ALWAYS Have a Back-up Plan

Inevitably, something can, and will, go wrong.

A couple weeks ago I got a call from a digital tech friend of mine who wanted to refer me to a photographer he was unavailable for on an upcoming shoot. The photographer, Paul Aresu, was flying in from New York and photographing Brock Lesnar, prior to his defending of his UFC Heavyweight Title against Frank Mir, which just went down Saturday, July 11 in Las Vegas. Congrats, Brock! When I got the call from David Anderson I was more than happy to take the gig. We had a great phone conversation during which he wanted to make sure I was available and could rely on me to help him help the photographer in this situation.

The only trouble was the date was not nailed down specifically, due to Paul’s shooting schedule, Brock’s training schedule, the client’s schedule, and the video crew’s schedule. I assured David that I was available during the three-day window that the producer was looking at. I did have another shoot on Monday-Tuesday that week, but Tuesday was just a half-day anyway. The Brock Lesnar shoot wouldn’t happen until Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday… Friday being the probable date. No Problem!

Well, Saturday night rolls around, the weekend before the shoot, and the producer in NY still can’t give me an exact date for the shoot, but it kinda looks like it might go down on Wednesday now, but not for sure yet. Well this is kinda making me just a little concerned, with all the variables at play here, because I needed to pick up lighting and grip gear from two different locations, the night before the shoot, meaning Tuesday. So now, I’m thinking, “I’m booked a half-day Tuesday. Will I have enough time to pick-up gear from both places before 5PM?” Not to mention that I still had to drive two hours to the location. And what if some other conflict comes up and the dates change altogether, to a Tuesday shoot date? Then I’m really screwed!

Sunday morning, I called the photographer I was working with on the Monday-Tuesday shoot, just to confirm times, and explain my situation. He appreciated the call and assured me all would be fine. Just to be safe, I called another assistant friend of mine and asked if he would be available to make the pick-up runs on Tuesday before 5PM with his truck if I couldn’t do it. No problem!

I called the producer back Sunday afternoon and left a message. I told her I had everything covered, so long as the shoot didn’t change to Tuesday, for whatever reason that could happen. She called me back right away and told me she had just gotten all the confirmations from everyone for a Wednesday shoot date and that she was in the process of making all the reservations. She assured me the shoot date wouldn’t change now, as there wasn’t enough time to modify the reservations for everything and everyone. She apologized for the haphazard way things came together and thanked me for sticking with her through it all. Whew! I knew what she was up against, trying to coordinate everyone’s schedule, flight and hotel reservations, gear reservations, and probably another thirty-one things back at the studio.

The shoot went down, without any real imposing problems. Christophe, Paul’s 1st Assistant, was incredibly resourceful and borrowed a bed-sheet from the hotel as a fill-card for Brock. I managed to secure a Dyna-Lite head with bungee-cords (who needs a super clamp?) to our 20′ overhead rail rigging for the hair light. The light stayed put through five hours of shooting. It was a fun shoot and I was happy to be a part of it.

Nonetheless, I dodged a bullet here, big-time! ALWAYS have a back-up plan! NEVER assume anything about a production schedule, even after the reservations are made. And when the conflict is obvious, make sure you communicate the issue with the powers-that-be, lest you make a bigger cluster-f**k of everything. All problems can be addressed and handled, if they are known. Communication is key. There are way too many times that I’ve witnessed communication problems in the communication (photo) industry. DON’T be a part of the problem. Use common-sense and make sure you CAN do your job according to what is expected of you.

Many thanks to David Anderson, for the referral, and for his trust.