Monster.com has teamed up with Mario Batali as he searches for his new media production coordinator. That's right -- Monster and Mario Batali are hiring for the job of a lifetime, so competition is going to be fierce.
Batali is a critically acclaimed chef and restaurateur, an award-winning author, and a well-known television personality -- the person he hires to be his media production coordinator (whose duties include preparing for shoots, assisting with video production, and basically making sure Mario Batali is able to focus on his job as a superstar chef) will have to be able to think on his or her feet. So if you've applied for the job (or are about to), take a moment to tell us:
How would you handle each of these situations?
1. You’re on location in front of an urban produce stand to film a two-minute setup with Batali, but a large road-repair crew is making too much noise for you to film. You have only 30 minutes to get the segment. What would you do?
2. While reviewing a recipe segment in post-production, you realize that there are extraneous items on the cooking table that shouldn't be there during taping. It’s midnight, the three-minute segment is due by 7:30 a.m., and Batali is on an overnight flight to Rome. What would you do?
3. You’ve accidentally scheduled Batali to be in two places at once -- tapings for two high-profile TV shows: Rachel Ray's and Martha Stewart's. He’s supposed to be at one studio by 9:00 a.m. and the other by 10:00 a.m. It's now 7:30 a.m. How would you handle it?
4. Batali is minutes away from going on "Good Morning America" for a live segment in which he’ll prepare his famous pesto. A producer tells you that the llama from a previous segment ate all the basil leaves Mario was going to use. How would you handle it?
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1. You’re on location in front of an urban produce stand to film a two-minute setup with Batali, but a large road-repair crew is making too much noise for you to film. You have only 30 minutes to get the segment. What would you do?
It sounds sexist, but I'm a cute, personable girl. I would walk over the group of road repair men/women and offer to buy them all a cold beverage to take a break for 30 minutes (or less if I can get it done quicker). If that doesn't work, I would probably work into the segment some off hand joke about it being an urban produce stand and clearly it's the real deal NYC since you can't film for 30 minutes without seeing a road repair crew.
2. While reviewing a recipe segment in post-production, you realize that there are extraneous items on the cooking table that shouldn't be there during taping. It’s midnight, the three-minute segment is due by 7:30 a.m., and Batali is on an overnight flight to Rome. What would you do?
I'd like to say I would never let something like that get shot with extra ingredients on the cooking table. IF it did, somehow, my choice would be to 1-Try to cut parts of the clip out that show the extraneous items. or 2- leave the items on the table and submit the clip as completely as possible. If viewers are listening to what he is putting in the dishes, and expecting Mr. Batali to be in a kitchen when prepping the dish, they will notice that there are ingredients that are being used that are not necessary to prep that particular dish. I'd also never make that mistake. :-)
3. You’ve accidentally scheduled Batali to be in two places at once -- tapings for two high-profile TV shows: Rachel Ray's and Martha Stewart's. He’s supposed to be at one studio by 9:00 a.m. and the other by 10:00 a.m. It's now 7:30 a.m. How would you handle it?
For the 9 am shoot, I would call the production managers and try to arrive a bit early to begin filming early if possible. I would obviously apologize profusely for the error, and tell the 10 am shooting that due to scheduling conflicts that we might be a bit late. Certainly this doesn't excuse the error, but certainly even those shows have scheduling conflicts. Further, I would have transportation waiting outside the 9 am location to whisk Mr. Batali away as soon as the first taping is done.
4. Batali is minutes away from going on "Good Morning America" for a live segment in which he’ll prepare his famous pesto. A producer tells you that the llama from a previous segment ate all the basil leaves Mario was going to use. How would you handle it?
You should always have extra on hand. But in case you don't, my first request would be is it possible to go to a nearby corner produce stand to grab some more. Since clearly this will be near impossible on such short notice, I would look around for any green vegetable and quickly blend it in the food processor...preferably, parsley, or cilantro since they most closely resemble basil when blended. This way the "basil" can already be "ready to be mixed" with the other pesto ingredients without giving away that the basil is MIA. I will quickly prep Mr. Batali that he will have to mention he already began the pesto during the break by blending the leaves in the food processor. Finally, I will yell at the llama.
Posted by: Brittany | May 26, 2011 4:54:56 PM1.) 1 of 2 things, either invite the road crew over and segway them into the shoot, or ask them to go on lunch for and hour and in return invite them for dinner at a later date that Mario would cook.
2.) Get to an editing bay and adjust accordingly........
3.) Rachel Ray's show would be priority #1, make that the first shoot, helicopter on standby for Martha at 10.....more importantly, i'd be sure this wouldn't happen in the first place....
4.) Send someone for Basil, back up plan, make an alternative Pesto,.....peas, green beans, cilantro, improvise....what's available ?
Posted by: Dennis Bottkol | May 26, 2011 5:10:47 PM1. I would offer to buy the crew a round of coffee and donuts in exchange for 30 minutes of peace and quiet!
2. I would mask the objects out frame by frame! And then wish I saved some of that coffee from earlier.
3. First of all, I wouldnt schedule tapings at once! But if someone else did, I would call Mr. Batali and let him know about the mix-up. Then I'd call Martha and let her crew know that we are running a little early (Martha loves early birds!); then, I'd call Rachel and let her know that her Iron Chef co-star was running a little behind and he hopes she will forgive him.
4. I would laugh because llamas are funny and then book it to the UWS Citarella to grab a couple of bunches.
1} I'd do one or all of three things, first i'd send a PA out to a store by them a case of beer, while the PA is gone i'd invite the creww to be in the segment as bacground, let Mario have some fun with them, then i'd offer them the food you cooked!
Now we've shot the segment and the crew has story to tell!
2}accidents do happen, so get used to it. Mario on plane means nothing to the solution. I look at the shots it appears in and either "zoom past it as we are shooting 1080i which gives great latidude in frame manipulation or i would "paint" the ingredient out or if it is in the background of the ingredients on the table i'd leave it alone. The quickest way to bring atention to a mistake is to solve it poorly. the veiwers at home probably won't even notice it.
3}First i'd tell them the truth. Then I would have the show that uplinks it show last reserve a black hole for to insert the segment after it is shot. I would procede to do the show with the tightest deadline. Much worse has happened to all these shows. easily fixed
4} B-Bque the llama... just kidding. i'm sure, on the fly, with ingredients on hand Mario could vamp. If he couldn't he just isn't that good. Who ever panic's loses.
1. I would have checked the work permits before hand to see what kind of work was scheduled. Usually with construction permits they are only allowed a certain window of time to complete their work. You could schedule the shoot around that. Or, I would contact the construction superintendent / company to see if they would accommodate our schedule in exchange for onetime air (publicity) and possibly food.
2. Start editing shots from different cameras that don't show the items you want to hide.
3. I would use a calendar or some kind of other scheduling tool to make sure he wasn't double booked. Confirming appearances with different networks is a way of getting them to help you stay organized. Or, I might work something out with the production managers to see if he could shoot at the beginning of Rachael's show, then shoot at the end of Martha's.
4. Always have back up. There should be another batch of basil stored for Mario to use. If not, see if there is an on-site kitchen or other nearby resources that may have a basil. If not, hey, it's live tv. Make a bit out of it...Mario style.
Posted by: Allen | May 26, 2011 5:37:12 PM1. Tell them to shut up.
2. Tell Batali to change the recipe to what was shot.
3. Dress up myself as Batali and go on Martha Stewart myself.
4. Kill the llama and have Batali make llama steaks.
1.) buy them lunch, ask them to chill for a few, if not move that damn stand.
2.)block them off with one of those little censored blocks and add in something witty, or an ad. either way. Maybe even add a link to a webpage for the recipe
3.)call the producers, try to manage the times, call batali and apologize ask him if he were to chose one which would it be, close eyes and prepare to be reamed out :)
4.) book it to the nearest wherever that there is basil, if that isn't possible then we may have to change the segment to Mario's famous Llama al Forno :)
1) Offer them meatballs in exchange for silence.
2) Take some espresso shots and start editing.
3) Apologize, arrange to film first segment earlier than scheduled, and then have driver on hand to hurry cross town.
4) Make the llama story public for some funny publicity and then improvise with whatever is on hand, or run to nearest Gristedes for extra basil. Better yet, have an intern stop at Eataly on the way to the studio.
1: silent film + voiceovers in the van
2: add an on screen "info box" to cover the items
3: head to RR and call MS and tell her Chelsea Market is a great place to shoot a remote segment
4: use the sun dried tomatoes we had as decor and make sun dried tomato pesto instead. yum!
1: silent film + voiceovers in the van
2: add an on screen "info box" to cover the items
3: head to RR and call MS and tell her Chelsea Market is a great place to shoot a remote segment
4: use the sun dried tomatoes we had as decor and make sun dried tomato pesto instead. yum!
1)Shoot the spot as is and have Mario record his voice in a recorder after shooting is done so I can dub it over the clip in the editing room.
2)Cut out as much of the extraneous materials as possible and hope for the best. This can only best be answered by actually looking at the footage and seeing what has been filmed.
3) Call production managers of both shows to change Mario's call times. The studios are only 10 min away from each other. We'd be just fine to get to the studios at appropriate times.
4) Substitute spinach leaves for the basil and make sure it is chiffonade or chopped before the segment starts so no one will know the difference (except Mario, the producer & me)
Posted by: Nikki | May 26, 2011 6:08:23 PM1. Road work happens and we all know it. What would be more authentic than roadwork next to a roadside stand while one is tryin to calmly select items to cook with. Make a joke of it. And not all roadwork is everlasting. The workers have to take breaks; be ready to shoot and be ready for a few takes.
2. Extra items in a kitchen? (mockingly gasps!) it's not the end of the world. The dish was prepared with Mr. Batali explaining it. Extra ingredients only serve to make the set more like home!
3. Double bookings happen due to negligence. However, a simple phone call to each producer explaining my error and asking to flex their schedule to make both appearances happen is a daily occurrence. If the show producers cannot make it happen then some creative driving will have to happen get to each set.
4. If you have video of the llama eating the basil, start the package with that. That's just funny! Then have Mr Batali explain the necessity of having enough ingredients on hand to account for and fix problems such as wild animals eating your produce. (of course there would already be extra on hand) "plan for the worst to get the best results"
Posted by: Pete | May 26, 2011 6:58:26 PM
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