One important job at large entertainment events is to let the photographers know who they’re photographing. This is when sign holders come in handy.
Publicity photography minus the publicity
A few nights ago, I was assigned to photograph celebrities arriving for a fundraiser at an exclusive home in Toronto. The event had set up an arrivals area in a small parking lot off the front driveway of the home, (did I mention it was a large house?). The red carpet was nice and wide, and the area was covered, lit and heated. Perfect, considering it was a cold, dark November night.
Canadian composer and producer David Foster arrives to host a fundraiser for his charity foundation in Toronto, Canada, 19 November 2010.
The three largest wire services in the world were there specifically to photograph the two main celebrities attending. The headlining entertainer for the event would also make for a usable news photo. Other photo agencies and TV were there as well.
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More useless media handouts
For his visit to Toronto, the Dalai Lama has come and gone. Some of his events were open to the media and some others were closed to the media but open to the public and their cameras. It also appears that some closed events weren’t really closed. Organizers just forgot to include them in the media itinerary.
The organizers released almost five dozen handout pictures all at once, covering all three days of the visit, at 11 PM on Sunday, the last day of the visit.
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Film Festival Finale
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has ended and, as expected, its idiocy continued right to the last event.
On the final night, the last celebrity event started about 30 minutes sooner than expected which caught a handful of photographers off-guard. These photographers arrived, perhaps, 10 – 15 minutes after the red carpet area was “locked down.” (Yes, it actually uses that term for its oh-so-high security efforts).
When this group of photographers arrived, the actors were about 150 to 200 feet away signing autographs for the fans. Possible film festival options:
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Film Festival Questions
And the hits keep coming.
• Internet access was dead again today. Film festival people had no idea what to do about it.
• A TV videographer wanted to shoot B-roll of still photographers working a red carpet, (i.e. video of cameras clicking, flashes popping, photographers calling to celebrities). He wanted to shoot from an open area behind photographers. Sorry, not allowed.
• Another TV videographer wanted to shoot B-roll of celebrities arriving at a press conference with all the flashing cameras. He wanted to shoot from a far corner completely out of everyone’s way. Sorry, not allowed.
• I wanted to shoot an actor being interviewed by TV, (i.e. a photo of actor surrounded by cameras and microphones), by standing in an open area behind TV. Sorry, not allowed.
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Film Festival Strikes Again
It never ends.
• The Toronto Film Festival has large backgrounds covered in sponsor logos. Two days ago, film festival folks told photographers that they *must* get the logo-covered background in all their pictures.
• Film Festival said photographers cannot shoot from any public areas. Photographers must shoot only from designated film festival photo areas. If a photographer shoots from a public area, like the public sidewalk, that photographer will be kicked out of the festival.
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Film Festival Foto Frolics
Entertainment reporter to photographer: “I wish I was a photographer. You don’t have to talk to [the actors].”
During the film festival:
• There were two near fist fights between photographers in the photo areas.
• As macho film star Josh Brolin arrived, a photographer yelled, “Give us a wave!” Brolin stopped and stared, “Are you crazy?”
• When a photographer called actress Eva Mendes “baby”, she stopped and yelled back, “Don’t ever call me ‘baby’!” :
