You can't always get the big shot, and that's okay

Candice Neu (Host of The Neu Agenda) interviewing Megan Kamauoha (Photographer and Founder of Street Meet New Mexico)

As the showrunner for Candice’s talk show The Neu Agenda, I sometimes have difficulty getting a hold of the guests she wants or even the next best thing with someone who has similar qualifications as the originally intended guest. You see, her show is all about talking to professionals in their industry or craft to learn more about how to do what they do and what inspired them to pursue that agenda. In the past she’s even had me try to get guests like The Rock, or Jerry Seinfeld, both of which never even responded to our media requests. But that doesn't stop me from trying, with the understanding that the show must go on regardless. If the person we originally wanted to interview isn't available, I go down the line till I find a suitable substitute, or pivot to a different focus for the episode and cover an entirely different topic. Regardless, securing a good guest that can actually make it on the talk show can be tricky.

Last week we were filming a really fun modeling episode where she got to interview some of the most talented photographers in Albuquerque and then they did some photoshoots in beautiful outfits from the rapidly emerging designer MadVan. We wanted to also feature a professional makeup artist either from the local 480 film union, or someone with a lot of editorial makeup experience to include in the episode. Candice’s first choice said they would be out of town the day of the shoot so I contacted my agent for a list of other recommended film and modeling MUA’s and one by one they all declined or canceled on us before the shoot.

Candice getting into makeup with Katharsis Media Intern Allegra Lopez

Thankfully we have a HMU intern that completed her hours with us last year and is now advancing her skills at a beauty school here in town. She was able to show up and do a fabulous job with the makeup look we wanted. We were going for a viking warrior kind of vibe with dark face paint over her eyes and it turned out great. But because we no longer had a professional MUA to feature, we cut that interview segment from the episode. I believe that ended up working out for the best since we are already including interviews with 4 different people plus two photoshoots and adding another element to an hour long episode would just start making things cluttered and crowded.

Candice posing for the editorial shoot with Megan in Downtown ABQ while the KM crew records

In addition, cutting the MUA interview gave our crew more time to smoothly move from the studio where we interviewed the photographer, down to the location we were filming the photoshoot at; all while Candice was still getting into makeup with the intern. If we had filmed the makeup interview, we would have still been breaking down equipment and packing up when she’s ready to start taking photos. And let me tell you, if you bring a professional photographer in to do a photoshoot with your host, they are going to start taking pictures right away. If we weren't already set up and ready to go when Candice arrived in makeup, we would have missed half the photoshoot while frantically trying to get the cameras and sound up and running.

Now that we are done filming what we needed for that episode, I am transitioning to the preparations for the next one. It's primarily focused on organizations that are supporting the homeless community in Albuquerque and we were hoping to interview Mayor Tim Keller at the Albuquerque Gateway Center; one of the city's largest facilities designed to provide resources and support for recovery in the homeless populations. I had reached out to Mayor Keller's media team a few weeks ago with no response, but at that point I was still juggling multiple other responsibilities in the office and left it at the back burner until further notice. Now that it is a higher priority, I have to start following up and making phone calls until I can get a response. I’ll be trying every option in my journalistic tool belt to secure that special guest, but it’s not until I've exhausted all my resources before moving down the line to the next best option. Even then, these things have a way of working themselves out. As long as I keep my producer hat on, looking ahead to prevent all the possible detours and roadblocks, I know it's all going to be okay. Season 7 of The Neu Agenda is expected to air later this summer where you can see the final product of our hard work on the New Mexico Education Channel, Comcast 96.

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-Daniel Ward