Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Riding on a dream

You might think this is just a "local girl makes good" story. That would be a mistake.

Sure, Darley Newman's PBS documentary travel show "Equitrekking" won two Emmy awards this year. But it's the path she took from Porcher Street in Myrtle Beach to the Emmy stage that provides a classic script for how hard work, the courage to follow a dream and good timing can add up to an enviable success story.

That script began when she moved to Myrtle Beach with her mother, brother and sister to be close to her grandmother. She lived just two blocks from the beach while attending elementary and middle school here.

"I loved it," Newman said. "I was always outside doing something at the beach. ... I rode my bike around everywhere."

It's also when, but not where, she got her first introduction to a love of horses that would eventually carry her to such places as the Ring of Kerry in Ireland; an Alberta, Canada, mountainside in a hail storm; and the beaches of Costa Rica, where she gets to share that love of horses and a love of travel each week with viewers of PBS channels across the U.S. and on international networks in more than 25 countries. "Every summer, my sister and I and my brother all went to camp," she said of annual stints in the N.C. mountains. "I would ride every summer at camp, and loved it. ... I loved being in the mountains, especially in the summer. And I was in awe of the horses. I used to think maybe at night I would sneak out and ride off into the woods," she said. "But I didn't."

In those days, summer camp was the only place for Newman to get her equine fix. "I didn't get to maintain the horse thing after camp ... there was not a lot of money [for lessons] growing up."

She was able to pursue her yen to perform, however. "Christie Karavan who runs the Myrtle Beach School of Performing Arts taught me dance for years, and then in eighth grade she cast me in Tricycle Productions' 'Alice in Wonderland' musical as Alice," she said. "My mom was also cast, and she said if she was going to have to drive me to rehearsal every other day, she was going to be in it as well. The performances were held at the Myrtle Beach High School, and it was a big deal at the time.

"I remember my mom being so nervous, but I wasn't at all at the time," she said. "I loved it."

Learning the ropes

During her years at boarding school and while attending George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Newman returned to Myrtle Beach in the summer, working as a hostess at Pier 14 and as a camera person for the "Southern Style" show.

"It was my first real experience with TV and film, carrying equipment, setting up lights," she said. "I filmed some county council meetings. It was great. I got paid, and I was doing something good for my career later on."

Those kinds of Grand Strand experiences sparked interests that would carry her forward to a career in broadcasting and eventually to her own Emmy-winning show.

She studied radio and TV at George Washington. "I knew I wanted to work in the TV industry, but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do. I started out doing a ton of different things."

In college she worked for a talk radio news service as a reporter.

After college, she moved to New York City, where she did programming for the WB channel. A stint at "48 Hours" gave her experience at research at pre-interviewing subjects for the show's segments.

"I'd do something six months or a year, move to the next thing, go up the ranks," she said. After leaving "48 Hours," she began freelancing full time, doing medical documentaries.

Back in the saddle

Meanwhile, Newman had resumed her connection with horses.

"I got back into it in college when my mom and I went to North Carolina again and got to ride at Biltmore Estates," she said. "I said 'I can't stop doing this.'"

When she moved to New York, she began riding at a barn in Connecticut.

"I met a group of ladies there and started writing about my experiences with Trailblazer Magazine," she said. "That's how I got into the horse journalism thing. I went riding in Central Park and wrote about that."

As she continued to freelance and ride, she asked herself that "What do I really want to do?" question.

"I really want to travel and ride horses," she answered. "I just want to go all over the world."

She pitched the idea of doing a story on horseback riding in Ireland to Irish tourist officials. "They said OK, they'd pay for it but asked 'Where's it going to air?'"

Newman found a small horse network, since out of business, that said it would air it if she could get sponsorship. Tourism Ireland agreed to sponsor it.

That was in 2004.

She took that show and used it as a pilot to take to PBS.

"I was going through the paces and seeing if I could make it happen," she said. "The goal was to get one show on PBS."

They got that and more. The series began airing in 2006, and in 2009 it won two Daytime Emmys, one for Outstanding Single Camera Photography and one for Outstanding Special Class Series.

"We were just happy to get nominated," she said. "I was sitting there in this room with all these important people and thought, 'Wow, this is a big deal.'"

On the trail and beyond

The "we" refers to the three-member team: Newman; her husband and executive producer, Chip Ward; and cinematographer Greg Barna. All three had prior experience with horses.

Barna worked with race horses earlier in his career. "He's so comfortable around them," Newman said. "He's a good rider; some stuff we've shot on horseback. ... Most of the time he gets off to shoot. He rides ahead with Chip and stops at different places."

When they're on a shoot, the team "leap-frogs" each other, Newman said.

"Sometimes he [Barna] rides along with us, it depends on the terrain. He's amazing. Not only can he ride, he's an amazing shooter. He gets these angles and sees things that others don't see."

Newman and Ward now live in Bethesda, Md., just outside Washington, D.C. Both take riding lessons these days. It's both a break and a necessity.

"I take jumping lessons, more for fun, really," Newman said. "It's a really good skill to know and I enjoy the challenge. ... I don't jump very high, just 2 feet and under."

Ward's lessons are a bit different. His training focuses on dealing with the unexpected so he can handle anything they encounter on the trail. "I have to be able to jump on whatever horse is available," he said.

Like the cinematographer, Ward and his horse are carrying an extra load. "A tripod's usually tied on to the back and I'm carrying 50 pounds of gear."

Once the crew was on a trail 12,000 feet up in Colorado when a hail storm struck. "The horse got bonked on the head and threw me. It happened as I was holding the reins and trying to film Darley. He threw me right off."

Such mishaps aside, planning and producing the show are far more complicated than the trail journeys themselves.

"So much research goes into finding where to go riding," Newman said. "I have a network of people that I go to who ride around the world but don't film it. I'll call someone in New Mexico and ask if they know someone."

Once Newman picks a location, Ward is the leader when it comes to logistics.

"We have a different set of skills," he said as the two checked out the horses and riders at the Washington International Horse Show in October. "Darley works with the scripts and with the sound guys. She's great at talking with people and riding while on camera."

Once the cameras are off and they're heading home, Ward takes charge, especially when going through customs. They noted that traveling in Middle Eastern countries with large quantities of recording gear can present challenges.

"As a rule, I'm the only one who does the talking then," he said, smiling.

The toughest customs challenge they've faced? "Coming back into the States from Mexico," Ward said, "Except going through [London's] Heathrow.

Once the trip is over the work really begins.

"There's so much in the editing, putting together and writing, sound editing and color correction," Newman said. "I do the editing but I don't do the final sound."

No matter the amount of work, or even occasional danger involved, the show is a labor of love.

Her advice for those seeking such job satisfaction?

"Go for it, get as much experience as you can," she said. And don't be afraid to fail.

"'Equitrekking' has been a success, but even if it hadn't been, I would have been happy that I had tried it. If you're looking for a dream job, try to do things on your own too. Get creative. No one's going to do it for you. As much as people say 'work your way up,' you have to be creative. It does require moving around and taking risks. Once you take the risk you have to stick to it. ... 'Equitrekking,' I've been working on it for years. It was not an overnight sensation."