Five Ways to Avoid Crew Abuse - Story and Photos by Patty Mooney

"Sexiest Man Alive," Hugh Jackman appearing at 2008 San Diego Comic Con

Everyone knows the golden rule: "Do unto others what you would have others do unto you." But this little gem can be easily forgotten by the distracted producer who wants to cram two days of shooting into one day. I have worn various hats of a crew person (sound person, Technical Director, camera operator) and have experienced the fruits of compassionate producers and the vitriol of producers who expect far too much from the hapless crewmember. Here are my guidelines on how to do it right:



1. A fed crew is a happy crew. On most full-day shoots, the client/ producer provides lunch, or at least time for the crew to go out and scrounge up some food. Many producers make sure to provide snacks and beverages to crew members in the morning and afternoon. Savvy producers know that they will get far more out of a well-fed crew. We were recently called by a potential client to provide a crew at a local convention. When she mentioned that the crew "would have to work through lunch" we told her to go ahead and call someone else.



2. Do not plot out an overly zealous shoot. When you insist on covering every single booth at a convention like the San Diego Comic-Con which has several hundred booths, you had better re-think your plan. Prioritize what you cannot live without. If you still want to cover a hundred vendors, then give it two or three days. But don't expect a crew to set up a hundred different locations in a day. It's just not in the cards.



3. Line your ducks up in a row. In continuing with the San Diego Comic-Con example, make sure that the interviews you want are either all in one room and spaced well enough apart so that people are not starting to line up in the hallway; or, if you want to catch the interviewee at their booth, then plot out each and every one in a logical manner. Do not force the crew to go to Ballroom B on the northwest side of the building and then to the basement on the southeast side of the building, and then back up to the next location half a mile away... Try and remember that your crew is carrying heavy equipment (many times management will not allow mag-liners or rolling carts) and there is no excuse to exhaust a crew due to your poor planning.

"On the Floor" at San Diego Comic Con - a constant parade of humanity

4. Factor in travel time and traffic . If you plan on shooting at several different locations, be aware of how traffic flows during both "rush hours" and do not underestimate how much time you and your production "caravan" could be stuck in traffic. Also allow for set-up time at each location.



5. Communicate constantly. Let everybody in the crew know what to expect on the shoot, and tell them what is on the itinerary. This way, everybody can anticipate what needs to be done, and work efficiently as a team. And there will be no undesired surprises.



The old adage of alluring more bees with honey works very well in the scope of video production. If you are working with a stellar crew, and you treat them like the special people they are, then you will achieve some great results in your production. Conversely, if you treat the crew disdainfully, you will burn through talented people who will then talk to their industry colleagues about how you treated them. With social networking, the word spreads faster and further than it ever has before. Be nice!

Casey Tibbs, Paralympian and Natural Born Hero

Casey Tibbs and Mark Schulze at Olympic Training Center, Otay Mesa, California - Photo by Patty Mooney

Casey Tibbs & Mark Schulze at Olympic Training Center, Otay Mesa, California - Photo by Patty Mooney

Prior to the 2008 Beijing, China Olympiad, I had the opportunity to videotape Casey Tibbs, the Paralympian, at the Olympic Training Center in Otay Mesa. It's amazing how developed the area is now, as I remember shooting off bottle rockets there 30 years ago when it was just dirt, sagebrush and the occasional roving border patrol agent.

Casey was a very down-to-earth guy who spoke of his "disability" as an "opportunity." I enjoy working with such positive people. Casey at the time was about to head over to China for the Paralympics, and he was dedicated to working out as much as possible, while balancing a life with his family and his work in the Navy.

I later learned that he had won a gold medal in Beijing in the Men's 4 x 100 m relay as well as a bronze medal in the Long Jump.

If you are interested in learning more about this inspirational man, follow this link:

Casey Tibbs, Paralympian

Climbing the Pink Ladder - by Patty Mooney

Interviewing Annasophia Robb ("The Reaper") for Extra

In your quest to build your business, marketing and public relations figure prominently.



It has been said that "Any press is good press," but I think that in terms of gaining press for your business, you will want to lean towards the positive kind.



Towards this end, about a month ago, I responded to Pink Ladder's call for submissions from women for stories about their businesses. Today I learned that my story had been published on the Pink Ladder site. How cool!



Check it out..... (Please note that the story was written by Angela Newman, webmaster of Pink Ladders.)



Pink Ladders - Patty Mooney's Story

It's All About Loving What You Do, and Doing What You Love

It's All About Loving What You Do, and Doing What You Love

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Life at the Landfill

We've been shooting landfill footage for Allied Waste Services over the last couple of years, including timelapse footage of landfill excavation and lining. It's quite an intriguing topic, especially if you have ever wondered where your garbage ends up, and how it is managed. My wife, Patty, wrote a story about this at her blog. Check it out!

Adventures at the Landfill by Patty Mooney

Work Can Be Fun. Why Not? - by Patty Mooney

You never know when you are going to be lifted off your feet by a Klingon! That happened to me over a decade ago when the Las Vegas Hilton first broke ground for the Star Trek Experience, Stardate 01.24.1996.17:30.

We used to attend the VSDA (Video Software Dealer Association) conventions to market our video titles. Back in '96 we were there to promote our newest title, "Full Cycle: A World Odyssey," the around-the-world adventures of an intrepid mountain bike couple (guess who?) The show gained a large measure of success in that it won 13 international awards; however, for various reasons it never aired on broadcast television. My feeling was that it was too far ahead of its time. It was probably the first-ever "reality show" and none of the broadcast stations were ready for that.

But back to the VSDA Show. Because it usually occurred in Las Vegas, Mark and I would make an annual pilgrimage to "Sin City" to peddle our videos and play with the "big boys." The late eighties to mid nineties comprised the industry's heyday. Imagine a champagne glass pyramid with champagne flowing like a waterfall, succulent shrimp cocktails and decadent chocolate. At the Star Trek Experience soiree, we sat at a table with the man who had played Quark, the money-lusting Ferengi. Nice guy.

One time we rode an elevator up to a Penthouse party with Tony Curtis. He wore a white ascot around his neck, and a beautiful woman on each shoulder. Mark said, "Mr. Curtis, I must tell you, I really enjoyed most all of your work." Without blinking an eye, Tony said, "Sir, you have me at a disadvantage, for I have never seen ANY of YOUR work." "Touche, Mr. Curtis," grinned Mark, "Touche!" Mr. Curtis regally floated off the elevator, and so did we. That party turned out to be pretty interesting as we also met Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey who were at the height of their careers.

There were two times that the VSDA departed to different venues. Once was in Dallas, where JFK had been assassinated, and "grassy knoll" was a term bandied about the whole time. A couple of days before flying in to Dallas, I had a major mountain bike crash that left a deep gash in my face. But that did not stop me from going. Everybody asked me what had happened so it turned out to be a great conversation-starter.

Here I am with a young Kirsten Dunst who had just appeared in "Interview With a Vampire." She was the sweetest person ever and consented to pose with me. Beauty and the Beast, eh?

The other venue utilized by VSDA was Los Angeles, where a huge party was held at the University Studio. It was just after "Aladdin" had been released, and the highlight of that experience was Robin Williams entering the area on an Asian elephant.

The VSDA then returned its venue to Vegas but it seemed to get smaller and smaller with the growth of the Internet. I learned that it has since merged with another association and they are now known as Entertainment Merchant Association.

But the heyday as we once knew it is lost and gone forever. Now it lives on in memory. And in blogs like this one.

Covering the San Diego Wild Fires

Covering Evacuees at Qualcomm - Photo by Patty Mooney

Our hearts go out to our "mates" in Australia right now, for they are suffering through some devasting wild fires. We can also commiserate, having been evacuated from our home once, and returning with relief to find it still standing. After suffering a drought for 20 years or so, we San Diegans are now used to enduring an elongated "fire season" every year now, from summer through autumn.

In 2001, Extra called on me to document footage of the evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium. Look at how brown the air is. The air is thick with burnt ember particles and face masks are

a must.

Good things eventually do sprout from the devastation, such as tender green shoots in the ground heralding new life, and people experience a new awareness and gratitude for what they have. We all continue to learn that this life is fleeting and it can all be gone - up in smoke - tomorrow.

Dilbert - Action Items - Cartoon by Scott Adams

Shooting a Commercial with Olympian Swimmers, "Pre-Michael Phelps"

The Crystal Pyramid Productions video production team shot a commercial for Games 'n Flix a couple of years ago, starring Olympian swimmers Brad Schumacher, Gabe Woodward and Lenny Krayzelburg.

Mark Schulze with Brad Schumacher

Photographs by Digital Still Photographer, Patty Mooney.


Here's the commercial:

The Story of Johnny the Bagger - by Barbara Glanz

A few years ago, I was hired by a large supermarket chain to lead a customer service program to build customer loyalty. During my speech I said, “Every one of you can make a difference and create memories for your customers and motivate them to come back. Put your personal signature on the job. Think about something you can do for your customers to make them feel special - a memory that will make them come back

About a month after I had spoken, I received a call from a 19-year-old bagger named Johnny. He proudly informed me that he was a Down syndrome individual and told me his story. “I liked what you talked about!” he said, “but at first I didn’t think I could do anything special for our customers. After all, I’m just a bagger. Then I had an idea!”

Johnny said, “Every night after work, I’d come home and find a thought for the day. If I didn’t find a saying I liked, I would think them up.”

When Johnny had a good thought for the day, his dad helped him set it up on the computer and print multiple copies. Johnny cut out each quote & signed his name on the back. Then he’d bring them back to work each day. “When I finish bagging someone’s groceries, I put in the thought for the day and say ‘Thanks for shopping with us!’

It touched me to think that this young man with a job most people would say is not important, had made it important by creating precious memories for all his customers.

A month later the store manager called me and said “You won’t believe what happened. When I was making my rounds today, I found Johnny’s checkout line was three times longer than anyone else’s! It went all the way around the frozen food aisle. So I quickly announced, “we need more cashiers; get more lanes open,” as I tried to get people to change lines. But no one would move! They said, ‘No, its okay - we want to be in Johnny’s lane - we want his ‘Thought for the Day’.”

The store manager continued, “It was a joy to watch Johnny delight the customers. I got a lump in my throat when one woman said, ‘I used to shop at your store once a week, but now I come in every time I go by, because I want to get Johnny’s ‘Thought for the Day’.”

A few months later, the manager called me again. He said, “Johnny has transformed our store. Now when the floral department has a broken flower or an unused corsage, they find an elderly woman or a little girl and pin it on them. Everyone’s having a lot of fun creating memories. Our customers are talking about us - they’re coming back and bringing their friends. A wonderful spirit of service has spread throughout the entire store - and all because Johnny chose to make a difference!”

Johnny’s idea was not nearly as innovative as it was loving. It came from the heart - it was real. That’s what touched his customers, his peers and those who hear this story.

Peanuts - My Sweet Babboo - Cartoon by Charles M. Schulz

Make the Web Work for Your Local Business - by Renee Brown

Here's Patty Mooney in "blog pose" - Photo by Mark Schulze

In these tough economic times it doesn’t hurt to look towards low-cost and even free forms of advertising on the web.

Local businesses constantly have a difficult time competing with their larger counter-parts for an online presence and don’t always have the budget to maintain large visibility on the web. A few simple tricks can help you to increase your brand awareness and provide insight into your audience and ultimately increase your customers while retaining existing customers. There are four simple steps you can take in order to grow your presence online without denting your wallet.

1. Make Yourself Visible

How can you attain new customers if they can’t find you? Make sure you are visible online. Many people are jumping to the web when they are looking for local solutions to their needs. By simply being present you can reach these potential customers. A simple test is to go look for your business online. One area to be visible is mapping directories such as Google Maps, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps, etc. Make sure your company is listed in these directories and think about including images of your storefront to assist individuals find your location.

Another low-cost way to boost your online presence is through your local directories (like yellow pages, craigslist, etc.). This can also help gain new customers and in most cases the cost to be included in these lists are minimal or sometimes free. By being present online, you can make sure that new customers are able to find you. Also, this allows for your existing customers to reference these sites and direct others to your business.

Another low cost method of gaining a local presence is through search marketing. You can geo-target search ads across the major portals such as Google, Yahoo and MSN and only pay when someone actually clicks on your ads. You create the ads, include various messaging, and drive them directly to your website to help generate interest in your company. You can set budget caps to maintain as large or as small of a daily spend as you want. It’s beneficial to consult someone who is experienced in running a search campaign and can accommodate your spending levels.

2. Listen to Your Customers

Aside from being visible to your customers you need to seek them online and listen to what they are saying. The online space has been adopting more and more social networks, blogs, etc. These are great resources for local businesses to communicate with their audience and gain important consumer feedback. Most people are familiar with the MySpace and Facebook-type sites, but there are also a growing number of vertical-specific social sites to choose from. One great example of this is Yelp. Yelp is a social networking site that individuals can write reviews and ratings for businesses and share them with other “yelpers”.

You should examine these sites quite regularly and listen to what your customers are saying about your business and products. You can also respond to any complaints or include your own opinion within the consumer mix. I’ve even noticed local businesses utilizing signs in their storefront that showcase their Yelp ranking. There are various other sites that are similar to Yelp and even focus on specific industries so make sure you are researching these sites and listening to your customers. Another example is Dine.com where individuals review and rank their local restaurants.

3. Respond and Entice Your Customers

Once you’ve found your audience and have listened to what they have to say then you can interact and respond to them. You can communicate through the same sites such as social networks and blogs. You can create your own blog or forum to keep an open channel with your customers. You can also create social network pages where you can directly interact with consumers. Through these resources you can collect their contact information and later send tailored messaging specifically to them and even offer incentives, such as discounts, to loyal customers.

You can also utilize the types of sites above to drive traffic directly to your own website. Many sites are including their own discussion boards on their site to listen to their customers and keep the communication channel open. You can also include updates and include upcoming specials and this way your loyal customers are always informed and can share this information with others.

Some local businesses even offer discounts to individuals who belong to these sites in order to entice them to make regular purchases. For example, I recently found a new hair salon on social networking site and made an appointment for a haircut; I mentioned how I found them and I received a discount. This salon not only gained me as a new customer, they lured me in with a discount, and I in turn returned to the social network and wrote a review about my favorable experience to share it with others. All of these tactics are beneficial to the business and can help improve the customer relationship.

4. Enjoy the Business/Customer Relationship

Once you make yourself available online, engage with your consumers and cultivate an online relationship, make sure you continue to keep the communication lines open with your customers. Take steps to constantly update your websites, blogs, etc. to keep in regular contact with your consumers; by supplying information, you are giving customers a reason to come back to your website.

As your local business grows and your online visibility increases, you will be in a better position to expand your online presence, but in the meantime, these options are a cost-effective way to advertise and build your customer base.



Achieving exceptional results through online display, email, mobile, paid search, newsletters, and sponsorships, Renee Brown has worked with clients like M&T Bank, Eddie Bauer, Trump International, and University of Phoenix. Contact Renee at reneebrown77@gmail.com.

Covering the San Diego Comic Con For a Decade

Me and the Klingon - Photo by Patty Mooney

Me at the Marvel Booth - Photo by Patty Mooney

My crew has been covering the San Diego Comic Con (Comic Book Convention) for a decade now. It has grown from a fledgeling convention of around a thousand participants to a huge venue with around 115,000 attendees. The Comic Con has become a Hollywood satellite featuring celebrities from A, B and C lists who come to publicize their movies and projects.


My partner, Patty, has written up a couple of blogs on this. To see photos and learn more, check out:

Week of the Hotties - Part One (the hot guys)
Week of the Hotties - Part Two (the hot women)

Sorry You Lost Your Insurance - Cartoon by Bizarro

Roger Hodgson Concert for the Benefit of Firefighters of 911

Me Documenting Roger Hodgson - Photo by Patty Mooney

Just after 9/11, Roger Hodgson played at a concert here in San Diego to benefit the firefighters who had risked their lives performing their jobs at Ground Zero, 9/11. My wife, Patty, was on the stationary camera. She posted a music video:

Roger Hodgson - Take the Long Way Home

Julie Foudy, Soccer Champion

An Interview with Julie Foudy on the USD Soccer Field - Photo by Patty Mooney

It was great to have the opportunity to shoot an interview with Julie Foudy, premiere soccer player, back in the day (2001). Unfortunately, San Diego's ladies' soccer team, The Spirit, had to vanish due to limited funding and lack of corporate sponsorship.

What was cool about this particular interview was that the key message concerned the efforts of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) to keep stadiums smoke-free by not advertising or selling tobacco products at any games and by encouraging fans not to smoke in the stands or concourses.

A second message addressed young girls, encouraging them not to start smoking. "We would never be able to run around a field kicking a ball for 90 minutes if we smoked," said Julie. "Smoking's not cool, and it's not glamorous."

Julie was fun to work with. She was very down to earth, a really good person and a great sport... even with a 2K light in her face.

Dilbert - Job Interview

Blue Skies and Monsters of Motocross

A perfect day to shoot Motocross rider, Mike Cinqmar, in sunny Southern California. I'm a mountain biker myself, and enjoy the adrenaline rush of highspeed downhill technical riding. But what these guys do is really incredible. Following them with a video camera can be quite the challenge.

Stop Sabotaging Your Good Fortune - by Patty Mooney

I have been a self-help-book junkie since I was in my 20's. Some of my favorite tomes include Richard Bach's "Illusions" and Eckhart Tolle's "Power of Now." If you have not read these, then do yourself a favor, find them at the library and read them. You can digest "Illusions" in an evening. Take it into the bathtub with you and immerse yourself in a nice, hot, bubbly, philosophical experience. Flip through it really fast and put your finger down on a random passage. It will speak to you.

About a year ago, I participated as one of the crew members on a shoot documenting a seminar by James Ray. You may have heard of him. He is one of the people who headline in a movie called "The Secret" which really shook up the self-help world for a while a couple of years ago. Anyway, James's seminar entailed two days of shooting, and I was one of two camera operators, so I had to really pay attention to him, following him back and forth with my camera as he strode across the stage and poured forth his ideas to a packed house.

What I realized about him, other than his amazing energy - he moved around a lot - is that he is like a living encyclopedia of a stack of philosophical and spiritual manuals that would be piled to the ceiling. One of his most important lessons was the power of manifestation.

You see, whether we consciously realize it or not, we are manifesting the lives we lead. Let me put this another way. We are in control of our destinies. We send messages out there, directing the universe to deliver what we ask for. Sometimes, whether we know it or not, we sabotage our own good fortune.

An example of this would be, "I will be happy when....." This connotes that we are not happy NOW, and that happiness lies in the future. We must realize that the only moment in existence is now. There is no past, there is no future, only now. It is not difficult to modify one's thought patterns. You just have to be aware of what you are sending out there. Try to be positive. "I am happy now" (even if you don't think that you are). If you act happy then you will become happy. When you are happy, then it is much easier to manifest positive circumstances.

Cold calling in business is a prime environment for practicing this happiness manifestation. People can hear you smile over the telephone. When you send out happy vibes, people can pick them right up. For instance, today I answered the phone in my usual professional and happy way. The woman on the other end of the line said, "Oh, I am so sorry, I have obviously dialed a wrong number. But I am so happy I did, because your voice sounds like you are smiling, and it has really made my day."

Go ahead, practice it right now. Read a line of prose while frowning. Then read the same line again, only this time, do it with a grin. We all have a store of positive energy to draw from. It's like a gold mine, and it is there for your taking.

Cartoon - Some Complimentary Gifts Are Best Ungiven

Aerials Over La Jolla

One of our clients needed some aerial footage of the La Jolla coastline. It occurred to me that it would be much less expensive to go up in a hang glider than in a helicopter. And at Torrey Pines novices can hang glide in tandem with instructors. So voila! I went up with my Sony PD150 and got one of the thrills of a lifetime along with some outstanding stock footage. Photos are by my wife, Patty Mooney.

Preparing for take-off

And we have lift-off!


Airborne!

A view from the sky

Business and Philanthropy Can Go Hand-in-Hand - by Patty Mooney

This is me the day I accepted the TWIN (Tribute to Women in Industry) Award at the annual YWCA luncheon that honors TWIN recipients (2008). One reason I believe I was chosen as a recipient was that I have been practicing philanthropy for many years.

Philanthropy is a wonderful thing for any business to be involved with, as it is a universal law that "to give is to receive." I have found that to be true on so many occasions, in so many ways.

I've also observed that those with the least to give are the ones who give most in terms of time and money to various causes such as homelessness, domestic abuse, children with cancer, and the list goes on.

I suggest that anyone who has not dabbled in philanthropy should try it. For every hundred dollars that you make, give ten dollars to a cause that you would like to support. Save the Whales, Hug a Tree, Stop Pollution, Halt Elder Abuse, House the Homeless. The choices are endless.

It's important to be very observant. Upon donating your time or money, you will see a return on this investment in ways you may not have imagined.

Let me give you an example. For the last year and a half, we produced a documentary called "The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans." All work conducted was pro bono. My partner, Mark Schulze, shot footage, and I edited the documentary for about a year, staying up late on week nights and spending my weekends at the keyboard. Everyone involved with the project, from the musicians, to the graphic artists, web creator, and even duplicator/packager, donated their work on a pro bono basis.

Shooting footage of Dave "The Water Man" Ross at the annual Girls Think Tank Barbeque for the Homeless in Balboa Park

If we had not been involved in this project, we would never have met some of the most interesting people in San Diego, including CEOs, politicians and even a Brigadier General who test-flew the flying wing. Additionally, we were hired to shoot and edit a video for the Girls Think Tank, a local nonprofit group formed to assist the homeless. "The Invisible Ones" has won two prestigious awards which we have been using to acquire press. Having press is always a good thing for one's business. They say that "any press is good press;" however, I would lean towards the kind that is earned through doing good works.

The idea is to give what you can without any strings attached. Once you have started this movement of energy, then "what comes around goes around," and you will be pleasantly surprised at what ensues. I suspect that people like Mother Teresa, Ghandi, Buddha and Jesus were well acquainted with this universal law, and thus spent their lives practicing it.

To learn more about "The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans," go to http://www.theinvisibleones.org/ and lend your hand.

Wedding Crashers Bridesmaids

Crystal Pyramid Productions' broadcast video production crew shot interviews of the bridesmaids from "The Wedding Crashers" for AMC's "Sunday Morning Shootout." Sound Technician, Patty Mooney, and Director of Photography and Videographer, Mark Schulze, have fun with the bridesmaids.

An Encounter With Weird Al Yankovich

While wending our way through the San Diego Comic Con crowds, I spotted Weird Al Yankovich, who was kind enough to stop and grant an interview for Electronic Playground. That is M-TV's Julie Stoffer laughing in the background. Photo by Patty Mooney.