I worried that the homeowner might emerge with a broomstick to chase me away from his yard waste, which I desperately needed.
A few feet farther up the road, VP & Creative Director Kathleen McDonald gleefully photographed the scene on her iPhone and exhorted me onwards from the comfort of a production van. Finishing my task, I tied off my newly acquired bag of purloined foliage, jumped into the van and peeled away from the curb at a blistering 25 mph. Not exactly an action movie escape.
I needed to gather leaves that day for Contrast Creative, a firm that specializes in medical communications. We were producing a TV commercial campaign featuring four spots for Alamance Regional Medical Center. One of the :30 commercial’s opening images involved a heart patient raking leaves, but there was one big problem: in early March, there were few leaves to be found.
We had bought some silk imitation leaves online, but they didn’t make a dent in our wheelbarrow. We needed more. Fast. The task to instantly transform spring back into autumn fell to me as an Associate Producer.
Producers handle all the details of a film production: booking the talent, the locations, the food, the wardrobe, and countless other necessities. If everything goes correctly, the production day will pass flawlessly and exactly follow the schedule laid out by the Executive or Senior Producer.
Unfortunately, no production at any company ever goes flawlessly. At Contrast Creative, Producers need to first and foremost be problem solvers.
Let me give you some other examples of challenges we faced on this four-day production for Alamance Regional Medical Center.
In one story, a woman explains how in her adventurous life, she jumped out of airplanes and ran with the bulls in Pamplona. In Burlington, we had access to neither an airplane nor bulls.- We were working in a medical environment, which can be tough. Just like no producer could perform a surgeon’s tasks, medical professionals are usually not familiar with film work. Even a world-class surgeon, cool and collected in the operating room, can struggle under the hot lights of a film set. The same surgeon might also be called away for a procedure at any moment.
- One story featured a 3-year-old. Yikes.
Undeterred by these challenges, we set out to devise solutions with persistence and a little bit of luck.
To achieve “skydiving” we strapped the talent to a folding card table in a skydiving jumpsuit, helmet, and backpack. All were props that we producers meticulously researched and gathered. A green screen above and leaf blower blasting full power into her face completed the illusion. Not my idea, but I wish it had been. We created our own Pamplona at dawn in a brick courtyard at Elon University. Shot tight to her feet, it’s easy to imagine a herd of raging Spanish bulls stampeding right behind.- For nervous and uncomfortable medical professionals, Kathleen McDonald gently worked with medical staff to correct intonation and timing on a line-by-line basis. The crew also helped put everyone at ease with their constant ribbing and good humor. It’s hard for talent to be too nervous when the audio man just finished telling a story about the kilt he wore to his wedding. When one of the surgeons had to conduct an emergency procedure, we stayed flexible and worked to move around the schedule to accommodate the last minute turn of events. We know the business of saving lives is more important than any production, so we revised and moved forward.
For the 3-year-old with a mind of his own, we used patience just like we did with the adults, but also turned to the age-old solution of bribery. To gain his cooperation, we brought to the table new toys, snacks and occasional hugs of support from Mom…and anyone on set that could get him to go in the direction we needed him to move in.
Working on a production is a team effort to make sure that everything goes smoothly and results in the best possible final product. Each of these solutions came from a team of driven, creative thinkers working in concert.
When Contrast Creative moved into its new building in 2006, the owners cemented a brick near the front door with the word “FINO,” inscribed, which means “failure is no option.” Every team member at Contrast walks by that brick every day and is encouraged to live by these words.
As an Associate Producer, I have my own spin on FINO. Because of my work at Contrast, I approach every challenge from a place of “Yes.” Yes, there is always a solution. Yes, there is always a way around, through, or over every obstacle. I might not know the solution yet myself, but somebody I can find knows, or somebody they can find knows. It’s patience and persistence. It’s “Yes.” It’s knowing that together we can brainstorm our way out of the proverbial paper bag. Like I said, at the start: I’m a Producer. We’re problem solvers.
View the commercials : “Thrill Ride”, “Breathe”, “Unblocked”, and “Doctor’s Orders”