Chris Haston

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targeted while they were sleeping. The Pink Moon Murders is available on February twenty second, and you can follow The Pink Moon Murders on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get you a podcast. M My name is Chris Hasten and I'm an NBC staff photographer and I was the key photographer on the Office and a man of Kate Flannery. Hello Office family, Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of the Office Deep Dive. I am your host, Brian Baumgartner. Today I have a very special

guest joining me. He was an essential part of the crew of the Office, and in many ways he has actually helped shape our memories from the show. He's the reason that we have so many incredible behind the scene photos from our time on set because he was our extremely talented and absolutely hilarious NBC staff photographer. That's right, we're bringing on the incomparable Chris Hasten. Now what, why are you talking to the NBC staff photographer. That doesn't

make sense. Well, Chris was that, but he also has become a part of our family. Yes, that's right. He became the main man of Kate Flannery a ka Meredith Palmer, who actually makes a cameo at the top of this episode today. Gosh, I love these two. Everyone in the Office community loves these two. Now, in addition to the Office, Chris, having worked for NBC since, has worked on some other shows you may have heard of maybe, Okay, you've definitely

heard of them. The TV he's touched is almost unreal, you know, like Friends, Seinfeld, Fresh, Prince of bel Air, Community, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He has done it all, but only one show really changed his life because I mean romantically right. Um. I will tell you also that Chris also played a huge role in my upcoming book that's right. Welcome to dunder Mifflin is coming out November.

You can preorder it on Amazon right now, So go grab yourself a copy, Grab one for your friends, grab one for your family. Get ready to be blown away. I cannot wait for you guys to read it. And Chris offered so many behind the scenes photos that are included in this book, so I'm so excited to talk to him about those moments. But now get ready to focus. Get it like, focus the camera. We're focusing. Well, we're focusing on the man behind the camera. Please give a

warm welcome to the amazing Chris Hasten. Everybody. Bubble and Squeak. I love it. Bubble and squeak, Bubble and Squeaker, cooking at every month, left over from the night before. What is happening? What's up, daddyo? How are you? I'm great man, good to see you. Where is your mustache? Oh? I haven't had that since COVID. Man, it just got too hot and sweaty. If you know what I'm saying. That's what she said, But no, I shaved it off just because wearing a maut call the time was impossible. Right,

Oh that's smart. Kate. Would you get out of my eye line please? I've always wanted to say that to an actor. Get the hell out of my eyeline. Is Kate there? Ate there? Right now? Kate, Kate, come here? She is there. This is her Mike, this is this is where she does her How are you, Kate? What is happening? I'm talking to your man, I know, I love it. I can barely hear you on the headphones. Oh that's okay. It looks like it looks like a

Broadway show curtain behind you. I mean this is a man every night just for him, an audience of one. All right, can I get on? Can I get on? Are you guys going to talk? I love you too. We're being recorded, don't worry. Alright, alright there, Well there's a comedy portion of the interview right. Oh, it only begins there. It's so good to see. So you're well, everybody's okay, yes, yes, absolutely fine? All right, So I want to go I want to go backwards in time

a little bit. How did you get into photography? Well, as a kid, you know, you always hear those stories. Oh, when I was nine or eleven years old. You know, when I was nine, somebody put a camera in my hand and I fell in love with it. And when you know, all the kids in the neighborhood. I'm from southern California, so skateboarding and surfing was it. So when everyone else is skateboarding half pipes and pools, I was taking photos of everybody, of everybody doing half pipes and

pool Okay, exactly. So we're still best friends. So you know, we we always have our war stories, and mine has to do with photography. But it just yeah, I just I just started landing jobs here and they're working really hard to get into places. And I was going to school at the time in Torrance, and UM started working for an age to see shooting auto racing. That's my first professional gig, shooting auto racing. We shot off road racing and eventually road racing, and yeah, it was great.

I'm self taught. So they had a studio there, which is the main reason I wanted to work there, and then I taught myself lighting. It's funny, about a year before I started at NBC, which, by the way, I did this waiting for NBC to open up. Somebody goes, do you ever think of shooting people? I go, no way, man, I said, people get up and walk out on photo shoots. There's no way I'm ever going to shoot people. A

year later, I'm shooting some of the worst subjects. No, no offense, but you know, no, I mean none taken. That was the early days. But wait a second. You were self taught. I've taught myself lighting. I've taught myself about exposure. I've taught myself, you know. I mean, I had one year of college that that's all I needed. But I went to a small Christian school, so they offered nothing. I shot for the newspaper and the yearbook,

which they were awful. I looked back on that stuff and go find O then what I know now you know? But yeah, it was just it's it's a learning thing all the way. And um, you know, I've been at NBC for a really, really long time and now I'm the head guy. Now you're it, okay, But before that, you're shooting off road racing. So you're shooting cars off

the road in the desert. We pre run for two days and find our spots and then we'd either camp there, somebody would drop us off, and then the race would start, and you pretty much kind of new, Okay, well there's a hundred cars and I've seen about ninety five of them on I'm getting the heck out of here. And it was dangerous because we were down in Mexico. You know, you pull over machine guns in your face and you

either have a bunch of photos. We had a lot of racer photos all the time, or my my boss would go get Playboy magazines at garage sales. And it's amazing how far you can get with the federal ally with a machine gun in your face and a Playboy magazine. Isn't that great? It's sounds like the federalities are there right now. Actually, um so yourself taught as a photographer and then you're shooting off road and then you find

out about a job at NBC. This is no In nineteen eighty I found out, okay, okay, first of all my senior high school, I'm like, wait a minute, somebody gets paid to take pictures in the movies. And then I really freaked out. And then I ended up meeting a guy, went to and went to NBC and Burbank and it was the Johnny Carson stage and Billy Crystal was doing a pilot It's back when he did You

Look Marvelous. It was the beginning of that. And I was there with a girl and she goes, hey, I know that guy down there, and it happened to be a friend of her mom's and she knew that he worked there. I never knew it, and uh, she slipped him a note and he invented invited us down. We went into the lab, which was my office for twenty five years, and I'm I immediately hit him up and he's like, you know. After three months, he's like, don't ever call me again. And I bugged him every year

just I knew something. I knew it was going to happen. And it was NBC the whole time, because that was it, you know, NBC was the network. And finally, after five years they called and said, you're still interested. And I went in as a lab guy, wiping everybody's nose and taking out their trash. And again I go in there

and I learned how they do it big time. And what's funny about it is no photographer on staff would tell me stay out of an actress, Eyeline, don't hit on the actresses, don't don't do this, don't do that. And I just went and I got to say it, and I was a nervous wreck, but I never showed it. And you know, I've worked on some of the biggest shows in history. Right, what was the first show that you worked on out of the lab, like when they

let you go on set? Well, Punky Brewster, the original Punky Brewster was done on our lot and nobody and everyone was bored with a lot of shows, and this was a kid show. And I knew that there were some old school actors on there, and I thought, man, maybe I can handle this, and they said, go, yeah, go grab a camera and go. And we used to use these gigantic housings that went around a nikon or a cannon that sound proved it. I grabbed it and

I was fumbling and all that. It was only thirty six frames, so you have to you get through thirty six frames and then you uh, you know, you got to switch it out. But anyway, I went down there and started doing that, and I'm sure the pictures were awful. Uh. And then the second thing. The second thing was like instantaneous because they knew I can handle myself. I started shooting the Johnny Carson Show. That was a rotation thing,

so everybody did it, you know, every fourth or fifth week. However, many photographers were in that roster for it, and that was, um, that was show biz, baby, That's how I re's when I got bit wow, yeah Carson Show, right, I mean for for comedians at the time, I mean appearing on that and you're back there shooting at How amazing was that?

Just that dude. It's like Stephen Wright would come into the green room and I'd be sitting there waiting for the show to start, and we never shot Johnny's monologue unless it was required or asked by the producers, and and like Stephen Wright would be there and like I'd be like, hey, man, I mean, it's just like you're trying not to like, you know, throw up. And uh. I would always you know, with the comedians especially, I

did it with some of the musicians. But I'm like, hey, if you want me to send you some photos, which you know, I didn't have the authority to do that in the beginning, but once it was really rolling, I and you know, you know, I send Stephen Wright some photos and Jeff Fox were the God. That guy is such a great guy. He saw me recently. He goes, Hey, by the way, I don't hang a lot of stuff in my house, but there's a black and white that

you shot of me and Johnny is belly laughing. He goes, that hangs right outside my kitchen and it's like my Buddha. I touch it every morning. Which, man, that's that's my payoff right there. That is awesome. Who was the coolest person on the on the Tonight Show that you shot?

Like for you, dude? I mean god, we go sit in the audience durring rehearsals and the Chili Peppers would play for like an hour, and Iggy Pop would just come this far from your face and just be screaming at you l a singing, and they love that stuff because we're an audience of like ten people that wanted to see them. I don't know, man, it was I mean Jimmy Stewart, Uh, you know, I can't even I can't even think it was all great. So you shot Jimmy Stewart and me, So that's pretty much all I

really talked about. I mean, that's kind of right. I mean that's there's nothing in between those two. Um, in addition to the tonight's show. And you mentioned this before NBC, was it right? I mean NBC was us. By the way, Warren Littlefield and I we were, we were handed hand with each other and he calls me his mussy t the photographer. Really yeah, because I was there through that whole era, and I was a go getter and young and willing to just do anything. So Cheers. You shot Cheers.

I shot the end of Cheers. I was Leno's photographer when Carson left for the first five years, and we flew to Boston and we were in the Bull and Finch the night it went off the air, but Paramount sent me upstairs above the Bull and Finch to be in a room with the cast while they watched TV. And they go, you really shouldn't be there, but try and get photos the finale. This was the finale. They were watching the finale on TV in a hotel room in Boston. It wasn't a big room, and it was

really dark, and yeah, it was very intimate. I've been in some scary places, Brian Well, but that was I remember that night after the finale. They did the Tonight Show afterward, and so you were with them through I was, Yeah, there were a lot of photos I did not take that night. In fact, I was with I'm sorry I didn't work. I was. I was with the cast all day. I was in a limo with Kelsey Grammer doing business on his way to the State House. And uh, Kelsey

wasn't having a good phone call. He was on that phone in a limo behind with the cable, you know, And and the door opens and he gets out and we walked up the steps of the Statehouse for him to bang a gavel, And yeah, it was. I was. I've been in some places, Brian, and there's some other stories will tell when we're not being recorded. I'm sure I remember seeing the cast of Cheers that night on the Tonight Show, and I don't bombed. Weren't they I

don't bombed. That's exactly how it appeared. Was drunk appeared appeared to me. That is so amazing. And so also, you shot Seinfeld, you shot Saved by the Bell Fresh, Prince of bel Air, Will and Gray. You've spoken to me a lot about friends you were. You were at NBC the whole time, friends was on right, I did, Uh, Usually I did the pilot gallery. The gallery is there's two types of photography. I do as their unit and

gallery unit is something that you're on a set. You shoot images that look like they're coming out of the motion picture camera. I take a liberty with that because there are sometimes you don't want the camera on a set. Could be on the floor shooting this wide room shot, but I don't want some actress coming at me, going that is a terrible photo of me. So I I sort of take the liberty of getting better pictures that way. But the gallery stuff is kind of the rock and

roll stuff. And I have been fortunate to do several years of galleries of the biggest shows on NBC Wow. And the galleries are kind of pre set up shots for those listening that usually happens right before a season starts. You'll shoot the cast in various poses that will be used for publicity and marketing throughout the year. Right, So the covers you see on TV guides, or you're sitting at a light and there's a bus next to you,

that's all the stuff that we do. Yeah, so you had I'm skipping ahead quite a bit here, but you had one of the most famous at least from our show, The Office, that George Sarah painting UM Sunday in the park on the isle of French words um, and thought it was just a reservoir. Isn't that a French word? Right? But you you set up the Office characters as though they were in that painting. One you're tell me a little bit about about that or your idea behind that.

One of our top designers at NBC is named Sean Serrio. He's an award winning guy. It was his gig and he always gets the real cool gigs. So we got together and I took the original painting, not the original, but you know, I took that image and and sort of traced over and I took out a couple of people or added a couple of people, and I placed everyone where I thought, you know, with Craig Robinson in the hat, or Jim and Pam walking in with the umbrella, or Kate, you know, with a drink in her hand.

So we sort of designed all of that. We pretty much shot everyone singly except Jim and Pam were there together. And that I mean, you guys were amazing because you look like you're there with a bunch of people. That's the beauty of photography. Man, it's nothing but a big fat lie and U production. You can't. Everyone can't just stop what they're doing and walk off set. So we did. We did everybody one at a time, and I had plenty of time with you guys. We had a really

good time. Yeah, yeah, we did. What was let's exclude the office for a second. What was your favorite other show, let's say to shoot at NBC. Well, one of the most intense, most incredible shoots for me was Homicide Life on the Street. I think it was the third season. I mean it was like if Breaking Bad was going and they asked me to go do that photo shoot. It was like that because it was just rich and sets in Baltimore were unbelievable, and I knew the show

inside and out. And that's another thing too, is I really like to know what I'm doing going in. Sometimes I don't pilot. You just don't know. But this one I knew. I knew the Box was a sacred place and that the bad, the worst people in Baltimore were inside the box and Andre Brower was going to be really in their face. So those are some pretty phenomenal photos.

I used to enjoy Third Rock from the Sun because lith Gao is one of my favorite people in Hollywood, and it was a party, oh e R. We had a good time on the R even though it was very tense. We I don't know if I should say this, but I'm going to. Occasionally we'd bring in beer and wine and something a little it or sometimes if somebody requested it, but we get everybody lit. When we were shooting on the backlot at Warner Brothers late at night, we'd do these photo shoots of them coming out the

door into the ambulance. And yeah, those were crazy, wild parties, dangerous things. You didn't we didn't have that on our show. We didn't. I guess because you guys had a hundred people on your show. Maybe I guess that's true. I guess that's true. Talk a little bit about your your process. So, first off, a multi camera show like Cheers or Friends, the cameras are set up, do you have pretty much free rome to to be able to take photos from

anywhere sort of in front? Sometimes if you have an actress that doesn't want anybody in her eye line, or she'd be too. I don't even say she. I've had many many A guy go hey, I can see you moving, and you know, well, okay, I'll just let me start by saying, a still photographer is the only job on set that can be asked not to do their job. So you can't have the actor go out, you can't have the sound guy leave, you can't have one of the camera guys split. So I'm the one person who

could be asked not do their job. But um, when all that's moving, it is one of the most beautiful dances you've ever seen. One of my favorite directors in the world is Jim Burrows. I have done so many projects with Burrows, Will and Grace. I could run up to the very front of the lenses and work if I wanted to. Uh, I wouldn't do that. I'm I'm big. I'm a big dude, and I do take up a lot of space. But it's it's a relationship you get

with the dolly grips. You know, if you've ever seen this, if anybody's ever seen the big dollies that cameras roll on, those guys will run you over and those things can run you over. There a tank. I've seen other guys get clipped and it ain't pretty, but it's a dance and as long as you know how to dance, you

will survive in that situation. And there are times where Burrows is famous for putting his foot on the dolly and kicking it and they're his guys are so good they start rolling the wheels and the camera follows the actor. Whatever it's it's truly amazing. But I've been in the middle of two dollies when that happens, and you just gotta get out of there. Um, do you find that you still have the same passion that you did that first drew you in? Absolutely? Oh no, man, It's the

best job in Hollywood. It is the best job in Hollywood. I love to joke. Uh you know, you see some guys shoving a whole giant piece of pizza down his mouth at two in the morning and just to get himself home. I'm like, hey, glamorous business, right, Um. But that I everywhere I go. I mean, I see so many people from the office. I just saw Kelly Cantley last week. I see guys from welland Grace all the time. I see, you know, even even working like America's got talent.

I see camera guys that I've known for twenty five years, and it's and you know, brand, it's it's such a small, tiny business, but it's like the biggest, tiniest business in the world. So I'm so excited. I'm not gonna micrrect, but no, my passion is uh. I mean, holy cow, I can't believe I get paid to do this. And I just Kay will argue with you, but I just don't have the ego that photographers normally have. And you know, I'm I mean, I'm taking photos. I'm not a plastic surgeon.

I'm a I'm a documentarian in a way. It's I love to use that on people. Yes, no, but you are, No, you are a documentarian. I never thought about it like that. Yeah, yeah, but I'm I'm not just they're documenting. I'm most of the time creating the documentation of that. So that's what I love about being in a studio and doing a gallery and just making It's amazing brand. Sunday in the

Park with George was such a great famous painting. It's been copied so many times, and the fact that it carried the weight that image carries the weight that it does. I mean people like, oh my god, you worked on the office. I'm like, yeah, I'm a photographer, and and and then I mentioned that and they think they're talking to, you know, a big star. I'm like, that's all. I move on to the next thing. Man, I'm not worried about it. It's a hard time for hiring, so you

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that lived them, with commentary from experts. Visit adopt us Kids dot org slash podcast or subscribe to Navigating Adoption Presented by adopt us Kids, brought to you by the U. S Department of Health, that Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the ACT Council. If I could be you and you could be me for just one hour, if you could find a way to get inside each other's mind. Walk a mile in my shoes. Welcome mile in my shoes. Shoes. We've all felt left out, and

for some that feeling lasts more than a moment. We can change that. Learn how it belonging begins with us dot org. Brought to you by the AD Council. Welcome out in the shoes. Obviously you and I share a passion, which is the Office. Two thousand four, NBC ordered this show. Now were you aware of the British version of the show? You know what? When I heard this was coming at US, I watched the British probably in a day or two.

I watched it all, and it was. I watched it three times only because it was so frustrating and I hated it so much. I'm like, I don't get it. And then once I started watching it and the characters grew on me, then I I loved it. The reason I watched it so many times to get it is because I had worked on fifty British shows already that they were trying to make here that failed. By the way, I shot the very first images for the gallery, which

we can get into if you want. UM. But I went to that crappy little warehouse in Culver City and we went in there and shot and I shot Pam behind the desk, and I did that famous four shot of them looking at the computer. UM. So we show up and we had an art director who was a

very like UM. He's a very show biz guy. His name was Jim and Jim had this very like thunderous voice who whatever Jim said Jim wanted and Jim was going to get So we get there and Greg Daniels is there and he's walking around and UM, and I was confused. I mean, I I you know, Okay, you're gonna shoot this. They're all gonna be look at the monitor and you know, normally we're having him looking to the camera so we can identify them and you know,

people people connect with them. And then Jim Vince is there and he goes, all right, uh, hey, you hating points at Johnny goes you look at the camera, and out of nowhere, Greg flies and he goes, if anybody looks at this camera, the photo shoot is over. Because it was so new in the process that I don't think we wanted to give up any secrets and or or break that fourth wall for the photos because we weren't quite there yet and this was our first group shot.

And I completely was with Greg. He knew what he wanted if I could jump ahead real quick. There were times where we would have a real secret or something that they did not want to go out. I developed a relay and ship with Greg and the producers the whole show where I would shoot it and we would tag it so it wouldn't go out. Like I knew. People know that Steve was in the finale, right, can I say that finally? Oh? Thank god? But I was

probably one of five people that knew that morning. Uh they warned me, And which is the greatest thing ever. Somebody doesn't warn you like Carson Show. They've never warned us there's a big giant thing that's going to fall down and just miss his head. It's like, you'll miss

the shot if you're not ready for it. So I was standing just off camera when he says I can't be your best to Sminch, and I heard Steve walk up and I'm just like, oh my god, this is this is I can't tell you how many of those moments I've actually been there for so to know that. And I didn't even tell Kay. I didn't tell a soul because that's I mean, that's the way I am. Man. I'm like, uh, if you tell me something no one's

supposed to know, no one's gonna know it. If the network's not supposed to know about it, They're only only one person that the network's going to find out, my editor. And I'm gonna say this doesn't go anywhere until it iss, which is kind of powerful. But I never thought i'd so wait when you got there that day, you knew he was going to be there, and they said, don't release not right away, not right away. I think when I was geared up and walking on walking on a set.

Actually I did see him when he walked up to the house, so I mean I probably knew about five ten minutes before he walked up. So I think when he landed, they said, Steve's here, right to be ready. So and by the way, I want to say one other thing, and I love telling people this when we're on the set there that very first day, when Greg said, nobody looks at camera I had worked at least ten pilots with Correll, and I mean I worked on some

of the most amazing things with him. And when he walked up by jokingly said to my Crema, you guys, Steve Carrell's in this. Let's pack it up. We're getting out of here. This ain't going anywhere, and he got a really good laugh out of it. Steve and I always had the tightest relationship because I had known him for so many years, and you know, if he if I needed something, if he needed something, I was always welcome into his trailer, which was the coolest trailer in Hollywood,

and um, you know it was. It was a good relationship to have with him. Such a great guy, right well, I think I think also going back to that first day, you know, a big thing I know for Greg early on was he wanted to establish these characters or these people, meaning Jim and Pam and Michael and Dwight, and and this idea that that they were not actors, right, and so actors pose for the camera, actors look into the camera and and do you know, glamour shots or whatever

you want to call it. Whereas if you're a bunch of people at a mid level slash small regional paper company. You wouldn't look into the camera. You would be doing what you're doing and hoping to capture it. That's really fascinating to me that it started even before we started shooting the pilot, when they were doing the gallery. That's amazing. Yeah, so you shot like ten pilots you mentioned with Steve Carrell. Was there anybody else from the office that you had

shot prior to the office. Yeah. I was on a pilot one time and we're working in this great old school building near downtown and I walk in and there's these two geeks that are there. One of them is playing a robot, one of them is playing the robot's friend. And it was a pilot. And I treat pilots the same. You get in, you do your thing, and get out. And this one guy comes up to me goes, you know what I'd really like for you to do. I'd

like you to do this, that and the other. And I turned to him and I go, look, pal, this is a pilot. If this show was picked up, I will kiss your ass and do whatever you want. And it was Rain Wilson serious. It was his very first pilot. E ever did. And to this day, when anybody's introduced to me by Rain, he goes, this guy shot me on my very first pilot and we never have talked about me telling him that, but he respected me and he went with it at that moment. Now, wait, let

me ask you this. Did you so you were there early on? Did you like the show? You know I were? I was worried. I was worried at first because I, uh, you know, like I said, I'd been on so many shows that didn't think it worked, and um, I felt that the first two episodes of the British Office were so British, and I worried that, wait a minute, this

is just like it. But I didn't understand. And of course since then I have found I mean, I know how brilliant all of our top notch people were, like all of our above the line people were, and I've grown to really open up my eyes now when I go on set, like those guys are geniuses. Greg Daniels is a genius, a fearless genius. And it was breaking my heart even back then that it was, you know, six episodes and we might give you one more episode. And when I see that now I scream at people.

You know, I'm like, are you guys gonna do how many episodes? And we are they're adding three more, Like how dare they? Don't they realize they're sitting on a gold mine. Yeah. Now on the office, there was well, there were four walls, which there usually are in a space. There was no place to hide, and because of the way the show was shot, the cameras moving around all the time, so there is a huge dance between you know, a lot of times, really three people excluding yourself are

in the space. There's a boom operator, you've got mix on people, and you've got two camera guys who are swinging the camera around and so then into that they bring your big bond Like, I'm so so glad you asked this question. Yeah, so how how do you you know? It's one thing, Yeah, there's one thing to have this huge dolly that you know, if you stay behind the dolly, they're not going to shoot you because there's an audience

behind you and everything else. But in this you're having to learn the dance along with the camera guys and the sound guys. How how different was that for you doing your job on our show? Well, Brian and I we occupied the same three inch square on every floor, and that's hard to do. At least Brian, Brian the sound who's an amazing mixer now, but he and I were in the same spot, and when we were in a corner in that conference room or something, that conference

room was ten thousand times smaller when you've got a photograph. It. We just managed and Brian, he just jokingly rolled his eyes every time he saw me, and I, I'm very gracious, and I asked permission. I would always ask Randall or Matt if I could be, you know, in a certain place, and uh, I managed. I mean again, that's where a longer lens will come into play and you're able to sort of get in and I'll try to do two

passes on every scene. I'll try to go wide and include everyone, and then I try to get it fits. An argument at the copier or Pam's talking to Michael at the desk, I'll get I'll go in tight on that with a longer lens, that's easy to get. Randall, God bless that guy. Those him and Matt Man. Those guys are the two best I've ever worked with. Sorry

for all you other guys. I've worked with, but like I learned this on the er on the R where it was a little sort of island in the middle of the emergency room, and when they were on a handhol handheld they would do and um, I was okay. And there I watched and if if I saw him open his eye, I knew he was coming that way. Well, Randall and I developed a thing where and Matt two. I think Randall gave me a sort of a little click or or up, and the moment he did that,

I hit the deck. I literally would drop to the floor and Matt would actually whip through me. He didn't care, like, because you know, whip you can't. You don't even if even if you stop the frame on your on your recording, you're not gonna You're not gonna see anything. I'm just a big I wear black all the time, so it's just a black black white interesting But it was, Yeah, it was. And that makes you feel like a rock star. That makes you feel like, man, I am on the

best set in Hollywood and and I'm here making it happen. Yeah, there was a moment um several years ago that actually it was right when Steve left. What when Steve left. We had management at NBC and they brought in a guy over me who wasn't as qualified as myself and my other partner that were there, and so they were making life difficult. So some of the rock star stuff was taken away from me, and the galleries were being

done by this other guy. Um, and the new season was coming along, and you know, I don't pay attention to anything until they're like, Okay, we're gonna do this shoot. So um, I knew the office shoot was coming up though,

that was the one I knew was coming up. And then John and I had a conversation and he told me that he said that unless Chris Hasten does this gallery, we're not doing it, and that my friend is a powerful producer on a show, and that my friend is somebody I will take a bullet for and if he if he needs me to do anything in life, he can call me at any hour and I'll be there. Because that that was a true friendship move. And Krasinski, man, I'm so glad he's such a huge rock star now

and won't talk to me. I'm kidding. No, we we talked some. Yeah, we talked recently about something so yeah, that's amazing. He's he's a class act. He really is. Yeah. Yeah, just so you know, I I would have done whatever they asked me to do, whether you were there or not. Just to be clear. Okay, you talked about your relationship with Steve. You've known him for a while. How accommodating was he to work with throughout his time on the show.

He was probably the most intense and uh, I mean he has a big movie star by the time things really started rolling. In fact, he might have been the only one. Yeah, I was. You know, here's an example. I was in his office once, I was between Matt and Randall and Brian was somewhere with his boom, and I hadn't watched the rehearsal. Sometimes it's I don't want to be in a tight little space like that for rehearsals. But I didn't know he's going to cry in the scene.

I don't even know if he knew he was going to cry in the scene in the beginning. And that soundproof housing wasn't sound proof housing, so it was like, you know, click click, click, and it was you can barely hear it. But a man who has to cry on cue, he heard it, and uh, he didn't even look up, but he just goes Chris and I'm and it's like, you might as well hear that out of a out of a fog horn. It's like and I'm like, I'm so sorry, Steve, And all you can do is

apologize and leave and just you know, safe face. I mean, trust me, man. There are other actors who are like, if I told you once, It's like, well, you haven't told me once. There was somebody else on the show later on, but I'm not going to mention his name, but they'll really let you have it. But and so unfortunately, at this point, the room is so small, Matt has to get up off of his box turn Brian has to get out of the way so I can get the heck out of the room. Oh god. So it's humiliating.

It's humiliating. But you know something, Brian, you can't take it personal. It's hard not to um, but it's it's just a job. So that's the way I've looked at it. It's your job, and don't take it personal, and you'll be fine. Hi. I'm Hillary Clinton, and I'm excited to be back with a new season of You and me both. You know, when we started this podcast, we were going through some tough times, and let's face it, we still are.

But I am a firm believer we're stronger together. So please join me for more conversations with people who will make you think, make you laugh, and help us find a path forward. Listen to you and me both on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Emilia on this podcast. I'm taking you on a search, a search for love. Hard working Latina seeks cool, down to earth guy. Swipe swipe slide. It's hard out there for a girl to find Mr Right.

I have to meet a lot of Mr Wrong's. He'd invite me over to have dinner with his family. I knew he didn't tell them that it was transgender. Dating as a trans woman can be complicated, but there were other reasons. I felt like I couldn't always be myself. And he's asking me things about my family, like my mom's in prison, my grandmother was arrested for working with the Mexican drug cartel. This is Crumbs, My love story.

It's a show about the things we set up for and the bits of ourselves that make us who we are. Listen to Crumbs as part of the Michael la podcast Network, available on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. M Hi, I'm Elizabeth Dutton and I'm Elizabeth Dutton. Wait sorry, Zaron, do you want to say your name? No, I'm good. Good, go ahead. We're the hosts of Ridiculous Crime. People love true crime, right,

the mystery, the intrigue, the human frailty, totally. But what a lot of us don't like is the blood and the guts and the mayhem. Wait wait, wait, wait, some of us do like the mayhem. Okay, but let's be real, there's nothing funny about murder. Okay, that's our show gives you stories like the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. And the Max Headrooms signal hijacking. Oh so you mean ridiculous

stories like the UK cat Shaver and Pablo Escobars cocaine hippos. Yeah, stories like the dudes who stole Buzzy the animatronic whatever he was from Disney World and the woman whose husband tried to kill her but came back from the dead and surprised him at her own funeral. Yeah. That does sound good. You can find this new podcast, Ridiculous Crime all over the place, the I Heart Radio app, the Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I don't

know how you live Ridiculous Crime. What was your favorite memory being on set of the Office. I was afraid you were gonna ask me this, because I know you asked so many people this question. One of the funniest things that happened on a regular basis. Kate loves the fact that I hung out in the fake men's room. But the fake men's room was the route to the real men's room because there was no back wall and I'd be sitting there editing on my computer or whatever,

and uh, leslie, David Baker did it ten times. If he did it once, they opened the door like, oh sorry, I'm like, I'm not taking a ship here, dude. The restrooms right there, keep going um um. You know what. I hate to be so cliche, but it's like any day I walked in the door there, man, it was a good day. And then, of course, you know, in the middle of the second season, Kate and I hooked up, so it's like I had a place to eat my lunch. Now,

you know, what I mean, how did this start? Like, was there a moment, was there was there music playing in the background, or did someone captured on film. I'm just wondering. You know. She kept inviting me to see The lamp Shades, her comedy act, which is absolutely brilliant. It's that's Kate Flannery brilliance all the way. And I I was, you know, uh, I'm invited all the time. Hey, I go to and you want to come see my band? And I'm like, whatever, whatever, But she kept inviting me.

And one night I happened I was going to be at this club in Hollywood to see some other girl and just somebody I was hanging out with. And then um, I said, well, I'm busy on Saturday. And I go, well, what time because the thing I was going to was later. She goes eight o'clock. I go, oh, I can make that work. And I go, uh, where's it at? She goes, right in Hollywood Bullever. I go, We're on Hollywood Bluehere.

She goes, it's in prov Olympic. I go, that's where I'm going to be at ten o'clock to that same night, I said, this is meant to be and um, we you know, it's funny. She she knew I had kids, she didn't know if I was divorced or married. And uh, after the show, we went and got a drink and five minutes and I'm like, you and I should be dating. And I am not that smooth. I had never said that to anybody else, but I had connected with her in such a way, and I knew she was brilliant.

I think she was very attracted to me. She invited me a lot, and she invited you a lot. Yeah, like every time it was, and it was she used to do it every Saturday night. So but I think the one moment that that we first had eye contact is I used to go around like for almost every time I was there, I would do portraits to you guys, just because that's always really good filler if they're going to do a story or whatever. And I think this one time I don't even remember, but it was the

Christmas episode of TV Guide. They were going to do photos of everybody because it was the show was picking up steam, and there's a picture of her holding up a Santa Claus doll and uh. And other times I got her pulling a bottle of vodka of the out of the thing looking up at me and just she was adorable, and um, it's funny. I met her as Meredith and then I saw her as her character on stage and I'm like and my friends like look at her,

and I'm like, take it easy, take it easy. And then she comes out walking like Kate and I'm like, now we're talking. That's why five minutes and I go, you and I should be dating. You said that to her. That is amazing. Apparently a recent interview she gave, she said that the two of you are like Jim and Pam because you worked together but didn't start dating until the end of season two. Yeah, that's about it. That's about right. Yeah, but she was never as mean to

me as Pam was to Jim. Just kidding, I'm just talking storyline here, Yeah, exactly. In the in the finale of the Office, Um, Greg, let you dance with Meredith during Dwight and Angela's wedding. How cool is that? You know, Kate wanted me in that wanted me in the show, and I'm like, okay, whatever, you know, I didn't think it was gonna happen. And then she wanted me to be I think would be one of the cops that takes crete out at the end. But those are real

motor cops that stopped traffic for us. Those are real L. A. P. D. Guys. Um. So I was fine, you know, with just being her her boyfriend at the at the wedding, and then you know, end up they gave me a line in the warehouse when Pam reveals her mural, and which here's a great story. She's gonna be so mad when I tell you this. So Coopus comes up and he goes, hey, just say what a photographer would say, Oh yes, sir, And uh so Pam's like, all right, every real, let's do this.

But and then everybody gets in and I said, all right, everybody right here. That looks great. That looks great, you know, and then then you cut and kick goes and you're all standing right there, and this was a nervous moment for me anyway, and Kate goes, you can't talk, and I was just like I was told I can talk. And all of a sudden, Kelly Cantley, who's this tall, walks through and she goes, you can talk, and she

looks at her she goes, he can talk. And then she she takes off and then uh, Kate was just like oh no, oh no, so and then what happened was they didn't have a funny enough line and Greg brought me into a d R and I think you might have been there. I don't know it was it was Angela, but they wanted to add um just a couple of dozen more, which a photographer would never say, because the whole reason I wouldn't say that is because you guys get bored with what's happening and you go

upstairs brilliant writing. And so I meant, I'm at Universal one day and they're like, you need to go do a d R. I'm like what. And I went in and Angela is doing her thing, and then for some reason, Brian and God bless actors, man, God bless you guys. I could not say that line to save my life. I was. I was a bumbling idiot. It was like just a couple dozen more, and and Greg got right here and he's like, say it, say it, you could

say it. And I should have just put my full trust in this genius who I had watched for the last nineteen years be the most absolute genius and I and finally I mumbled it out and the moment I'm done, he's all right, we got it. And I turned and Rain does like a cop kick in the door and he's screaming my line because he was coming into do a d R after me, And I'm like, I'm like, let's just have Rain do it. You know. It was a funny moment, but my god, I felt like an idiot.

It is amazing. Do do when you're out with Kate? Do people make jokes to you about about dating Meredith? They don't even see me? No, you know a few things have happened since. Well, first of all, when Syndication happened, when it started hitting regular uh like a cable thing, uh, Kate started getting bothered all the time by so many people. And then when it hit Netflix, she was mid bite and people would stop and say, can we get a

photo of that kind of thing? But now people are stopping me like if it's it doesn't happen all the time. But somebody goes, hey, weren't you in the finale? I saw you in the finale. I've been like, oh my god, it's really weird for me because I'm all about you know, I can spot somebody spotting Kate from a mile away. And we have a little code word which I'm not going to tell you, but it's from the show, a little I'm not I'm not going to private. I'm gonna

tell you private what he'll find out private. But um I let her know, okay, in coming, you know what I mean. So, uh, but that's not the code word. What's not gonna Kate will be mad at me if

I tell you. Um, well, listen, I've been talking to people, you know for now the last couple of years, which has been amazing, and how willing people are now after eight years of the show being done talking about it, and as you just mentioned, you know, the sustained not just success, but you know, as I say, not just survived, but it's thriving now all of this time later and

this exploration that I've been going through. Now we have collected it all together and uh, and we're coming out with a book that's going to be launched really soon. And you are a huge part of that book because there are hundreds of never before seeing photos that you took on set in some of the most intimate moments during the show. So when we started talking about photos for the book. I went, wait a second, there was a cast book that I understand you helped put together

at the end of the show. That was like, it was one of those things like right in front of me the whole time. It's like right in my living room on my coffee table. It has been for the last eight years. And so I started looking through a book. How did how did that come about? That that creation of that amazingly beautiful book. That happens a lot, like when Will and Grace was wrapping up, I did, Uh, I did that. Almost every show doesn't now, And I think that that is the greatest gift you can get

as a rap gift. I mean, that's the great the great thing about being a photographer in general. Like even if you're at a party or an event, you're going to talk to every single person in the room. That was my chance to work with every person. And a lot of people try to ditch you and not you know, but I was pretty sneaky and I was able to get people. But yeah, that's that's always something really fun to do. It's us so much work, especially at the end of a run. But uh, it's yeah, like what

you're saying right now, it's like it's unbelievable. Well, it's it's so, it's so beautiful and so for you know, the last eight years, when people you know come over to my house and we're talking about the show, always refer to the book and they look through it and they're like, oh my god, I can't believe you have these photos. Well, now everyone in the world can't come to my house to look at my book. But now so many of these photos are going to be in

this book. And so I'm we're gonna I feel like Conan O'Brien here, but we're gonna play a little game. Okay, We're gonna play a little game. Describe that picture hashtag, hashtag copyright, hashtag Brian Baumgartner, hashtag the Office, deep dive. I don't know if that covers it, but I'm gonna make these photos available on my Instagram so other people can can mention it. But I'm gonna show you a

series of photos and this can be fast round. You can say one word, you can describe something that you remember from some of these iconic photos of the show. So the first photo, Steve Carrell sitting at what looks like a dinner party with the st holy girl. Uh you know, light up thing behind sign was so bright, man, it was so bright, which was the joke. But in a still you want the actor to look good, so the signs blown out. That was one of the most

unforgettable nights of my life. I can't even believe how hard we laughed. And and that's hard when as the photographer. Man, there were tears. Just my whole shirt was wet from just laughing so hard with that stupid TV, the plasma TV, plasma TV. Yeah, but this was this was intense. You know, if I had one word for this intense because that fight was intense, I'll try to give you one word answer. No, no, no,

you can describe more. I'm just saying it can be fast. Okay, photo too, Oh Jesus Christ, Meredith with intense infusing because it's never made. There was never a reason in the episode of why her face looked like she was dropped into a pizza oven. Okay, so so go ahead, you can say this is her go ahead. Yeah, so there was she got was it sunburned or if we're extremely

sunburned and we even did a big shot. I hope to not ruin another photo, but there's a group shot in the warehouse and she looks like this, and um, there was no explanation why because the storyline was cut. So I think a valuable lessons were learned during this episode that you know, if you have something like this, you better back it up. Yes, do you. She's just as beautiful there as the moment you met her. Beauty is skin deep. Brian, Oh no, no, no, she's she's

she's lovely. She's lovely, all right. Photo three, Okay, a group of people, Oh yeah, around a giant one hundred. Tell me about this. I think Phyllis's hair speaks for all of us. It was so hot and dusty there. Um, we were out at the cow. Let me go ranch, I think. And you guys, uh, usually when they cut a cake like this, they're telling you about your next pickup, and that might have been what happened this day. But

all I knew is I never got any cake. You never got any cake, and a gigantic cake like that, I know. This is Uh. This was the celebration of the hundredth episode, huge milestone in a show huge. I've been there for hundreds of them. Yes, Company, Company, picnic and you see Greg they're cutting the cake. But yes, we were all we were all very very very very hot out there in Malibu, alright. Picture four, Oh Jesus, Yeah that was scary. Will Ferrell dunking of basketball over

me sitting on the ground. What do you remember about this day? You know what, Brian, and it's I'm not bullshitting you, but I could have easily shot that in a way to see his face, but I wanted you in there looking like you're about to get crushed. But yeah, this this was the shot to me, even though he used his right hand and covered his face. That was a pretty crazy day. Yeah, that was a classic Will Ferrell day where you keep you keep checking yourself like

is this really happening? Yes, he's amazing, he is amazing. Alright, this picture here, Picture five, This is our final tablet reading. Yeah that was I was crying as hard then as I was when Steve left, but just seeing everyone's emotion and everything else, and a lot of you guys held

it together. But again, I've been at a million of these things too, a million of the last table read, but this one, man, this was like, you know, finding out that your grandparents are are both gonna doctor or something. I always feel that way at the end of a show. It's like there's a death in the family, but we're still going to see each other down the road. But

it's always is that sad. Yeah, and a lot of people have this photo and yeah, well, Chris Workman called me and said, hey, I'd love to do this gift for the cast, and uh he blew it up big. But I remember I walked around the entire room made sure I get all the faces. But this one has so many great expressions and and it was you know, and Chris just blew it up for everybody, and it's fantastic.

I'm sure it's hanging in everyone's house. And that's how I I love to to judge my work by not how much money I make or where my pictures are published, but where they're hanging. That's important to me. That's awesome. Yeah, alright, picture six and seven, oh Man, rough night. H that was a very touching moment when she took that off

the wall. Um, but you know, I everyone always posts pictures like the one on the right of you know, when Steve laft I shot that famous shot at him with the slate and uh and I got a wide shot and everyone are bawling their eyes out so hard. This was the equivalent of that. I do have another picture of Pam doing the very last shot was Pam's talking head. It doesn't appear and the show. That is

the last thing that I think her taking the picture. No, it's as by the tree outside, right, But anyway, I was outside of the conference room and I have a photograph of everyone's silhouetted watching that final Have I not sent that to you? It's everyone watching her talking head through the window of the conference room. It's a beautiful shot.

I haven't seen it, but I'll send it to I'll send it to Yeah, Chris, thank you so much, oh my pleasure for talking, for being so candid and open about your no, your experience, not just on our show, but but your time I'm at NBC. I appreciate you and your friendship. So thank you so much for coming in and talking to me. And Yeah, onwards and upwards to the next show, right to the next office on NBC. I'm not sure if anything will rise to that occasion,

but we'll see, all right. Thanks, thanks buddy, And there you have it. What a guy, Chris Daddy. Oh, it was so great having you on. Thank you for sharing your story with all of us. And I know that you're a fan of this podcast, So my only question is after today, what is your favorite episode? To all of you listeners out there, thanks for coming back. Now. If you come back next Tuesday, then you'll find we'll be talking to another man that you all have been

dying to hear from. Hint, his first name starts with the same letter as Chris's. Five seconds, okay, I'll tell you it's Craig. Craig Robinson, the funniest man I have ever seen on a stand up stage. That's right, Mr Darryl Philbin himself. But until then, have a great week everyone. The Office. Deep Dive is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Lang Lee. Our producers for this episode are Liz Hayes and Diego Tapia.

My main man in the booth is Colin Tadeshi. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by my great friend Creed Bratton, and the episode was mixed by Seth o'landski. Have you ever felt depressed about work only to have your dad be like, why you're so down, So you told him you hate your job, and he said, well, you better talk yourself out of it. And then you thought, hmm,

I love to talk. I could host a podcast. And then you went to Speaker from my Heart and started a podcast and got good at it, then monetized it, then quit your boring job and told your dad thanks for the advice. And he was like, well, that's not what I meant, and I don't understand what a podcast is. But you seem happy, so that's great, kiddo. Do you ever do that? Well, you could at spreaker dot com. That's spr e a k E R. Ask your dad.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. Coming February, Hi, I'm Glory Adam, host of Well Read Black Girl. Each week, we journey together through the cultural moment where art, culture and literature collide and pay homage to the women whose books we grew up reading. It's the literary kickback you never knew you needed. Listen to a Well Read Black Girl on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.