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Rates: Published v. Reality
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[Todd Terry] “When we started our company a dozen or so years ago… 99% of what we produced were broadcast commercials. A corporate gig was almost unheard of here. “
I will clarify and say we don’t do commercials. Never enjoyed those. We’re all long form and series here at the moment.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” now in Post.
Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. -
Thanks for all the comments everyone. I really appreciate the advice.
Walter,
I’m sure you could fill a novel on this, but I’ll ask anyway. How does one break into the world of cable television if they aren’t in LA or NY, particularly if the are in media hotbed such as Ohio? It doesn’t seem like something that is that achievable, although it would be a very desirable direction to take the company.Thanks.
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[walter biscardi] “I will clarify and say we don’t do commercials.”
Oh, we know. I wasn’t making an apples-to-apples comparison.
Funny how people gravitate toward different things. I think our general manager likes long-form, and maybe commercials not so much. But I hate long form (I’ll take their money, just not like it)… and I love commercials.
I think it must be a short-attention-span thing I have. I’d so much rather spend a few days in pre-prod, a couple of days directing a shoot, and throw it to our editor knowing that in a day or two more we’ve got a finished product (and a bill!) out the door.
Projects that take longer than that really tax my brain. We’ve got one continuing project right now that is a couple of different very long-form pieces including two half-hour HD broadcast shows (for public TV)… they’ve been going on for a year and I’m about ready to hit myself with a hammer. It’s not particularly hard, there are no unusual struggles with it, and the money is extremely good… it’s just that it goes on and on and on……
My world is much more suited to making my little :30 mini-movies, then moving on to the next one. Plus in a dollers-per-second world, we can pour ten times as much money on the screen for commercials vs. long form.
Different strokes…. whatever makes you happy… (and makes ya money!)
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[larry baker] “I’m sure you could fill a novel on this, but I’ll ask anyway. How does one break into the world of cable television if they aren’t in LA or NY, particularly if the are in media hotbed such as Ohio? It doesn’t seem like something that is that achievable, although it would be a very desirable direction to take the company. “
The beautiful thing about cable TV is that you can work from anywhere because if you pay attention to all those closing credits on your favorite cable shows, and then look up the production companies, you’ll find them all over, including Ohio. Food Network for example broadcasts out of Knoxville, TN.
I built my company up to handle HD Post production from the get go, even when it was a single edit suite in a spare bedroom of my house. I’ve always worked to broadcast standards from the get go because that’s how I was trained. As in video levels meet broadcast specs, audio levels meet broadcast specs no matter the project. And I continually reinvest back into my company upgrading my equipment and software.
So when an opportunity presented itself to do HD Post for “Good Eats” I was in a good position to simply say “Yes” and not even think about it.
And I created an opportunity for myself by making the decision to purchase a multi-format Beta Player several years prior that opened the door to a client relationship that led to these documentaries and PBS series.
Where you are doesn’t matter today. What does matter is the quality of your work, how you present yourself to the client and the value of your services you bring to the client. I’ve written a three part series in my Blog about starting your own business and my latest thoughts are in the Cow magazine article.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” now in Post.
Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital.
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