Filling the senior producer’s shoes for one day

This morning, I had to fill senior producer Chris Dall's shoes.

I had never built a rundown for the show before, and got a brief tutorial on Friday from Chris. It all seemed so easy as he built it and I watched over his shoulder; it was not so easy this morning as I stared at the bare skeleton of the show. Piece by piece, I went over my notes and filled in the elements - promos, music beds, newscast sound, etc - shaved seconds off here and there to make the hour end magically exactly when it is supposed to.

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(Kryssy Pease paying close attention to the rundown./Photo by Stephanie Curtis)

Usually the three hours I am here before we go on the air are busy, but not overwhelming. This morning I kept having visions of the show grinding to a halt on the air because I had forgotten to insert the right sound bite.

Needless to say, I am surrounded by consummate professionals -- Kerri Miller, Tom Weber, Eric Stromstad (our engineer), Stephanie Curtis and the other producers -- who all kept me afloat today. This show truly is a team effort and there's no other team I'd want to be a part of.

So hopefully no one could tell it was I, the associate producer, and not Chris in the director's chair today. And if you could tell, Chris will be here tomorrow. He better be.

-Kryssy Pease, associate producer