Video Producer

We get a call from a local elementary school: They want us to film a documentary of the teachers leading the students in community events-The whole philanthropy angle. Sounds great, and the kids will really earn from it in the long run. We film the first class as they explain Cinqo de Mayo to citizens at a retirement home. Great contrast in ages, and the kids wore ponchos and sombreros. Class two did a community clean-up; a few rolling shots from the Honda Element we were driving, then a lot of footwork following the kids as they picked up litter. Lots of before and after, though we couldn’t film the people who came out of their homes to thank the kids for something the homeowners should be doing themselves.
Day three was the crux.<!–more–>The Susan G. Komen ‘Race for the Cure”, kids showing they can be a part of something bigger than themselves. Awesome. It’s early on a Saturday morning. The gun goes off at 7:30am. I get a call from the producer: he’s carpooling with the teachers and asks me to meet him there. “Where will you be?” Near the starting line, he says. Off I go. It’s relatively near me, so I walk. I try to get near the starting line. 47,000 people flood the downtown area. I work my way through a dense mob of pink ribbons and wigs. Gotta get closer! Where’s my camera guy? Halfway through the crowd I notice I’m the only person not wearing a number, right before I hear “Get ready!, Get set!” “Holy crap, I’m gonna get trampled!”
I make it out with seconds to spare. My camera guy is nowhere to be seen. I may have as well entered the race for all the jogging/walking around I did. I planted myself at the finish line, figuring I’d run in to him eventually. Why not enjoy the race?
We never found each other. Later we talked: turns out he was trapped in the doughnut shop near the finish line. I’d passed him at least 12 times, neither of us seeing the other. I almost went in for a doughnut, too.