It's a 'Dirty Job,' but Stevens grad does it

By Jomay Steen, Journal staff | Sunday, January 04, 2009

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While on a recent visit home from California, the only times Ira Leonard considered getting dirty were when he rocketed down Terry Peak on a borrowed snowboard or took a quick hike through the Hills.

The 29-year-old Rapid City native, a story producer for the Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs," took a week off work to catch up with family during the holidays.

The cable network show features a variety of dirty jobs that its host, Mike Rowe, tries his hand at during an hour-long episode.

Some jobs have included exterminating rats and bugs, removing roadkill from highways, reaching into muddy water holes to catch 100-pound catfish and making bologna, according to the show's Web site.

"We've done segments all across the United States," Leonard said. "Most are within the borders of the U.S., but one was in Canada, and another one was working with sharks in South Africa."

Working as a member of the production company Pilgrim Films & Television, Leonard started work on the show as a field coordinator. He handled the logistics of getting Rowe and the film crew to a job, getting releases signed, taking care of all the paperwork and keeping receipts for accounting.

"I was in the field with the crew," Leonard said.

He eventually worked his way up to story producer.

Now, Leonard has his own office, computer and cell phone to put in calls to the people who have unusually disgusting jobs. In his initial conversations, he tries to find out what the work process is to complete the job, determining if there's enough to do to fill a segment and whether Rowe and the seven-member crew will be safe.

"I'm the guy," Leonard said.

It is meticulous, detail-oriented, 50-hours-per-week work.

Even while in South Dakota, he has to be available to his California bosses in case something goes awry. "There are certain things I need to do, certain phone calls I have to take and certain calls I have to make," Leonard said.

A 1998 graduate of Stevens High School, Leonard earned a bachelor's degree in psychology but had an interest in photography and made friends in the entertainment industry. After graduation, he started looking for jobs, and a friend's mother took his resume to a production company. He was hired, and he hasn't looked back.

Leonard likes the consistency and set schedule of "Dirty Jobs," something that isn't always available in movies and television, he said.

His father, Ben Leonard, who works in the pre-press department at the Rapid City Journal, couldn't be happier having a son who is employed and good at his work.

"If you watch the credits, you see his name," Ben Leonard said.

He said his son, while on the holiday break at home, had been on the phone with the show's staff after unpredictable weather started to interfere with the shooting of a "Dirty Jobs" segment in production.

"He's been on the phone pretty much throughout the day once the weather started falling apart," he said.

Proud of all four of his children, Ben Leonard said his son worked hard to achieve what he has.

"He has a pretty bright star right now," he said.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com