Jim Furlong: Lights…Camera…Action

Things are getting back to normal in Dildo. It was a wild ride as the little Trinity Bay community was front and centre on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. It was a moment in the sun for Dildo and the town made the most of it. 

Prominent in getting Dildo into the pubic consciousness was NTV reporter Amanda Mews. She and cameraman Glenn Andrews were in California to cover and be part of the gathering Dildo/ Jimmy Kimmel publicity storm. 

Back & forth banter

Amanda interviewed Jimmy Kimmel and even had an appearance on his late night ABC program. It was all part of the back and forth banter that served Jimmy and the town of Dildo well. 

Any publicity isn’t always good publicity but this case worked out just right.

Now I don’t have to go over the chapter and verse story of the oddly named town of Dildo and its ‘dance’ with Jimmy Kimmel except everyone was a winner. It was all smiles, good natured chuckles, and no ridicule. 

Jimmy Kimmel got his laughs, but he showed a restraint and treated us well. The community welcomed loads of visitors and will profit into the future. They even got a new sign compliments of the Jimmy Kimmel show. Lots of trinkets were sold. Tour boats and motels had new business and it all lasted just the right amount of time. 

The TV show is on hiatus for a couple of weeks which will serve as a nice curtain coming down. This was all helped along by Dildo being a really wonderful community.

NTV did great with the event. Amanda Mews, who was in touch with the Jimmy Kimmel people early, took herself to Hollywood, California. She secured an interview with Jimmy. She appeared in the show actually and did a load of reports for NTV. She even got a picture of Jimmy with an NTV hat. Bonus! 

Coolness & dignity 

Now these things just don’t happen and they fall, in the world of TV, under ‘field production.’ Getting things done on the ground. 

You have to get to Los Angeles and you have to talk your way in through the gates of a television network. You have to make contacts and present yourself in a way where the people you are seeking see dealing with you as being in a common interest with you. It is an art really. 

There are a thousand things to look after. How do you get pictures back to Newfoundland? How do you turn a concept into an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live? Full marks to Amanda Mews. NTV did well. Amanda got the story, made her appearance, and did it with coolness and dignity. 

When she returned to Newfoundland after what was a media coup with the Kimmel interview… she went straight to Dildo to continue the story. Good for her. She must have been beat out when it was over but she was like a dog with a bone and now has something to someday tell her grandchildren.

NTV’s Jim Furlong can be reached by emailing: [email protected]

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