Staff Blog: Director's Take

Personally, I’m pretty excited about the new Apple iPhone and I’m waiting with some impatience for it to come out. Its integrated OS X features will certainly alter how we communicate. I for one will no longer have to carry around three or four devices & all those chargers! (cell phone, pop-tart PIM phone & various iPods). And, I can call my Dad while downloading to the same device the latest Access Hollywood podcast or TWIT (Leo-LaPorte’s This Week in Tech)! Technology is amazing and it allows us to connect in ways we never imagined, enabling a deeper global conversation.

With that intro, and it all applies here, I want to say something about Access Hollywood behind-the-scenes. As the show's Director, I’m involved in what takes place on our stage to make air, and I’m continually amazed that everyone works so well together as a team, and that we get a polished (mostly ) show on the air every day.

What goes into the making of Access Hollywood is often intense, as we’re essentially a news show, and news is constantly breaking, so we’re continually revising stories right up until air. Our satellite feed is at 1 o’clock, so that doesn’t give us much time from 6:00 a.m. on to get it together. But each day we do and that’s the miracle of it. And, when it’s all said and done, when we stand back and look at the process objectively, taking into account the various personalities and constant obstacles between us and air, production is more often than not truly hilarious!

For the past two days, it has been Golden Globes time here at Access, so the place has been buzzing! It is actually easier for the stage on award show days because talent stand-ups are primarily taped at the venue. The show is then assembled through the control room without using the stage at all, or only using studio cams for one or two transition shots. More later on all of that, but now I’ve got to go to stage and direct today’s Golden Globes festivities!