EARTH WIND AND FIRE, YOUSSOU NDOUR AND MORE !!!!!!
Exhausting but wonderful week-end working on the Cape Town International Jazz Festival. It was packed to capacity. Such a treat to direct artistes such as David Koz, who blew me and the audience totally away, Don Laka, Earth Wind and Fire(the original group), they were so energetic I could hardly keep my camera’s on them, Simphiwe Dana who is so full of soul when she performs, Chuck Loeb brilliant guitarist featuring Spanish singer Carmen Cuesta, and of course the one and only Youssou Ndour….
The crew were amazing and I thank them so much..when 02h00am ticked over, we all including me could barely keep going from total exhaustion, but as they say ..The show must go on and it did.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We finally hit our beds way after 03h00am..and for some even later depending on where they had to travel too.
bryan adams – a gem to work with
One of the nicest people whom I have worked with other than Israel Houghton is bryan adams. He was so involved and took such an interest in the shoot. His entire band is down to earth and so much fun. What was not such fun was living in Cape Town, editing in Johannesburg (Gauteng) and sending rough cuts to London for bryan to view. Luckily there were only 2 changes in the edit, but it did mean flying up to Johannesburg just to make 2 changes. His music was a dream to direct and edit. For those of you that don’t know, he always spells his name in lower case!
U2 WOW !
U2 live at the Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town was the most amazing experience to watch – they have taken music concerts to another level. What I would have done to just workshadow on something on this scale – The “claw” as they call it was brilliantly utilized with 8 follow spot operators within the claw so neatly hidden, so effective..the screens were something else. Have never seen anything like it….I have directed many music concerts for broadcast as well as screen direction, to name but a few bryan adams, Luther Vandross, Sting, Smashing Pumpkins, Brian Mcknight, Jamiroquai, Kanye West, Macy Gray, Israel Houghton and the New Breed, Yellow Jackets, and so much more . Each and everyone was an amazing experience and journey including Luther Vandross who brought me to tears demanding to hand over his multi-track as he was not happy with his singing and I had 3 days to sweeten in edit for broadcast. ..The good news is I still managed to get a good product on air…thanks to the brilliant live mixing of the audio.
It”s been a long day, but finally launched my twitter and facebook account, still more to do but apparently now official!!!!!!
Giving back
I’ll be teaching the TV production students at AFDA in Cape Town next week – I love giving back – I’m so thankful for my 30 years of experience and the people who mentored me along the way.
I’ll be going down memory lane soon, so watch this space.
My launch into cyberspace
Must confess I find this very daunting, as I am a private person and do not like talking about myself….but the universe is changing so dramatically and at such a pace, I decided it was time to climb aboard and start travelling and getting to know all the aliens out there, or better still, giving them a chance to get to know me.
On a very serious note, I find myself in another new space.
After a year of major setbacks, namely being diagnosed with breast cancer, which thank goodness I have overcome, and losing my mom, and very little work due to the state of the TV industry I find myself asking “Who am I?” After 30 years in the industry as a producer and director, for the first time, I have more time to spare than I have had in my entire life ….and that is quite awhile after being a big fish in a small pond, having so much work that I had no time for myself – working almost 24/7. But being the passionate person I am, I loved it.
So here I am re-looking at my life, my goals, my dreams, my aspirations and my logo and my website…time for a change.
How many of you out there are travelling in the same rocket as me?
NEW BREED AFRICA
WHAT A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE AUDITIONING FOR NEW BREED AFRICA WITH ISRAEL HOUGHTON. 3 CITIES IN 3 DAYS….CRAZY SCHEDULE. WAY OVER A THOUSAND PEOPLE AUDITIONED. THE TURN OUT WAS INCREDIBLE AND SUCCESSFUL…
NEXT LOT OF AUDITIONS FOR BACKLINE WILL BE FIRST WEEK IN AUGUST …
June 20, 2011 | Categories: Commentary, Day-to-Day, Media Coverage, Music, My Productions | Tags: auditions, backline, Cape Town, Durban, Israel Houghton, johannesburg, music, New Breed Africa, schedule | Leave a comment