Los Angeles, California

The LA Philharmonic, a full house.

The story is a portrait of Gustavo Dudamel an orchestre conductor. He is from Venezuela and is now a very famous conductor at the LA Philharmonica. He first conducted an orchestre at the age of 16 and is now only 29. He is the product of and now a benefactor of a program to help poorer city children to get interested in school through music and the arts. He is known for his energy and enthusiasm both in life and conducting. I always enjoy talking with people who are pasionate about what they do and Gustavo certainly is that.

West Hollywood

Filming musical artists is not easy. We are limited in what we can film and how much of the music we can use in the report. And all that is strictly controlled. But here in LA it borders on the insane. Apparently unions control everything and don’t allow us to film in the lobby and even exteriors of the building are difficult. On the streets of LA and some other big cities, you can't film using a tripod. This comes from maybe a misinterpretation of a law that calls for film crews to get authorisation to film because they have many people, trucks and equipment and block traffic. Somehow we fall into that catagory even though we are just one or two people. Even setting up a small tripod on an empty sidewalk becomes illegal and a big hassle when you try to get a few steady pictures of the city.

View outside my hotel room.. a wet, empty downtown.

The weather hasn’t cooperated with us. Not typical LA weather, it is cool and rainy with low clouds hiding the tops of the skyscrapers. Ah, worked with another cameraman, Andrew Mungai who is Kenyan and who has been here in LA for a little over a year. We even have a couple of common acquaintances. Our sound engineer is Olivier Virmont, a French guy living in San Diego, born and raised in Senegal. Another very international crew.