No drugs in FCP….
When he walked into the training room for the Travel Channel Academy, he was hard to miss.
DEA uniform. Gleaming bald head and a South Carolina good old boy accent that made Sheriff Taylor sound like John F. Kennedy.
Jay Russell.
Although he had come to our four day course to learn to shoot and cut video, he also had another idea.
A former South Carolina State Trooper, he now runs a business called KTF. That stands for K-9 (as in dog) Task Force. Russell takes his trained dogs on site (places like offshore oil rigs) and searches for drugs. (And finds em). He does missing person searches. He joins the cops on drug busts and arrests. He’s like a real-life Tommy Lee Jones. A real character. A larger than life personality.
He though there might be a TV series in this.
We did too.
So we told him to go home with this new video making skills and make a short video of what he did.
Boy, did he ever.
Because he knows every law enforcement official in the south, he’s got helicopters and drug busts and fast cars and God only knows what else. The only thing he doesn’t have is Tom Cruise - but he doesn’t need ‘em. Cause he’s got Jay Russell as himself.
It was good stuff.
Good enough so that we could send it out to a bunch of networks.
And you know what? (I am starting to talk like him now)…
We got some responses. Some interest.
And who would not be interested in this?
So keep your eyes open. I think you’re gonna start seeing Jay and his dog on a network near you real soon.
7 responses so far ↓
Davina van Buren // April 17, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Yes, Jay. Who could ever forget him?!
LOL
Hello Michael, Hope all is well with ya!
Davina
Peter Ralph // April 18, 2008 at 1:27 am
I wish him luck - but the only proven way to crack the Travel Chanel is to film yourself getting a bikini wax. Is he up for it?
Peter Ralph // April 18, 2008 at 4:09 pm
oh btw - here is a vid of me working my search dogs in avalanche training. Ben (the larger shepherd) has 3 “life and death” finds to his credit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm0eU08XuTE
can I get a TV show?
please
! // April 18, 2008 at 6:20 pm
this little fella doesn’t need a handler, he can report both sides of the story at once.
http://www.liberalavenger.com/uploaded_images/troll-723065.jpg
Pete // April 20, 2008 at 5:07 am
I’m afraid the networks will want to use conventional camera crews on this one - too dangerous to vj something like this. Hazardous enough doing a drugs bust, but trying to keep a camera in focus at the same time? Madness. Marching round an oil rig as a VJ? No thankyou Michael.
Jay sounds like he’s got no shortage of testosterone, but I hope he’s got common sense too.
Peter Ralph // April 21, 2008 at 11:49 pm
relax Michael - enjoy the holiday - I’ll deal with this
Pete: the camera keeps itself in focus. All you have to do is remove the lens cap and press record.
HTH
Pete // April 22, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Oh I agree with you on that alright. Any fool can use a Z1 in automatic. Even me.
I was however trying to make a serious point; safety is a big consideration when filming as a VJ. I’ve seen a couple of horrendous VJ accidents in the last year alone. You almost need a third eye and an extra arm to do it well and do it safely.
Even when all you are doing is taking the lenscap off and pressing record, as you put it.
Your material must be a joy to edit Peter.
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