The new technology of pilottone was brought to international attention by its use by Richard Leacock, former cameraman of filmmaker Robert Flaherty, in his documentary feature Primary (1960), documenting the competing Democrat presidential nominee candidates Hubert Humphrey and John F. Kennedy.
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Diercks himself helped the spread of pilottone in the USA when he was the only Western reporter allowed to shoot in Havanna during the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961.
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At a time when North-American TV program gathering was dominated by either Movietone (see also Movietone News) or magnetic pre-striping for live-sound recording, and the use of pilottone was still unheard of, according to Diercks the US TV networks were impressed with the system demonstrated by the 60-minute documentary feature.