Finally

Our long national nightmare is over, I found a job. The one year 7 months and 25 day search is finally done and I am working part time at another Raleigh/Durham TV station. I'm not allowed to say which station by lets just say they have a "mouse" issue. I'm currently part time with the expectation of being bumped to full time when the new budget comes out.

This has been a huge burden lifted off of me, I was to the point I thought I'd never get hired. I set out over 200 resumes and had one interview and seven rejection letters (all from one company) prior being hired. I had clients not pay me, I've had clients try and get me to work for pennies and of course I did because I'm too nice. We are losing the house (more on that later) and have had many financial struggles. This job came at the right time, we started to see some financial light and this will help us get to our goal of no credit card debt.

The job is a lot of what I've done in the past, expect this time I am an editor first and a photographer second. I don't mind that much as long as I get out in the field every once in a while. I get a little stir crazy in the edit booth if I'm in there for 11 days in a row (already happened). I don't mind being the "hybrid" position, I have a job and I'm already looking at things differently than I would have two years aog. I'm letting things just go and roll off my back. I had one photographer yell at me because I used his camera and my first day I was asked if I was an intern 3 times.

I've got to make this work, I'm just going to keep my head down and just do my job and hopefully this time I don't get laid off for economic reasons again.

Work: Giving Up The Dream

It's been almost 11 months since NBC17 decided that they did not need my services any longer and I thought I'd try and give an update as to what is happening. For those not in the know I am still looking for work and taking as much money from Uncle Sam as I can. I've been trying the freelance thing and I have a couple clients but for the most part unemployment has been our biggest provider.

I've been living with the hope of two things, not to work in news and trying to stay in the Raleigh area. As time creeps on those options are starting to look like they are not going to happen. I think the market is too saturated with freelancers and I don't have a lot of connections so I'm playing with about a quarter of the deck. So I've started searching TVjobs.com for news jobs and I've applied to 7 news/sports jobs in the country and all of them are out of the state. We hate this idea, but we have to start thinking about the extended future and how are we going to pay for everything. We are scrapping by and we can't continue this game of who gets the money this month. As much as I dread the news world I have to come to the realization that I am good at it. It takes a lot out of me and I'll have to work weekend nights probably, but at least it's work and I know how to do it.

The one small hope we have for staying here is that I have been a part of a group that won the bid to shoot a 20 DVD workout set. The original plan is to shoot and do prep for six weeks and I make a lot of money in that time. The amount is not enough to get us ahead, but we can get a lot closer to normal. Mortgage could be caught up and we could have a couple credit cards paid off. I'd lose unemployment for a couple of weeks, but it would be worth it. On top of that a clothing chain has an opening as a studio photographer. So I'd be taking photos of kids and families, the pay is VERY SMALL and it's only seasonal, but if I can get those two jobs and make it work with a few small freelance jobs I do already, we could turn a corner and start to see daylight and live in the area a little longer. Also if I did have to move it would make that transition a lot easier.

Who knows what's going to happen, I've just have to keep plugging along and hope something breaks soon. Maybe I can still get that baseball job or that local company that has an editor position open will call me back. This next month will be very tough and yet be helpful.

Job Search

For those not in the know, I've been out of work since December and to be honest I never thought that as we turn the calendar over to October that I would still be without a full time job. At worst I thought maybe I'd be in some kind of freelance rotation for companies, but that has not happened either.

I've applied to so many jobs that I ran out of DVDs and I've sent out over 60 emails with links to my demo reels on youtube. Out of that 60 I've had less than 90 hits per link and I know I'm about 1/3 of those because I click on it to add the link to emails. Part of me wonders if my cover letter is unimpressive or is it with this economy that I am "too experienced" and get over looked. In February I cold called a bunch of production companies and every single one would look at my resume and give that look of "holy crap, this guy has done a lot" and give me the ol' we are cutting back. So what and I to do in this situation?

I've got two new opportunities out there and one is with a local sports team and the other is at a large company that is know to be great to their employees. Also for the first time I have someone one the inside helping me out. To be honest, I just want a call back and maybe an interview. That way if I don't get the job at least I might have the chance to find out what I am doing wrong. My fear is that I will get the answer of I'm not doing anything wrong. That means I am done with video work, and have to find a new career.

I've seen the trend of hiring young to save money, but I wonder when that trend will level out. At some point in time quality has to be an issue. With this whole Internet low tech and the easier access to video everyone can do some kind of work. It seems that to most that just enough and that they can get by with that. Everything looks the same and has the feel of being homemade. When will the polished look come back? Will it ever? Maybe my thoughts of grandeur are false and I need to come to the realization that video is a dead art form and I need to find a new career.

A Gig

Yesterday morning I was getting dressed when my cell phone rang, I thought it was going to be a credit card company, but instead it was a local number. Who could it be?

Let's flash back Lost style to a few months ago, I cold called seven dance studios in the Wake Forest Rolesville metropolitan area. Everyone seemed to have a video person, but also no one seemed happy with their person. Flash forward again and it's one of the local dance studios, he is looking for a guy and wants to know my prices for a recital for late June (and possible one in Late May). We talk for a while and then he adds in there is a weekly track out drama camp and they could sell DVDs for that as well. Obviously the large scale production is the real money maker, but the week class could produce a couple hundred.



Let me do the math here, if 200 parents buy a DVD at $25, I get $15 and the dance hall gets $10 that means I get $3000 for one night of shooting and a day and a half of editing. The weekly thing could have as few as 15 DVDs and on average I'd make $15 and the studio gets $5. I'm getting $175 a week average for two hours shoot and three hours editing. I still have multiple days open and at least we would have some kind of income coming in on a steady basis. If I get both productions and this weekly gig that means at the high end that's $6,000 for the big shows and about $875 from the weekly. That could help us out huge. That pays off a couple bills and gets us set up for when the baby comes so The Wife can take a few weeks off.





My goal is to get us to August because I might have another trick up my sleeve that could bring in some more money.

Cold Calling 3: Rise of the Machine

Even though this is my second post about cold calling, today was my third time out. There was a difference today, I did not go to production companies. Instead I headed out to dance studios and ninja schools around Wake Forest.

To be honest I got a better reception from most. One ninja school did quite understand what I was doing. He kept say he has someone who takes pictures, I finally gave up with that guy. I didn't get any work out today, but there seemed to be at least a chance they might think about calling to see if they want to think about using me.

Do I want to be that guy at recitals who seems out of place, if it brings me money... yeah! Hopefully I can get at least one of these places to call me back. At least that would be a start. Also I bought a website and hopefully I can get this thing off the ground in the next couple of days.

Cold Calling

Tuesday it was decided that I would trudge out into the world and attempt to find gainful employment via one of the worst methods ever... the cold call.

I looked up production companies in the Raleigh area and just went around the city handing out resumes. Everything went as I thought it would... I got a job. If you believed that I have some swamp land you can buy. Every where I went it was the same answer, "We are not hiring right now." A few were nice enough to give me a few suggestions and even said they would keep me on file. A few places seemed annoyed that I was there and one place no one even came to the front desk when I came in. I just laid my resume and reel on the scanner at the front desk.

The one thing I had about doing this is the fact that 99.9% of the people are not looking for someone to hire. I'm just hoping that I can get lucky, but my track record has shown that luck is not on my side.

On Thursday I am trying the Cary, Morrisville, Apex and Chapel Hill areas. Hopefully I will not be in the minivan of doom by them.

Craigslist

Since my demise from news I have used craigslist the most to find jobs. Monster and Careerbuilder do not really have any TV jobs and TVjobs.com usually doesn't have too many decent market listings for photojournalists and I don't feel like paying for it. Most of the listings are not the best work in the world, but sometimes you find one that is not that bad, like this one;

Seeking reliable, enthusiastic, motivated, people wanting to work as sports
videographer for The ReelAthletes.com.

The ReelAthletes.com is a full service media production company that
provides professional video taping services for all sports.

Videographer needed must have 3ccd camera mini dv format and tripods please
detail your experience and equipment. Hourly earnings $15-$25 per hour Please
send contact information to set up interviews in Raleigh NC if interested.

Not a lot of money, but after looking at the website I could do this. I may only make $50 a gig, but it appears to be easy work. I apply and as usual I have not heard anything back.

That's not the main reason I'm posting. It's more of the idiots that post something insulting to the original poster:

Are you serious? You expect someone to provide their own equipment for $25
per hour, with no minimum guarantee? So a person is supposed to tie up their
entire day even if the event is two hours - meaning you will only make maximum
$50?????? You are NUTS!!!!!! Nothing professional about your organization
as anyone in the business knows a good videographer with equipment costs minimum
$300 per day. GET A LIFE and quit looking for slave labor!!!!!!! Craigslist is
becoming nothing more then bottom feeders using the high unemployment for their
gain!!!!!!

I did not change a thing from either post, the response guy needs to shut up in my opinion. While working in news I did not make $25 an hour. If he would have actually gone to the website he would have seen they are not looking for high end. I'm getting tired of the two extremes of craigslist; the guys who want you to work for nothing and the self righteous jerks that think every job should cost a minimum of $300 an hour/day/minute. I would love to make $50 for two hours of work that I can do in my sleep. I get three of those a week that's an electric bill. If one school has a couple of kids, and bang them out all at once then you have a car payment for The Wife.

I love the fact that $15 an hour is slave labor, last time I checked that's about 2.5 times minimum wage. I can't make that working at Kohl's... trust me I tried. I love how people throw that phrase around in situations like this. Would I like to make $300 a day... YEAH, but I'm going to take whatever I can that will not cost us more in the long run. Response guy needs to find out how good a $300 dollar a day job is and leave the one who are struggling to decide whether or not 15-25 and hour is good enough.

New Camera

I'm surprised I have not posted about this earlier in the week, but I got my new camera and wow, it's tiny!

I knew the Sony HRV-A1U was the smallest prosumer they made, but look at the picture to the left, it's barely bigger than my hand. Even though it is small, all the reviews (not on Sony's site) said it is small but high end and so far it's rockin like Dokken. The attached XLR mice box allows you to to get decent sound, but it also has a mini plug for the smaller wireless mics. Obviously it is light weight and in normal light it takes a great image.

The draw backs appear to be that everything has to be done through a menu, so if you want to change audio level you have to scroll through the menu. Also the DV tape is bottom loaded. So if you are needing a tape change and you are on a tripod... that's going to take a few seconds as you screw off the plate to get to the tape. It does not have a CCD, but a CMOS I've heard a lot of cons and some pros on this chip. The biggest thing it's more cost effective so that's a plus and you're not suppose to get the "Streaking" bright lights give the smaller cameras/ the P2 I was using at WNCN. As all smaller cameras, lower light sucks. It gets more grainy as the camera will bump up the gain to pull in more light. I knew that was going to happen, the smaller cameras just can't handle low light as well as a professional camera.

I like the camera so far, but I have to get the mind set of bigger is better out of my head. I remember seeing people with these small cameras at events thinking they need to leave this to professionals like me in other words a twelve grand camera. If I can get half way decent image with this thing, I should be able to blow away any small time crews. I just have to remind myself and anyone who asks it's not the size of the camera, but what you can get from it. I also have to remember I'm not shooting Ben Hur with this thing, it's weddings and kids doing things.

Still I am amazed at the size of this thing, Gilbert the Gnome is as long as this thing!

The camera in the last picture is a Canon XH A1 owned by Lifepointe Church.

What Do I Have To Do?

It's been two months and I have applied for 12 video/editor positions and 15 other no TV related jobs and nothing. I know my last post talked about being a trivia night host, but the guys in charge have yet to call or email me back. I'm still holding out hope, but I see the writing on the wall.

With one position I've been persistent. With the first email I sent my resume, reference and a few links to my work... nothing. The job gets re posted, I ask if there is anything I can do. I even mentioned (again) that I just bought the editing software they are using. He finally sends me an email back asking to see some of my work from my new Sony Vegas Pro 8. Well, do to the fact I have not had any work yet, I've only tinkered with it. I put on youtube two videos. One is a touch up job of an old video. I added some new clips and used a couple of effects. The second was a video I did for the church, I happen to have the raw at the house so I recut it. I sent an email with the link. The job was re posted.

Then there was the big freelance job that I signed a contract with. I have not heard anything since in a month. I know the weather has been jack up... I mean we got snow two days after he told me about the outdoor gig. I know this is the thing with freelance, you never know when something is going to happen, but I don't know how much longer I can wait.

While talking to a friend, I was told that I might not be getting considered because I am over qualified and people are thinking I want an arm and a leg. "Forget this guy, he's going to want six figures. Lets go with the recent college grad." I just want to work, I'm not going to ask for six figures. I just want an income that will allow me to keep my house and pay the bills, that's all.

On Sunday Kohl's is having an open job fair for their new location in Wake Forest and I'm going to be there. Maybe I can get a little money there plus I was asked to do a video for a gymnast, if they like it they will show it to their friends and that could lead to a bunch of videos like that. At fifty bucks a pop, maybe I can make a living there.

Nine Years in The Making

Almost 4 years ago to the day I pulled all my press passes off my living room wall and started organizing them in a picture frame. I love looking at it, it was a reminder to me of what I had done in those first 5 years. Today I sat down and put together a new press pass picture frame. I left the center unfinished, at first I tried to get them so there wasn't any empty space, then I thought of something, I'll leave gaps in the middle, to remind me I did not leave the news world on my terms. I would have at least wanted to have been in the business for 10 years, a decade, but I came up short by a year, 9 years of a career. I did a lot and I just want to list some of the things I was able to do. If it was not for my position as a photographer, I'd probably never get to do most of these things (In complete random order).

• 2003-2005 Ohio football championship games



• 2004-2006 Boys and Girls state championships- I love football more, but every year these games were played on my birthday. What a way to spend that day, working a 13 hour day in the Schottenstein Center with a bunch of other media people.



• 2003 MAC Basketball Tournament- I was in West Virginia and the number two guy became ill and I had to do this tournament by myself. I learned how to manage my time.



• Jessica Lynch Homecoming Parade- Saw my video on the Daily Show



• 2002 MAC Football Championship- Toledo beat Marshall in Toledo.



• Marshall at Troy- The first time I ever had to deal with 90 degree weather in October.



• 7 Presidential visits- I only have four badges, I gave a few away. A great privilege, to see the President, but a pain in the ass to deal with. The Secret Service just had to have all media at these events 4 hours early.



• Went to an event with Governor Bush.



• Bowling Green at Ohio State- Took Shorty along and BG lost by 7. I took a lot of great pictures at this game.



• 2005 Fiesta Bowl- My favorite Ohio News Network moments, too bad I had a sinus infection or this would have been the greatest moment. Funny side story, the bomb squad dog thought my camera was explosives; security loved that.



• 3 Obama events- I even got to ride around with the traveling media, that's where I learned a lot of those guys at pretentious bastards. No offense, but to tell me to sit in the back of the bus was uncalled for. Still, I was 50 feet from our President-elect.



• 2005 & 2006 Ohio Wrestling championships- This will sound strange but The Wife loved covering the wrestling championships with me. She would log everything and we spent the whole day together. It would kill my back, but quality time on the clock with The Wife is always great.



• 2003-2005 Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds- It felt like every time I went to either park something strange or ridiculous would happen. Example 1: At the Indians I was dizzy and needed sugar and my battery in my wireless went out. I scurried over to the wireless and my sports director asked what I was doing. I said; "I'm out of juice." Some sports writer thought I said something about Jews. I almost got banned from Jacobs Field because I slipped back into my southern Ohio accent. Example 2, Chud and I were hungry and did not want to pay for the food the Red had for the media (I think it was chicken or maybe fish... couldn't tell) We ask the media info guy who was maybe a few months shy of 100; "You go up the stairs... rumnamnana then you humramanana. We turn and and say thank you and any time someone needed directions we would state; "Go up the stairs rumamahadana."



• 2004-2006 Indianapolis 500- I loved going to the 500, well going the weeks before the actual race. It's impressive how large that track is and how fast these cars move. Favorite moment, asking Helio Castroneves for an interview, he gives us the sign for 1 minute, turns, and goes into the bathroom. He comes back out and give a great interview. I always wondered if he washed his hands. Favorite phrase: There's a window over Terra Haute. I said it once and almost got DJL to spit out his salad.



• 2003 Motor City Bowl- GO BG!



• 2006 & 2007 NCAA Basketball tournament- I covered UNC as they choked in the elite 8 and then the Final Four. The first year I had to cover the first two rounds by myself and mind you I had never shot a game or interview about UNC that year, big learning curve about the team for me. Favorite moment; yelling at Dan Dakich.



• 2003 Memorial Golf Tournament- Most memorable thing was on the final day, I sat at 1 till the leaders past, ran to hole 2. Mind you I was carrying a 40 pound two piece camera, a 20 pound tripod, 20 pound back pack with water and tapes. I get the leaders and sit and bake in the sun on number 8. Then run up hill to number 9. I had an intern and she started caring the back pack and I was out of water. I run over to 11 and finally head back to 18. By the walk up hill on 18, the intern too the tripod as well. The sports director Moose thought I was going to die. I found out later he had the interns watch me and had them keep giving me Gatorade and water. I finished off 5 20 ounce Gatorade and 6 bottle of 24 ounces.



• Virginia Tech Shootings- The only time I started to break down on a story.



• 2005 MLB Home Run Derby- I saw Big Papi crank balls out of the park and into the river. The balls were literally flying in front of my face and I was in the upper upper left field.



• 2006 Cleveland Cavalier playoffs- LeBron looked like he was older than me (he's 7 years younger) and I almost had flames burn my eyebrows off.

I also covered events like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a sniper running around West Virginia and then another on in Columbus. A hurricane off the Carolina coast and much much more. I had 9 eventful years and even though I did not go out on the terms I wanted, I still have all the great memories and they can never take those from me.

The End of the Night

Well, the night ended in with its usual flair of last minute craptitude. Everything was running pretty smooth and then everything went to hell in a hand basket. We were scrambling to get on the air of 11 and some how barely made it... many obscenities were said in multiple 100 yard dashes to and from the live truck.

Besides work, Franklin St crowd was a lot smaller this year and part of the reason seems to be the roads in and out of town (the police were routing most of the traffic through one street and because they did not close the street off till after 10. Yet there was much to be seen, the biggest costumes were pretty obvious

• Sara Palin


• The Joker


• Batman


• bee outfits (slutty and guy)


• pirates
  

As I mentioned last year I always love the "slutty" outfits, it’s strange that young girls (and some older ones that did not need to be slutty) strut around in barely anything and I have to look at it. I kept telling The Wife that they were everywhere and I could not but accidental gaze upone them for a split second.
Besides that it was a typical Halloween, maybe one day I will not be stuck in a giant truck doing work and I will be wearing a cool costume... maybe the sea captain from the Simpsons, or Ponch from CHiPs

6 O'clock down, the 7, 11 and More to Go

The six o' clock show is over and the only issue has been the IFB (the thing reporters have in their ear so the producer can give them cues) was cutting in and out. Not so big of a problem, but it's Halloween and people who do not need to worry about such things need to relax (I'm looking at you Mr Anchor type person). We don't have enough extension cord for monitors and we are just at the edge of the wireless IFBs, the one easy fix is for me to call the producer and they relay commands and info through me.

Everything went smooth and the only glitch was the reporter did not realize I was cuing her to go so there was a three second pause. People at home probably thought she was on a satellite shot and it wasn't a problem. So far so good. I'm waiting for the pain to begin.

So It Begins

OK, if you haven't figured it out yet, I left my adapter for the camera at home so there will be no pictures except when I use my phone. We have finished up the 6 and 7 shows and ate for the last time tonight. I am almost half way through my 12-16 hour day and I am getting tired. Not a good sign, but I might sneak out and get an energy drink later. The biggest thing right now is we only have wind and a little rain. The station wants us to somehow turn a package for 11, but the problem is no one is on the streets, we can't find them and it's dark. You need light for a camera to work, so I'm 90% screwed already. I'm changing into my lovely rain pants and I am heading out into the wind to do... well another crappy story. Hopefully I can do another update later in the night.

What the?

We go out to a shelter that allows animals, it was raining and starting too look bad. We get some good video and interviews and we leave the shelter to see a disturbing sight... sunshine. It had stopped raining and was now bright. Hanna needs to make up its mind, I'm tired of this; is it going to hit Wilmington, or South Carolina crap. Just get here so I can finish my job and go home.

Getting Wierd

I've had a lot of lap top issues and just got it fixed, and since my last post it's getting a little weird. The wind started picking up and the ocean is a little choppy. Then we did the 11pm live shot, lots more wind and bigger waves. I woke up this morning and the ocean is nothing but one giant white surf, the beach is almost under the water. I don't think Hanna will amount to much, but it's still strange to be sitting here waiting for a storm to come and cause damage. Why do we do this? I know people want to know what is going on, but this storm is not suppose to do much to the triangle. This isn't even in our coverage area, how do we do this story and have it matter everyone back home? The only thing I can see is that the station is spending a lot of money for something that they don't have to.

It's So Aweful!!!

The coast is just awful, I mean the sunshine, the warm weather, the hurricane is still over a day away. My job is so hard right now. All kidding aside, why did we come this early? We already did every story you can do before a hurricane so what do we do for the next day and a half? Well, I'm getting pancakes. Then I might go and sit on the beach till we have to start our night shift. So tough, I don't think I can handle all this.

Softball

We have completed eight games and we have only two games left (three more if we win the last one and continue into the playoffs). So far I have been improving, but I still... now do I say this... I suck. I'm batting 5 for 14 so my average is about .357. If I was in the majors I'd be an All-Star, but it's not, so in a low end softball league I'm sucking pretty bad.

Fielding is just as bad if not worse. In the beginning I could do nothing right at third base. Now, I only make maybe two or three mistakes a game. My biggest problem now is over throwing bases, or freaking out in my head and not throwing at all.

Luckily for the most part we are in a low competitive league and we for the most part have fun. Even with my bad play we are 3-5 and that's an improvement over the spring season when the team went 1-9.

Wasted

The one thing I can not stand is having my time wasted, so when I go into work and do my job and at then end of the day have nothing to show for it on air... I generally get all pissy and make the normal snide comments. Tonight I was pissy and was tossing out snide comments.

I had an easy night, I only shot one story and it was about Mike Farrell (BJ from MASH) was in town to talk about MASH and promote his new book. I know the story is sooo hard hitting, my thinking is, it's local and could be a kicker. I get to Quail Ridge Books, a locally owned bookstore, and the place is packed. The owner gets up to start everything off and she acknowledged that my station was there and I even had 10 people, or so, ask when it will air. I give the standard, 11pm baring cat in a tree line and I'm off.

I didn't get an interview because Mr Farrell showed up later than expected (for interviews not the event, just in case he ever google's himself and sees this story), so the odds of me getting interview is slim and also he's not going to get done signing till after 9 at the latest. I have some nice video, I cut it and put it in the show. around 10:30 the web producer comes over and asks if I can send him a copy of my video because he can't get it from the show. I look at him strange and he realizes that I did not know my story was cut. I go nuts, my story was cut because I didn't get an interview and somehow the story is less relevant without the interview, so instead puppies and tigers were shown. I'm not making this up, a story about a dalmatian and a tiger from god knows where is in the show instead of a local bookstore with a star from a famous show.

I keep hearing how we are suppose to be hyper local, but I never understand it when we do things like this. I kept hearing it went to the web, but we are still in broadcast and why are we not hyper local there. Some may say at least I got paid, I know, but at least I'm trying to make my product better and that is why I am upset. I get paid to take pretty pictures and I want the world, well OK the Triangle to see them. I shouldn't post this, but I don't care, the person I'm upset doesn't read my blog so who cares... I need a drink

Sick

Yesterday was a long day and my allergies were kicking up. I was feeling pretty crappy, but then this morning I had officially a allergy cold. If you do not suffer from allergies, an allergy cold is a lot like a normal cold, except your not contagious and for me it can cause dizziness and falling down. I should have called off of work today, but I was stupid an went in anyways (stupid 1.5 days of sick time remaining). From what I've been told I look like the walking dead, and better yet, we had spot news and since I'm working about quarter speed, that causes problems. I just want to go home and sleep.

Their Like Seasons But More Suck

For those not in the TV business let me give you a little insight into the world of television news. Four times a year companies like Nielson find out how many people are watching different shows. From there the sales staff can figure out how much to charge, the more people the more money. We in the business call these four month sweeps. You can tell when it is sweeps because there are always new episodes of your favorite shows. In news a lot of times you see those "You will die if you don't watch tonight's 11pm show!" or "Did you know you can contact 9 different forms of the plague from eating out? We'll tell you which restraints will kill you." You have all seen those stories.

The month of May is a HUGE sweeps month and we went all out and I somehow got tapped to do one of the series. The concept my three part series is that kids are giving out too much info on Facebook. So we set up a couple of accounts with two of our reporters and these accounts had actual photos of two people that are in their early 30s, so it's not like we tricked them. The reporters set out and invited a lot of kids and within three days had over 100 friends.

You can watch the videos to find out what happened, I'm just happy they are over. In a normally I will churn out one story and for the most part move on to another the next day. Not on this bad boy, we worked for over a week on it. We interview three kids and their parents and the Attorney General of North Carolina. I cracked out my light kit ever time and I think most of the lighting is really good. You can hopefully tell I put some work into it. Then we spent one whole day in a studio with a jib camera so we could get some great flying shots. Then I spent 5 days editing. I never take that long to edit, but when lawyers are involved it takes a lot longer. I would finish one piece, send it off and then legal could have problems with it so we would fight over what needed to be changed and then I would most likely change everything.

By the end I was numb, I blame these stories for a lack of posting this month. I think they are two pretty good stories and hopefully someone gets something out of it. I hope I get out of doing a sweeps story in July.