I’ve had a great time this last month working on several projects, including a few that weren’t my own. Las Vegas hosts other production companies from time to time and this last month I’ve had the pleasure of being hired on as a “Fixer” for a Samsung commercial and an episode of Channel 4‘s show “The Undateables.” A fixer is a local producer that helps with all the stuff that an out of town company is going to need while they are in a new city, permits, transportation, crew, locations, good eats and good bars, etc. As my friend Sean phrases it, “You un-f*%k things.” And yes, for a production company, many times it looks like that as they work through the daily production challenges in a strange new place.
The New SLS Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
For the first project, Samsung worked out a deal with the new SLS Hotel & Casino that opened up here in Las Vegas to do all their TV and digital interfaces. The SLS is beautifully remodeled and all the newest technology was on display as we interviewed the staff and the crew that made it all possible. One of the neat things about the shoot was getting to play with the new Arri Amira camera which the production team brought with them from the UK (at the time, this wasn’t even available in the US yet). The final images look gorgeous. It was also a pleasure to work with such a fun and talented crew; I learned a ton about dealing with reflective surfaces and film. A large black foam core sheet is my new favorite piece of equipment, cheap, but highly effective.
The new Arri Amira.
The second project was for the wild and fun show, “The Undateables.” I can’t say too much about this experience as the episode hasn’t aired yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed working on it. The couple that came to town to get married were absolutely adorable and filming their wedding and trip was a treat. It was a very small crew that shot this and I was impressed with how well the filming went, it definitely had me rethink what is required in order to cover live events/reality TV. I’ll post more when the show airs and a link to the episode to watch.
The Undateables
We’ve also had a couple of our own projects we’ve been working on, but I’ll write about those next week.
Cheers,
Adam Kilbourn 🙂
