MADE FOR TV

For the past 84 years, Arizona Highways has been showcasing the splendor of the Grand Canyon State in print, with paper and ink. Five years ago, former news anchor ROBIN SEWELL suggested a high-definition version of the magazine a television show that picks up where the mother ship leaves off. Fifteen Emmys later, Arizona Highways Television is the highest-rated locally produced show in Arizona. We figured it was time you learned a little more about our little sister.

Robin Sewell

She is 25 feet up in the air, standing nonchalantly in a forklift carriage above millions of ice cream cones. It's a first for her — one of a long list of firsts while hosting Arizona Highways Television: skydiving, bouldering, race car driving, ice skating with Wayne Gretzky, golfing with Jack Nicklaus. It's also somewhat ironic, given how much she struggled to get the Emmy Award-winning show off the ground.

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As she delivers her lines, the forklift operator lowers her slowly to the factory floor of the Joy Cone Co., the largest ice-cream cone company in the world, located just outside of Flagstaff. It's not the first place you'd expect Arizona Highways to feature, but it certainly jibes with the show's goal of uncovering lesser-known Arizona sites and telling compelling stories about the state's people and places. It's a formula that works. Five seasons in, Sewell and her small crew have turned the show nobody thought would succeed into a ratings darling and 15-time Emmy Award-winner. We shadowed the film crew for a day to find out just how they do it.

With that, the five film crewmembers, all freelancers from Arizona, don hairnets and wheel their equipment into the factory.

9:30 a.m.

Before Sewell arrives later in the morning, the crew will shoot interviews and B-roll (the footage that plays with a voice-over). As a clutch of curious employees gathers around, the crew fits a microphone onto plant manager John Stanton, assuring him that the questions will be easy. Joe Bohannon, the audio mixer, wears earphones and checks the sound on a field audio kit so it can be sent to the cameras for recording. Clark leafs through her notebook, reviewing an outline, interview questions and shot list to make sure they get all the necessary visuals.

"She's the organized one," Sewell says later of Clark. “I'm always frustrating her by changing things.” But organization is essential. The crew is on the road only eight weeks a year shooting 26 episodes. During a typical week they film 10 stories, so everything needs to run smoothly.

9:00 a.m

Producer Kathy Clark and director of photography Alex Mitchell do a walk-through of the Joy Cone factory, scouting out potential shots. As part of their preparation, they've already peppered the manager with questions to get an idea of what to expect, audiovisually. What they see is a vast build ing of interconnected rooms the size of aircraft hangars, filled with the constant groan of machines. Scenery-wise, it offers fluorescent-lit vistas of conveyor belts and stacks of boxes. All of this will present challenges to the crew.

9:15 a.m.

More challenges. The plant manager lays out the rules for visi tors with cameras. The crew can shoot product labels but not the machine that puts on those labels. Hairnets must be worn at all times. If someone sees hair peeking out of a colleague's net, they are to inform them immediately.

9:42 a.m.

Clark shouts her interview questions to John Stanton over the clamor of the ice-cream cone machines. Mitchell pauses filming to ask a worker to move a garbage can in the background.

"Alex, Robin and [crew] have worked incredibly hard to maintain the integrity of the magazine," notes second photographer Jim Hartman. “They don't just settle for any shot. Everything is set up to match what the magazine does. It's a huge mantle we carry. We're Arizona Highways — we've got to live up to it.”

While Clark conducts the

the show independently, which means she and her company conceive topics separately from the magazine. But the magazine is the model, both in substance and journalistic style.

Sewell's background in jour nalism definitely influences the show, in particular her desire to be unbiased. “I know if you lose your credibility, you have nothing,” Sewell says. “We don't charge [people to be on the show], so it's pure and clean. I choose a story because I think it's a worthwhile story to tell, and I think viewers know that.”

11:30 a.m.

Clark informs Sewell she'll be on in 10 minutes. And she's going to have to wear a hairnet. Well, so much for the blow-dry. Sewell runs through her lines in a notebook with her daughter's picture on the cover, changes out of her sweats, and chats with Clark as they walk toward the entrance. Before they step inside, Sewell dashes into the restroom to catch a glimpse of the hairnet.

“Aaaaaah!” Sewell's sense of humor about herself and the self-conscious broadcast journalism world fits right in with the film crew's lighthearted dynamic. There is always banter. There are often bets, many of which, well... the crew wouldn't want them printed here. There are also the inevitable outtakes.

11:50 a.m.

Sewell is in the forklift carriage, delivering her closing lines as she descends. But she fumbles the word “tour.” So they start again from the top, literally. This time she says “plant” instead of “factory.” “Oops. Do over,” someone says.

“That was a rare screw-up,” Sewell jokes. “Rare.” As they continue filming in the factory, they do several takes of each “stand-up,” even when everyEverything goes well. It's always better to have more footage.

It's not just Sewell's lines and the camera angles that need to be perfect; it's the weather, the setting and everyone else in the shot. Which can be challenging, especially when filming at the next location The Basin, Arizona's first BMX bike park.

3:30 p.m.

As the crew sets up, about a dozen (helmet-less) teens and 20-somethings whip around the undulating cement structure, flipping, jumping and spinning their handlebars.

3:45 p.m.

Sewell starts her stand-up: “If your idea of bike riding is...” A gust of wind blows her hair across her face. Do over.

“If your idea of bike riding is just a leisurely stroll in the park, then...” This time she bungles the line. Do over.

Several more takes follow, halted by gusts of wind and questions about phrasing. They debate whether Sewell should mention that BMX racing is now an Olympic sport, since this is BMX freestyle and it might be misleading to viewers. Accuracy is of the utmost importance, and in the end they decide to leave it out.

“If your idea of bike riding is just a leisurely stroll in the park, then prepare to be wowed by these guys...” This time she delivers the whole speech flawlessly, but just at the end a biker launches himself in the air and biffs it behind her. Do over.

A cement bike park frequented by young daredevils isn't typical Arizona Highways fare, but in addition to classic standbys like the Grand Canyon, the show throws in some unexpected twists.

“We have to find stories that appeal to a wide variety of people,” Sewell says. “I'm hoping this story will get more young people interested in the show. We want to get people to get up and go out there. Everybody wants to know about their state, to get excited about where they live.” Sewell hopes that eventually, it won't just be Arizonans watching. “From the beginning, my vision was for it to be a national and international show,” she says. “We're really in the perfect position to do it now. We have 130-plus episodes in the can. We're one of the toprated shows. So our ability to sell this is much better.” From the start, Sewell and her team have been forward-thinking. For example, they have always shot in high definition. “We're the only locally produced show in HD,” Sewell notes. As of February 17, all full-power stations in the United States were required by law to broadcast digitally, which means that Sewell's show is now giving viewers even more spectacular shots of Arizona scenery and high-flying bikers.

5:00 p.m.

The crew is nearly finished. Sewell is sitting in the center of The Basin delivering her closing lines. After several takes, the bikers are pushing through their exhaustion, zooming and spinning around her in a sinuous and dangerous - figure eight.

It's another first for Sewell and her crew, and it won't be the last. “People ask if we're going to run out of ideas,” producer Clark says, “but at the end of the season, our list tends to be longer than at the beginning.” With so many people and places to feature, they expect to be doing this for a long time, inspiring fans of Arizona to experience firsts of their own.

For more information, visit arizona highways.com and click the Arizona Highways Television icon at the bottom of our home page.