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Coming Full Circle - Michael Pomarico goes back to where it all started and gives back
05/02/2008 - By Tobi D. Tesoriero
Technical Director of All My Children
Michael Pomarico is one of the fortunate people…he is living his dream. He is working in his chosen profession in the television industry, and has received professional recognition and accolades from his peers.
Michael Pomarico is one of the fortunate people…he is living his dream. He is working in his chosen profession in the television industry, and has received professional recognition and accolades from his peers. For the past quarter of a century he has worked on the very popular ABC soap opera All My Children, and in honor of his superb professional performance and achievement he has been nominated for an Emmy seven times and has won twice for technical direction – in 2002 and 2004.
Michael is the quintessential hometown boy…he is very connected to Holmdel. He grew up in town, is now raising his own family here, and along with his wife, Mary, is actively involved in the community. Like Michael, his two children, Joseph and Jennifer, have been educated in the Holmdel school system. Recently, Michael used his talent and knowledge to aid his home town. Michael was a member of the first graduating class of Holmdel High School. As a means to refocus the town’s energy and attention on the original mission of the high school and raise funds for the Bob Roggy Field, Michael formulated a plan to do a retrospective on the “birth” of Holmdel High School in the form of a television show. He used this opportunity to share his knowledge in two areas. First, he shared his historic knowledge of the school, and second, he offered his technical expertise to produce it. He tapped into the talents of top-flight professionals in the TV industry for the project, who subsequently worked alongside some current high school students, exposing them to the world of television. The project was a triple threat in that it was educational, archival, and charitable. Students were able to participate in lighting, directing, or performing and also got hands-on experience in producing a TV show. Inaddition, the community was treated to a walk down memory lane, and a historical CD was created. Add to this yet another component – the event was also a fundraiser for the Bob Roggy Field. Pomarico was fully committed to putting his professional expertise and talent to work for Holmdel.
Living in Holmdel and Michael Pomarico had an opportunity to meet, and he generously shared information on the behind-the-scenes activities of television and his mission to support Holmdel High School.
LIH: Having enjoyed success as an Emmy Award-winning technical director, people are going to be curious about how you got to where you are. Please explain to us what a director actually does. MP: There are two different things that I do. I am a technical director for ABC and I have been doing All My Children for the past 25 years. I have been directing the show for the past 10 years. So once or twice or three times a month – depending upon the need – I direct the show.
LIH: Can you explain what each job is…director and technical director?
MP: A director is in charge of the whole production of a show, the creative end of it. Above the director are the producer and the executive producer. The director is responsible for the flow of the show on [a particular] day – he is responsible for directing the actors, making sure the actors tell the story that is on the page. You work with the actors in terms of blocking their scenes. You have a floor plan, you have a set, you have a script. You read the script and say, “Well, I would like to have them do that sitting here drinking a cup of coffee, then at some point I would like them to get up and walk here or there.” So it is the physical blocking of the show. There is also the emotional aspect of the show. You make sure the actress is not crying too much, or that the actress is not laughing when she should be crying. That does not mean the actress is not going to bring something to the table, but it means that the director makes sure that everything is on course. The director is also responsible for the look of the show. The camera shots and how many cameras on a given day he wants to use…also, how he wants any special effects for a show. All that has to be pre-planned; it usually takes me about 2 days to plan an hour show. On the day of the show, he is directing all the action, he is the leader. He is the one that all questions come to. Putting it in layman’s terms, he is the boss…the coach of the team…the manager of the baseball team. He tells the players where to go, when to go.
LIH: Is a show like All My Children taped?
MP: Yes. Years ago the genre of a soap opera used to be live on the radio, then it was live on television, then it was taped. It was taped in order. It was taped in order even when they went to commercials, so the camera kept rolling for a 2-minute spot that they would edit in later. During that break everyone would scuttle about getting the next scene ready. Then it progressed to where production got more technical. They then decided to go out of sequence in taping, saying it makes more sense to film certain scenes together. For instance, an actor will say, “I have to cry for three different scenes so I think it is better if I keep going.” So the process changed and evolved; now we shoot it like a movie. It is amazing.
LIH: So what does a technical director do?
MP: Okay, I said that a director is in charge. There are other subgroups that report to the director: one is a technical director; one is an associate director; one is a musical director; one is a prop man; [and] then there is the set designer. So everyone has their own categories. A technical director is responsible for making sure the cameras are working properly, that they are set up properly. I get a director’s script, which will have everything that he has laid out as far as he wants his camera shots and what cameras to use; then I make out camera cards and give them to each camera that I make assignments for that day. I get a crew and assign who does what at each camera. It is a trickle-down effect. When we do the show I sit next to the director and do the famous “Take 1.” I actually cut the show.
LIH: So you edit the show?
MP: What we do is called live editing. I am sitting there cutting the show live so at the end of the night the show is on tape. There might be some fixes to be done, there might be some edits that need to be done to make it really sparkle; but basically, a scene is in its entirety as you see it on the air. The cameras roll and action is seen through different cameras.
LIH: Are all cameras rolling at the same time?
MP: Yes, the outputs of those cameras all go to what is called a switcher. The switcher has buttons on it, and whichever buttons I choose determines what shots go to the tape machine. So, the director says, “Take 1, Take 2, Take 3, Take 5” (laughs)…whatever it is. The script is laid out by the director saying which camera he wants to take which shot. Camera 5 is for this speech; camera 2 is for this speech. I equate it to an orchestra. We have a leader [who is the director] and everyone has their own instruments; when the director says “5, 4, 3, 2, 1…” everyone plays at the same time. So with “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” the cameramen are doing what they should, the actors are doing what they are doing, the lighting is doing what they need to do, and audio booms are flying…it is orchestrated. It is a lot of fun when everything comes together. I have the most fun when an actor forgets a line or forgets a move that they have to make and a cameraman is not quite where they are supposed be and you just start adlibbing – Camera 2 give me this, Camera 3 – you try to save the scene.
LIH: Does that usually work?
MP: Well, sometimes you can save it; sometimes you just have to do it again. To show you what it’s like in planning the show, here is the floor plan of an upcoming episode. (Michael shows LIH the actual studio floor plan and layout of the day’s scenes, as well as the script with industry-specific notations and planning for the episode he will be directing. It notes actor directions, cues, camera placements, when to cut, and a myriad of other details.)
LIH: Everything is certainly carefully planned!
MP: And actually this is not a complicated day. It has only about 290 camera shots. A lot depends on the action. What I initially get is the blank script with a floor plan of our studio. As you can see from the floor plan, some of the sets are not working this day.
LIH: So it depends on the action and script…
MP: Yes, so they do not rip these sets down. The studio is a 24-hour-a-day operation.
LIH: Where is the studio located?
MP: On the west side of Manhattan. It is the same building where The View is actually done.
LIH: How far in advance do you film?
MP: It all depends. The show that I am working on now plays over 2 days, so it will be two episodes that will air in about 2 weeks from when we shoot.
LIH: How did you enter this field?
MP: Well, as I have said to my wife, we recently watched a movie called Serendipity and I said that is probably my favorite word. I have been very lucky. I grew up in Holmdel; my father was the tax assessor for over 30 years. I was in the first graduating class of the high school [here], so my class actually set up the high school, which led me to the project I did.* Back to the question, I knew the moment I was fascinated with the business. A friend of mine was sick with mono. I went to visit him. His bedroom was upstairs. He connected two wires from the back of the TV to his speaker so he could listen in his room to the television. I thought that was so cool, to be able to do that. That was the minute I knew I wanted to be involved in something like that. In fourth grade we had to pick pen pals. Most of the class picked people in Italy, France, etc. I picked someone in Hollywood! I was so fascinated with the business.
LIH: Did you have specific training?
MP: When I graduated high school, I went to Jersey City State College. I knew I wanted to work in the business. A cousin of mine had just graduated from Jersey City State College, and told me about the new television program they were establishing at the school. Because of its proximity to New York, they were able to get people who worked in the business to teach there. I started college in 1974 and took all my general studies courses to get them out of the way. My last 2 years I just did television stuff. I had some really interesting teachers. Some came from commercials; commercials are pretty much done in New York. I took a course called Broadcast Engineering and the teacher worked for ABC. He explained how the company worked. This is where serendipity came into play. I was going to school Monday through Thursday. I was home in Holmdel Friday through Sunday and worked at Delicious Orchards [in Colts Neck]. I was stocking apples and there was my teacher from my Broadcast Engineering course. He asked what I was doing here and I said I lived around here; he said he lived in Matawan. He said to call him for my finals grade. I called and he said I did very well and asked if I would be interested in working at ABC in the summer when I graduated. So I said, “Yeah (laughs), why not?” That is what led me to my career. He led me to a summer relief program, which was a fabulous program.
LIH: Would someone today be able to follow that same route for a career path?
MP: Actually, probably not. Today there is a lot of freelance. But what happened was ABC would hire people for the summer to train and work next to someone, and when they took vacation you filled in for them. What was great was that ABC got to screen potential employees, and participants got exposure and were able to see if they enjoyed the industry.
LIH: So what was your first job?
MP: I was a video tape/film operator. What I found out at the time (a bit of trivia for New Jersey) was that ABC was the “also-ran network” – the third network – and struggled. New York used to have an entertainment tax if you aired programs originating from New York, so to avoid the tax ABC built a facility right outside the Lincoln Tunnel with three videotape machines and film change. So, programming would originate in New Jersey and be sent out to New York. It would go through cables in the Lincoln Tunnel to broadcast facilities on 66th Street in Manhattan. Programs such as Roots aired out of New Jersey. It was a great job right out of school! Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Charlie’s Angels, and Eight Is Enough all depended on a 22-year-old kid to load up these machines for the country to view. There was a lot of responsibility. I then went to a position in master control in New York City. It was the hub of the network. Everything from all over the world came into this central point. We had to distribute the content throughout the plant. For instance, for world news we had an anchor in Chicago, London, and Washington, and we had to make it seamless. It was amazing; I learned the flow of the network. From there I decided I wanted to be a technical director. I tried the position through another summer relief program and really liked it. Then serendipity again…I was sitting with one of the old-timers and told him I wanted to work on one of the soaps. I did not want to go out to California, as I am very close to my family. The soaps would let me do what I wanted professionally and I would be able to be in New York. Maybe he had something to do with it because right after that I was assigned to All My Children. I worked my way up.
LIH: So you mentioned that today this kind of program no longer exists and that most people start and gain experience by freelancing. How does one start if they want to enter the field? Where do you hone your skills?
MP: Today you would hone your skills at cable stations. Entry levels have more opportunities; there are internships now…non-paying experiences.
LIH: You mentioned you are from Holmdel and are very tied to the town. You also mentioned a project in which you are involved. Can you explain what that is?
MP: In the late sixties, because of Holmdel’s growth, they decided that they needed to look into building a high school here. I found myself in the position of being part of the first graduating class. The school was opened with just a freshman class. So we started with a small group of 148 students, most [were] together since kindergarten. We became the guinea pigs. What was also interesting was Dr. White, who was [at the time] the principal of the intermediate school, was asked to move up with us to the high school. We were told, “You kids are going to have input. What colors do you want, what mascot do you want, what programs, what sports?” It was really a group effort. Also, because it was a new school, we had recent college grads as teachers and these young teachers were excited about having the opportunity to create.
LIH: Were you aware at the time how fortunate you were, or is it more in retrospect that you realized that it was a great opportunity?
MP: Doing this project I realized that what I learned then I use every day. Maybe not 2+2 = 4 or where to put a preposition, but I learned the world. I learned to create something from nothing. It wasn’t me by myself; it was me and 147 other kids.
LIH: So what exactly was this project?
MP: My wife alerted me to things that where happening in the school system. There was a high turnover in staff, [and] it was upsetting to me to see what we had established start to disappear, so I felt it was important to remember the “whys.” I thought it would be important to talk to Dr. White and discuss why the school was set up as it was and maybe remind people and get things back on track.
LIH: So I am still unclear on what exactly you did. Can you share the project in more detail?
MP: Yes, but I just want to give a bit more background. Bob Roggy was a classmate of mine who died in 1986. The field was named after him. I had heard through the grapevine that they were thinking of changing the name of the field and perhaps bringing in a big sponsor…all that corporate stuff was going on. It disturbed me. I went to school with that kid and felt the field had to remain named after him. What I decided to do, using Mr. Benedict’s (the senior teacher in the district having taught for over 35 years) television class, was interview Dr. White, sit there with a camera and say why was the school built, why was it so great, just so it was done and documented. He thought that was a great idea. Then I thought maybe we would do it in the auditorium and interview him there. Then this thing came about with Bob Roggy, and I thought why not put him on the stage and publicize the event to raise money for the Roggy Field. What I came up with was the concept of calling the show “Coming Home Again.” We chose Dave Bryer, another teacher (in the history department) who has been with the school since its inception, as the host. Everything started to fall into place. Mr. Benedict would use his students and I would work with them. I decided to make this as professional as I could, so I went to cameramen, lighting directors, sound people and said, “Hey, would you guys help me do this? It is for a charity. I want to do it in an auditorium in front of a live audience, but the catch here is I would like the lighting person to work with whoever in the high school is interested in lighting; I want the camera guy to work with anyone interested in camera work.” I was directing and I wanted anyone interested in that to work with me. It was a seminar. We picked a date, we publicized it, and that morning we arrived and turned the auditorium into a television studio. The kids were wonderful.
LIH: So did the project raise any money?
MP: The project was a success on many levels. Yes, we raised money. We sold tickets for the event and then we created a CD of the program, and we are still selling those. People who are interested can purchase them at the Hazlet Pharmacy, the Holmdel Pharmacy, Dearborn Market, or on online at www.holmdelschools.org. The event featured students and teachers who knew the story of the beginning of Holmdel High School. We rediscovered the school alma mater and it was performed that night. We had an initiative to save the mascot. It [the project] shared information on so many facets of the school, and what was particularly satisfying to me was how the community came together. I received “thank you” calls from parents whose children participated in the program and we raised money for the Roggy Field. I was fortunate to be able to use the skills from my profession to help my community.
Favorite restaurant:
T.G.I. Friday’s
Favorite musician:
Bon Jovi – he was so gracious to let us use his music for our project
Favorite movies:
Grease, Back to the Future, and Apollo 13
Pet peeve:
political correctness
Three people I’d like to dine with:
My father (who passed away 7 years ago), Ron Howard, and Paul McCartney
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