WJXT

Having redeemed myself with "LET US BE THE ONE", I could have been shown the door the first time I was called into Sherry McKenna's office.

Maybe Taylor didn't mention my trial by fire, or maybe he did and I was deemed worthy of a similar assignment. When asked if I thought I could direct my first spot; a re-do for which all the elements and sheets already existed, I simply said that I could "fake it as well as all these other guys (sorry Deena)."

How hard could it be?

Well, you could start with trying to adapt the elegant reveals sweeping around an Aki Lines "9" from the first spot, to a totally angular "4" (recreated* here from memory, as AKI Lines has "ceased to exist"). I soon discovered that though Con had directed the original spot and did, in fact, have the original sheets, the lightboxes had all changed and I had to wedge everything from scratch.

While digging through Con's office, and wondering just how over my head I might be, I found a shot-sheet for the "MINDSCAPE" scene from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.

BACK2WORK.

When all my artwork got back from Stat House I found myself thinking "What If?", as I rotated WJXT's logo 45 degrees and found myself looking at a combination of alien craft and Tubular Bells.

DONE!

Not so fast... I had yet to confront the true obstacle to bringing my first spot in 'under budget and ahead of schedule".

LEVI'S.

I had assumed that when I was ready to go to camera, that there'd be a camera available.

I even began documenting on a legal pad all the times WJXT was bumped. Three full pages in, I realized I was "at the end of my tether", and that maybe "what if?" might not have been enough.

Enter the winner of the "HAWAIIAN SHIRT CONTEST"; the genius who had simply removed his shirt - Don Miskowich.

Miskowich solved many of my production problems at a stroke, and I am truly grateful for him helping me to understand how ABELS really worked, even going as far as stepping out of the shadows in editing and proclaiming me a "great designer" when Bob insisting on a change Don knew would sink WJXT, and perhaps my career with it.

LEVI'S and WJXT made it onto the sample reel, I learned just how important TD's and Cameramen truly were, and how someone always steps up when it appears you stand alone.

Coming Soon: Art Punk*

*31 years later, I meet at the Solamar DOA Reunion. It is at his request, and in support of his efforts to document and share the stories that still conjure the ABEL magic, that I offer WJXT - in the hopes that others whose stories may be better than mine - will do the same.

Special thanks to Tom Beattie (who would have fit right in at ABELS) for hosting herofx.com

He was there at the beginning (CO) and I think he'll be there at the end.