by Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink
They say the camera adds a few pounds, but friends of Galveston fisherman Buddy Guindon have been tormenting him recently with the question “how many cameras did they use?” Guidon is the star of a recent H-E-B grocery store’s “Fresh from the Seafood Department” commercial filmed on his boat.
A third generation Texas fisherman, Guindon, who owns Katie’s Seafood Market, regularly supplies H-E-B, and it’s sister chain Central Market, with gulf finfish; red and yellow grouper, as well as red snapper. According to the commercial, the same day he catches them; they are on their way to H-E-B.
A third generation Texas fisherman, Buddy Guindon, who owns Katie’s Seafood Market, regularly supplies H-E-B, and it’s sister chain Central Market, with gulf finfish. Photo: H-E-B
H-E-B is Katie’s Seafood biggest buyer, and its commercial was shot in one day. Guindon is impressed how committed H-E-B is to the sustainable seafood from the Gulf of Mexico.
A union crew of approximately fifty filmmakers was present for the daylong shoot. “They even had dressing trailer and a food trailer that served fresh seafood on site,” he explained.
“We started about filming around nine in the morning and finished about 6:30 in the evening,” said the burly Galveston fisherman. “We first filmed at the dock, and then took the fishing vessel Blackjack out and caught some red snapper.”
Guindon is no stranger to being in front of a camera. He spent more than 80 hours filming a pilot with an independent film crew for a commercial fisherman reality show. The project has yet to be picked up by a television network.
“We had a very lucky deal coming into port,” said Guindon. “The sun was setting and the porpoises were riding on our bow, it was awesome.” Photo: H-E-B
During the filming, his crew was able to catch more than 500 pounds of red snapper as the cameras rolled. Back at dock the fish was unloaded and immediately shipped to H-E-B.
“We had a chase boat that did the filming of the boat coming into the dock,” he explained. “I told them I new a place where we could probable get some shots of porpoises near the boat. We had a very lucky deal coming into port. The sun was setting and the porpoises were riding on our bow, it was awesome. It was really a perfect day on the water.”
According to the outspoken fisherman, the hardest part of the day was getting the words correct when they wanted him to say them.
“It was not a lot of fun to repeat yourself over and over and over. I really didn’t know I couldn’t speak the Kings English,” he said.
“We first filmed at the dock, and then took the fishing vessel Blackjack out and caught some red snapper,” explained Guindon. Photo: H-E-B
I had to raise my hand and point at the sign and say, “I’m Buddy, and this is the fresh Gulf… see I still can’t say it right … I’m Buddy, and this is the ‘Fresh from the Gulf’ depart at H-E-B, no store does more than my H-E-B. I had the hardest time getting the words to come out my mouth correctly. I couldn’t quiet get that one right. I kept saying it wrong, I must have repeated that line at least a hundred times.”
Dealing with union film crew was a new experience for Guindon. He enjoyed working with the crew but, “we would be ready to film a scene and break would be called, everyone would head to the food trailer. They could never make it as fishermen for sure, when the fish are biting we keep on fishing,” he said.
The constant ribbing about his appearance in the commercial, which is aired regularly within the state of Texas, has forced him to drastic measures – a diet. “Next time I am in a commercial I’ll be ready,” he said about his month old diet. “I won’t care how many camera’s they bring.”
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