Ellen’s Greatest Night of Giveaways
Each year, Ellen generously gives back to her viewers, by surprising them with gifts and experiences that are beyond their wildest dreams. They range in scale and location, from Steph Curry donating to the East Oakland Boxing Association’s after-school program to helping out a local sign spinner in Los Angeles. Ellen and Melissa McCarthy team up together to make the Greatest Night of Giveaways the greatest night for the Lazo family, who are based in Atlanta. The Lazo family, who has just lost their mother, Jennifer, to cancer. Jennifer had founded Join the Flock, a nonprofit to help families with mortgage payments, clothes, toys and food, when they are impacted by cancer medical bills or the inability to work. Melissa McCarthy teams up with the co-founder, Keeli Simpson, and surprises the Lazo family with a ton of gifts, and a trip to LA to meet Ellen, who eventually helps them to pay off their own mortgage. The Ellen Give Back is a heartwarming shoot that we are proud to say that we could be a part of.
CHALLENGES
With a tiny Subaru Hot Rod made for only two people, we had only half the room that we usually had to rig the car. In order to achieve maximum coverage in this smaller space, we had to get creative with our lensing. The solution was a 6.5mm Azure Photonics CMount lens, which is the smallest, wildest, fastest and cheapest option out there for 1” sensor cameras. Since the windshield was really steep it was difficult to find the right adhesive or the right angles to mount the camera. Luckily, the Cmount’s magnetic plates’ firm grip came in handy and lasted all day, despite all of the tricky surfaces. The Ellen Give Back was a success with a little bit of ingenuity.
