I got this assignment from my head office in a Southeast Asian state that we shall never name here (well, for now). They were like, oh, we want to promote our country's accountant association by making the profession look cool and sexy. So here's the name to contact, place to meet and questions to ask -- go film and give us enough material for a 7-minute profile (which, for those of you not in the TV news industry, is like eternity).I was like, uh, if you say so. Seeing that this guy is with the same global banking giant for which a good friend of mine works, I called the friend to test the idea.
"You want to make an accountant in my company look sexy?" My friend the banker was in mild shock.
"Yes. What do you think?" I asked cautiously.
"Oh, the mere thought of an accountant on TV makes me titillate," he said earnestly.
Bingo!
Fast forward to yesterday morning -- my cameraman and I arrived at the gleaming tower that houses this guy's office. A very pleasant young man -- enjoying crunching numbers and articulate about his attraction to the job.
We spent two hours filming him engaging in such exciting activities as checking the markets in front of computer terminals, walking through countless corridors on several floors in those huge offices and chatting with colleagues about the latest investment trends.
After the lunch break, the shoot resumed at Hong Kong's famous harbor front. As the seasoned cameraman diligently zoomed, tilted and panned, our nice accountant cat-walked with many of the city's landmark skyscrapers in the backdrop. Somehow he never seemed to have considered loosening his tie, let alone taking off the jacket and, god forbid, the shirt.
But hey, tonight we're going to film him eating with friends at a food stall. I'm sure the story will be spiced up over there!
P.S. This is the first post of an occasional series that I'm likely to call "Stupid TV News Assignment of the Day" (yeah, I've come to realize that I'm too late in the game of "Chinese Idiom of the Day.")
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