DMA Riverside Review October 2017 Riverside Review USE THIS 30 Oct | Page 14

LTC Barnes Communicates Key Message to NCIS LA
By Kyle Hammitt
The stars of the hit television show “NCIS
LA” celebrated a milestone on the show’s set at
Paramount Studios in Los Angeles Sept. 20. The
show marked its 200 th episode with interviews and
a cake-and-champagne ceremony for a packed
house of press, crew members and friends and
family.
The American Forces Networks Broadcast
Center’s (BC’s) Marketing and Promotion
department accepted an invitation to the event
from CBS Studios International. The team, Rock
Grant and Kyle Hammitt, acquired interviews and
video for potential use in future show promotions
and branding.
The crew invited a special guest for the trip
to Hollywood: Lt. Col. Catina Barnes, the BC’s new
director, who accepted the invitation and
experienced Hollywood up-close for the first time.
She wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
“It felt pretty exciting and unnerving at the
same time. It is exciting to be in places and
around people that make show business happen
and unnerving to meet celebrity or celebrity-like
people,” she said. “I wondered, how do I behave,
will I be cool, calm and collected or will I put my
foot in my mouth as I engage them? But it turned
out great!”
The crew got interviews with several of the
show’s cast, including Barnes’ favorite, LL Cool J.
Although he did make an impression, the biggest
impression for her was the set.
“What stands out to me is that awesome
productions can be conducted in such a place as
the set we were in for Paramount,” Barnes said.
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“In a way it creates this sort of great
illusion.”
Barnes came away from the event with
the same impression the Marketing team does
when dealing with celebrities: they’re just
people.
“My first impressions of working first-
hand with entertainment industry partners is
they seem to be down-to-earth people like the
rest of us. They are intriguing with their
experiences and hard working to be as
accomplished as they are,” she said. “I
extended an invitation to visit the BC. I hope
they will take me up on it.”
Barnes carried a key AFN message with
her to the studios: Everything AFN does is for
our military audience.
“The message that I want to get
across to the masses is that we are serving
those who serve and we really need their
help to be highly effective. That together
we can provide service members abroad
something that they can’t get otherwise and
that’s a taste of home, which by default will
remind them why they serve,” she said.
“NCIS L A” premiered on CBS Sept. 22
and was the #1 new drama. It airs in 200
countries and territories around the world.
The season nine premiere of “NCIS LA”
aired Oct. 1 and was one of the top-rated
shows in the U.S., first in its time slot.
( Photos below with Rock Grant and video camera by
Kyle Hammitt, photo of Kyle Hammitt with Nia Long by
Rock Grant, photo of Kyle Hammitt interviewing LL
Cool J by Lt. Col. Catina Barnes)
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