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Today's Web Video Profile 11.02.09

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Chevron Oil hires The Production Room for Film Narration

One of the largest oil producers in California, Chevron has extensive operations and training facilities in Bakersfield. John Quimby has recorded narration for two projects associated with Chevron's operations in Bakersfield. The read is very straight, no selling, just facts.

Sample Chevron Narration

New Narration for Channel Islands National Park

I'm very proud of the work I've done on environmental documentary productions over the years. I've been associated with Jean Michel Cousteau and Ocean Futures, The Save our Seas Foundation, the Nature Conservancy and now, thanks to Michael Hanrahan at the Ocean Channel, I also have the privilege of being selected to voice media for Channel Islands National Park.

As someone who has for years been captivated by the National Park System and it's mission to make our nation's natural and cultural resources available to everyone, It's my honor to be part of the media presented to visitors of one of our newer parks. Also, as a proud native of Santa Barbara County, I'm pleased that a local talent has been asked to tell the story of this national park.

For an online example of the work I've done with the Ocean Channel, please watch,
"Santa Cruz Island - Restoring the Balance".

Indiana Jones and the Prodroom Part 2

Yes, there was more Indiana Jones work today. And it's all about global reach.

This film is anticipated to have a huge opening release. But nobody anticipates better than Hollywood. Gotta love that "Star maker machinery". And for a PG13 rated film, they sure are aiming hard at pre-teens on all the Cable channels.

Miguel Ferrer was back today to voice several versions of a TV promo touting box office dominance in America and the World. Yikes! It's like watching a virus spread on a planetary scale (with a totally bitchin VO).

Let me be clear. Mr. Ferrer himself is a really good man. And Aspect Media in LA was a very cool ISDN hook up.

Keep in mind, we are a local, privately owned shop. We're not film driven. We're home boys. I was born in Santa Barbara, and Ray is from Inglewood, CA. We don't cater to Hollywood, it just found us. That said, we've worked hard to earn some respect for our little shop with the big players. We're happy that talent refers us to the big show in LA and New York. And we respect the professional value of the work we do for the artists and their clients. When a voice pro drops in and feels at home with us, we dig having their company and it's really nice. John Corbett likes to pick up on the vintage guitars Ray still plays on a slow Friday afternoon.

So, sometimes we do get a minute to visit. I was interested to learn that Miguel has four horses, rides English, competes in steeplechase and rides to the hounds in our western back-country. Speaking as a guy who first rode for a ranch and now rides western/pleasure...that's some STONES my friend! And you can hear them on new promos - playing on a video channel near you!

Thinking Outside the Box

My friend and I were talking about how to create original content online.

We noticed that so much of what is being created is derivative of TV sitcoms, Film genres, stand up comedy and "America's Funniest Home Videos".

I made the comment that in order to see something that isn't derivative of modern media, you have to go back to silent film comedy of the 20's, cartoons of the 30's and 40's and TV from the 50's and early 60's.

I watched, "Ocean's 12" recently and noticed that Carl Reiner's sense of classic sitcom stole the picture.

I was just today introduced to a high school media production class and noticed something very encouraging. The new generation is the first to be as active producing media as they are consuming it. This means that they are entering the creative world with their imagination connected directly into the new media tools they are using and the audience they are serving. They have far fewer stylistic or conceptual limitations holding them back and they are much more likely to play with applications to see what they can do. And there are no gate keepers telling them it can't be done.

In about 5 years we are going to see an explosion of media innovation the like of which we haven't seen in 2 generations - or longer.

Business Podcasting

Ok so here we are....

And this is podcast number 134.

I'm John and with me is, ummmm, who are you again? (laughs)

(laughs) I'm Steve.

Right. Steve. Are you sure? You look like you had a rough night.

Yeah, we tore it up kinda late last night. (pause) (laughs) Yeah.

.....

The previous is an example of why most podcasts are pointless and boring, i.e. a colossal waste of time. And it's why most businesses are keeping the idea of podcasting at arms length.

If you own or manage a business, the idea of doing a podcast has come up. Everyone loves the idea. And then nothing really happens.

Why?

Because nobody who works for you actually knows how to make a business podcast...
or why you should make one or how it integrates with your marketing plan or how long it should be or how much production budget it requires...

Oh yeah...you need a budget for this.

I realize that Skippy down in EYE-TEE says he can plug a mic into his laptop and make a podcast for free (see above). I guarantee you WILL get your money's worth.

Skippy isn't up to speed with all of your business decisions: marketing or branding strategies, investor relations, sponsor commitments, employee training and, etc.

Do you really want to put Skippy in charge of your business?

Podcasting IS an important means for publishing valuable content that communicates on web channels you own and control. It DOES take time and money to setup and run but the payoff potential is huge.

The value of your company - in terms of branding, positioning and top of mind (and search engine) awareness - is now riding on how well you produce regularly published web based content.

Media Deconstruction

Today I took down the studio desk I built with my father's tools the year after he died of Alzheimers. Friday I gave away the old couch that held so many client meetings and creative daydreams.

I pulled out the pro audio gear that I had acquired over 12 years. I pulled the dozens of custom built wires that my friend Scotty Johnson hand soldered for me one weekend. Scotty is a Santa Barabra radio veteran from the legendary KIST. He served in Viet Nam and worked for Armed Forces Radio in Saigon. He is currently depressed about the state of radio, but still is in the business as a radio voice in Tuscon, AZ.

As I pulled the gear and the wire from the desk I built, I realized how things have changed. So much of the gear in the racks hadn't been a part of any current production for years. The DAT machine, the CD Player, the outboard audio compressor, the turntable and the patch bay are no longer needed in today's digital production suite.

Our most valuable outboard tools are the Telos Zephyr Xstream - for ISDN, our fine microphones and preamps and the sound cards that do the analog to digital conversion for voice recording. The sound effects and music tracks now live on external hard drive. Those will remain configured in service for Production Room clients in Santa Barbara and Canada. Everything else is already being done via internet and in software applications that can live on a desktop MAC, a PC or a laptop.

Steve Gordon is now our outboard source for Protools editing and mixing, and we maintain an outstanding voice booth and record-in service on site at our current address. The easy online transfer and delivery of digital files will save our clients money by giving them options to deal with each facet of production in ways that work best for them.

I just wanted to pause tonight to thank those who helped build the old studio. My father, who taught me to use his tools to build with care and craftsmanship. My father in law who helped wire AC to the desk. Scotty and fellow KIST veteran Doug Allen who supported me with their time, know how and materials. Ray, who lent me his first audio mixer. Hugh, who built my first studio computer in 1995, Brian Godlis, who saved me from evil virus attacks and Bob Lentini - who created SAW - the PC based digital audio software that got me started in computer based multi track recording and production.

Thank you too to all the clients past and present who have brought their business to me since 1995.

We're not done with the work. I'm auditioning this week to voice the narration on an important documentary film project. I'm creating radio commercials for one of my oldest clients. I'm happy to continue as the voice of the Chumash Casino and I'm helping with the creative and marketing work on a new website for a professional firm. And as I mentioned before, I'll be writing the scripts for a series of new online video productions.

I'm learning the new medium and how it works to gather an audience. In many ways I'm back in the job I loved as a broadcast program director and promotions manager. And Annie, my generous and affectionate Australian shepherd, will still be present to greet you with her blue-eyed and tail-less wriggle of welcome at 1629 State St.

The Production Room has changed but it's still committed to, "Craftsmanship, Service and Satisfaction".

I'll keep you posted from here.

It's The Future

The Mercury Space Program taught me to count backwards.

The solemn countdown from T Minus 10 to Liftoff taught me that subtraction would launch us toward the future.

This week the future announced its arrival in the headlines I read in the Los Angeles Times and all over the web.

TV Networks in trouble. A cable company announcing a drop in basic subscribers, content being produced exclusively for on-line viewing, Hollywood Studios scrambling for traction, a music survey announcing that Bruce Springsteen had scored a number one release on the charts - by selling just 77,000 copies of his new album - a position that used to command numbers in the millions. And finally, most remarkably, there was NBC Universal and News Corp (FOX) announcing that they were pulling all of their online content from other channels on the web and forming their own video channel called "Hulu". The new channel (when it's available) will offer free video content.

It's the future. The one we were promised back when we were introduced to computers. The one I wrote about last week.

And once again, we will reach the future through subtraction.

No more magnetic tape. No more digital tape, no more Floppies or Zip drives or CD's and no more need for a hundred thousand dollars of outboard recording and transmission gear. Just a bit of software and a laptop. In the larger world, subtraction is a huge problem for TV, Cable, Print News and entertainment companies. But just for a while. Living in the future takes time.

We sent men out of Earth's orbit into deep space with less memory and processing power than I carry with me wherever I go on earth. If they could do it, so can I. The Production Room has been hired by Red Rocket Productions in Santa Barbara to work on a bold new venture. We'll be producing webmedia full time and I'll be one of the chief writers and creative talents for the launch. I'll be subtracting my office space and will be referring audio post production work to my friend and associate, Steve Gordon.

I hope you'll wish us well.

When I learned my arithmetic I always felt more comfortable with addition. NASA taught me that a launch into the unknown requires subtraction.

PS - The global companies are now "Fututre Proofing" (Thanks Robert Tucker) their businesses. It's writing on the wall for main street business to read.

Your News Looks Funny

Political cartoons have been around in America since before the founding of the Republic.

Ben Franklin, as owner of the Pennsylvania Gazette, was one of the first and most effective, using his sharp wit to rally the American Colonials (at least the ones who could read) into revolution!

Now comes Dean Opperman, a local resident and former radio personality who is not nearly as old or as credible as Mr. Franklin but he is rallying folks around the absurdity of the world we live in. Dean has created his own series of political cartoons and is posting them at his blimptv.net site.



His breakthrough effort (so far) has been "Vista Sucks" which went viral shortly after being picked up on The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs.

The gas bags and geek speakers about all things 2.0 are really talking about the ability of online media to incorporate what Dean is doing now. Or next. Or...
I suggest you link to blimptv.net so you don't miss whatever it is.

Dean Opperman is the new artist newspaper 2.0 will call on when they need a political cartoon.

Why Is Newspaper 2.0 still mostly 0.2?

Time for a recap on the state of Santa Barbara's historically establishment newspaper, its evolving status in the county, the announced demise of local print and the lauded arrival of newspaper 2.0 as the new local news media to replace newspapers.

Some of the words most often used by Santa Barbara bloggers to describe the state of the News Press are "ongoing collapse", "continuing meltdown", News Mess, and etc. The total demise of the paper is repeatedly predicted.

News Press owner Wendy McCaw has stirred up the kind of emotion usually reserved for Darth Vader and so the hyperbole flies in both directions. The News Press editorial page is consistent in it's delusions of persecution and bias as Craig Smith reports. If Wendy McCaw announces that she's Jerry Roberts' mother the analogy will be complete. Read this sample of local opinion from Blogabarbara.

For a nice long read through the whole tangled story try this article on Wikipedia

Don't worry, you've got time. The lawyers will be billing hours on all of the related legal cases for years.

At present the conventional local news journals have actually increased the total amount of local news coverage. The Daily Sound and the Independent, even the Daily Nexus have staffed up at the expense of their rival. Some content is not up to the professional standard of the old News Press, but recognition of professional traditions in their established forms seems to be negotiable on a lot of levels these days and that could be key to the whole trouble at the NP.

The blogs continue to function well in the capacity of local news and opinion forums and edhat continues to develop a diverse audience as an aggregater and manager of online content.

Santa Barbara's Newsroom, an online print type site run by former NP staff and supported by the Teamsters Union, has come and gone.

Now we have the next serious run at online local news and innovation: Noozhawk

New technology often arrives in the form of the thing it replaces. So it's not surprising that Noozhawk not only looks like a newspaper but also like the Santa Barbara Independent online. The Noozhawk staff includes former News Pressers including head man Bill MacFayden, former owner of the now departed South Coast Beacon.

I've noticed that online media is populated by managers from old media. This causes problems. Just ask Allen Wastler of CNBC and formerly CNN who is currently being barbecued by the blogging public for his handling of an online poll. You know the kind I mean, like, "Whose Naughtier? Hillary or Brittany?

Newspaper 2.0 might be coming soon, but we really won't see what it looks like until 2.0 managers include video and audio as well as web design and graphic animation fully integrated on their pages.

Since the entire concept of Newspaper 2.0 is being and has been pioneered in Santa Barbara, to some degree because of the shift in the value of our own conventional media, it will be interesting to see if someone around here will make it a reality that others can see and advance.

The big BIG Monetizing Picture

When I worked in radio I used to hear the same old sorry story every month about how the radio station (read: every station I ever worked for) was losing money. The boss would point out that all the value went out the door in paychecks to talent and admin. staff every two weeks. It pained him to a greater extent than I will explain here in polite company.

Then a funny thing happened. They sold their radio stations based on the market value that a larger company (like Clear Channel) was willing to pay and they walked away with a nice cash payout which more than made up for losing a couple grand a month for a few years. Me and the boys and girls in programing and production? We got zip.

Flash forward to the startup of YouTube and a little seminar I was at today.

Lorrie Thomas is a genius. How do I know? I've seen her speak and I've seen her hourly rate. Her genius is inherent in her confidence and her knowledge of internet marketing. I was inspired by what she said today at the SABER breakfast meeting at the University Club in Santa Barbara. It's what she didn't say that is the subject of this post to you.

Flash back to 2005. YouTube went from a bootstrap startup in February, 2005 to a 1.65 BILLION dollar company in November, 2006. How do we know that this is the value of YouTube? Because that's what Google was willing to pay for it. Did YouTube lose money month to month in the interim? Who cares? They cashed out for huge money in a matter of months.

Flash Forward now to your online presence and the value of your business.

I've spent more than a year interviewing and meeting with clients about their online presence and the value of investing in online media content to build the value of their brand. I've often received applause for laying out the case for online development as a means for increasing the value of an online or local business. The applause is followed by deafening silence.

What's the deal?

The deal is, most companies don't realize the value that webmedia creates for them. They are totally hung up on the question of "monetization", as if it were the same as employee paychecks or the month to month cost of electric and telephone service.

Think about it. The goal of venture capital, small business and entrepreneurs the world over is to generate the perception of value that they can use to cash out for big profit when the time comes.

So how do you create value in your business? Ask YouTube.

And you want to know something else? The available time my company has to sell has just been bought out by a media production company. Why? Because they want to create value that they can sell on the web.

Hmmmm.

And there's more. The value of online media translates into new fields for those of us who have been involved in traditional media production for these many years. How will we integrate our services to the new new media presence?

We need to prove our value as professional talent and continue to do what we do best. It's going to take a couple more years, but soon enough, the business world will be calling on media professionals to deliver the goods in an increasingly competitive arena.

Summer Sunshine and Blue Skies

Summertime brings us so much to do. Sometimes it's tough to keep both eyes on the ball when the kids are out of school, we're working overtime to earn a summer break or even just a day at the beach.

One issue that comes up often these days is how to create time efficiency and cost effectiveness for our clients while meeting important business deadlines.

Here are some things we suggest to clients who need to complete projects on time and on budget. This can help especially when summer time and production money is at a premium.

We work with clients to include their input on budgets for talent and studio time. We offer consulting and up front planning on studio costs and talent fees. We often include careful script review and session planning. We find we're able to identify script questions and problems in pre-production that we might otherwise have to solve on the clock in a recording or editing session. We offer thirty day billing for our established clients and we now accept credit card payment for ISDN service and clients who want to establish credit.

Getting the right voice and the right read is critical. We invite clients to join us in the studio or by phone to session direct talent with us. This helps avoid expensive additional time and talent fees to re-track projects. We also think it helps clients appreciate having professional voice talent on each session we do. It simply takes less time to work with talent that can take and hold direction.

Script and talent issues are the most common reasons that projects go over budget.
Sometimes these costs simply cannot be avoided. But the best way to manage costs is to have a bullet proof script and a clear understanding of your production needs before recording begins. And as always, you can't expect to buy a Mercedes Coupe at a Chevy price. So if you need all the bells and whistles, it's best to plan for that up front.

We work for our production clients and our job is to represent your issues on every project. We're happy to have you put the job in our hands and trust our judgememnt to complete it to your satisfaction. But if you need to manage a complex project on a tight budget, plan on working with us from the start to help you get the most for your money.

Now! For ALL Your Radio Needs!

Last weekend was a really important sales weekend for car dealers. I know because I've been voicing and producing car commercials for a very long time.

Memorial Day Weekend sales events are as common as dirt. It's pretty hard to stand out from the crowd of advertisers who blast the airwaves with video vomit and full frequency audio assaults for THIS WEEKEND ONLY!

So I was pretty happy to learn that a simple spot I voiced at Red Rocket Productions for Toland Marketing helped sell 73 Toyotas. That's pretty good for a single dealership. Furthermore, the dealer only bought radio. No Print. No TV. No Direct Mail. So that would be an example of good radio advertising.

Now, for a hilarious example of bad radio advertising that you can write yourself, follow this link: http://danoday.com/bcg
to "Dan O'Day's Amazing Bad Commercial Generator!"

There's lots of fun stuff here, Dan has been providing prep. sheets, production elements and "sound" advice to radio professionals for years. This is your chance to peek behind the curtain at some real old school radio goodies. Trust me, anybody who ever was a disc jockey knows Dan O'Day and O'liners.

And if you want to know how we helped a single dealer sell 73 cars last weekend, let me know.