Goldman Prize and Michael Pollan

April 27-28. It started with the load in at the SF Opera House for the 25th Anniversary of the Goldman Prize.  This  world wide prize honors six individuals who have taken an environmental  stand for Mother Earth and their communities http://www.goldmanprize.org/blog/celebrating-25-years-environmental-activism-2014-goldman-prize-ceremony.  They are selected from around the world and flown in for the ceremonies, where the audience members have the honor of seeing their stories through short documentaries. Each recipient is given $175,000 each and presented with the Goldman Prize at the event.  I had the pleasure of directing the Prize's first live webcast on You Tube and Image Magnification screens for the capacity audience at the SF War Memorial Opera House.  CNN journalist Soledad O'Brien was the host and the keynote speaker was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  Another highlight was the special performances of  Bonnie Raitt and Graham Nash.  Covering these two musicians were one of the highlights for me as I have always been big fans.

We covered the two hour event with 6 cameras and it was flawless.  Thanks so much for the crew and the Goldman Prizes' Lorrae Rominger, producer Marika Holmgren and event maestro Jim Schelstrate.
When the gig was over I ran into Ms. Raitt on her way to the reception for the recipients and found out that she has attended two operas, one here and one in Germany.  I mentioned that I worked on a TV show in 1975 called "Went Like It Came,"  in which she and Arlo Guthrie performed a few tunes.  It aired in the SF Bay Area.  She didn't remember - no matter.  It was great just walking with her for a block.

April 29 - May 1 had me directing and production consulting another live event at the Nourse Auditorium in San Francisco for Kikim Media and City Arts and Lectures. The journalist and author, Michael Pollan was speaking on his latest book, "In Defense of Food."

 I did a warm up with our audience, before I sat in the director's chair asking for reactions and applause.  (See photo: That's me standing behind the table)  We captured this presentation that will be part of a documentary on PBS that airs later this year.  The audience was fantastic and Michael Pollan had a great night presenting lots of  food facts, discussing what's in processed and fresh foo and a lively Q&A session ended the show.  Michael Pollan was great to work with  and he felt it was his best presentation ever. We covered Pollan's presentation with 4 cameras that included a jib/crane. We used Sony F55 and F5  cameras.  The crew was headed up by DP John Chater, sound and video was masterfully done by Conrad Slater and lighting by Alan Steinheimer and Eric Blum.  The set was designed by Acme Scenery Company.

It was a great week of creativity, good vibes and good tips on food!