[Jonathan Ziegler]

I would suggest looking to industry rags – Variety, Hollywood Reporter, LA Times as well as NAB. Nobody really knows how much people get paid except the production company and network accountants.

A production company will need to budget out what they need to get to produce the show (on a per-episode and per-season basis) and the network will need to decide what it’s willing to pay – ever the twain shall meet. I don’t think there are standard numbers for what show A or B gets and I’m pretty sure broadcast networks (ABC, NBC) pay more than cable/satellite (USA, TBS) or pay cable (Showtime, HBO).

Remember the pay cable people get money from subscribers, but the basic cable and broadcast folks get revenue from advertising. All get syndication monies, DVD sales, licensing, streaming money (like netflix), etc. Broadcast is the big money still as they have the most eyeballs. Regular cable is good, but because there are so many more competing networks, ad dollars are slim. Niche markets like Syfy, Nickelodeon, et al. don’t get as many eyeballs so they don’t get as much money – you have to split screen time with dozens of similar networks with similar content.

Most networks have to produce original content to set themselves apart and compete for eyeballs. The good news is that there are lots of little niches to get into and more and more networks to sell content to. Not all networks are the same and not all are managed equally. Consequently, some pay more and some pay less. As a producer, you will need to weigh the budget or what they offer with what you think you can produce the show for. If they offer $10,000 an episode and you can’t make it for less than $12,000, you either cut your budget or the deal won’t work. Same as any other business.

Last, before you go worrying about how much to ask for a show, you have to produce the show – unless you already have a couple TV shows under your belt, but I’m guessing you aren’t there yet (sorry if I’m wrong). I say make a killer show the people adore, then worry about getting a deal. You probably won’t get a deal without something to show anyway, right? If you already have a relationship, it makes pitching much faster and easier – they already know you can make shows and money. This is all my opinion, too. I’m open to others – I’ve never actually put any show on TV other than access cable.

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

I’m not real good with Vegas, but you should first convert 60i footage to 60P if needed, THEN convert to 1080 from 720, then to 24P. It will be 40% of original speed. That’s how I handle it, but my way may not be the best.

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

Hi there,

I’ll speak to copyright as well as other intellectual property issues most productions ignore until its too late.

1) copyright your scripts. If you have written all of the scripts (the sole writing credit is you), then you can bundle them all together and copyright all at once. Do this BEFORE you start shooting. It costs $35 for each thing you want copyrighted so you can save a bit by having a collection of show scripts. If you need, you can also register each episode script with WGA – this is not completely necessary.

2) Get copyrights for each and every episode.

3) Further protection of intellectual property – everyone working on the project (cast and crew) should sign a release stating that they have no ownership of the property known as “name of show” and establish the show as a property. Ideally, you should have a company set up (like an LLC) so you are not at financial risk for liability in the event someone is hurt on set or, if the company runs into financial issues, they don’t effect your personal finances. Keep the money separate – never mix personal and business funds.

4) while it won’t necessarily protect you, you should also have everyone sign a waiver of damages and liability and have a clause that requires binding arbitration (versus taking on a lawsuit). There are probably more things that should be on this list – talk to an entertainment attorney for details. It’s not as expensive as you think.

5) Add some legitimacy to your production company and get a registered trademark, too. Trademarks, patents, copyrights, and trade secrets are all protected intellectual property under federal law. Trademarks are difficult so make sure you get a graphic designer who knows how to create a trademark-able logo.

6) every person who is or even MAY appear on screen should have a talent release signed. Ditto also for every single business should have a property release signed. Ditto also for every voice, image, artwork, face, etc. In other words, if it appears in your show, you should have a release for it – have a release or cut it out!

Music:
1) License. Easy way. It will cost you a lot to use anything top anything within the last year or 2 (many times even longer). Most movies get full rights to songs so they can republish them in a movie album and have the rights to use it in the movie. This saves trouble in the long run when that movie goes to pay cable, DVD/BluRay, theaters, broadcast, international, etc. Imagine having to re-negotiate music rights every time you wanted to license your property to another entity – it would literally blow your entire profit margin – do it once very early on. Remember that everything is negotiable – don’t take the first number as gospel. You’d be surprised how willing some places are to deal – just ask. Worst they can say is “no.”

2) be wary of discount music libraries. There are tons of places online to get music in all forms, but not all are built the same. For one, you should have rights to pretty much do whatever you want with the final version. If there are international restrictions or restrictions on re-distributing the material, make damn sure you can put it in your project. Remember, most TV shows make their money NOT from the first run on TV, but in DVD sales and syndication. You need to have the rights to the music so you can redistribute in multiple formats, around the world and many windows.

3) consider writing your own music – if you have a copy of garageband (don’t know the equivalent on Windows), you can write a catchy ditty for your show. Even if you have no lyrics, write some for the show (you get more in royalties if the song has lyrics – example is the lyrics to the original Star Trek theme (the music was written by Alexander Courage, but Roddenberry wrote lyrics that were never used so he could claim 50% of the royalties).

4) Not comfortable doing it yourself? Pay a local musician to do it. Remember to have them sign a release granting you exclusive rights to the music in perpetuity. You don’t want to have to renegotiate this later.

Now, I know you have a show and you just want to focus on the show without fiddling with all of this stuff. I guarantee you, if you plan for the show’s success now, you will be a far happier camper. It’s much more

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

With the exception of 2, every job I’ve ever had had been via relationships. I meet someone, we talk, we find out how we can work together and voila! Business!

I don’t trust resumes. I had a resume class from one of my jobs (they laid off a bunch of us and gave us some classes to get new jobs). The basic message was how to deceive an employer and boost yourself up. I’m not naive enough to think this doesn’t happen a lot, but I find trial by fire to be most helpful. Also, going with my gut on people has proven most advantageous.

We also had a graphic designer whose resume was great and she interviewed great and all was amazing. She could do basic touchups in Photoshop. After she was voted off the island, we found her “work” on several other website tutorials. We got duped, but we soon implemented basic Photoshop, illustrator, and photo/video tests. We rarely do resumes – instead we rely on demonstrated skills and our guts. As for Facebook, it was never designed to be a part of a job hiring and, furthermore, isn’t structured for factual data – its all opinions they are entitled to. We have used LinkedIn when offered as it is structured for things like job history. Also, it’s helpful for sales jobs. I don’t really care to know what employees do in their free time and I won’t make their personal lives my business.

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

From what I understand, statistically, post houses are in decline mostly due to more capable software being in the hands of more and more people via current software.

This is similar to the kinds of changes seen in graphic design – typography used to be very specialized and had to be done before final layouts – now quark and indesign have wiped typography houses out. Remember when photo touchups were done by a specialist? Now everyone has Photoshop.

Point is that more and more demanded more and more from their software – if there’s money in it, it’s worth it to load up the apps with more features. That innovation can eliminate competition or specialized software. The quality difference may not be the same, but it puts it in the hands of everyone and not just a select few. When that happens, the competitive edge is lost. Post houses were there to fill a niche which is eroding as the software gets cheaper and has more and more features. I still remember when only a few who could afford video toaster could keep in business. Now, an inexpensive off-the-shelf nle is standard and many companies make them.

This industry is marked by change. Don’t fear it – embrace it! 😉

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

Yeah, looks like find edges. Could be a 3D technique which does the same thing, but highlights the lines for the 3D model/terrain – that would be done in the 3d renderer/engine, but you could do the same “scan” effect using find edges and a moving mask in AE:

load your footage into AE and drag to the timeline in your project

select the footage, duplicate it, then choose the effect (Effect >> Stylize >> Find Edges) – may want to adjust the effect-ed layer to give the right look

Add mask as needed to make the effect “move” through your footage.

Post the results! I’d love to see it!

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

Depends on what you’re going for, but check out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0-OrChdntw (good stuff starts at the 2:30 mark). This person also has their own top 10 list (look on the right). The scenes are over-the-top absurd in some cases.

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

Depends on the look you’re goin for. I say find a sequence you have already seen on DVD or someplace and go cut by cut through the sequence. How can you shoot that sequence and make it your own? I’m a big fan of the close combat scenes in the Bourne movies, but look at the good, the bad, and the ugly, the Matrix films, et al.

What kind of fight scene are looking at? Also, you don’t need after effects, just an editor and a camera.

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

I use kinemac and Motion on the Mac. I also use strata when I have the extra time and it’s an easier modeller.

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293

[Jonathan Ziegler]

I saw sell it online. Your cpm is going to be much lower for advertising and you’ll have a better overall chance of success. You can start it off for not much money and find out pretty quick if your idea will work out for the long term.

Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293