FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE COMPANY: Gato Inc.
SUBJECT: Firefighter PSA

CONTACT: Kelly Kunik
PHONE: 215.266.2907
NUMBER OF PAGES: 2

PHILADELPHIA FIREFIGHTERS HONORED VIA PSA

PHILADELPHIA, PA. - December 14, 2001
On November 21st at 5:45 am, a film crew of 24 assembled at Engine # 60, Ladder 19 in South Philadelphia to begin filming a PSA honoring Philadelphia Firefighters. Principal photography began promptly at 8am as news crews including; Fox (who featured the shoot on "Good Day Philadelphia" on Thanksgiving morning) and Action News began to arrive.
In little less than three weeks, cast and crew came together to film the spot with a very limited budget, but with enough energy, tenacity, and generosity to make a PSA honoring Firefighters happen on a national level.
One day, while discussing the events of September 11th, members of the film community, Kelly Kunik and Abad Rosa of Gato Inc. wondered what they could do to help with the devastation. While paging through a Time Magazine, Kelly noticed a photo of a firefighter in front of firetruck and all of a sudden the wheels for a PSA started to turn. "Here's our PSA right there, we can honor Firefighters.". The idea was presented to Jeff Wolfe of Just Wolfe Productions, who took on the project and role of Producer/Production company.
Abad took the concept and developed a treatment utilizing motion control to deliver the message that firemen and women are ordinary people whose jobs put them in extraordinary situations on a daily basis, just because they show up for work. The PSA was pre-visualized utilizing Cinema 4D to create an animation of what the PSA was to look like.
Carrie Steward signed on as Line-Producer and the wheels continued to turn. The City of Philadelphia, including Fire Commissioner Chief William Brightcliffe and Deputy Chief Matt McCrory, along with The Philadelphia Film office and The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, not only embraced the idea for the PSA, but acted as key components to help get the idea off the ground.
Soon members of the Philadelphia film community such as; Shooters, Gato, Inc., Just Wolfe Productions, The Gaffer Baron, Cine Services, Location Sound Services, The Set Table, and national companies including, Technicolor, Kodak, and Camera Service Center began donating their services and materials. Philadelphia and New York crew members donated their skills: time, and their holiday vacation to make the PSA a reality. Philadelphia restaurants including: Le Bus, Le Cigale, Il Portico, Pietros, and Yards Brewery supported the effort by donating food and beverages so the cast and crew would eat well.

Starbucks generously provided coffee for the firefighters and crew members, keeping them warm on a cold November exterior shoot.
Abad designed a camera move that involved a single axis of dolly movement over 40 feet of track. Dexter Wuest was the motion control operator and piloted an Arriflex 435 through 8 separate plates. Joe Frantz, Director of Photography shot plates for the background, individual firefighters, and even the rotating lights on the trucks. The background plates were shot at twice the speed as the foreground plates so as to have the background action in slow motion. The production utilized a portable Final Cut Pro edit system to check the registration of the individual plates right on set including the speed effect. "The videotap on the 435 is so crisp, that even rough keying can be accomplished" commented Bernardo Morillo, on set editor. Before the last light was packed away on the grip truck, the director could see the 6 foreground and 2 background plates in a rough composite from the video tap footage.
On the post production end, Bob Lovejoy of Shooters Post and Transfer did an excellent job as colorist, and Fire Artist Mark Farkas seamlessly integrated the different shots in to the final piece. Joe Fusco provided an electric guitar interpretation of "The Star Spangled Banner" to polish the reverent atmosphere of the PSA. Currently Comcast and local networks as well as local theaters are considering the PSA for national airplay. Keep an eye out for it.

Gato Inc.'s website: www.gatocrane.com
To access the The Firefighter PSA photo gallery directly: www.gatocrane.com/pages/images/firefighterpsa/index.htm
To view a quicktime of the PSA
www.gatocrane.com/pages/images/psa1.mov
Interview Contact: Kelly Kunik, Production Coordinator at Gato Inc.

Gato Inc.
1510 Montgomery Ave
Philadelphia, Pa 19125
267.250.3581
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