WEBVTT - Chris Haston 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:08.520 My name is Chris Hasten, and I'm an NBC staff photographer, 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:12.720 and i was the key photographer on the Office and 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:25.400 may man of Kate Flannery. Hello, Office family, Hi everyone, 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:30.600 welcome to another episode of The Office Deep Dive. I 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:34.519 am your host Brian Baumgartner. Today I have a very 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:39.120 special guest joining me. He was an essential part of 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.040 the crew of the Office and in many ways he 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:47.920 has actually helped shape our memories from the show. He's 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:52.000 the reason that we have so many incredible behind the 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:56.320 scene photos from our time on set because he was 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:03.720 our extremely talented and absolutely hello areas NBC staff photographer. 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:09.560 That's right, We're bringing on the incomparable Chris Hasten. Now 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:15.880 what why are you talking to the NBC staff photographer. 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:20.240 That doesn't make sense. Well, Chris was that, but he 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:25.800 also has become a part of our family. Yes, that's right. 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:30.200 He became the main man of Kate Flannery a ka 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:34.000 Meredith Palmer, who actually makes a cameo at the top 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:39.160 of this episode today. Gosh, I love these two. Everyone 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:44.520 in the Office community loves these two. Now. In addition 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:50.640 to the Office, Chris, having worked for NBC since has 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:54.000 worked on some other shows you may have heard of 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.600 maybe Okay, you've definitely heard of them. The TV he's 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:02.960 touched is almost unreal, you know, like Friends, Seinfeld, Fresh, 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:08.080 Prince of bel Air, Community, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:12.760 He has done it all, but only one show really 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:19.600 changed his life because I mean romantically right. Um. I 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:24.000 will tell you also that Chris also played a huge 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:29.720 role in my upcoming book, that's right, Welcome to dunder 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:35.600 Mifflin is coming out November. You can preorder it on 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:40.160 Amazon right now, so go grab yourself a copy, Grab 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.680 one for your friends, grab one for your family. Get 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.880 ready to be blown away. I cannot wait for you 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:51.200 guys to read it. And Chris offered so many behind 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.360 the scenes photos that are included in this book, so 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:58.680 I'm so excited to talk to him about those moments. 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:03.520 But for now, get ready to focus. Get it like 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:08.160 focus the camera. We're focusing, well, we're focusing on the 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:12.720 man behind the camera. Please give a warm welcome to 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:22.680 the amazing Chris Hasten. Everybody. Bubble and Squeak. I love it, 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:29.360 Bubble and Squeak on Bubble and Squeaker cooking at every moment. 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:45.320 Left over from the night before. What is happening? What's up, daddyo? 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.120 How are you? I'm great man, good to see you. 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.840 Where is your mustache? Oh? I haven't had that since 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.160 COVID Man, it just got too hot and sweaty, if 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.400 you know what I'm saying. That's what she said. But no, 0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.560 I shaved it off just because wearing a mask all 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:04.720 the time is impossible. Right. Oh that's smart. Kate. Would 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:06.600 you get out of my eye line? Please? I've always 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:08.720 wanted to say that to an actor. Get the hell 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:12.480 out of my eyeline. Is Kate there? There? Right now? Kate, Kate, 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.000 come here? She is there. This is her mike, this 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:20.760 is this is where she does her Kate, what is happening? 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.000 I'm talking to your man. I know, I love it. 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.000 I can barely hear you on the headphones. Oh that's okay. 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:31.560 It looks like it looks like a Broadway show curtain 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.160 behind you. I mean, this is a man every night, 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:38.920 just for him, an audience of one. All right, can 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.279 I get on? Can I get on? How are you 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:46.039 guys going to talk? I love you too. We're being recorded, 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:53.479 don't worry. Alright, alrighty, well, there's a comedy portion of 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:58.720 the interview. Oh, it only begins there, and it's so 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:02.560 good to see. So you're well, everybody's okay, yes, yes, 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.120 absolutely fine, all right, So I want to go I 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.680 want to go backwards in time a little bit. How 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.640 did you get into photography? Well, as a kid, you know, 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.000 you always hear those stories. Oh, when I was nine 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.839 or eleven years old, you know, when I was nine, 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:21.120 somebody put a camera in my hand and I fell 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:24.720 in love with it. And when you know, all the 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:27.799 kids in the neighborhood. I'm from southern California, so skateboarding 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.960 and surfing was it. So when everyone else is skateboarding 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:35.359 half pipes and pools, I was taking photos of everybody, 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.960 of everybody doing half pipes and pool okay, exactly. So 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.599 we're still best friends. So you know, we we always 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:46.400 have our war stories, and mine has to do with photography. 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.640 But it just, yeah, it just I just started landing 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:52.800 jobs here and they're working really hard to get into places. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:55.920 And I was going to school at the time in Torrance, 0:05:56.120 --> 0:06:00.440 and UM started working for an agency shooting on racing. 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:04.479 That's my first professional gig, shooting auto racing. We shot 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:08.080 off road racing and eventually road racing, and yeah it 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:11.680 was great. I'm self taught. So they had a studio there, 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:13.400 which is the main reason I wanted to work there, 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.160 and then I taught myself lighting. It's funny. About a 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.479 year before I started at NBC, which by the way, 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.120 I did this waiting for NBC to open up, somebody goes, 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:24.880 do you ever think of shooting people? I go, no way, man, 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.559 I said, people get up and walk out on photo shoots. 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:30.360 There's no way I'm ever going to shoot people. A 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:34.839 year later, I'm shooting some of the worst subjects. No, 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:37.680 no offense, but you know, no, I mean none taken. 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:39.960 That was the early days. But wait a second. You 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:43.679 were self taught. I've taught myself lighting. I've taught myself 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.919 about exposure. I've taught myself, you know. I mean I 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:50.000 had one year of college that that's all I needed. 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:52.320 But I went to a small Christian school, so they 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:56.040 offered nothing. I shot for the newspaper and the yearbook, 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.359 which they were awful. I looked back on that stuff 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.600 and go find no and what I know now you know, 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.320 But yeah, it was just it's it's a learning thing 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:07.960 all the way, and um, you know, I've been at 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:10.480 NBC for a really really long time, and now I'm 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.840 the head guy. Now you're you're it, okay, But before that, 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:17.560 you're shooting off road racing. So you're shooting cars off 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:20.840 the road in the desert wed pre run for two 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.960 days and find our spots and then we'd either camp 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:25.720 there someb we would drop us off, and then the 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.560 race would start and you pretty much kind of new, Okay, 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:31.760 well there's a hundred cars and I've seen about ninety 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:33.280 five of them. I'm getting the heck out of here. 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:35.720 And it was dangerous because we were down in Mexico. 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.239 You know, you pull over machine guns in your face 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.480 and you either have a bunch of photos. We had 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.560 a lot of racer photos all the time, or my 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.760 my boss would go get Playboy magazines at garage sales. 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.560 And it's amazing how far you can get with the 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:53.680 federal ally with a machine gun in your face and 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:58.240 a Playboy magazine. Isn't that great? It's sounds like the 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.920 federalities are there right now. Actually. Um so yourself taught 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:06.480 as a photographer and then you're shooting off road and 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.000 then you find out about a job at NBC. This 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:14.920 is no. In nineteen eighty I found out, okay, okay. 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.480 First of all, my senior high school, I'm like, wait 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:21.160 a minute, somebody gets paid to take pictures in the movies. 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.240 And then I really freaked out. And then I ended 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.520 up meeting a guy, went to and went to NBC 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:30.000 and Burbank and it was the Johnny Carson stage and 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:33.000 Billy Crystal was doing a pilot It's back when he 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.320 did You Look Marvelous. It was the beginning of that. 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.600 And I was there with a girl and she goes, hey, 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:40.319 I know that guy down there, and it happened to 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:42.320 be a friend of her mom's and she knew that 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.520 he worked there. I never knew it, and uh, she 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.240 slipped him a note and he invented invited us down. 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:50.720 We went into the lab, which was my office for 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.800 twenty five years, and I'm I immediately hit him up 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:56.960 and he's like, you know, after three months, he's like, 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.320 don't ever call me again. And I bugged him every year. 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:02.680 I just I knew something. I knew it was going 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.520 to happen, and it was NBC the whole time, because 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.800 that was it, you know, NBC was the network. And finally, 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:13.160 after five years, they called and said, you're still interested. 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.480 And I went in as a lab guy, wiping everybody's 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.959 nose and taking out their trash. And again I go 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:21.959 in there, and I learned how they do it big time. 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:26.120 And what's funny about it is no photographer on staff 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:29.600 would tell me stay out of an actress, Eyeline, don't 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.920 hit on the actresses, don't don't do this, don't do that. 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:35.680 And I just went and I got to say and 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:37.840 I was a nervous wreck, but I never showed it. 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.120 And you know, I've worked on some of the biggest 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:43.760 shows in history. Right, what was the first show that 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.560 you worked on out of the lab, like when they 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:50.440 let you go on set? Well, Punky Brewster, the original 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.559 Punky Brewster was done on our lot and nobody and 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.520 everyone was bored with a lot of shows and this 0:09:56.600 --> 0:10:00.080 was a kid show, and um, I knew the it. 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.680 There were some old school actors on there, and I thought, man, 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:05.280 maybe I can handle this, and they said, go, yeah, go, 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:07.080 grab a camera and go. And we used to use 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:10.000 these gigantic housings that went around a nikon or a 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.560 cannon that sound proved it. I grabbed it and I 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:16.400 was fumbling and all that. It was only thirty six frames, 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:19.079 so you have to you get through thirty six frames 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.360 and then you uh, you know, you gotta switch it out. 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:23.960 But anyway, I went down there and started doing that, 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.800 and I'm sure the pictures were awful. Uh. And then 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:30.600 the second thing, the second thing was like instantaneous because 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:32.679 they knew I can handle myself. I started shooting the 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:36.360 Johnny Carson Show. That was a rotation thing, so everybody 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.640 did it, you know, every fourth or fifth week. However, 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:43.359 many photographers were in that roster for it, and that was, um, 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:46.160 that was showbiz, baby. That's how I res when I 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:51.920 got bit wow, yeah Carson show me right, I mean 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:54.800 for for comedians at the time, I mean appearing on 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:58.760 that and you're back there shooting at How amazing was that? 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:03.040 Not just that, dude. It's like Stephen Wright would come 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.000 into the green room and I'd be sitting there waiting 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.079 for the show to start, and we never shot Johnny's 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:11.120 monologue unless it was required or asked by the producers, 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:13.480 and and like Stephen Wright would be there and like 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.000 I'd be like, hey man, I mean it's just like 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.920 you're trying not to like, you know, throw up and uh, 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.360 I would always you know, with the comedians especially, I 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:24.079 did it with some of the musicians. But I'm like, hey, 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:26.320 if you want me to send you some photos, which 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:27.800 you know I didn't have the authority to do that 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.880 in the beginning, but once it was really rolling, I 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:33.880 and you know, you know, I'd send Stephen write some photos. 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.760 And Jeff Fox were the God. That guy is such 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.240 a great guy. He saw me recently. He goes, Hey, 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:40.600 by the way, I don't hang a lot of stuff 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:42.920 in my house, but there's a black and white that 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:46.040 you shot of me and Johnny is belly laughing. He 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:48.800 goes that hangs right outside my kitchen and it's like 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:52.920 my Buddha. I touch it every morning. Which man, that's 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.800 that's my payoff right there. That is awesome. Who was 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:58.880 the coolest person on the on the Tonight Show that 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:04.000 you shot? Like for you, dude, I mean God. We 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:07.320 go sit in the audience durring rehearsals and the Chili 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.520 Peppers would play for like an hour and Iggy Pop 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.120 would just come this far from your face and just 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:15.840 be screaming at you l a singing, and they love 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:18.199 that stuff because we're an audience of like ten people 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.000 that wanted to see them. I don't know, man, it 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:26.080 was I mean, Jimmy Stewart. Uh, you know, I can't 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:30.560 even I can't even think it was all great. So 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:36.880 you shot Jimmy Stewart and me. So that's pretty much 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.960 all I really talked about. I mean, that's kind of right. 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:44.720 I mean, that's there's nothing in between those two. Um, 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.480 in addition to the tonight's show. And you mentioned this 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:53.240 before NBC, was it right? I mean NBC was much 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:56.480 by the way Warren Littlefield and I we were, We 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:58.600 were handed hand with each other and he calls me 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:02.640 his mussy TV photographer. Really, yeah, because I was there 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:05.360 through that whole era, and I was a go getter 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:09.199 and young and willing to just do anything. So Cheers. 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.480 You shot Cheers. I shot the end of Cheers. I 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.880 was Leno's photographer when Carson left for the first five years, 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:17.480 and we flew to Boston and we were in the 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:19.280 Bull and Finch the night it went off the air, 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.240 but Paramount sent me upstairs above the Bull and Finch 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:25.480 to be in a room with the cast while they 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:29.320 watched TV, and they go, you really shouldn't be there, 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:34.640 but try and get photos the finale. This was the finale. 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:38.000 They were watching the finale on TV in a hotel 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.120 room in Boston. It wasn't a big room and it 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.000 was really dark, and uh, yeah, it was very intimate. 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.840 I've been in some scary places, Brian. Well, but that 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:53.160 was I remember that night after the finale. They did 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:58.000 the Tonight Show afterward, and so you were with them 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.080 through I wash there were a lot of photos I 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.280 did not take that night. In fact, I was with 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:06.360 I'm sorry, didn't work. I was. I was with the 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:10.640 cast all day. I was in a limo with Kelsey 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.080 Grammer doing business on his way to the State House. 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.320 And uh, Kelsey wasn't having a good phone call. He 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.880 was on that phone in a limo behind with the cable, 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:22.520 you know. And and the door opens and he gets 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:25.080 out and we walked up the steps of the Statehouse 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.000 for him to bang a gavel, and yeah, it was 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.200 I was. I've been in some places, Brian. And there's 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:33.440 some other stories will tell when we're not being recorded. 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.400 I'm sure I remember seeing the cast of Cheers that 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:42.360 night on the Tonight Show and I don't bombed. Weren't 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:46.320 they I don't bombed. That's exactly how it appeared. Yeah, 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:51.680 drunk appeared appeared to me. That is so amazing. And 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:57.200 so also you shot Seinfeld, you shot Saved by the Bell, Fresh, 0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:00.600 Prince of bel Air, Will and Grace. You've spoken to 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:02.760 me a lot about Friends. You were you were at 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.960 NBC the whole time Friends was on, right, I did, uh, 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:10.840 Usually I did the pilot gallery. The gallery is there's 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:12.920 two types of photography. I do as their unit and 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:16.000 gallery unit is something that you're on a set. You 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:17.840 shoot images that look like they're coming out of the 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:21.480 motion picture camera. I take a liberty with that because 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:24.640 there are sometimes you don't want the camera on a set. 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.680 Could be on the floor shooting this wide room shot, 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.960 but I don't want some actress coming at me going 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:33.640 that is a terrible photo of me. So I I 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.800 sort of take the liberty of getting better pictures that way. 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:38.920 But the gallery stuff is kind of the rock and 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.960 roll stuff, and I have been fortunate to do several 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:48.160 years of galleries of the biggest shows on NBC Wow, 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:52.560 And the galleries are kind of pre set up shots 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.960 for those listening. That usually happens right before a season starts. 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:00.560 You'll shoot the cast in various thoses that will be 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:05.160 used for publicity and marketing throughout the year. Right, So 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.160 the covers you see on TV guides or you're sitting 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:08.600 at a light and there's a bus next to you, 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:12.160 that's all the stuff that we do. Yeah, so you 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:15.800 had I'm skipping ahead quite a bit here, but you 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:20.640 had one of the most famous at least from our show, 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:25.640 The Office, that George Sarah painting UM Sunday in the 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:31.080 park on the isle of French words. Um. And you 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:34.560 thought it was just a reservoir. Isn't that a French word? Right? 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.200 But you you set up the office characters as though 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:40.760 they were in that painting. One. You're tell me a 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.240 little bit about about that or your idea behind that. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:48.040 One of our top designers at NBC is named Sean Serrio. 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.520 He's an award winning guy. It was his gig and 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:56.240 he always gets the real cool gigs. So we got 0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:01.360 together and I took the original painting, not the original, 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:03.920 but you know, I took that image and and sort 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:06.200 of traced over and I took out a couple of 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:09.080 people or added a couple of people, and I placed 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:11.560 everyone where I thought, you know, with Craig Robinson and 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:15.120 the hat or Jim and Pam walking in with the 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:17.840 umbrella or Kate, you know, with a drink in her hand. 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.919 So we sort of designed all of that. We pretty 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:25.760 much shot everyone singly except Jim and Pam were there 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:29.840 together and that, I mean, you guys were amazing because 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.240 you look like you're there with a bunch of people. 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.560 That's the beauty of photography. Man, it's nothing but a 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:40.080 big fat lie and production. You can't everyone can't just 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:43.040 stop what they're doing and walk off set. So we did. 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.000 We did everybody one at a time, and I had 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:46.440 plenty of time with you guys. We had a really 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:51.200 good time. Yeah, yeah, we did. What was let's exclude 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.760 the office for a second. What was your favorite other show, 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:57.879 let's say to shoot at NBC. Well, one of the 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:02.080 most intense, most incredible shoots for me was Homicide Life 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.600 on the Street. I think it was the third season. 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.440 I mean it was like if Breaking Bad was going 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:10.200 and they asked me to go do that photo shoot. 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:13.239 It was like that because it was just rich and 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:18.320 sets in Baltimore were unbelievable, and I knew the show 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.080 inside and out. And that's another thing too, is I 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:24.119 really like to know what I'm doing going in. Sometimes 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.400 I don't pilot. You just don't know. But this one 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.000 I knew. I knew the box was a sacred place 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.400 and that the bad, the worst people in Baltimore were 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:34.879 inside the box, and Andre Brower was going to be 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.560 really in their face. So those are some pretty phenomenal photos. 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:41.080 I used to enjoy Third Rock from the Sun because 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:45.080 Lithgau is one of my favorite people in Hollywood, and 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.159 it was a party, oh e R. We had a 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:52.760 good time on the R even though it was very tense. 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:54.919 We I don't know if I should say this, but 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.040 I'm going to Occasionally we'd bring in beer and wine 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:01.320 and something a little harder sometimes so if somebody requested it. 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.000 But we get everybody lit. When we were shooting on 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:06.199 the backlot at Warner Brothers late at night, we'd do 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.000 these photo shoots of them coming out the door into 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:16.359 the ambulance. And yeah, those were crazy, wild parties, dangerous things. 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:20.879 You didn't we didn't have that on our show. We didn't. 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:23.199 I guess because you guys had a hundred people on 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:27.879 your show. Maybe I guess that's true. I guess that's true. 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:32.280 Talk a little bit about your your process. So, first off, 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:37.520 a multi camera show like Cheers or Friends, the cameras 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:40.640 are set up, do you have pretty much free rome 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.280 to to be able to take photos from anywhere sort 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:46.520 of in front? Sometimes if you have an actress that 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:49.080 doesn't want anybody in her eye line or or she'd 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.800 be too I don't even say she. I've had many 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.439 many A guy go hey, I can see you moving, 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:59.320 and you know, well, okay. I'll just let me start 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:02.359 by saying a still photographer is the only job on 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.640 set that can be asked not to do their job. 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:09.400 So you can't have the actor go out, you can't 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:11.800 have the sound guy leave, you can't have one of 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:15.040 the camera guys split. So I'm the one person who 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.120 could be asked not do their job. But um, when 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.320 all that's moving, it is one of the most beautiful 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:23.960 dances you've ever seen. One of my favorite directors in 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:26.240 the world is Jim Burrows. I have done so many 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:30.960 projects with Burrows, Will and Grace. I could run up 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:33.399 to the very front of the lenses and work if 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:37.680 I wanted to. Uh, I wouldn't do that. I'm big, 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:41.040 I'm a big dude, and I do take up a 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:44.320 lot of space. But it's it's a relationship you get 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.240 with the dolly grips. You know, if you've ever seen this, 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:51.120 if anybody's ever seen the big dollies that cameras roll on, 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:53.720 those guys will run you over. And those things can 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:56.960 run you over. There a tank. I've seen other guys 0:20:57.000 --> 0:21:00.919 get clipped and it ain't pretty, but said dance and 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:03.760 as long as you know how to dance, you will 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:07.160 survive in that situation. And there are times where Burrows 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:09.119 is famous for putting his foot on the dolly and 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:12.000 kicking it and they're his guys are so good they 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:15.160 start rolling the wheels and the camera follows the actor. 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:18.879 Whatever it's it's truly amazing. But I've been in the 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:21.199 middle of two dollies when that happens, and you're just 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:26.919 gonna get out of there. Um, do you find that 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:29.840 you still have the same passion that you did that 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:33.960 first drew you in? Absolutely? Oh no, man, It's the 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:36.640 best job in Hollywood. It is the best job in Hollywood. 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:40.040 I love to joke. Uh, you know, you see some 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:42.639 guys shoving a whole giant piece of pizza down his 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:44.280 mouth at two in the morning and just to get 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:48.360 himself home. I'm like, hey, glamorous business, right, um, but 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:52.159 that I everywhere I go. I mean, I see so 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:54.919 many people from the office. I just saw Kelly Cantley 0:21:55.000 --> 0:21:57.640 last week. I see guys from Well and Grace all 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.480 the time. I see, you know, even even working like 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:05.080 America's got talent. I see camera guys that I've known 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:09.240 for twenty five years, and it's and you know brand, 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:13.560 it's it's such a small, tiny business, but it's like 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:17.280 the biggest, tiniest business in the world. So I'm so excited. 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:20.399 I'm not gonna microrect But no, my passion is uh. 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:24.080 I mean, holy cow, I can't believe I get paid 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:27.959 to do this. And I just cat will argue with you, 0:22:28.000 --> 0:22:30.720 but I just don't have the ego that photographers normally have. 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:35.760 And you know, I'm I mean, I'm taking photos. I'm 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:38.720 not a plastic surgeon. I'm a I'm a documentarian in 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:42.199 a way. It's I love to use that on people. Yes, no, 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:45.800 but you are you know you are a documentarian. I 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:49.640 never thought about it like that. Yeah, yeah, but I'm 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:52.960 I'm not just they're documenting. I'm most of the time 0:22:53.200 --> 0:22:57.960 creating the documentation. Of that. So that's what I love 0:22:58.000 --> 0:23:01.280 about being in a studio and doing a gallery and 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:06.120 just making It's amazing brain that Sunday in the Park 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:09.320 with George was such a great famous painting. It's been 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:13.520 copied so many times. And the fact that it carried 0:23:13.520 --> 0:23:16.600 the weight, that image carries the weight that it does. 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.760 I mean, people like, oh my god, you worked on 0:23:20.800 --> 0:23:23.680 The Office. I'm like, yeah, I'm a photographer and and 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:27.320 and then I mentioned that, and they think they're talking to, 0:23:27.680 --> 0:23:32.040 you know, a big star. I'm like, that's all. I 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:34.720 move on to the next thing. Man, I'm not worried 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:58.000