[Note: We did not ask the instructors anything about marketing or customer
service because they knew nothing about it. Susan Harris didn't even know
that FIRM/Volume I had been renamed. We did not tape record the Q and A
session, so the answers here are based on memory.]
Q: Tell us about your backgrounds. How did each of you get involved with
THE FIRM?
A: Susan said she started with THE FIRM when they exercised in bare feet.
At the time, she was taking ballet, and was looking for something else. A
friend told her about THE FIRM studio in Charleston, she took a few classes
and was hooked. She became an instructor when the studio manager asked her
to try out.
Heidi first started doing the FIRM as a teenager when she found a copy of
FIRM/VOLUME I while she was baby-sitting for a family. They didn't ever use
the video, so they gave it to Heidi. She was hooked. Later, she was baby
sitting for Anna Benson and saw 40 copies of FIRM/Volume II sitting on her
shelf. She was thrilled to find out that Anna had actually produced them.
Anna had her demonstrate her favorite move from FIRM/Vol. II in her kitchen
(Heidi showed us what she demonstrated -- it was one of those moves from
the high impact section). Years later, she was attending the University of
Charleston and began taking classes at the FIRM. Soon she was asked to
become an instructor, and then to lead a video.
Tracie said she was taking classes at THE FIRM (in Columbia, SC?). While
she was doing "table work" Anna came over and tapped her on the butt and
said that if she could loose a few pounds she could be an instructor
(Tracie said that Anna denies she ever said such a thing!). This gave
Tracie the motivation to loose the weight, and presto! she was an
instructor.
Q: Tell us about making the videos.
A: Tracie said the first thing that happens is they write/choreograph the
videos. When they think it's perfect, they submit it Anna, who promptly
returns it and has them completely rewrite it. The process usually takes
around six weeks. Then they begin training. Anna selects the instructor
and the cast. Sometimes open casting calls are held -- that's how many of
the cast members have been selected. Also Janet Jones Gretsky, Sandahl
Bergman, Jayne Poteet got selected this way. Now they're mostly using
instructors. For FIRM Strength and Cardio, Heidi and Pam were two of
twelve in the final cut. They had to audition extensively using a
TelePrompTer.
A few weeks before shooting the video they go into training to get into
"performance shape." The instructors work out with a guy named Pat Odin
(sp?) who is based at another gym and who's trained football players. He
works them out till they drop. It's extremely grueling. They use very,
very heavy weights as well as machines. They also follow a very strict
diet. Tracie was doing this while we were there because she will be
leading one of those advanced videos. Again, they do this only to get into
"performance shape" and they said that they would never want to try to
maintain this for very long, because what you have to do to get into that
kind of shape is far too rigorous and demanding for everyday living. At
least it is for them. Susan seemed to have no interest in getting into
"performance shape" any time soon! Also the cast begins training together
a gym, learning the choreography and getting into performance shape.
Meanwhile the set is being created in Columbia. They shoot in a studio
that's about a block away from the FIRM studio in Columbia, and that's
where the set is built.
Finally the shooting takes place over about a week -- 3.5 days with the
instructor and the background exercisers, then 3.5 days with just the
background exercisers. The instructor uses a TelePrompTer throughout the
workout. After shooting, Anna Benson edits them all together chez Anna
(her home or office -- not sure how she's set up). She's got some kind of
computer video editing system now.
The FIRM is currently in production on an *advanced* set of 3 new total
body videos: a Slow and Heavy workout, a Fast and Light workout, and a
basic training video (no aerobics) called "Abs, Hips, Thighs" -- though it
has some arm work, says Tracie. These are going to be advanced and tough.
We met Robin who did the choreography for the Fast and Light tape. She and
Summer both reiterated that it would be TOUGH!
Q: Where does the music for the videos come from?
A: The first five volumes had music original music composed by Marc
Aramian. They would send him the choreography and he would write music
specifically for that choreography. Lately they've been using library
music. That means that the music must be selected from an existing library
and the choreography is matched to the music.
Q: Susan Harris, did you *really* make FIRM Volume IV after giving birth 4
months earlier? How did you manage to get back into shape so quickly?
A: Susan said that her son was 5 months old when she made Volume IV and she
worked really hard to get back into shape. There was a stomach crunch
machine in the weight room of the FIRM studio that Anna Benson had sent
over to her house. She would do 2 sets of 300 crunches per day on that
machine. She was breast feeding, but stopped right before the shooting.
This caused some production difficulties: in the middle of a take she would
start lactating and they'd have to cut and retake. Susan said that if you
look carefully, you can see that the size of her breasts changed throughout
the shooting -- they ended up smaller than when they started. Also, she
worked so hard to get in shape to do Vol. IV, that she ended up being
lighter (20 lbs?) in this video than she was in Volume I.
Q: Who is Narcisa Waters and how does she manage to look better and
better each video?
A: Susan said that Narissa is an instructor at the FIRM in Columbia, SC.
She's also a business woman and always dresses really well, wearing suits,
etc. She says she's got great genetics -- one of those bodies that
naturally looks great, and she works hard to make sure it does.
Q: What are FIRM step aerobics classes like? Why hasn't there been a video
that's like one of these classes?
A: Tracie said that the step aerobics classes were the least popular
classes at the FIRM. They're really there to get people in the door who
think that they don't want to use weights.
Q: At VF, many people have had their greatest success alternating
"Strength" days with "Cardio" days. What are your thoughts about this?
A: Tracie said that in her opinion "aerobics are overrated." She said that
she knew people in their 40s who had been avid runners all their lives but
did no weight training, who looked terrible. Then she spoke of Anna Benson
who's in her 40s who look still looks great: toned, muscular and healthy.
She's been working out most of her life with aerobic weight training.
Tracie recommended alternating slow and heavy days with fast and light days.
Q: What do you think about eating vegetarian as regarding to weight training?
A: "We're not nutritionists," said Susan and Heidi. They went on to
emphasize that protein was very important to building muscle mass. They
recommended trying to eat about half your weight in grams of protein a day
(if you weigh 100 pounds, that would be 50 grams of protein) and spreading
it out throughout the day.
Q: Do people ever stop you on the street because they recognize you from
your videos?
A: Heidi said that no one has ever stopped her. Susan said she's been
stopped a couple of times in airports, but that's about it.
Q: Do you do any other exercise besides you classes to keep in shape?
A: Susan does ballet, and Heidi and Tracie run. But all three said that
mostly they stay in shape by teaching classes.
Q: How do you keep in shape when you travel?
A: All three said that basically they did nothing when they traveled or
were on vacation.
Q: How do you stay motivated to exercise?
A: Susan and Tracie think that we who exercise at home are the ones who are
*truly* motivated. They feel like they can't get motivated unless they go
to the gym. Also, when they teach, they're getting paid to exercise.
Heidi, however, works out to FIRM videos. She is still an instructor at
the FIRM but also has a job teaching health to elementary school kids. She
said that she has quite a commute to work, so is not teaching at THE FIRM
as much. Instead, she does videos. She uses both STRONG HEART and CARDIO,
and said Volume 3 was also a favorite. Tracie, Heidi and Susan all
emphasized that when working out at home, it's extremely important to use a
mirror to check that your form is correct. They urged us repeatedly to set
up a mirror to check our form.
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Inside the FIRM
