The crew said I should let you all know how I feel about the pilot shoot and this project. The words of one of my favorite people, Morris (Buddy) Hopkins, come to mind: “relax and let the world dance around you.”
Luckily, I thought of just those words when the opportunity to give up was provided by Hannah and Ike. I think you get the point, but as profound as my friend’s words were for me in that moment, it still does not express, nor do I think my words will be able to explain, how perfect and satisfying the last four weeks have been. I have never truly understood “meant to be” until I started this project with my friends. I now see clearly why that statement is a common euphemism, but it should be heard less often.
Conflict and resolution, that is what I kept hearing from our network contacts, the LiquidAssets.tv crew and anyone who I found giving me advice about what to look for while filming these pilots. I promptly scheduled all four weeks during the Caribbean hurricane season. I have to admit, I did this in hopes of a few bad weather days to add to the excitement of our show. I just knew it would offer up opportunity for some additional conflict and resolution. I also happen to think the diving is best during this season due to strange marine life behavior and warm water from the summer months … but who cares about that, right? Television shows need some action!
Shazam, my wish was her command, but not as I had envisioned it. Standing bewildered, watching the Weather Channel for weeks and days before our shoot, I began to realize that after almost a year of planning, the wish of some inclement weather might not have been a great idea. The weather I hoped for not only looked to provide us with a few bad weather days that would spice up the content, but the possibility of canceling all four weeks of this pilot shoot. Even worse, these back-to-back nightmare storms threatened some wonderful peoples’ homes and one of my favorite dive destinations in the Caribbean.
I am not foolish enough to think my hopes of a few bad weather days were the reason for this disaster, but I am the executive producer. All joking aside, who has ever seen a hurricane make a circle around an island only to be followed by its nastier big brother just days later? This is what happened, and the word coming from the islands was grim, but we soldiered on. The outcome only reinforces my belief that persistence prevails. The payoff for us was shark-crazy night dives, strange marine life behavior, manta rays, batfish, eagle rays, pilot whales, a many-toothed conger eel, and to top it all off, we had dolphins swim into the shot for the LiquidAssets.tv crew photo. If you think that is not a sign of things to come for LiquidAssets.tv production trips, then you aren’t invited to come along on the next adventure! The Ike relief crew project I created and implemented with the crew and our guest divers raised almost $1,500 for the local youth center, and was worth it in itself. This youth center, headed by Meghan, acted as Provo’s shelter for all the displaced kids from neighboring Grand Turk. Thanks to everyone who donated to our cause and our sponsors.
I would like to think that the unbelievable footage can be solely contributed to the bad ass LiquidAssets.tv production crew, but I now see that Lady Luck is on our side as well. It is apparent that this project has a set path to success, even if that path ended today. The talent is amazing, and I can feel the positivity when working with these people as we segue from the mundane toward the next generation of divers and dive TV.
I relaxed, and what a dance the world put on for us in the Turks & Caicos Islands. Mother Ocean, Mother Nature, the film crew, the boat crew and the guests of the Turks & Caicos all joined in. They ultimately provided us with some conflict and resolution, but the resolve that was shown to us all by the people of the Turks & Caicos Islands in the eye of these storms will live in my mind’s eye forever.
-Randy C. Harris, Executive Producer
