In this exclusive interview, the man who is both a United Nations’ Southeast Asia Advocate and a national civil engineer for the Philippines joined me for a frank discussion. Mark Fredelben Gomez Gravillo candidly described his people’s “fear of China,” love of country, and recovery from devastating super typhoons.
The countdown to Super Bowl LVII is about to reach its crescendo. Football fans are cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, but the team I am rooting for is my brother Clay’s crew of SkyCam riggers. Since last Thursday, they have been at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, preparing to televise the game. People who do this type of work are professional-level rock climbers. The beautiful bride in this photo is Clay’s wife, Rosie. She is also an expert rock climber, and teaches at a high school in Park City, Utah for winter-Olympic athletes. #SuperBowl #Family #Love #Beautiful #RockClimbing
Freedom’s Path is the farewell film of two acclaimed actors whose lives were abruptly cut short during post-production. Opening nationwide on the big screen February 3rd for Black History Month, this movie pays tribute to the Tony-nominated Thomas Jefferson Byrd, and chameleon Carol Sutton, revered for her roles in films like Ray, Monster’s Ball and Steel Magnolias. Freedom’s Path writer/director, Brett Smith, warmly recalls that as phenomenal as these two were as actors, they were even more phenomenal as people. In this interview, Brett shares those memories, the extraordinary dedication of the entire Freedom’s Path cast and crew, and the many seemingly-insurmountable hurdles they crossed over to create this passionate project.
After the interview, Brett told me that the Freedom’s Path production team has decided to donate all proceeds from the film’s opening weekend to support underrepresented historic black colleges and universities. The major inspiration for the decision came from Byron Allen. His Allen Media Group has formed a HBCU GO promotional partnership with this award-winning film. #FeatureFilm #FreedomsPath #Filmmaker #Nationwide #Release #AMCTheatres #RegalCinemas #BlackHistoryMonth #BrettSmith #CarolSutton #ThomasJeffersonByrd #RJCyler #GerranHowell #EwenBremner #HarrisonGilbertson #StevenSwadling #AfemoOmilami #ByronAllen #AllenMediaGroup #AwardWinningFilm #BehindTheScenes #Filmmaking #SetLife
With no prior experience, a first-time writer and director has taken the idea that has filled his heart since an elementary school history class, and turned it into a feature film. Freedom’s Path will soon hit the big screen nationwide in honor of Black History Month. I had the privilege of interviewing Brett Smith about this portrayal of friendship and courage. Brett has been my friend since childhood, and told me about his movie idea twelve years ago, when he began the film’s creative process. Later this weekend, I’ll post the full news story. #FeatureFilm #FreedomsPath #Filmmaker #Nationwide #Release #AMCTheatres #RegalCinemas #BlackHistoryMonth #BrettSmith #CarolSutton #ThomasJeffersonByrd #RJCyler #GerranHowell #EwenBremner #HarrisonGilbertson #StevenSwadling #AfemoOmilami #AwardWinningFilm #BehindTheScenes #Filmmaking #SetLife
Happy Chinese New Year! This is a throwback picture from a story that I did about a family who adopted two orphans from China and hosted a large celebration to teach them about their culture. #ChineseNewYear #Celebration #Family #Journalist #Reporter #Anchor
The Buffalo Bills’ famously exuberant fans have been one of my TV news beats for the past three seasons. To support the Bills in this Sunday’s playoff game, I have prepared some of my favorite clips for you from those reports. In this video, I even show you how to do the Bills Shout Dance, so you can cheer on the team throughout the game! This weekend’s showdown between the Bills and the Bengals is especially poignant because the two teams have not met since Bills’ safety, Damar Hamlin, went into cardiac arrest following an impact during their last game together. Since then, I have been so touched by the fact that no matter which team fans root for, people around the world have come together to show their love and support for Damar. According to his doctors, though the road to recovery will be long, he is showing no signs of neurological damage. I have heard people from various walks of life say that this miraculous news has given them hope when struggling with their own challenges. #BuffaloBills #Playoffs #Game #DamarHamlin #Buffalo #WesternNewYork #Journalism #Journalist #Reporter #News #Anchor
Over the past several months, Western New Yorkers have been hit hard with tragedies, from the mass shooting in East Buffalo to the deadly year-end storm that left residents stranded, freezing and without power. Now Buffalo Bills’ safety, Damar Hamlin, is in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest following a hit in Monday night’s game against the Bengals. He laid motionless on the field. His teammates gathered, kneeling together in fervent prayer. His heartbeat was restored. As I write this, he is being treated at the UC Medical Center. From the first week that I moved to Buffalo, the people I met there told me what an inspiration the Bills were to them. They said that no matter what challenges they faced in their personal lives, watching the team cheered them up and gave them hope to forge on. At this time, the Bills need love and support from all of us. #BuffaloBills #DamarHamlin #Love #Prayers
Anyone who just watched the Buffalo Bills best the Dolphins during a Dickens-worthy snowstorm knows that winter weather has struck in Western New York! Braving the elements in this area can be a wild ride, so I thought it fitting to post this clip from the first time I reported here and tangled with freezing rain! I had just moved to New York for a job reporting and anchoring. Due to severe and “lake effect” weather, everyone from the station was sent out to cover it. As a Los Angeles native, braving these conditions just wasn’t in my blood. Still, I swapped my comfy slippers for boots and left my cozy fire to dare the elements. When I returned and passed the producers’ desks to drop off my footage, one of the execs saw the icicles on my hair and coat and dropped everything to film this video! There’s nothing like extreme winter weather to bond everyone at a news station! Another producer even went home and brought back an extra pair of dry clothes for me! That’s true teamwork!!! #BuffaloBills #WinterWeather #LetItSnow #WesternNewYork #NewsLife #News #NewsStation #Reporter #Anchor #Journalist #FreezingRain
Here’s another picture from a magical Thanksgiving dinner with my family! We dined overlooking the gorgeous Snoqualmie Falls, which are thousands of years old. Native Americans discovered them and named the area “Salish,” meaning “Moon.” It is considered a spiritual place full of legends. We all missed my brother, Clay, who was hard at work rigging the NFL SkyCam. The last time he got to come home for Thanksgiving, it was my turn to anchor the news throughout Western New York. Both of us have careers that don’t stop for the holidays, but we never stop loving each other. We all definitely missed him. #Thanksgiving #Family #Love #SnoqualmieFalls #SalishLodge #WashingtonState
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Thank you so much Katherine for featuring me here on your blog and also on your social media accounts. Happy new year!