Dancing in the Street

Yesterday I had a great gig, a cultural phenomenon, a Jewish expression of celebrating the torah, each other, documenting the Lubavitch community in Milwaukee, witnessing a scribe. Many blessed by his ancient form of writing, actually outlining one letter for each family, in their holy book. I witnessed it with close ups thru the lens of my camera.

It was a cold windy sunny day, outside in Bayside, the suburb of Milwaukee I grew up in, a backyard filled with people celebrating their religion, their holy expression of God, hashem….I am the videographer of the Chasids in Milwaukee, its a good job, I enjoy the customs, the celebrations, its unique and always interesting.

Yesterday Brown Deer road was closed as the community danced down the streets with a  torah, written in it new letters blessed by God, singing, chanting, stopping cars in mid track, I covered it all, many angles, many sounds, many frames, until we got to their shul, or chabad which means synagogue.

When we arrived and went in the first thing that happened, was the separation between  men and women, boys and girls. I was asked by the Rabbi to go to the women’s side, I found a balanced shot somewhere in between.

The singing and dancing and than prayers by the children, I captured all of it, then everyone ate a feast, a job well done, a good day. I know they will be happy with the footage. Afterwards I walked through my old neighborhood, and into the woods, missing my childhood, but feeling happy  it was so good, I am blessed and now a hundred times more.    

Have You Kissed a Whale Today?

My main marketing strategy for my video business has been word of mouth. Networking in my own city, sometimes I will go out for a coffee and make a new contact for work. Living in Milwaukee my whole life has its benefits. This story is a perfect example.

I was doing an interview on a teacher about what inspires her in her career. She said that every year in February she takes her elementary school class to San Diego on a field trip to follow the path of gray whales down the Pacific Coast to Mexico. She described how they get on a fishing boat and travel down the coast stopping at small islands viewing sea lions and other sea mammals along the way. The only problem is she has to take care of the kids, teach and videotape the whole experience.

I was dying to stop the recording but kept up with the interview. When we finally finished I simply went up to her and asked if she would hire me to go and that we could work out a good production rate. She said that would be great and that next February I was boarding a plane to California with 36 young students and 4 other teachers.

We got on the boat at midnight under a full moon and I had my ginger tea and took the appropriate amount of drugs for sea sickness which I am very prone to. I told myself no matter what you are going to not only have a great time but make an incredible video about this experience. And that is exactly what happened.

It was amazing on every level. We traveled for 2 days to get to the Bay of Ignacio where the gray whales mate in February every year. Once we were rested and ready for the next adventure we got into small wooden boats or skiffs and went out in to the bay. Before long the mama whales were coming right up to the boats and you could touch them. Of course you got wet when they spout water from their blowholes which is really a combination of air and water as a huge exhale.

The teacher that hired me is famous for kissing the whales which I readied my camera for and got the shot! And in that moment I knew the title of the video. On the way home we had to stay on the boats because the seas were too rough for us to stop on the islands. It was like being on a roller coaster in your bunk bed, we flew into the air and that landed hard, this lasted for 48 hrs and I knew that this too was a pinnacle in my life. Surviving yes and getting the good shots yes but most of all getting paid to have an adventure and have something to show for it — a video called “Have You Kissed a Whale Today?”

Meeting Leonard Bernstein

In the late 80s I got the opportunity to work with the Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on a production about Leonard Bernstein’s life and work.

It was life changing, challenging, full-on creative work. I was hired to produce video for the backdrop of this theatrical performance about one of the greatest composers of our time. No pressure, actually a lot of pressure.

Everyday for 6 weeks I worked with the director, went to rehearsals, shot interviews with actors and edited pieces of footage from videos that were sent to me of Bernstein, talking and playing the piano. Each video was an integral part of the show, as a moving background and as a video onto itself about his life. As the show developed I realized that this could be the pinnacle of my career if everything turned out well.

One evening we gathered to compare notes because opening night was within a week, our director told the cast that Bernstein would be at the show. I felt elated, scared, excited, but mostly terrified of his response. Opening night arrived and everything was tweaked the nights before at dress and tech. Just as the curtains were going to come up, there was some noise and suddenly Leonard Bernstein appeared from backstage, he walked across the stage, smoking from a cigarette holder, dressed with his white cape around him which seemed to be flowing in the wind, he sat in the front row center and applause hit the room…there was a collective gasp but I felt like mine was the loudest.

The show miraculously went really well. Again applause, we all lined up on the stage for a bow, and Bernstein started to walk onto the stage again, approaching us. He acknowledged us one by one, it was my turn, he looked into my eyes and gave me a kiss on the cheek, that is what I remember, and said “nice job, lots of jump cuts.” It took everything I had to remain planted on the stage because my heart was pounding so hard I wanted to run but I remained calm, and in that moment I knew this was a pinnacle in my life.