War Stories from the Reality Front

Every profession has its “war stories.”

When I got into journalism I believed it was a noble profession. I envisioned myself reporting from the front lines of war - the romanticized version of journalism where I sacrificed life and limb to get the story. 

Instead, I became a newscast producer calling the shots from the safety of the control room. 

But in Los Angeles, covering the North Hollywood shootout, the Rodney King beating, the LA riots, the OJ Simpson trial, the Northridge earthquake, the Malibu floods and fires, still felt like war.

When I became a reality producer the danger became more real even though we were supposed to be creating entertainment. 

We don’t often talk about the difficulties we face out in the field except when we have a couple of drinks and someone mentions a “war” story.

Here are some of my all time “favorite” traumatic experiences.

1- The time when I was holding the hand of a producer dying from a brown recluse spider bite. I had to call his family to tell them he might not survive the night. Thankfully he did…after being given the anti-venom.

2- The time I was threatened by a cast member whose husband was a member of a gang. She said, “He’ll cut you.” I said, “Ok, but remember you’re wearing a mic.”

3- The time I got dragged into a private room and yelled at by the bully husband of a cast member when I wouldn’t agree to a scene that was clearly promoting his new product line.

4- The time I woke up to screams and two cast members fighting in the middle of the night after a late night party scene. When we showed up, one was holding a broken liquor bottle to the other’s neck. Thanks to a quick thinking producer we were able to physically pull them apart.

5- The time I was physically threatened by an angry camera operator after I fired him for doing drugs and causing chaos in the hotel. He subsequently interrupted filming and threatened to kill the entire crew over his firing. We had to hire security to get him to the airport and make sure he got on the plane.

7- The time a production company owner turned on me when I defended an editor during a screening. He was being verbally abusive to her and when I asked him to stop, he took me into his office and screamed at me. 

8- The time another production company owner lost it when I didn’t allow him to interrupt talent in the middle of a crucial scene that we were filming. He had never done unscripted before and it was a critical moment in the story. He dragged me outside during filming and read me the riot act on the front lawn.

9- The time an unstable staff post production supervisor started throwing things around the office and yelling at me because he hadn’t received the proper camera reports from the field. The production company owners didn’t see anything wrong with that. Years later that same post sup reached out to apologize for his abusive behavior. 

Creating television isn’t supposed to be a dangerous career…but sometimes it can be.  

"I'm gonna need some air support, STAT!"