As long as I can remember I have always been a Sylvester Stallone fan. Iconic movies such as Rambo, Cobra, and Copland are permanently stuck in my brain. However, none of his movies have had more of an impact on me and my life than “Rocky.” There’s just something special about a great “under dog” story and Rocky is pretty much the epitome of the “under dog.”
As fate would have it my good friend, colleague, and sometimes client, John has been producing content for the RockyShop for about six years. He was invited to Philly for the first ever “Rocky Day.” I was lucky enough to be his plus one and we covered the event and shot content for the RockyShop. The whole day led up to a special VIP photo op where we got to meet Mr. Stallone himself and get our picture taken with him. It was literally a dream come true.
Believe it or not, the cherry on top wasn’t even the picture with Mr. Stallone, it was that I got to bring my apprentice and our Nashville apprentice along for the ride. They helped cover the event as well. It was a hell of challenge dealing with rain all day long and massive crowds but we all made it happen.
I was primarily shooting on the Sony Fx9 and my apprentice was shooting on the Sony FX3. We had to put on our camera rain gear but that’s okay. It was well worth it.
Our Nashville apprentice had his own challenges. He had to tap into the press mult-box, keep his boom dry, and had to literally have the audio bag strapped to his chest all day.
In some ways we all climbed our own mountain and defeated Drago with Bill Conti’s iconic music playing the back ground.
We went the distance. Just like Rocky.
To cap off an amazing day we all had dinner at Victor’s Cafe. This might not seem like a fitting end to the story but it sure was. Why? Because Victor’s Cafe was used as “Adrian’s” restaurant in Rocky 6 AKA Rocky Balboa.
Yo, Adrian, we did it!
Oh yeah, and Chevy Chase was there too. I have no idea why. He must be a Rocky fan too.