Professional

“You have to perform at a consistently higher level than others.  That’s the mark of a true professional.” – Joe Paterno

Each project on which I work has its own highs and lows, pros and cons, ups and downs.  Some have more of the formers, many have more of the latters.  Time on set of my most recent was all up, pro, and high.

I was blessed with the opportunity to shoot a spec pilot for talented child actor, Joseph Castanon.  General free reign over the project was granted to me.  I wrote several sketches for the Saturday Night Live meets The Tonight Show program for kids and we shot the sketches along with some interviews over a perfect-weather weekend at the end of January in Los Angeles.

My DP, Nick Evert, one of my mainstay collaborators, accompanied me.  He and I have done our share of work in the Twin Cities and we were both excited for the new project but still a little concerned about the potential attitudes we’d be facing in Hollywood.  Our worries were completely dismissed as the kids and their parents with whom we worked proved to be more professional, more polite, and more talented than we could even have dreamed they’d be.

I can’t put into words how impressed I was with Joseph, Ryan Ochoa and his brothers Robert and Raymond, and Sammi Hanratty.  They each have more real credits than pretty much everyone else with whom I’ve directly worked.  Funny thing is, I’ve worked with people with a few commercials or student films under their belts and they behave as if they’re King Poop of Turd Island.

Mr. Paterno’s assessment of professionalism is incomplete.  A true professional not only performs at a consistently higher level than others, but the true professional does so while maintaining humility, embracing empathy, and always looking to give more than receive.  These kids get it.