The Production Room - New Location & New Contacts

Greetings from Prince Edward Island, Canada!  The new home of John Quimby and The Production Room.

In 1998, my wife, Susan visited the island.  Then we returned together (she'd already told me we were moving) in 1999. We bought a farm in the spring of 2000 and we've been spending part of the year (you know, the WARM part) ever since.

In that time I learned to make the studio portable and continued to work for clients (Toshiba, Chevron, Channel Islands National Park, etc.) even as we were spending our summers in the country.

This year we're moving up to stay year 'round and that has meant a few changes at The Production Room. For example, we no longer offer ISDN or studio services in Santa Barbara. But those whom I've worked for in the past will find it just as easy as it ever was to have scripts voiced and audio delivered for production. And I hope to make new friends and clients in media production here in Atlantic Canada.  

So here's the rundown of services and contacts:

I'm now available to you for recording and delivering voiceovers - narrations, web media etc. 
You can send me scripts for fast turnaround and you can even direct the session by phone if you wish.
All studio gear is professional industry standard and audio quality is excellent. 

Voiceover rates are competitive. I have experience on network TV, Radio, Film, Video and Internet.
I'm an award winning copy writer and producer with thousands of commercial productions to my credit.
I have been and will be continuing to write and produce a podcast series and I am familiar with using podcast media in marketing.

Please contact me for schedules, rates and production information:

record@prodroom.com
(902) 962-3755

New KJEE Radio Commercial is Pharma Parody

Been a while since I posted here on the studio blog but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy!
Watch the new KJEE radio commercial I wrote with Ray Pierce at Red Rocket Productions.




I've also been blogging and podcasting at my other blog:
http://www.dunncreekfarm.blogspot.com

And I've been working on several accounts as a voice talent:  

Lou Fusz Chevrolet in St. Louis, Mo.
Chumash Casino - Cirque Dreams Illumination
Community West Bank - "Impressions" Radio
Ayers Automotive Repais - TV / Radio

And ISDN session engineering:

CBC Radio 1 "Tapestry"
Applebees Restaurants - John Corbett
KQED / NPR

Contact me for help with your voice overs and media production:
record@prodroom.com

Thanks!



 

Hear Matthew Stewart via Santa Barbara ISDN On CBC Radio 1

Once again CBC Radio in Toronto  contacted The Production Room in Santa Barbara to provide local ISDN services.

And once again host Anna Maria Tremonti conducted an interview for "The Current". 

Our friends in Canada know that The Current airs nationally in Canada and is heard across the country at 8:30 AM
(9 in Newfoundland) on CBC Radio 1 and on Sirius Satellite 137.

Last week, our guest in studio was Matthew Stewart, author of, "The Management Myth. Why The Experts Keep Getting It Wrong." The interview aired as part three of  The Current, Monday Dec. 7.  You can click the link to hear the fascinating discussion.

I'm also hoping you'll notice the technical quality of the ISDN from Santa Barbara.  We've recently switched out our always compatible and lovely sounding Neumann TLM 103 and replaced it with an older Microtech Gefell M900

We mated this unique "large diaphragm" condenser mic with some older outboard gear that had been gathering dust in the closet. Listen to the sound as Matthew Stewart begins speaking.  It is rich, full, and pleasing to hear.  There is real "presence" in the recording.

It seems we may have fallen for the breathless audio and computer tech hype of the past few years.  The idea is that you can plug a digital simulation into your signal path and get, "that classic sound".  What we're really getting is homogenized sound as everyone reaches for  mass produced hardware with the same digital algorithms instead of plugging in a real classic. For this session we simply  used older outboard gear that wasn't built in China and set it up in a very basic configuration.

It might be a bit heavy on proximity effect even though the mic was placed about 7 inches from the subject.  But I think it sounds pretty nice. Let me know what you think.

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200912/20091207.html

California Dreamin'

(NOTE - This post was originally published on the Dunn Creek Farm blog.)

CLICK - HEAR - Today's Podcast

November in California is my favorite time of year. The days are clear and warm, the nights are cool and the tourist traffic is at a minimum.

I was invited by Westlake Audio to come down to Hollywood for a presentation on the newest Source Connect software from Source Elements. It took advantage of the opportunity to drive down the coast and catch up on some of the latest in audio technology.

Along the way, I stopped in at Emma Wood State Beach to check the surf.


A small day at Emma Wood - On the Way to Hollywood.
(click to enlarge)


The Rincon, Ventura County, CA., from Emma Wood.
(click to enlarge)


Westlake Audio. Jeri Palumbo, Rebekah Wilson, John Quimby, Ryan Kahler
(click to enlarge)

I got a personal tour of the software from Rebekah Wilson. The New Zealand native is the architect of the software that allows studios to connect and record or send high quality audio over the internet. Fascinating stuff and part of the learning I intend to bring back to PEI this spring.

Working on the farm isn't just about growing organic vegetables. It's about growing a business and connecting to the outside world as a professional media producer.

A Book No One Has Read Can Make You Famous

Sarah Palin knocked Miss California's masturbation video off the page this week. (Both replaced the Fort Hood shooting, which arguably was another made for media event.)

It's interesting how similar both stories are and how they illustrate what's happening in the world of infotainment. Carrie Prejean didn't mean to distribute her act of self gratification. Sarah Palin did. And both went viral.

I'm not interested in being critical of either woman. I am interested in the phenomena. Both women scored a media knockout. Both women are in a position to capitalize on instant blazing fame. What will they do now? Will message trump substance?

In the case of Carrie Prejean she stands on a pile of the hottest 'keywords" out there and is sure to generate intense interest because of what she brings to the public square. Consider the words she conjures up: hot babe, boob job, California girl, bikini, conservative, anti gay, Christian, beauty pageant winner, sex videos, topless photos...

Let's face it she is guaranteed traffic - a major attraction. Now will someone please help her GET A GRIP. She's been given super powers. Time to be Wonder Woman.

And then there is the release of the "best seller" that no one has read. Advance orders propelled this book up the charts. So what. Who's actually going to read it? The real news is that Sarah is the talk of every media outlet and blogger in the America-centric universe and she did it by publishing a book about herself.

Like Carrie Prejean, Sarah Palin is a pile of keywords and contradictions that create the kind of dynamic tension and expectation that plays so well on camera. She's a walking sound byte. And she has published her own back story - consisting of just what she wants the public to see. It's brilliant. And her media fan-dance is working.

My point is that both these women have worked to create a public image and then have published (sometimes involuntarily) a narrative that people are eating up. Yes, their entry into the spotlight was big (Miss California, Republican VP candidate) but this is bigger. And now, they have to figure out how to keep publishing, promoting and profiting from the fact that they ARE the news.

Both are relative lightweights who are punching above their weight. They are giving the public the right combination of sex and searchable terminology. It makes them irresistible. But for how long. The question isn't, "Will Sarah Run?" The question is, "Will we still care if she does?" (Even money says Prejean gets interviewed about joining Sarah's team.)

In our current, "pop-culture as news" reality, where real news organizations are weak and wobbly, Carrie Prejean and Sarah Palin have the power to punch out the press. And who wouldn't pay to see that?

The Media Tipping Point - Content VS Distribution

Firesign Theater once put out an album...you know, an album...those funny flat plastic discs that are bigger than CD's. Um, you DO remember CD's right?

Anyway, the album was called "Everything You Know is Wrong".

I mention it because that is precisely where we are in the media world. Everything you've always known about multimedia marketing and advertising is wrong.

Think I'm kidding?

Check out today's story from the AP:

Broadcast pioneer NBC prepares for cable takeover

The headline means that NBC - the company that invented the broadcast network - is about to be taken over by Comcast Cable.

For our purposes, the point of the story is this:

"...By owning more content, Comcast further hedges its bets as mainly a distributor of shows in case viewers ditch their cable TV subscriptions and migrate to the Internet, mobile devices or a platform that has yet to emerge. The company could charge for the shows or sell ads wherever the viewers are."

This should tell you something about the value of content versus the declining value of distribution. And that's why everything you know is wrong.

The Tipping Point

We can read about the actions of media titans, but frankly they aren't leading the trend, they're struggling to keep up. In a media world that is broadcast globally and originated individually it isn't a matter of what happens next in the boardroom, it's what happens next in the bedroom. Just ask Carrie Prejean about the value of personal content distributed globally. And note how, in the context of your awareness, Carrie Prejean's story is equal to major breaking news.

What It Means To You

For 80 years people have made media buys on the basis that distribution to a mass audience is what you pay for in a broadcast schedule. On the local level, if you buy an ad schedule your commercial message production is free! But that's all changing.

In a market where global distribution is free, attracting an audience is a matter of search engine traffic and content has more value than distribution.

This underlines what my clients are learning now. They are finding that they must plan a new annual budget for marketing in a landscape that is changing every day. My advice to you is to get ahead of the curve by doing more to create your own media content. You must become a contributor to your own media. You must tell your own story. There are no longer any limits to distribution and the cost of producing content has dropped for 10 years in a row.

The NBC story marks the end of an era. But don't get hung up on that. The NBC story marks the beginning of a new era and that's what should matter to you.

Tomatillos on PEI? Yes You CAN

(This post also appears on the Dunn Creek Farm Blog. We use this blog and our podcast series to promote our farm business and interact with our customers.)

CLICK - HEAR TODAYS PODCAST!

Please enjoy this recipe for authentic Mexican Salsa Verde!

Jane Dunphy prompted this post because she grew tomatillos in her PEI garden this year and has been searching for information about how to use them. Turns out you can freeze them or can them and of course, they make wonderful salsa verde, one of the most popular condiments in Mexico. But all of the ingredients can be grown and used in PEI!

You can simmer your salsa verde with pork to make chile verde or you can bake chicken, shred the meat, cover it with salsa verde and serve with beans and rice. Salsa verde It's spicy but not too hot and the tangy fresh flavor is a delicious change of pace.

Please enjoy!





Ingredients

• 3 pounds tomatillos, husked, rinsed
• 2 large jalapeño chiles, stems removed
• 5 small garlic cloves, peeled

• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 bunches fresh cilantro, thick bottom stems trimmed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

Mix first 2 ingredients in large saucepan. Cover with water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes. Drain.

Coarsely chop tomatillo mixture, garlic, and cumin in processor using on/off turns. Add next ingredients; blend until herbs are chopped and salsa is chunky.

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add salsa and simmer until slightly thickened and reduced to 4 cups, about 10 minutes. Stir in salt.

NOTES: This is a recipe from the web that most closely resembles Monica's description and technique with measures to help you.

You can add other herbs (mint, etc) and lime juice is a common addition too.

Production Room Service Update

Greetings from Prodroom North. I'm in Prince Edward Island, Canada and the good news is that the studio here is all ready to continue production work for our clients.

Even more good news is that high speed wireless is now online here so sending and receiving media files is as fast and easy as it is at the Studio in SB.

I've also hired some help in Santa Barbara to continue providing studio services there, so our ISDN business will continue to be available and supported on demand. Booking service is as easy as sending an email to me: 2prodroom@gmail.com

Or you can call the Production Room at the local nimber: (805) 455-5134 and it will forward to my mobile phone here. And since the studio here in Canada is no longer using dialup, you can call the studio directly at (902) 962-3755. If I'm not in, please leave a message.

I have a fully equipped room here for voice tracking, editing, mixing and delivery of finished audio. The studio features some benefits we don't have yet in SB. We have a really sweet focusrite mic pre-amp which tracks audio to directly to a digital input on the computer for a very clean signal. It sounds great! I'm using our very nice Microtech Gefell microphone for voice recording and I also have the same complete music and sound effect library we use in SB.

I've brought our production archive here too, so we can update exisiting production for you from this location and deliver revised production to you.

Basically, anything I can do in Santa Barbara, I can do here - at the same level of professional quality you expect.

Email is the same as always, and is probably the best way to reach me. Keep in mind that I'm four hours ahead of Santa Barbara, which often helps me deliver completed production faster. And since I'm able to finish and deliver production while the west coast is still asleep, it's likely that your finshed production will be on your desktop when you arrive at work the next day.

I am continuing production on our new weekly podcast series for the Homecast Show, a daily podcast from Los Angeles. And I'll be working on new projects for the 5 Minute Media Manager on this page.

For more about our location this summer, please visit: http://www.dunncreekfarm.blogspot.com

Thanks!

Ten Four Eleanor! So Long Steve Gordon!

"These Suck!" doesn't really fully detail the craptiousness here...

-Eleanor Roosevelt

At the risk of hurting someone's feelings at the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce, this was Steve Gordon's evaluation of radio scripts he was bidding to produce for the Chamber at the end of January. He had emailed them to me for review and asked me to bid on re-writing them for production. He was proposing a collaboration. It would have been our last but he didn't get the job. And there it all is in a nutshell.

The blunt (and correct) evaluation of the scripts - linked to the email sign-off from Mrs. Roosevelt is vintage Steve. He was absolutely honest in his evaluations but he loved to leave 'em laughing. I think he found the world to be absurd. He understood that taking the world seriously was fine as long as you realized its absurdities were seriously amusing.

Steve was a Libertarian who used to love to taunt my liberal sensibilities with editorial content from the CATO institute and Glenn Beck (before Beck went totally insane...) We had more than a few rounds on society and politics which I appreciated because I enjoy that sort of thing. Unfortunately, Steve shared commonality with a large population of gracelessly aging, despondent white males who find themselves left behind, broke and bitter, unwilling to yield their independence but unable to fight for it.

Steve ended his life as a brilliant man. As a brilliant man he ended his life as an under employed, under appreciated casualty of change. I've seen more than a few of the walking wounded come out of radio in the last 15 years...and you know who you are. The death of radio has killed or crippled more than a few of the brilliant people I love dearly. The survivors carry scars you can't see because radio is not a visual medium.

The pictures here are from what some people have told me was the best party they've ever been to. Certainly it was the best party I've ever hosted.

In January of 2007, we sent out a tarot card image of the Magician to invite our guests to an open house for creative talent, clients, marketing executives and a cross section of the community. We demonstrated the magic of our ISDN studio with a live studio link to San Francisco and Los Angeles. We played a hilarious short film Steve had worked on in the studio. We showed a rich media web site from the Beatles that showed the direction we knew our clients should embrace as the future of communications media. At the after party, we turned up the music and we DANCED!

There was live music and food and there was video on every screen. There was a close-up magician and a hand writing analyst. It a was a memorable and magical alchemy of the sacred and profane, of technology and artistry and the vibe of unlimited possibility hummed above all. I see these pictures now of Steve in his favorite position, at the console.

Sadly my old studio is gone. That desk which I built with my own hands in my dead father's workshop is gone. Steve is gone. All gone because the world changed. Gone because the only work we knew is gone. Gone because we couldn't afford to make them stay. Gone because we didn't need them any more. Gone because they could go no further in this world.

People say after they lose a limb or a physical part of themselves that they feel phantom pain as if the limb were still there. These are my limbs. These are my phantoms.

Steve lived the way he died. He made his own terms and stuck to 'em in a world that no longer cared to negotiate. He was a hostage to fortune who drew the short straw one too many times.

The Firesign Theater created an alternative reality in sound. Steve and I spent hours in their expansive theater of the mind. Put on some old Firesign and maybe you'll find Steve. Clever, ironic, brillliant, cerebral, silly and decidedley off the Interstate in an alternate Universe.

Steve's still part Nick Danger and part George Tirebiter. A tarnished star, a hapless bit player, a cool film noir detective down on his luck. Just listen. Somewhere between Heater and Hellmouth, Spud Coolzip is cruising to Three Finger Mickey's in search of the answers.

Prodroom delivers to NPR's Robert Krulwich

New Santa Barbarian Jade Blackwater was our guest in The Production Room studio for an ISDN connection with National Public Radio science reporter Robert Krulwich.

So how many trees are there for each person on the planet?
NASA knows.

And what are we doing with all those trees?
Find out by listening to this story that aired today on Morning Edition.

As a side note, Some mornings when Susan and I wake up on the farm one of us will look out of our bedroom window and say, "See those trees? They're mine." This picture was taken in September at the farm.

For more please click on this link to Dunn Creek Farm

Thanks From the Farm Studio in PEI

Thanks to those not away on summer holiday for some wonderful work in the past few days...

Thank You Barnett Cox and Associates for letting us finish the first series of your wonderful creative campaign for Community West Bank.

Thanks also to EC Productions for allowing me to voice track your HD documentary on the Save Our Seas Foundation and it's work with sharks and manta rays. I can't wait to see the final production!

Also, thanks to EHY for calling on us for your ongoing work with the Chumash Casino.

While Steve Gordon is calmly manning the helm in Santa Barbara, I am frantically managing summer production of a different kind here on Prince Edward Island, Canada.
And though part of each day is devoted to studio recording and business issues on the West Coast, we're finding time to plant and harvest a good crop of family fun and fresh vegetables this summer.

For those whose geography is as poor as mine, you'll find that PEI is Canada's smallest province, located just a few miles off of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick on the east coast of North America.

My wife and I are here with our two boys for the summer, managing our organic farm.
We're growing a variety of herbs and produce which we sell to the fresh market.
The crops are pretty much in the ground already for the short summer season. Long daylight hours help things grow (it isn't dark until almost 10:00 PM). We've had a late start of summer with lots of clouds and rain. But the last few days have been sunny and hot, which has really launched our plantation into full swing!

The Goleta Valley Mesclun Salad mix we grow is very popular and the French Breakfast Radishes have been a good accompaniment. We're also rich in Spinach right now and the Swiss Chard and Beet Greens too are selling well.

We're about to be awash in sweet shelling Peas and it won't be long before we're digging up baskets full of new Yukon Gold Potatoes. Summer Squash is flowering now and Zuchini and Yellow Crook Neck varieties will be coming soon. The Cucumbers are flowering and these are in much demand locally for fresh eating and fall pickling. Yellow wax beans will be coming in August and Pumpkins will be big and orange by the time I return to Santa Barbara in September. Corn and tomatoes have been slow to start, so we'll see what nature does with those crops. There's too much more to mention!

In addition to our cash crops, there is other work that goes on. We're planting a fourth of our crop rows in green manure crop to keep out weeds and feed the soil for next year. To do this we planted field peas and oats which will die off this winter and leave rich compost for the spring plowing. To that purpose, we're encouraged by warm rain forecast for tomorrow. Hopefully this will start the California poppy seeds I've planted along the lane.

Nature on her own also blesses us with wild harvests of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries in their seasons. On the shore we dig clams and harvest mussels for steaming pots of savory seafood.

Summer truly is a time of bounty. Here's hoping you are enjoying the gifts of summer wherever you may be!

You Say it's Your Network...

It was the easiest party I've ever hosted.

A mix of about 40 Film makers, business professionals, musicians, voice talent, visual artists, camera guys, animators, writers, singers, a strolling magician and a handwriting expert/comedienne/massage therapist (who stole the show!) had the air crackling with creative energy.

Steve Gordon and yours truly mixed it up in the congenial atmoshpere of The Production Room, showing projects in progress and answering questions about on-line media creation and programming. We enjoyed sharing some of our favorite parlor tricks and were dazzled by the talent and energy that you brought to us.

Work should always be this much fun!

And so, here is my prescription as you move into 2007. Keep yourself connected to creative talent, technical know-how and brilliant insight. It will make your muse want to get up and DANCE!

First: Everyone who left contact information at our Open House recieved an email
inviting them here. Others have been invited to join the conversation
too. Save this link and you can check back now and then for the latest
posting.

OR: You can subscribe to this blog and you'll be informed whenever there is
something new for you to read. (I use feedreader on my desk top. It's free and
it's reasonably easy to use.) In the long run, you need to get used to
subscribing to content. I know, it's another "learning curve" thing. But
remember when you didn't know how to send a fax?

Second: Add your comments to this blog. Post your blog address. Share your opinions
and ideas. Post links to cool projects or ask for feedback.

Third: Call on us for help. You need an Actor? A Writer? A Producer, A Web Designer,
A Studio, Etc?...we know people! Don't let your concept die just because you
don't know who to call for assistance.

Fourth: Relax! This is supposed to be fun!

We've got a lot of breakthrough stuff coming this year. Please do subscribe to this blog and do stay in touch. We hope to help inspire you to make this a very exciting year! No doubt we'll have a lot to talk about at our next open house.

JQ

Merry Christmas Baby...

Southern California is generally nice this time of year. Think early autumn in more northern climes. You might get a front moving in from the north to dump a bit of rain. It might snow...at 5,000 feet or so. But not at the beach. You're just as likely to see French exchange students in university sweat pants and tank tops and tanned, overfed executives in Hawaiian shirts and sports cars in December as in July in the Golden State.

But we've left the comforts of Santa Barbara to the refugees from Wisconsin, Nebraska and Indiana. We've returned to Prince Edward Island in the Canadian Maritimes to enjoy an old fashioned Christmas down home on the farm.

So what has this season brought so far? A long flight from Los Angeles to Toronto. A hop to Montreal and a final leg to Charlottetown, PEI. Friends met us at the the airport to let us know that our dauntless old Dodge Caravan had died in the barn during their attempt to deliver it to the airport for us. We drove home in the van they rented for us.

I found a new alternator but couldn't get the belt pulley off the old one. In stepped a neighbor, a lobster fisherman, with a barnload of tools and years off self sufficiency to solve the problem. I put in the new part and started the car. The belt slipped off. I was forced to call a tow truck. The truck came through the flurrying snow in half an hour and picked up the car. "How much is the tow?" I asked. "Fifty bucks" he said...to deliver the car 20 miles away. "Do you take triple A" I asked. "Sure buddy" he said. "Let me get the car up there and I'll call 'er in for ya."

I set up my recently repaired laptop in the shop this afternoon to get the remote studio working. It died. So tomorrow, I'm getting a new computer.

As much as I'd like to be stressed about all the problems the last couple of days have brought, I just can't. There seems to be a Christmas elf ready to step in and help me at just the right time. Funny thing is, these elves seem to have a maritime accent.

It may be sunny in California this Christmas. There may be Pacific breezes wafting through the palm fronds at the beach. But in some ways, it's always warmer in PEI.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Dunn Creek Farm, Prince Edward Island, Canada!