CNN
crew : Hala, Kathy, Shems and Neil
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Finding
an e-mail
"CNN Coming to Casablanca" in late September
sure helped to dispel the pre-Ramadan doldrums.
And they were coming soon, October 8. With logistics
it seemed best to film and interview during our
Jam Session October 9. CNN is Rick's media Godfather
as a result of Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman's
piece released in May 2004, just two months after
the restaurant opened. That brought a flood of
publicity. Then in the "when it rains, it pours"
course of events BBC phoned from London asking
to use the Café as an interview setting for a
documentary on the same day. Coordinating with
CNN, BBC was scheduled in late afternoon.of course
by now juggling all this with breaking the Ramadan
fast. --> |
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....Running behind schedule, BBC arrived, took one look at the ambience and intrigue of Rick's and quickly decided to do the interview somewhere
else and to return that evening to interview Kathy
and film the Jam Session! A quick call to CNN
with the latest curve and the result was two top
network production teams filming and interviewing
on the same night! While CNN ate, BBC filmed,
and vice versa.
Kathy was interviewed at the bar.from different
vantage points and with different drinks.and certainly
with different questions: BBC's Humphrey Hawksley
was more political - "If George Bush and Osama
Bin Laden walked in to your bar at the same time
what would you do?" (of course only early the
next morning Kathy thought of the best answer:
to Pres. Bush, "There's your man, now I'd like
my check for $25 million.") - while Hala Gorani
of CNN focussed more on what the project says
about Morocco and Casablanca. Issam had to be
ready to interrupt the Jam Session at a moment's
notice to play "the song," and did so early on
for BBC. CNN waited til the end of the night,
when the tables started to empty, for their last
vignette. Hala, leaning on the piano with a glass
of champagne finished her piece, turned and said,
"Play It, Issam."
R.C. |
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