Time is Flying by... it's Summer now!!

Cannot believe spring flew by and it is already summer-time! Unfortunately, in the "real-world" we do not get a 3-month vacation, beach-filled relaxing days, or any sort of real summer break -- I have to use my allocated time off, which in turn means I have less time off, come fall or winter time. Either way, I am excited for continued work at the UN even though the summer is known to have a lighter workload.

Over the past month or so, the producers have actively been cross-training the technicians (myself included) in various positions throughout the operations; because of this, I have been quite often running the Media Operations Centre on my own, while others watch / learn the daily tasks of the room. At times, it definitely gets overwhelming because some days there can be five different recordings (meetings, events, interviews, etc) happening at once, while I am the only technician operating the recording system AND the global UN Television feed.

With every job, there are always those few staff that are completely oblivious with the tasks of the day- even if there are schedules posted all around the control room. To some extent, I can blame myself with this at times mostly because I am often the only staff in the MOC and do not always catch the start of every single meeting, for backup recordings. The one thing I did learn (at least with others being oblivious), is to double and triple, even quadruple check the tasks I complete - because, as often the sole technician in the MOC, anything that is exported, dubbed, monitored and in essence seen UN staff, media personnel, or country delegate representative all comes through my office!


In the end, it has been ten months working at the UN - I am still constantly intrigued and on the edge of my seat with everything that we do in the broadcast operations of the UN.

Finally Spring!

Time is speeding by this winter and it's finally spring! Lots of things have been happening with my work - most notably, I operated the robotic cameras / switcher for a UN meeting AND was the technical director (TD) for a short time one evening recently.

My boss(es) have been trying to spread me around to do different jobs for various UNTV programming. The opportunity for operate robotic cameras and switch between feeds for one of the meetings was awesome! At first, it was overwhelming but slowly began to realise it is not as difficult or complicated as I once thought; sure I sometimes turn the joystick the wrong way, since the controls are reversed (moving stick right, aims camera left), but overall fun and intriguing! The second time I was running the whole switcher for different UN program feeds; since it was after "regular" hours, I was simply switching between a playback deck, bars or black, and live press stakeout camera - still was pretty sweet.

As less high-level meetings are happening and spring / summer rolls in, I will have many more chances to take roles in the control room or in the field, shooting b-roll / secondary footage. Ambition and time will tell what positions I ultimately with be ... check back for more update.

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Right before taking over control of the TD position

Crazy snow days then some awesome celebs!

January flew by and February is well underway... might have been because of unbearable cold and snow of NYC this winter! The United Nations actually shut down once and closed early / opened late a few times, due to this crazy weather.

Many things are always happening here at the UN Headquarters including daily committee meetings, General Assembly plenary, country's Mission events, brief diplomatic meetings, Security Council debates, international remembrance days, or cultural bazaars in the HQ lobby. Everything that occurs in the UN really is quite interesting, even if I am just walking by checking out the posters or tables.

A few months ago, David Guetta and Stevie Wonder ventured into the UN for various events, studio records, and meetings... for the "International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust" (as officially named by the UN), many Jewish-related organisations and genocide prevention and awareness groups hosted / attended the ceremony to remember and honour the Victims of the Holocaust. The keynote speaker for the event was filmmaker Steven Spielberg and Holocaust survivor Rena Finder, both speaking about incredible stories of resilience, survival, and continuing education. Spielberg then came into our studio to record an extensive interview discussing his Jewish roots, filming Schindler's List, meeting survivors to hear their stories, and attempting to continue educating today's youth before all the survivors are gone! One of the best parts about having such incredible talent and "celebrities" come into our studio, is that I am on the opposite side of the wall from them or often in the same room as them (operating the camera, setting up lights, stage managing, or simply watching the interview).

In addition to my full time position at the UN, I recently picked up a freelance gig with Dick Clark Productions for crew at the NFL Honors which was held 1 Feb 2014 at Radio City Music Hall. As I was crew with various live event and award show productions in Los Angeles during my time there, I was able to reconnect with some of the managers and supervisors to land this gig. It was really an awesome experience to work again in a live award show production; to make it even more interesting, I ran into Hugh Jackman, Andy Samberg, Alec Baldwin, and lots of NFL players and coaches!