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MillimeterCommon Goal
Oct 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Story and photos by Bill Miller
To capture footage for Farm Aid, a concert to raise awareness and funds for farm families, Lyn Noland operates a Sony HDC-1000 camera mounted on a J.L. Fischer Model 10 dolly that rolls along 150ft. of track.
“If the broadcast isn't going out to 20 million people, you haven't directed live television.” So starts my interview with veteran television director Lawrence (Larry) Jordan — who, in a few hours, will be calling the shots at the 23rd annual Farm Aid musical extravaganza and fundraiser. A team numbering in the hundreds has gathered in Mansfield, Mass., for the 7-hour live telecast, which will be viewed by millions on DirecTV Entertainment's 101 Network as well as online at www.farmaid.org. Music superstars Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp organized the first Farm Aid concert in 1985. Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid board of directors in 2001. Their goal from the start was to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to drum up funds to keep farm families operating. Each year, top-name performers as well as the next generation of hit makers donate their musical talents for the cause. It's an awesome undertaking. According to the organization, Farm Aid stages “America's longest-running annual concert event that unites farmers, artists, consumers, and concerned citizens to build a powerful movement for good food from family farms.”
“Being live is my favorite part of the job,” Jordan says. “Live television is the greatest rush I know. It's like flying a 747 down the Grand Canyon without any wings.”
Today's concert is really a 10-hour broadcast from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., although the 101 Network will only be live from 4 p.m. on. During the first three hours, performances and interviews will be banked for playback later during the live portion of the telecast.
Jeremy Vicente uses a Sony HDC-950 to capture stage-side footage.
“My favorite part of the job is bringing great music — and, in this case, Farm Aid's message — to a broad audience,” says Executive Producer Albert Spevak, whose Los Angeles-based company Ambassador Entertainment is producing the broadcast for DirecTV. “My mission is to bring music and performance on as high a quality level as possible to the audience and really connect viewers and the performance as closely as possible.”
To achieve this goal, Spevak hired New York producers Philip Hack and Robert Katz to oversee the broadcast. Besides being in charge of hiring crew and production equipment, Hack describes his job as being in charge of the overall chaos. “The nature of the show is unpredictable,” Hack says. “Everything is changing up to the last minute. Moments before the show, we lost our main camera position for talent, so we had to rethink our entire host coverage.”
Katz had three weeks to prep the show, and on the day of the telecast, his presence is everywhere — dashing from the large amphitheater to the production truck to the interview set, which sports a Southwestern motif. “Let's lose a couple of bales of straw,” he tells set designer Deb Cutler. In a flash, they're gone. He also has to make sure his on-camera talent — Bob Costas, Carson Daly, Budd Mishkin, and Robin Dorian — are at the right place at the right time.
A Sony HDC-950 is trained on Bob Costas, one of four cohosts including Carson Daly, Budd Mishkin, and Robin Dorian.
Everyone loves working on this production, according to Katz. “Farm Aid is a labor of love,” he says. “An enormous amount of work, but you feel so good about doing it. When so many great artists come together for the right reasons, it feels great to be part of it.”
One of the coolest members of the crew is first assistant director, Sandra Restrepo of New York. Just back from the Olympics in China, Restrepo's job is to keep everyone calm, the ship on a steady keel, while making sure everyone is on the same page. Although the show's rundown has been locked for three days, it keeps changing hourly — even up to and during the live performance.
“At the last moment, the producers may want to throw it to Bob Costas because cohost Carson Daly's guest hasn't shown up. Or we may have to fill at the last minute because a band is having technical difficulties,” she says in a calm, even tone. “It's all about keeping the plane flying.” Another reference to airplanes and concerts. She also advises against drinking too much water or latte during a 10-hour broadcast, for obvious reasons.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.