Philadelphia is well on its way to being Hollywood East - Halle Berry Screening

as another "Red Carpet" screening comes to the Sixth Boro, Philadelphia. Perfect Stranger STARRING: Halle Berry, Bruce Willis and Giovanni Ribisi. I read about the event in the paper, and since there was no mention of who the PR firm was, I just took my chances and showed up

The Red Carpet, so far so good, looks like these people have a little experience. Unlike the other two premieres in town, this one didn't have a "pen" for the photographers. But they label the sidewalk for the "credentialed and invited media and OMG college press" (I didn't know how to get in contact with the who was handling the affair so no place for me, I would be flying under the "Freelance" flag again - LOL (Anyone out there want to rep me, I come cheap) It was good to see some of my new photographer friends and make a few new ones. The Philly photogs are great (they show me the ropes, tell me I need to get a press pass from the police, but I have to have representation from a Philly paper) and they were kind enough to fill me in on who the PR firm was and who to speak with, I was able to get a "Tip Sheet", which tells you who is going to be there and their bios.Oh damn just like NYC, the bottom feeders show up, the autograzzi. If there is no control over them, they will ruin your shot everytime. AND these guys look meaner than the ones in NYC, ok not the creme de la creme ones that I have seen push women out of the way when they wanted to get Tony Soprano's graph at a screening. They've done it again, it's pretty on the outside, red carpet, listings for media & press, things look like they are going to go smoothly, but the truth is you can not have the media interviews (TV Interviews) first. I really think that these folks (PR people) need to observe how it is done in NYC. They will learn that the stars should pose for the photographers first, and then do interviews, not the other way around and certainly not the way they had it labeled as every other person first there was NBC, KYW, ABC then the Philly Papers, then The college TV Stations, then BET, then a photographer, then MTV, then a Photgrapher, Then a College TV Station, OY VEY. It slows down the celebrity, and the 2nd line of photographers (ME) get cameras and shadows in the way of their shots. Here is Giovani's first interview, he is practically teetering on the curb. I did what is call a "Hail Mary" shot, bascially to show you the set up (although many people do get decent photos like this, as I will show you in the coming weeks). And note how the stop sign in the back reflects my shot, often that is just bad, bad, bad and ruins it. Then SHE came. I love how that one guy is trying to get her to sign a baseball. I imagine after being married to David Justice, she doesn't want to sign any baseballs. She did spend a lot of time with them and I think the reason she was was because Giovanni was still being interviewed by the first interviewers, there really was no room for her and she didn't want to draw attention away from him; As I noted before, if any PR people are reading, the Photographers go first, the celebs pose, we shoot, they move on to the "Interviewers", where they go at a slower pace while another celebrity is being shot by the photographers, then they move on and then go inside. Plus this event did not have any outside lighting, and when Halle got to the photographer section it was dark, resulting in some shadowing in the background. As the crowds swell, I realize I am not going to get the shot I want. I have to practically followed Halle onto the red carpet so I can attempt to get the FASHION SHOT as my friend Carmen says. Halle's bodyguard is shooting me a really dirty look as I am standing in the street between her and her SUV.

OK and here is what happened as the frenzy action went on, the PR people did not control the fans, and the freelancing photogs like myself are shut out from the front of the press line because ordinary people, you know like me last year before I started doing these gigs for pay, ordinary people broke the press line and wouldn't get out of the way for the working press. If I were in NYC, this is when I would be grateful as Luisa or Carmen would be yelling for the "Fans and Autograzzi's" to get out of the Press Pit. I now must suffer with hats and throwaway cameras in my frameA shot to show you the coat, not my best, but one I really like. Hopefully next week you will see one of my shots in People Magazine as my NYC agency will be pushing it nationally.An interesting thing to note, most of the photographers are salaried, they don't really have to be creative to get shots, they just have to get a shot, so as this chaos is happening, they are still in the same spot where I left them when I shot Halle exiting her SUV. After Halle went in, I noticed her car went around to the back. I thought she would be inside for at least 30 minutes, but I was wrong and she popped out after only 10 minutes and I totally missed her because I was standing around sharing gripes with the other photographers about the set up. It was very aggravating and I won't make that mistake again. **** The only decent shot I got of Giovanni Ribisi. I was caught up in the Halle effect.One of my favorite Halle shots! My other favorite shot - reminds me of the little bears Nutri-System gives you everytime you lose ten pounds, of course thats a different blog which I haven't updated in a month - Yikes