CineVegas

Working for a "Hard News" station you don't always get to cover any of the fun events. The usual fatals, murders, and drug busts are more than enough to fill a newscast. But every once in awhile we get a fun assignment throw at your feet. Take for example this Wednesday. I came into work was handed this....



Are you shitting me? I'm going to one of those red carpet premiere thingys that you always see on the E! channel. Indeed I was, the CineVegas film festival was kicking off this year with a premiere of a major Hollywood film.



I was going to get picture of stars like George Clooney, and Brad Pitt

And be able to interview such celebs like Matt Damon, and Andy Garcia

Well I was lucky I had my XDCAM, because as you can see, I only got photos of the video I shot. There were two reasons for this. One, I noticed that my digital camera battery was low on juice. So I decided to save my power for the cool stars and skip losers like Carrot Top and Wayne Newton. Two, it turned into a MADHOUSE as soon as the big stars arrived.

Each crew had it's very own place along the red carpet, marked by a sign on the ground. We were near the end of the carpet with all the other who-cares-about-the-locals, and all the major national crews were at the beginning where the stars arrived. Getting interviews with someone like Dennis Hopper(who wasn't in the movie, but just there to fill out the celebrity card) was easy, but....when the main stars showed up. Cue the choas!

As BIG stars made it down my way, so followed ALL the rest of the major TV crews who were positioned in the front of the line. Apparently they didn't get enough video when it was their turn, and they all wanted to push me out of my turn. Whenever a star stopped in front of me countless of microphones, and recording devices shot out from every direction. I was pushed and shoved by other cameramen trying to steal my shot, so I elbowed and pushed back. I stood my ground. It all happened so quickly I didn't have time to dig my digital camera out of my pocket. I was too worried about getting my shots for my story, which you can find on our website.

The Red Carpet was fun. It was cool seeing all the major television crews at work, but.......let's just say I won't be applying to "Extra" or "E!" anytime soon.