Intercoiffure brings the latest trends and styles from the hottest salons to NY's Waldorf-Astoria
I just came off a wild weekend of production with Fractured Code and Intercoiffure’s Fall Atellier at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The week prior to the event was spent creating a number of videos to play during the onstage demonstrations and award ceremonies, including an introduction piece for the new Artistic Team Director Mary Brunetti, a retirement video for outgoing Color Council Director Gina Kahn and a welcome video from Intercoiffure’s President, Lois Christie.
We moved into the Waldorf on Saturday with rehearsals throughout the afternoon and evening. Load-in to the ballroom began at midnight and continued until tech rehearsals at 8:00 AM Sunday morning. The shows began at 1:30 and went to 9:30 followed by Intercoiffure’s Great Gatsby themed party, which was particularly appropriate given the1930s atmosphere of the Waldorf ballroom.
Monday morning began with more tech rehearsals at 8:00AM and running until the shows
resumed at 1:30. While I was brought in for to edit any last minute videos, true to my nature as the go-to-guy on any set, It wasn’t long before I was asked to shoot several interviews and prep equipment. On Sunday afternoon I was approached by the great folks at Evolve, who
discovered their Power Point presentation had corrupted. With just an hour to go, we sat down and rebuilt their entire program and inserted several new media clips.
Since I was now the only person who knew their show, I also got to call it live. With only an hour to prep and no rehearsal, I can’t say it went perfectly, but the main part of their show went about as flawlessly as could be expected. Not only did I feel good about
accomplishing a minor miracle, but they were a great group of people to work with. Evolve has created a new hair system for women with thinning hair due to chemotherapy or genetic issues. It does not use weaves, extensions or any wig tape and the results are fantastic. While events like these tend to focus on the wild and envelope-pushing trends of the fashion industry, Evolve introduced a product for real people in the real world and their commitment to helping women, both young and old, regain their self-confidence made it a real pleasure to work them (and they were really cool!).
My other big highlight from the weekend was when we lost a cameraman before Sunday night’s events and I had to assume the responsibility for the mobile-onstage camera. I haven’t had to carry a camera that heavy in quite some time and it made me appreciate what cameramen do everyday. I was also without a headset, so I was forced to keep one eye on the viewfinder and one eye on the stage monitors so I could keep up with the calls from the booth. I received many kudos from the other camera ops and Carl Bloat, president of Fractured Code for my efforts. An exciting, challenging and rewarding weekend altogether.