Having experience, rather than just being in the right place at the right time, is what makes people successful in journalism, said Boyd Matson, host of the PBS show "Wild Chronicles," during a speech Tuesday evening in AU's Wechsler's Theater.
Matson's early hosting and filmmaking career required riding 100 miles on a horse and spending seven days in the Sahara Desert. He also didn't sleep through male lion intrusion on his camp and collected fecal samples from chimps with a study group in Africa. Finally, Matson climbed through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall on Mount Everest, he said. "I have had some of the greatest jobs in the world at National Geographic," Matson said.
While working in Colombia, Matson was stopped and questioned at the airport because his passport showed he had recently traveled to Egypt. When the guard asked why he had been there, Matson said, "I was looking for whales with feet and legs."
People do die on these expeditions, Matson said. He talked about friends who died over the years from poisonous snakebites and from falling from Mount Everest.
Maggie Stogner, an assistant professor in the School of Communication and founder of Blue Bear Films, said her time working with Matson at National Geographic was adventurous.
She described him as passionate, intrepid and fearless.
There was an office bet to try and find an assignment Matson would turn down, Stogner said.
"He was up for anything," she said.
Part of being successful in this business is more than being at the right place at the right time, Matson said. He looks for people who come in with films they already made and edited. That shows a thought process, he said.
Chris Palmer, director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking, said he was thrilled to see that most of those in attendance were AU students.
|
Environmental Film Fest The Tuesday event was the first in the Center for Environmental Filmmaking's third annual fall film series. All shows begin at 7 p.m. in the Wechsler Theater on the third floor of the Mary Graydon Center. The other events in the series are:
SOURCE: School of Communication Web site |
Falkow said working for National Geographic would be a dream job. Though she is not a risk-taker, going out and experiencing nature, the environment and animals would be so much better that reading about it in a book, she said.
For AU students interested in film and media production careers, journalism equals passion, Matson said. When working on something one really loves, the work is done better, he said.
Matson's speech was a part of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking and Filmmakers for Conservation's third annual fall film series. The film series, which will continue to be held on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. through at least the end of October, will feature films and speakers related to the environment and conservation.
Speakers already scheduled to appear include David Hamlin, an Emmy Award-wining filmmaker from National Geographic, and Kathy Milani, an animal rights activist from the Humane Society of the United States, according to information on AU's Web site.
