\u201cA picture is worth a thousand words.\u201d It\u2019s a saying that has become clich\u00e9. For Ken Woo, though, those words have carried the world-renowned camera operator and DP to a career that has lasted more than 40 years. And, more often than not, his have been the iconic shots of some of sports\u2019 most memorable moments over the past four decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really knowing the game and knowing the athlete that you\u2019re with,\u201d he says. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t always worked, but it\u2019s just being dialed into what\u2019s happening, understanding all of the options that you have, and just picking one. It\u2019s a roll of the dice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether it was Greg LeMond\u2019s dramatic come-from-behind sprint to grab the yellow jersey by seconds at the 1989 Tour de France<\/a>, Kerri Strug\u2019s run towards gold on one ankle at the 1996 Summer Olympics<\/a> in Atlanta, or Tiger Woods\u2019 famous fist pump for his first career win at The Masters in 1997<\/a>, Woo had the knack of being at the right place at just the right time.<\/p>\n \u201cKenny Woo is an artist,\u201d says veteran NBC anchor and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Al Michaels. \u201cYou know when somebody is extraordinary when you can see 10 seconds of video and say, \u2018I know who shot that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Before developing skills that gave him one of the greatest eagle eyes in sports history, the person lovingly nicknamed \u201cThe Wooman\u201d was growing up with the dream of filming athletes on the grandest of stages. Equipped with a makeshift television camera made out of cardboard and a love for stills from the likes of famed Life<\/em> magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, he spent his younger years immersed in the act of freezing time with his photos.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was about 5 or 6 years old, I would run around the yard shooting like I had seen in sports,\u201d he says. \u201cI had a Kodak Instamatic camera that I got for my birthday, and then we got a Polaroid that I got to play with. But I was a television-generation kid; I literally grew up in front of the TV.\u201d<\/p>\n With each passing moment in front of the television set, his passion for the craft burned a little brighter, but nothing set his heart on fire more than the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. While most kids his age were interested only in the athletic feats of the individual, the young Woo was intrigued by the personal lives that made those athletes who they were. Even though this was the first time the Games received extensive coverage in color television, Kenya\u2019s Kip Keino (the eventual gold-medal winner of the 1,500-meter category) caught his attention during an off-the-track story created by ABC.<\/p>\n \u201cThey showed a feature, an up-close and personal, of him running barefoot in Africa,\u201d Woo recalls. \u201cI said, \u2018Man, that would just be the coolest thing in the world to be able to do movies like that.\u2019 I always loved watching the Olympics, but that was really the first time I noticed a personal profile. That was really an \u2018aha\u2019 moment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Like many young adults, childhood dreams often get put on the back burner. Whether it was in own decision or one influenced by someone else, sports television was almost a nonfactor as Woo headed to the University of Georgia. However during his first semester as a pre-law student, the pull of his past was too strong to keep him away from his camera and a good sports tale.<\/p>\n \u201cI realized that pre-law wasn\u2019t it for me and switched over to broadcasting, film, and television,\u201d he says. \u201cI was a feature editor on the college newspaper, The Red & Black<\/em>, and would take pictures and write the feature stories.<\/p>\n \u201cTo make money while I was in school,\u201d he continues, \u201cI also worked for the AV department; I\u2019d go to class and set up projectors and video cameras for the school. In addition, I was a jazz disc jockey for WUOG-FM radio. I had a shift three days a week from midnight until 3:00 a.m.\u201d<\/p>\n By the time he graduated, Woo had achieved an artistic mentality and a work ethic that would take him to the far reaches of the globe. With a keen eye for a shot, ease in front of a microphone, tangible experience with industry-grade equipment, and writing prowess, his bag of tricks would expand after graduation.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first job was at WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, SC,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was in an old converted supermarket; my starting pay was $168 a week. I was hired as a cameraman. I shot the local news and the gospel shows that aired on Sunday. From there, I went to A1 mixer of local news and on-air switching, which meant cutting all the programming from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. like Gilligan\u2019s Island<\/em> and The Flintstones<\/em>. Then I had to hit the network at 6 p.m. for the news every day. I got tons of experience, because not only did I get to learn how to use a camera but I had to learn lighting, audio mixing, and editing.\u201d<\/p>\n With a steady news gig right out of the academic ranks, Woo satisfied his appetite for sports with the weekend hustle of shooting high school football and basketball for the station\u2019s sports department. Accustomed to his old ways of shooting, he got a crash course, learning new technologies and mastering his preferred weapon of choice, and it began with a bit of hijinks.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of the film guys who were there wanted to use new electronic media,\u201d he recalls. \u201cWhen the RCA TK-76 came out, they said, \u2018Do you know how to use this thing?\u2019 I said, \u2018Yes,\u2019 when I actually didn\u2019t. I had used video cameras in college but nothing as sophisticated as that, so I stole the manual and went home to learn how to use it. I had the confidence to make the shot, but the key to being successful is learning the camera and realizing what you can get out of it. That\u2019s really how I got my start.\u201d<\/p>\n In the same vein, Woo\u2019s first foray into feature work came from a children\u2019s show in Spartanburg. After transitioning from his first job to production stints in Nashville, Kansas City, and Washington, DC, Woo got married and shifted to Los Angeles in search of work in sports. With connections made at Dick Clark Productions on the West Coast, he nailed his first job in network television with CBS in 1982.<\/p>\n Over the years, his work has expanded to the airwaves of NBC, and his long r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is a laundry list comprising 15 Olympics, Tour de France races, Super Bowls, NCAA Final Fours, The Masters tournaments, NBA Championships, Iron Man World Championships, Triple Crowns, and more. In this ride of a lifetime, though, there have rough patches.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most chaotic year I had in my career was in 1992, the last time where there were two Olympics in one year,\u201d he notes. \u201cIt was [the Winter Olympics in] Albertville, France, then [the Summer Olympics in] Barcelona. We probably traveled for four or five months before Albertville, stayed in Albertville for five weeks, and came home for a couple of weeks before we started shooting features for Barcelona, which went through August of that year.<\/p>\n \u201cI was also doing other projects,\u201d he continues, \u201cwith World Figure Skating Championships, producing The Masters film and Final Four features for CBS. I think, that year, I might have traveled around 270 days. I was basically raising my kids by phone since there was no email or FaceTime at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n Like a diamond, Woo shone under the pressure of a busy schedule. During that tumultuous time, he documented the Opening Ceremony of the 1992 Summer Olympics<\/a> in the only way he knew how.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the most unbelievable moment was [the torch lighting] in Barcelona,\u201d he says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t get to rehearse that because they didn\u2019t want to give it away, and in fact, they had two different archers. One was going to lob it in there, and the other one was going to fire on a straight line, so that was completely live to the world, and it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n Says NBC Head of Production Bucky Gunts. \u201cTake the Opening Ceremony and Kenny Woo, and you have your money shot.\u201d<\/p>\n