Original subtitles

Hey, New York.

David Byrne was putting on a big performance, and I was asked to make a

documentary about the show.

Thankfully, my professional relationships at home were

disintegrating, so I had a little free time on my hands, and I said, sign me

up.

They invited me to a production meeting at David's office and let me listen to

their production schedule.

I figured this would be an excellent opportunity to network and prove I was a

skilled, capable documentarian.

But it already seemed like they had a documentary team shooting most of the

action with much nicer equipment. So I decided to take a back seat and let them

run the show.

And then at the end of the meeting, I... set out in a van with a few talented

filmmakers as we made our way to our first show in Toronto.

Now this trip also happened to coincide with the escape of two inmates from a

state penitentiary somewhere in upstate New York near the Canadian border.

The upstate region was on high alert, so we kept seeing their headshots at every

gas station we passed.

David Sweat and Richard Matt were serving life sentences in the Clinton

Correctional Facility.

Sweat was convicted of murdering a police officer after he was discovered

transferring stolen weapons on the 4th of July.

The fugitives supposedly escaped on foot from a jail which would have placed them

a little closer to Montreal, but at this point, it could have been hiding

anywhere.

So as we drove through Niagara and approached the Canadian border, there

seemed to be a strange tension in the air.

The scales of justice had tipped.

An order needed to be restored.

So after hiding a small bit of marijuana in a tree outside of the border, we

effortlessly crossed over into the Great White North.

Richard Matt was originally arrested for kidnapping his boss at a supermarket,

driving him upstate, dismembering him with a hacksaw, and finally throwing his

remains into the Niagara River.

It also seemed like he was a talented painter.

He made paintings that he sent to his friends and family from inside prison of

some of his favorite celebrities, and eventually even bribed a guard.

with his artwork.

It was then I realized that every rest stop we took could have been our last.

And that even great artists can commit terrible crimes.

When we finally got to our Airbnb two hours later, we made sure to unplug the

security cameras in all the rooms, which there were a lot of.

Now, there's a lot that goes into a big show with a lot of talented performers.

Directing a show of this scale takes a lot of grace, coordination, and a dash

of wonder.

The first thing that needs to happen is that the floor needs to be buffed. It

needs to be professionally buffed.

And they need to make sure that the crew knows where they are in the stadium just

so they don't get lost during the performance.

You're also going to have to clear out all the equipment from the previous

event to make room for your gear.

It seems like Bette Midler performed here the night before, so they're gonna

have someone take care of her mess.

You're also gonna need to make sure you have the right uniforms for the whole

crew so everyone is easy to identify.

But costumes like this may make it a little harder to tell them apart from

the inmates.

Now the camera team is a crucial part of this whole operation.

There's a lot of planning that goes into capturing all the right stuff with the

most state-of-the-art equipment available.

This involves not only a team of dedicated camera operators, but a bunch

of assistant camera people that keep their wheels greased throughout the

show.

I didn't have an assistant camera, so I had to take time out and get my

batteries myself, which was okay.

I also seemed to be the only one worrying about the safety of the crew

while these savage felons were still at large.

They all seemed to be distracted by the jobs they were hired to do while I was

still struggling to figure out what my job was.

I was careful not to lower my guard, not even during the lunch break, because I'd

also read that with the aid of a rock guitar playing guard, the escaped

convicts cleverly smuggled their escape tools in prison hamburger meat so i kept

an eye out for foreign objects because who knows what could be simmering at the

bottom of the catering tray when i was done with lunch i made sure to put my

food in the appropriate slot and hit up the dessert table for a cone before i

headed back to work i was sensing some hostility from the documentary crew

So I decided to take a walk around downtown Toronto and see what that city

was all about.

Parts of Toronto looked a lot like New York, but the downtown is a little

different.

In this neighborhood, you end up walking for a while, but not really getting

anywhere.

During my walk, I even stumbled across a couple of the performers being

interviewed by a local news crew for men on the street interviews.

I figured it was about the show, but it turned out they were just talking

politics.

And when I got back, it seemed like they were putting all the finishing touches

on the show and finally letting everyone into the arena.

Now, as all great documentarians know, the closer you are to the subject, the

closer you are to the truth.

So I went on stage for a minute to see if I could get a quick interview.

But... it turned out to be really bad timing because they were performing.

So I decided to get some b-roll instead.

I noticed that the team was getting a few creative angles so I thought it

would be nice to take a few artistic shots of my own that maybe I could use

for my reel.

And at that point I checked my phone to see if I missed any emails about

potential upcoming work.

But thankfully, no one had contacted me.

And then before I knew it, the show was over.

And I had missed most of the actual performance.

And afterwards, everyone assembled to eat some chocolate cake backstage.

But I tried to save a piece just in case we had any surprise visitors during the

celebration on this very special day.

The next morning, we all packed up, reconnected the security cameras, and

headed back to Niagara Falls for a trip on the Hornblower Cruise.

They never found the head of the dismembered corpse they found floating

in the Niagara River.

After taking a souvenir photo and putting on our complimentary ponchos, we

boarded the Hornblower and set off towards the falls.

I tried to get a nice panoramic shot of the waterfall, but...

it was a little difficult with all the wind and the crap

but

i was eventually able to get a really nice shot and it was a really hot day so

the water actually felt really nice one of our producers even decided to cool

down with a chocolate banana with extra sprinkles attaboy and as soon as we

crossed the border we went back to the park and took our drugs out of the hole

in the tree and took the long trip back to New York City.

Once we got back, all the newspaper headlines said that they had tracked

down and killed one of the convicts.

He had been living in a small cabin in the woods in upstate New York and was

shot dead by local police officers.

They had evaded capture for over two weeks since their escape, but...

Once they split up, they didn't stand a chance.

This meant that there was still one of them on the loose.

And who knew how long it would be until they finally caged him again.

The last stop was the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the final two nights of the

show.

There were a few new additions to the team once we hit NYC and after a quick

tour we had a crew lunch.

The food at the Barclays Center was much better and they even gave the food nice

names.

But there wasn't enough room at the table so some people had to improvise in

the production office.

Everyone seemed pretty busy right before the show, so I decided to get some nice

establishing shots of the venue, just in case they didn't have a chance to make

it outside.

And then, when I covered that, I went back inside and made

myself a PB&J, a PB sandwich.

At least someone got it right.

Attaboy.

And then as the show started, I...

Again, tried to let the doc team do their own thing.

Because they still seem to be covering all the important stuff.

So I tried to get a few final beauty shots for my sizzle reel.

And so I face the final curtain.

My friends,

I'll say it clear.

I'll state my case, of which I serve.

I lift a light that's full.

I travel deep.

The next morning it was revealed that David Sweat was shot and captured by

federal agents after he was spotted jogging down the road a mile and a half

away from the Canadian border.

A cell phone photo started circulating quickly of his capture, and a sense of

justice was restored in the world, and spirits were high.

And during the last show, there was a feeling of intense pride, as we could

all resume our lives without the creeping fear of a fugitive attack.

It was such an honor to be part of such a wonderful crew during such a

frightening chapter in American history.

And hopefully my footage will help me get a few more jobs like this sometime

in the future.

But it may be hard with such gifted competition.

And I couldn't help but to think back to when we began.

It seemed like everyone had such bright futures.

And I couldn't help but wonder where we'd all end up one day.

This is John Wilson.

Thanks for watching my movie.