National Geographic Explorer, Croc Fest (Associate Producer, John Farmer de la Torre) In 2000, I traveled on assignment for National Geographic to Guanacaste province, Costa Rica, as an associate producer. I organized the logistical elements of this show and two others and shot B-camera, You can see me filming in the river at 10:23 in this video as villagers run crocodiles downstream for capture and transport to a local holding tank for the week and where locals, especially children, are taught how to respect and coexist with the animal in its territory. On this same expedition, we traveled deep into the jungle on horseback, while being chased by howling monkeys and threatened by submerged crocodiles that spooked the horses, to locate an enormous crocodile we intended to hoist out of a lagoon using the sophisticated teabag technique that required us baiting a noose with a live chicken hung over a tree limb. When the croc stuck its nose and front legs in the noose, we would jump out of a tree and lift the croc out of the water while covering its eyes to avoid the animal breaking our ribs with its tail. It was fun and miserable--the chickens died of heat on the way to the lagoon--and for these reasons, and for the people I meet and their stories I am allowed to tell, that I love making documentaries. I am still seeking out this lagoon episode. Perhaps one day it will surface like this one. Croc Fest was filmed in May 2000. I located and produced the segment appearing here of the man who avenged himself of a crocodiles bite while swimming drunk. I filmed throughout. I also filmed while in the net as we extracted and captured a crocodile that has turned into a cave to defend itself against biologists who sought to remove it and transplant to a new breeding ground after the Croc Fest. I should point out that at this time in my career, I was working using part of my full name, the Spanish part. I learned in Hollywood that using Juan de la Torre hurt my career--National Geographic to its credit had no problem hiring a Hispanic American. I wont say more than this on the subject here, but I can verify what studies have shown, that some ethnic names promote and hinder employment opportunity. Once I used my entire name that includes an English given and surname, my career immediately transformed. _______ FOLLOW LIPSapp Hits56 Radio _______ FB: r-js/1rlggeQ / TW: r-js/1us3SdS / Listen to LIPSapp Hits56 Radio r-js/1dOIQ18 #thewho #beatles #elvis #jimihendrix #dylan
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 06:27:29 +0000
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