Kismet
30 October 2013
Terri Potts-Chattaway
October 29 2013
How is it that we worked on the television show, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," for seven years and never met this man? What is more, we spent three months on the same dock (E dock, old C.I. Marina) when he first purchased his Ericson 38 - and still never met.
But some things are just meant to be.
And some things will happen no matter what.
Kismet.
We finally met Don the year Channel Islands Marina began its renovations. As they rebuilt their docks, piece by piece, they would have to move the resident boats to neighboring docks for a temporary visit. That is how the angels choreographed the setting where an introduction was inevitable. H Dock moved to B Dock and Don and his wife, Bobbi, and their boat, Sea Dancer, settled in to a slip close to ours.
"We know that woman! Who is that woman? Where do we know that woman from?" Don kept asking Bobbi. "You may know her, but I don't." came her constant reply.
This went on for days until finally one day, Don introduced himself to us, asking, "How do I know you?" Come to find out, all three of us had worked together on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."
It sounds ironic, even impossible that we would not have met, but because of the size of the show (over 250 people worked on Star Trek in one capacity or another) and the variety of talent needed to make it successful, it is perfectly understandable.
Jay and I met because our roles on the show were interrelated. As a composer, though, most of his work was done at home, or at a meeting in the producer's office, or in a recording studio. Once in a while, when an episode called for music within the script (i.e. a character plays an instrument or sings a tune) he would first, write the music, and second, visit the set to rehearse and ensure all was going well. On these occasions to the set, I would usually join him.
As a Post Production Producer, one of my responsibilities was to interface with the composer on the conceptual approach to the music for a particular episode; from the beginning when we would decide where the music should be played and what the tone might be, to the final product on the scoring stage where it was recorded. Another part of my responsibilities was to be a liaison between the Director of Photography (DP) and the Colorist who transferred our dailies. As Star Trek took place in space, the sets and lighting were unique to another world. Each morning the film was transferred from film to tape (pre HD) and then our colorist would approach each scene individually based on notes from the DP. My job as the liaison was to make daily visits to the stage to see the sets and talk with the DP as well as watch dailies with the DP during lunch. As he was on the set all day, he had no time to attend the dailies transfer so essentially I was his eyes while dailies were transferred.
Because Don was a Gaffer (Chief lighting technician who also worked with the DP), his responsibilities required him to be on the set day after day, all day, so it would be natural for him to be familiar with those who worked on the set on a day to day basis and to notice those of us who ventured in and out only occasionally. So there it was, he had seen us, our paths had crossed, but we had never met formally.
That is until H Dock converged on B Dock. And I mean converged! They arrived with full fanfare as they brought their boats, pulled out their grill, set up tables and chairs and became the welcoming committee. What a great group of people. We shared more food, laughs, and oh yes, our fair share of drinks, during those months of transition. It was good fun and Jay and I found a whole new community of friends. If you have never heard of the H Dockers (they are infamous in the Channel Islands Marina) visit HDOCKROCKS.COM.
Now, all these years later, Don has arrived in San Diego to join us on this journey to La Paz, the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. Funny how things work out.
Kismet.