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Discover Your Talent–Do What You Love

174: Producer of Documentary “We Are Sarah Jones” is Passionate About Safety For All

Discover Your Talent–Do What You Love

Don Hutcheson

Entrepreneur, Turningpoints, Self-improvement, Careers, Business, Career, Education, Inspirational, Inspiring, Entrepreneurs

5618 Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2015

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Eric S. Smith is the director and producer of “We Are Sarah Jones,” a documentary about the tragic death of a 27-year-old camera assistant. He has worked on narrative, documentary and reality shows for studios, networks and production companies. He was director and director of photography for Boston's Finest (TNT). A member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, The Producers Guild of America and the Society of Camera Operators. “You have to be adept at finding the right people to help you accomplish your goals. You may be the best director, but even they are nothing without the people around them.”

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, world. Welcome to discover your talent, do what you love, number 174. I'm creator and host,

0:17.8

Don Hutchison. Every day, I interview someone from around the world who has

0:21.7

discovered his talents to do work he loves, to create a life of success, satisfaction, and

0:27.4

freedom. Today, I'm delighted to bring you our featured guest, Eric Smith. Welcome, Eric.

0:32.7

Thank you for having me. It's our pleasure, sir. Eric, are you using your talents doing

0:36.6

work that you love?

0:43.6

I feel I absolutely am. All righty. We want to hear the whole story. Eric S. Smith is the director and producer of We Are Sarah Jones. Over the course of his career, Smith has worked on narrative,

0:50.1

documentary, and reality from high-budget projects to low for dozens of studios, networks,

0:56.5

and production companies.

0:58.1

Director and Director of Photography for TNT's Boston's finest.

1:02.2

Smith is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America,

1:07.0

and the Society of Camera Operators.

1:09.9

So, Eric, that's a pithy summary of your career.

1:12.3

Tell our listeners what you're working on now that has you engaged and fired up, if you will,

1:16.2

please. For the last year or so, I have been working and focused solely on a documentary

1:24.5

called We Are Sarah Jones. Sarah Jones was a 27-year-old camera assistant in the film and television industry, and she

1:34.7

lost her life on the first day of production of a low-budget movie called Midnight Rider

1:41.8

that was starring William Hurt.

1:47.4

She was on a location in southeast Georgia,

1:54.6

just south of Savannah, on a train trussle, and they were shooting a scene, which involved William Hurt and another actor. And the production crew, the producers and director and First AD knew that they did not have permission to be on the train trestle, but they did not inform the rest of the crew that.

2:08.5

And they thought that they were just going to go out and what we call steal a shot.

2:12.8

And unfortunately, they had either misinformation or they thought that they could just grab it and go.

...

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