Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1062452
DGA QUARTERLY 29 FOCUS At Work With "My goal was to hit the end of the song 'New York, New York' when Justify was revealed, when fans had the opportunity to see this horse." — B E T S Y R I L E Y "I've been really surprised by the level of creativity that the role affords," says associate director Betsy Riley, who has worked on more than 20 Triple Crown horse races. "It's easy to view it as a mechanical or analytical position, but the creative decisions, the editorial decisions, they guide you," she says. During the Belmont Stakes this past season, Riley and director Drew Esocoff had the opportunity to decide precisely when fans would see Triple Crown contender Justify for the first time. "We really thought long and hard about where we wanted the horse to be appearing to the grandstand for the first time," explains Riley. "My goal was to hit the end of the song 'New York, New York' when Justify was revealed, when the fans had the opportunity to see this horse. That was a timing puzzle—to think about how to move pieces around to maximize that moment." Dealing with horses adds another layer of difficulty to the puzzle, says Riley. "You can't tell a 3-year-old Kentucky Derby horse to speed it up or slow down. They don't speak our language. There's definitely an added layer of unpredictability to it, which makes it a unique and fun challenge." —BECCA NADLER Triple Crown Vet Takes Races in Stride Betsy Riley | Associate Director The scariest and most fun part of the job for Saturday Night Live stage manager Chris Kelly usual- ly happens just after the post-dress-rehearsal notes meeting with director Don Roy King and producer Lorne Michaels. "There's a window of about 20 minutes between that meet- ing and when the live show starts where we've got to solve a lot of problems," he says. On a recent episode, Kelly needed to hide a prop possum in a cabinet alongside actress Kate McKinnon with just minutes to go before air. "I go to props and say, 'Give me a roll of gaffer's tape and some cloth and give me the [possum],'" he remembers. "I've got to move stuff out of the way to get to this cabinet and I'm duct-taping, put- ting the [possum] in. We sneak Kate in and I go, 'I built this thing, it'll work, good luck,' and I watch with my innards knotted up. If I do it right, I'm on an adrenaline roll that doesn't stop until the show's over." The pouch held, but because SNL runs at such a frenetic pace, "There's no time to really enjoy it," says Kelly. "You just roll right into the monologue. It's that kind of stuff which is fun. I dig it." —BECCA NADLER Troubleshooting with Duct Tape and a Fake Possum Chris Kelly | Stage Manager PHOTOS: (TOP) TOM WOLFF; (BOTTOM) WILL HEATH