Hotels, VPNs & Eyedrops: A Multiplatform Producer’s Tale
Doing remote production is a fairly new thing in my life. I’ve only experienced it three times so far – once in Las Vegas for the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, at the 2008 NY Comic Con and this past week in Universal City for the 2008 MTV Movie Awards. It’s part and parcel of the job and I enjoy the opportunity to test my skills and work with my colleagues in different environments. They all have their own unique perspectives and I’ve decided to share a little of my own.
Behind The Scenes Providing support on major events like this usually means working long hours, eating very little and often running into technical difficulties and delays as a result of conditions that are out of my control. My sleep schedule is ruined for several days and I often catch some sort of cold. Sometimes the hotel elevators break down in the middle of the night and I have to walk up nine flights of stairs at 2AM. It also means that I get to travel for free, catch up with family and friends in the surrounding area (as time allows) and the experience gives me with the opportunity to learn more about the process of capitalizing on planned and unpredicted content opportunities.
In my case, doing remote production meant traveling from NY to LA and staying at The Hilton Universal for a week.