games and occasionally asked for alternate takes. I’ve been extremely fortunate and grateful to have a career that allowed me to schedule around those events. I can’t think of a single concert, dance recital or game I missed because of work.
Her first creative session at about five days old.
Mostly the two worlds, work and parenthood, coexisted in independent harmony. Sometimes they became one.
While we encouraged her creative side, I never expected Alex to follow in my footsteps or take over the business. But through osmosis, she’d learn some techniques of my trade and eventually dabble in photography (she developed an eye and even got published in the Baltimore Sun through a readers contest) and impressed the “counselors” at Apple Camp (she explained what a “hero shot in victory formation” really means). But of the hundreds of projects I’ve produced in the last 20 years, two are particularly rewarding because the worlds collided - in a very good way.
Trying to capture some relaxation footage along 17-Mile Drive, Monterey, CA. Something kept rocking the camera, maybe a small earthquake or something…
“Dreams” TV spot campaign
I have a career college client who I’ve been working with for about 15 years, both directly and with their ad agency, and I consider the account a dream job because I’m allowed a great deal of creative freedom, earned by trust. For this early campaign, partly inspired by my daughter and her friends who often talked about what they wanted to be when they grew up, I came up with an idea of “interviewing” kids about their future, with the soft kicker of an adult subtly lamenting that their dreams hadn’t yet come true (with which, of course, my career college client could help). It wasn’t an entirely original idea, but it was one helluva lot of fun to produce. Basically, I got to direct all of my daughter’s friends in a series of very light-hearted studio sessions, improvising on a basic outline I’d written. Since I knew all of them, and they knew me, the chemistry was already there. We pretty much just joked around while trying to record a few good lines between the laughs. I definitely earned my cat-wrangler badge that day. Even though it was a simple shoot, with a single stationary indoor “location”, it remains one of the most enjoyable shoots I’d ever directed.
Like herding cats… One of the spots can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/678808402/f7ff220c92
Hot August Nights - Poker Run
I’d been producing a retail DVD of this week-long international hot rod event in Reno and been given near complete creative freedom (more on that in another post). Alex, and sometimes her friends, would accompany me (and our ’49 Chevy, Sally) on my shoots to the various events. Like the nightly cruises, sock hop and show-n-shines. Our conversations and her off-beat observations always cracked me up.
Hot August Nights Sock Hop
My production assistance awaiting her turn under the limbo pole.
I thought I’d try something a little different for a segment on the DVD about the Poker Run, which is a fun, day-long event in which hot rodders drive to different venues to receive a playing card, eventually filling out a poker hand. Those with the best hands at the end of the day wins a prize. It’s part cruise, part scavenger hunt and all party. I thought it’d be interesting to see this event from the viewpoint of one the many kids and grandkids who were a part of this festival of chrome. So Alex cheerfully accepted the task of producing her own segment - performing all the shooting, scriptwriting, directing and narration (for the sake of brevity, I edited) to end up with a segment that is all Alex - injecting her personality into a bona-fide commercial production. As the executive producer, I gave her basic instructions on what we needed to capture and let her do the rest. The final result was well-received and it’s a reminder of one of my most enjoyable professional associations and one of my fondest memories with my daughter.
GoPro set up and test - ready for the Poker Run. Full video can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/678808987/c56dd6c2c5
As time went on, I found it more difficult to find reliable and trustworthy grips for my larger shoots. So I turned to the one person who knew enough to be competent on location, who was motivated by a good paycheck and who had a built-in ride to the shoots. I began using Alex as a grip on various smaller solo shoots to gauge her interest and willingness to be bossed around by her dad (hint: the answer is “high” and “low”, in that order).
Location shoot: Vintage Racing Group, Summit Point, WV - an all-day shoot requiring multiple set ups throughout the track, pits, etc. My grip was enthusiastic and attentive around all the race cars. Until she wasn’t.
Then I brought her along on larger commercial shoots, often with the client present. Each shoot offered new challenges and an opportunity for increased responsibility. I’ll admit to some teachable dad moments, like how to professionally light an interview subject (hint: yell out that you’re turning on a light before you turn on a light), identify who is the most important person on set (hint: it’s the talent) and find the optimum location for the most important set up (hint: lunch). Eventually, she reached the level of “gripness” that every producer/director wishes: doing what needs to be done without be told, and doing it correctly and efficiently.
On location for a health care client. She set all lights, audio and attended to the talent. Then became camera shy.
Eventually, the nature of my clients and productions changed (she had no interest in traipsing around on top of chemical rail tank cars) and her involvement in the family business receded a bit. She’d occasionally provide some graphic design work on some high visibility projects and briefly expressed an interest in learning editing. But she’d already earned her stripes and mastered the one task all professionals in this business perform between shots (see below):
My stand-in during camera blocking. I think I’ve seen this look before…
And… kiss black.
