With just two days left in the office before the Christmas break, I was counting down to some much-needed downtime. Then, in a twist straight out of a Hollywood film, I got a call from a panicked client. Another production company had completely dropped the ball on their latest project, and they needed us to swoop in and save the day. Suddenly, we were juggling three shoots across the globe—Mexico, Malawi, and Australia—right in the middle of the holiday season.
Time was short, and because of Christmas, we couldn’t rely on local crews. Before I knew it, I was on a plane to Hobart, Tasmania, along with a camera operator and a director. The whole flight felt like a blur of nerves, excitement, and a big dose of “How on earth did we end up here?”
Our mission was to document the journey of a young activist turned politician—someone the client had supported for years. We followed his story from boyhood explorations of the Southwest National Park (where his passion for environmental causes took root) all the way to his current role in Tasmanian politics.
The shoot itself was brilliant, but there’s one day that really stands out. We’d gone trekking through the charred remains of a recent wildfire in the National Park. We set out to capture Toby's resilience as an activist, but standing on a plateau, looking over the rainforest that was slowly regenerating, I couldn’t help but be awed by nature’s own ability to bounce back.
Before I knew it, I was ringing in the New Year in Australia—a far cry from my original Christmas plans, but in the best possible way! Even our rental car breaking down on New Year’s Day couldn’t dampen the mood (luckily we already had all the shots we needed).
Looking back on my time in Tasmania, I’m reminded of just how unpredictable video production can be. Don’t get me wrong, as a producer, I love to plan down to the tiniest detail—but this trip was proof that sometimes, you just have to roll with whatever surprises get thrown your way.