Category Archives: Production Diary

Central St. Martin’s College of Art, London 1995 I am up a 14-foot ladder with my 16mm Éclair NPR camera. It’s a film about the five art colleges that make up The University of the Arts London. I’m sitting here, … Continue reading →

SYDNEY 1963 I’m working at J. Walter Thompson as an assistant in their TV department. Their on-staff television director is Hans von Adlerstein. Hans speaks, dresses and acts as if he were the German actor-director, Erich von Stroheim. Only the … Continue reading →

SPITFIRE TELEVISION, LONDON, NOVEMBER 1990. I’m at work early. Anna is waiting for me. She’s our graphic designer doing “The Wide Away Club” opening titles for a local television station. “I’ve been here all night. We finished at 6, on … Continue reading →

GERMANY, 1979, SUNDAY NIGHT. I’m somewhere outside Stuttgart; it’s a small winding road, Rudy’s Mercedes headlights show trees on either side, no houses, no cars. I’m tired. Just take me to the hotel. RUDY’S MYSTERY TOUR. Where are you taking … Continue reading →

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA. February 1968. I’m in a phone booth at sunset in a government farm and training facility for native aborigines. I get through to Dick Mason, my producer at Film Australia in Sydney, 1,000 miles south. “Dick, this is … Continue reading →

I’ve landed the job, shot it, edited it. Now it’s time for the big client screening. Watch them watching. When the lights come up, will it be? “Oh my God! It’s freaking awesome! Capital-A amazing! You rock!” OR… “It’s good.” … Continue reading →

We all know Moore’s Law and Murphy’s Law, but how many of you know Sargent’s Law? Hmmmm… I thought so. Time to put that to rights. Sargent’s Law simply states, “The quality of a production is inversely proportional to the … Continue reading →

London, U.K. Winter, 1972, 4:30 a.m. The worst thing about filmmaking is getting up before dawn and driving through the slush to a distant, even colder, location. My best client, Herb Kanzell, has landed a job for the Rank Organisation. … Continue reading →

A Family Outing 101 South from Corte Madera, Calif. March, 2002. George, my son-in-law, is driving his ginormous Ford E-350 Super Duty Extended wagon. It’s crammed full of cameras, tripods, lights, lights stands, sand bags, you name it. I’m chattering … Continue reading →

Way back in 1958, Bert Stern had a multicam shoot at the Newport Jazz Festival. Jazz on a Summer’s Day took just a few days to shoot, but six months to sync up the cameras and the sound. It was … Continue reading →