company pointed the team towards an expensive, but adequate medical and life insurance package. INTO KYIV With the capture equipment shipped separately via van, Williams, Nunez and the team’s private security advisor – a former British commando – flew into Krakow in Poland. They then drove overnight to Lviv, just inside the Ukrainian border, and then to Kyiv.
Information sharing was kept to a minimum, with the team knowing only that someone would meet them at a location in one of the presidential buildings. “There was a lot of protection – sandbags, checkpoints and airport security. Plus, our phones were taken away,” says Williams. Talesmith had engaged a local grip and gaffer team to help set up a green-screen cube for the shoot – not
essential, but providing a boost in quality. Nunez and Williams got the Evercoast gear in place – until the 10pm curfew – and then returned the next morning to hurriedly finish the process. With an hour to go until shooting time, the team still hadn’t locked in a script for Zelensky. They had only written a loose draft for him to use as a departure point. “We knew Zelensky was a comedian and had a good sense of humour, and wrote this thing about being the first leader since Princess Leia to do this,” says Williams. Not only did Zelensky incorporate these Star Wars parallels into his final speech, but had a bespoke T-shirt made which depicted a
INTERNATIONAL EFFORT Teams from New York, London and Kyiv came together
ZELENSKY HAS A VERY YOUNG AND MEDIA-SAVVY TEAM
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