What exactly does the Producer of Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures do? I create the overall storyline for the show and in creating the storyline, that deals with all of the other elements that you're faced with like weather and location and all of the different things that make a story come together. I guess it's kind of like being the quarterback, you sort of roll with the punches and keep everybody together. Keep people charged up. Keep Jack on track.

Larry Elliston, Producer, Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures

We've been working together so long now that we all feel very comfortable with each other. And I think what people rely on from me is the story. What is it that we're doing? How are we going to do it? I guess I keep it all in my head.

A lot of times you shoot out of sequence - or you shoot something you don't know exactly where it's going to go into the story but you know it's going to be in there somewhere - it's a strong enough element. Then you look for other things to border what you have. When a program does make it to air - believe it or not - it's really what we had in mind when we were shooting it in the field. And that's what I really hope for.

When you start putting a new Animal Adventures show together, where do you begin?

The first thing you start with is the idea for the story and then it proceeds from there. I like to look for an adventure, and you need animals and that is Animal Adventures. Further out, we contact people, talk to them, sort of access things, see if there is a story there. See if the timing's going to work out, if it's going to work with Jack's schedule.

Coming to Alaska, this particular trip is a perfect example of being at the right place at the right time. We are here when the bears are here feeding in the Kulik River on the salmon and that's such a wonderful experience because lots of times you do a story and someone says, "Oh you should have been here three weeks ago, three months ago or come here three months from now." It's really nice when you can really hit it - bang - on.

Once you are on location, how much of the show's content is based on just what you happen to come across as opposed to the story you may have in your head?

You do know a lot of what's going to be there because generally you try to hook Jack up with someone who can be his guide. Because Jack, after all, represents every man. And he's there as sort of the viewer himself. But in telling any story, especially an adventure, you never know what's going to be around the corner and that's what I really thrive on. That's part of the background in television that I have is dealing with the unknown. But, realize that you have something. It's kind of like mining for gold in a way. We roll with the punches and when you're dealing with animals especially, it's not like going to a meeting that starts at 7:30. The animals aren't on that kind of schedule.