Big day at work today, and I know most of you don't care but I felt like sharing. As most of you know by now, I'm working on the NFL stuff for FOX this year. My first football assignments have been pulling training camp footage for the fantasy football show we're airing on Aug. 28 and compiling all of the offseason video we have regarding Terrell Owens and his insanity. Boring stuff, really, although they'd eventually be in pieces I'd produce or help produce.
Today, my two co-NFL PAs, Mike and Sabrina, had an on-location shoot for the fantasy football show. It was my day off but things got really hectic this morning and so, at 9:30 am, Mike called me and asked if I could help out on the shoot. No problem, I said, and I arrived at the newsstand where we shot some stuff at about 10. Essentially, we shot a bunch of B-roll scenics, primarily billboards around LA on which we'll superimpose images and graphics and things like that for promos. But we also hired some wannabe actors to ask questions to JB, Terry, Howie and Jimmy about fantasy football. One guy, for example, asked "Was Drew Brees a fluke last year?" And someone else asked "Hey Jimmy, you're a Miami guy...is Ricky Williams worth drafting?" We also got this smoking hot chick to do some stuff. Some of the stuff she said was "Can girls play too?" and "How can I beat my boyfriend at fantasy football this year?" and, most seductively, "Shouldn't I be your fantasy?"
But we ran into a glitch--we discovered why some of these actors haven't hit the big time yet. Some of them were gawdawful. One guy couldn't memorize the line "Hey Terry, Peyton can't possibly throw 50 again this year...can he?" And he's supposed to be a professional actor! It was so bad that we pulled two employees out of the Coffee Bean next to the newsstand to ask a couple of the questions, and, yes, they were better than the real actors (other than the smoking hot chick, who was pretty good). One of the people who got called upon to ask a question was none other than yours truly.
The producer, a sarcastic prick named Bill that I get along with fabulously well, said afterwards "You're better than all the actors here" and "I can tell you're gonna be on TV some day, but me saying that probably means you won't." Like I said, he's a sarcastic prick. I got my line down on one take. I have no idea if they're going to actually use it or not but if so, I'll let you guys know. So if anyone here watches the fantasy football show on FOX on Sunday Aug. 28, look for the Indian dude wearing a backwards road Cardinals hat that has a small bird on the bat on the back of the hat who asks "Can Collins get the ball to Moss like Culpepper did?"
After the shoot, I was driving home when a different Bill, who happens to be the senior producer of FOX Sports, called me up. He told me to pack my bags because they're sending me on the road to work on the Saints-Patriots game Thursday night. I'm currently a production assistant but the next step up is broadcast associate, and BAs go on the road each week. Basically, what they're doing is training me to be a BA. So, for now, I'm going on this trip to Boston (I leave tomorrow) and they may send me to Washington next week for Steelers-Redskins on Aug. 26.
So, as you can imagine, I'm pretty pumped up. I worked the Battle at the Bridges golf event in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. for ABC Sports and ESPN last year but, to me, this is much bigger than that. It's gonna be a fun time.
Today, my two co-NFL PAs, Mike and Sabrina, had an on-location shoot for the fantasy football show. It was my day off but things got really hectic this morning and so, at 9:30 am, Mike called me and asked if I could help out on the shoot. No problem, I said, and I arrived at the newsstand where we shot some stuff at about 10. Essentially, we shot a bunch of B-roll scenics, primarily billboards around LA on which we'll superimpose images and graphics and things like that for promos. But we also hired some wannabe actors to ask questions to JB, Terry, Howie and Jimmy about fantasy football. One guy, for example, asked "Was Drew Brees a fluke last year?" And someone else asked "Hey Jimmy, you're a Miami guy...is Ricky Williams worth drafting?" We also got this smoking hot chick to do some stuff. Some of the stuff she said was "Can girls play too?" and "How can I beat my boyfriend at fantasy football this year?" and, most seductively, "Shouldn't I be your fantasy?"
But we ran into a glitch--we discovered why some of these actors haven't hit the big time yet. Some of them were gawdawful. One guy couldn't memorize the line "Hey Terry, Peyton can't possibly throw 50 again this year...can he?" And he's supposed to be a professional actor! It was so bad that we pulled two employees out of the Coffee Bean next to the newsstand to ask a couple of the questions, and, yes, they were better than the real actors (other than the smoking hot chick, who was pretty good). One of the people who got called upon to ask a question was none other than yours truly.
The producer, a sarcastic prick named Bill that I get along with fabulously well, said afterwards "You're better than all the actors here" and "I can tell you're gonna be on TV some day, but me saying that probably means you won't." Like I said, he's a sarcastic prick. I got my line down on one take. I have no idea if they're going to actually use it or not but if so, I'll let you guys know. So if anyone here watches the fantasy football show on FOX on Sunday Aug. 28, look for the Indian dude wearing a backwards road Cardinals hat that has a small bird on the bat on the back of the hat who asks "Can Collins get the ball to Moss like Culpepper did?"
After the shoot, I was driving home when a different Bill, who happens to be the senior producer of FOX Sports, called me up. He told me to pack my bags because they're sending me on the road to work on the Saints-Patriots game Thursday night. I'm currently a production assistant but the next step up is broadcast associate, and BAs go on the road each week. Basically, what they're doing is training me to be a BA. So, for now, I'm going on this trip to Boston (I leave tomorrow) and they may send me to Washington next week for Steelers-Redskins on Aug. 26.
So, as you can imagine, I'm pretty pumped up. I worked the Battle at the Bridges golf event in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. for ABC Sports and ESPN last year but, to me, this is much bigger than that. It's gonna be a fun time.
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