One of the highlights of my summer work-wise was getting to film for the "Ready For Hillary" PAC in Iowa a few weeks ago for the guys at Chi/Donahoe + Cole/Duffey.
The shoot was a whirlwind, coming on the heels of being on a different shoot in NYC the full week previous, I wrapped that shoot at 2pm Friday, taxied to LaGuardia and hopped on a 4pm flight to Des Moines, cutting it pretty close. Didn't get to the hotel till after midnight, then out the door Saturday morning for a full day of shooting/prep for the main event on Sunday.
The reason for all the hubbub. Hillary speaking at the (last) annual Harkin Steak Fry outside Des Moines, Iowa.
The video was for Ready For Hillary, a PAC that has been traveling around the country in conjunction with Hillary's recent book tour, drumming up support for a "possible" run in 2016. We followed the bus around Des Moines for a bit Saturday, getting some beauty shots of the tour in motion.
Jim and I framing our shot of the tour bus driving near the capital building in Des Moines.
The main event was Senator Harkin's annual Steak Fry, which he's been doing for the last 30+ years. This was the last as he is stepping down. There was a crowd of over 10,000 people that showed up Sunday in a farm field, a lot of them there to see Hillary and Bill speak (and many hoping, in vain, for a special announcement from Hillary). Over 300 press were also there (CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, etc). It was quite a zoo.
Later on at the Steak Fry, on top of the bus getting a few crowd shots. I was happy to see they made it into the final cut.
Getting ready for one of many quick interviews for the video with some of the people attending.
From the staff photographer (and also Producer-extraordinaire), Aaron. Lots of Hillary fans lining up to get in.
The whole "Steak Fry" thing was a little confusing- no steaks were fried. I guess that's just how Iowans say "cookout." The real media-frenzy moment came when Hillary and Bill arrived and went to the main grill to "fry" some steaks. It was quite a spectacle. 300+ media people cramming around an L-shaped fence, all jockeying for a shot of the Clintons at the grill. Once there, they just poked at the meat for 10 seconds and then held it up on two spatulas for the media to get their shots, then walked off to the stage. Such a coordinated, complicit publicity stunt, which is par for the course, I'm sure, but seemed pretty silly at the time.
Jim getting his shot. The camera man to his right fell off his stool just after this was taken, to which none of the other media offered to help. Bunch of cut-throats.
I'm somewhere in there, all the way around to the left corner, one row back. Managed to squeeze in and get a few decent shots of the steak frying which also made it into the final cut.
The main event, Hillary, Senator Harkin, Bill, and Mrs. Harkin. Everyone wanted Hillary to announce, but she didn't. In fact, her speech really didn't say anything. Bill was as funny and charming as ever. The man's got people skills.
I will post the video once it's live, but saw the final cut and it looks great! These guys do awesome work.