I've made a boo boo

I always say that it is not what you mess up but how you deal with it and fix it.

Classic example is a horror story that my Production Manager told us about today. A few years ago he was in Post Production (editing and actually putting the programme together) of a certain show and had been for about 3 weeks. One day the Producer called him up and requested certain footage from the rushes (raw material shot onto the tapes during filming) that were missing in the edit.

My Manager asked the Researcher who had been working on the show where the footage was.

She said it had gone down to the edit 3 weeks previously.

He proceeded to spend the rest of the day on the phone arguing between the Producer and the Post Production Editing Company who had obviously gone and lost the rushes.

*This is everyone's worst nightmare. I feel physically ill imagining having lost rushes. This is not footage you can go back and re shoot if you're working on a documentary. It is lost. Scary.*

Suddenly this happened

Researcher goes completely white

Researcher: Oh. My. God.

Manager: What? What? What?

Researcher: I know where the rushes are. Holy crap.

Manager: Desperation in his voice WHERE???

Researcher: Terrified tiny voice They're in the cupboard back at the ski lodge in France. I forgot them.

Manager: Holy crap.

The Researcher then organised to go back, get the rushes and bring them back ASAP to the office.

All I can say is hats off to her for actually admitting it. She could have continued to pretend not to know where they were and avoided having herself in the firing line. No one would have been any of the wiser.

That must have been absolutely terrifying.

I'm so glad I wasn't her.