Faces of America

We love it when great projects come our way. Don’t get me wrong, we’re happy to do commercials and industrials but the Documentary form is so very close to our hearts. “Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates Jr.” was very special, with either Ned or I gaffing most of the episodes. My personal favorite was the interview at Stephen Colbert’s home. I had to ask his wife exactly what was inscribed in Latin on the fireplace mantel. She said, “The House that Jokes Built.”

Catching up...

Once again I have been very lax on updating the Liberty work blog and even with dire predictions on the economy the phone has rung a few times this year.



DP Hamid Shams, shooting for Verizon in Brooklyn NY back in March. Our small 3-ton lighting truck wedged in driveway off to left. I wish I could remember the guys name sitting on the stoop, as he was a word class harmonica player who keep us entertained all day.


Bob Bushfield, John Roche, Kevin Hunt
Filming the New York City segment of a commercial for the lovely beaches of the Dominican Republic. Nothing better than a cold rainy morning to contrast and compare. I have found that I can never have too many gaffers on a job, I mean who needs second electrics anyway... Here I am with fellow gaffers and friends Bob Bushfield (left) and Kevin Hunt (right) and yeah, that’s me in the center.


The set of for the cooking show “Avec Eric” rigged out in the production office. My partner Ned Hallick was LD while I played second rigging Grip for the build out days.


ABC Earth 2100 special with host Bob Woodruff which airs next week. My Partner Ned and I worked under our long time friend and colleague, Lighting Director Chuck Lofthouse. We had two generator plants as this whole set was several football fields long. Xenon and Mole Beam HMI’s at one end with Arri 4K’s sprinkled about. Key lights done simply with ETC Source Four Lekos.


It just doesn’t get any better than working in Central Park on a beautiful day. This was a shoot for PBS with host Alan Alda, and DP Larry Engel & producer Graham Chedd.

Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America


My partner Ned Hallick was the Lighting Director for Billy Crystal’s host wraps on the PBS series “Make ‘em Laugh: The Funny Business of America.” I worked as gaffer and Liberty Lighting supplied the bulk of the Lighting and Grip equipment.

Pink Panther 2 Promo


Press junkets used to stick the star next to a poster of the movie and someone asked a whole lot of dumb questions. These days the promos we do have become a much more complicated affair. Here is another Jib & Crash Cartoon Network Promo for the movie “Pink Panther 2” with Steve Martin. Rig required two Dolly Tracks, one for both puppeteers, one for the camera with two outriggers for lighting moving in tandem with talent and puppets. The whole scene was shot in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which transformed to look like an art gallery. Mel Williams Director of Photography, John Roche Gaffer, Michael Vazquez Key Grip.

Arri Max Exercise


Here we are at Lehman College in the Bronx for an Insanity Exercise Video. The Lighting while not Rocket Science, is still a test of the capabilities of the Arri Max 18K (plus several 6K Par’s) to hold stop against a bunch of old big gym windows and Mother Nature. If we had the budget and time a Softsun would have been most welcome... but we made it work and the output of the Arri Max was quite impressive.

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