Working as a producer in non-fiction television, I’m often in a position where I can ask people questions about the most intimate aspects of their lives and get an honest response. It is one of the biggest privileges I can think of.
I’ve interviewed people in jail, in their homes, in hotel rooms, at their offices, on sets and in cars.
One of my favorite interviews was with the veterans of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy, France. I could imagine the boats coming up as a wave of bullets flew out into the bay. One of my interviewees had his face sliced open this way and he’d been given a vial of morphine by the Army to help him soothe the pain in the field. Problem was, he had to get to a place where he could take the morphine without bullets whizzing past his head. The struggle he went through to survive was so well illustrated, I can return to it in my mind anytime and still marvel at it.
One of my saddest interviews was in Missouri, at the home of a young girl who went missing and was never found. Her brother was beside himself with grief. I had just lost my husband, Jeff Felshman, to an aortic aneurysm and related to every word the young boy said. I was speechless. I’m thankful my cameraman redirected us both.
My funniest interview was with a judge who wanted to joke at length about farting (this was after he told me about the case of a man who had body parts strewn throughout his house) and my most thoughtful was interviewing Jon Bon Jovi in his home studio (he had just gotten off an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that he hated and told me he would interview with me as long as I didn’t look at my notes. An hour and a half later, when I finally looked at my notes, we talked on a human level and I realized what a sensitive, sensible person he was).
I continue to produce television and hope to post more stories as I move through each production. In addition, I have an extraordinary personal life that takes me to distance places (I’m writing this from Chonburi, Thailand), introduces me to intriguing people and often blows my mind with topics I had no idea even existed. I’m hoping to share those as well.
Thank you for reading and I welcome any questions you have about my posts. Know they are strictly my opinions and anecdotal experiences.
