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TV Coverage
I will soon be posting some photos on my Stroke of Genius website relating to my firefighter portrait. When Cynthia saw them she asked me to mention them in this thread, so here I am.
When I said in an earlier post that I was in New York to present the painting to the firefighter's widow I didn't explain how that came about. It's a bit of a long story.
When I completed the firefighter portrait I was making plans to box it up and ship it from Seattle, where I live, to New York. Meanwhile, a friend of mine mentioned that the local television stations might be interested in doing a story about the painting. I sent them a press release and some photos.
I had spoken to the firefighter's widow, Suzanne, extensively on the phone by this time. She told me she felt it was kind of her mission to get the word out about her husband, to make sure his story was told and not forgotten.
I didn't want to take advantage of her loss with media exploitation. I wouldn't have spoken to the press if she had been at all worried about guarding her privacy on this subject. Suzanne has spoken to the media often since 9/11 and was very comfortable with it.
She even told me that she hoped this story would lead to a positive developments in my career and that she was more than happy to help in any way she could.
Once my information was received by the local television station, things began to happen in a whirlwind. The next day the local tv producer from the KIRO-7 Seattle CBS affiliate called and asked if she could send a camera crew out to my house to interview me about the painting. Very exciting but not too nerve-wracking because it was taped and I knew they could edit it if I messed up!
The day after that a producer from the national CBS network in New York asked me if they could fly me to New York City and have me present the painting to the firefighter's widow live on "The Early Show", on national television!
Live... no edits. So if I tripped on the step getting on the set it would be seen by about ten million people!
Suzanne brought her two daughters (great kids!) and her mother to the CBS building and we did the segment together. It was over so fast.
The producers of the Early Show arranged it so that I would meet Suzanne for the first time on the air and that she would see the painting for the first time during the segment also. (I had mailed Suzanne a photo of the painting beforehand so I knew she liked it.)
The whole experience was a very exciting time for me and I was so glad I got to meet the firefighter's widow in person. Much more personal than simply sending the painting to her via UPS! We ended up spending the rest of the day together, going to Ground Zero with some of the firefighters her husband had worked with.
The Early Show airs nationwide and across Canada. When I got back to Seattle I had calls and emails from friends and family from everywhere who had seen the six-minute national segment. The Seattle station aired the local bit that they did at the house plus the national segment over and over again for two or three days.
After the show I got a call from a woman who lost her daughter, a civilian, on 9/11. I hooked her up with another artist through this forum who is creating a portrait as a donation to her.
The photo I have attached is one from the local station. Cynthia will be posting a total of six stills from the coverage on my site soon. The local and national coverage together runs about ten minutes so I thought it was too long to put on my site in video form.
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Linear Mode
