PEOPLE OF INTEREST
THE STORYTELLER
BY KERRY FIRTH
Vero Beach resident Pamela Caragol has a dream career
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that has allowed her to travel the world and experience
things most of us only see on TV.
As a documentary producer for National Geographic, she’s
spent time with a voodoo priest in Haiti and archeaologists on
South American volcanos. She dove with blue hole divers in
the Bahamas and filmed rhinos in Africa. She even spent time
with the last person to get out of the South Tower alive on 9-11.
So, what would be the pinnacle of her illustrious career?
Perhaps winning an Emmy last year for her work as one of
the executive producers for National Geographic’s Secrets of
the Whales documentary series.
“I’ve met incredible people around the planet and witnessed
animals in the wild,” Caragol said enthusiastically. “I
feel honored to have had this opportunity to experience so
much during my years as a producer. Now that I’m not in the
field as much, I work with incredibly talented people on the
ground who do what I used to do and get to share my experience
with them and help shape their stories.”
The vivacious adventurer, who grew up in Brooklyn and
on Long Island, New York, knew early on that she wanted to
be a storyteller but she just couldn’t pinpoint which medium
or outlet she wanted to pursue.
“While I was in college I considered working in movies but
quickly realized that real life was so fascinating that I didn’t
need to work in fiction,” she explained. “My calling was working
in documentaries where I could tell stories based on reality.
“Right out of college I worked for a post-production facility
where shows get edited and finished. I had clients ranging
from National Geographic to PBS to the Discovery Channel
and got to know everyone in the nonfiction community. It
was a great introduction to the world of documentary.”
She worked her way up from production coordinator to
associate producer to producer to show runner and now, an
executive producer. She’s been in her current position for six
years and instead of being a show maker, she oversees other
people who make shows for Nat Geo TV.
“As an executive producer, I work with many teams and
Pamela Caragol of Vero Beach,
executive producer for National
Geographic, relaxes on her
pool deck with her faithful
companion Cooper.
KERRY FIRTH
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