Mark Grossardt
Forum Replies Created
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The same specs all around, save for ONE oddball? You must be living right, Todd.
We used to use DG and ER quite a bit, but we’ve adopted a very similar approach for our digital delivery. We too keep a bible of sorts that contains delivery specs, ftp usernames/passwords, contact info, etc. One thing that we’ve also done is to write a bunch of scripts to create encoding watch folders to help automate the whole process. So, if I need to get a spot out to all the stations in Kansas City, I just drop a QT ref file into my “Kansas City Dropbox” folder. In about a half hour, I’ve got all the different versions for each station sitting within their own upload folders ready to ftp/sendspace/yousendit or whatever. I wrote a bunch of scripts with Automator and utilized Episode 5’s watch folder function to handle everything (I know Episode 6 could probably streamline this process even more, but we haven’t felt the need to upgrade just yet). It was kind of a pain to set up, but really nice to have once I got all the bugs worked out.
I think I was also contacted by the California upstart company. I had to tell him the same thing. Maybe I would’ve listened harder if he would’ve contacted me before I went to the trouble of setting up an automated system.
Mark Grossardt
Video Editor
Clark Creative Group -
Who in the world
has this much time on his hands?
Get to work, slackers.Mark Grossardt
Video Editor
Clark Creative Group -
Simon,
I’ve been there, man, and I feel for you.
In addition to some of the great advice above, I’d suggest finding a few allies on your sales team. Try to understand where they’re coming from. In many cases these poor salespeople get hammered on by a sales manager every day. If it’s not a sales manager, it’s a general manager, and the message is always the same: “Get out there and sell! We need more revenue!” Sales is tough, especially in this economic climate.
Now, not every salesperson makes a good ally, so use your best judgment, but approaching a few of them with the case, “Hey, tough times out there for you, huh? What can I do to make your job easier? What can I do with this spot to really make you a hero in the eyes of your client?” I bet you could get invited into a few creative meetings with the client that way.
Consider cutting something great for one of your biggest clients as a thank you. Brainstorm with your new friends in sales to come up with likely targets to pitch. The client will definitely appreciate it and probably won’t have any problem with you using their spot as a shining example of great production. Just make sure other prospective clients aren’t aware that the spot was done gratis.
When I worked in the commercial production department at a TV station, I put together a reel with spots ranging from bottom of the barrel to higher end. In a corresponding brochure I clearly explained production costs pertaining to each spot. Sales reps could take these materials out on sales calls and let the client decide if they wanted to kick in some extra dough (and how much) to make something nicer. Again, if you’ve got friends in the sales department, and they’re really good salespeople, they might be able to coax some production money out of the clients. In our case, most clients didn’t chip in for something extra, but I was surprised by the small number that did. In fact, we had one client who ended up shooting their spot on film! If you can get a few clients like this to start building a higher-end reel, your salespeople are going to be more excited about drumming up business and making sales calls. Sales people LOVE it when they can go to their client and show off a great looking spot. And some clients might just be willing to keep up with the Joneses when they see what the guy down the street got for his spot.
Another thing to consider it approaching your sales manager and pitching a commission on production costs for the salespeople. Since it seems like you have the clout to implement new ways of doing things, you might be able to convince the sales manager that you’re sitting on an un-monetized asset. You’re not looking to squeeze the folks that can’t afford it: they’ll still get their freebie spots. But there’s no reason that the folks that can afford it shouldn’t add to your bottom line. And if there’s something in it for them, I guarantee your sales force will push hard for the upsell.
Working at a place like this can be a grind, I know. People are resistant to change, so you might not get anywhere with any of these tactics. But if you can make the argument that this stuff will add to the bottom line, they’re worth a shot.
Good luck.
Mark Grossardt
Video Editor
Clark Creative Group -
Please, please, please tell me you made that vampire themed funeral home spot …
Mark Grossardt
Video Editor
Clark Creative Group -
They came with Snow Leopard installed. Clean installs from scratch for everything else.
Mark Grossardt
Video Editor
Clark Creative Group -
Some clients aren’t ever going to WANT to understand.
I once had a grinder who was upset that the final product wasn’t close to what he wanted, despite it being exactly what the script that he signed off on called for. He wasn’t about to spend another dime paying for a reshoot, new VO, more editing, etc. I used the house analogy, explaining how a contractor could go back to your newly built house, tear out a few walls and expand your living room by a couple hundred square feet, but that’s gonna cost money, and man, that’s an expensive way to build the house that you want.
His response was silence and an angry stare followed by, “That’s a terrible analogy. Making commercials is nothing like that.”
Mark Grossardt
Video Editor
Clark Creative Group -
Rich (or anyone else using DG for SD distribution), you might want to seriously consider Extreme Reach.
We’ve only just begun using ER (based in part because of a recommendation found on the COW). So far, I’ve been impressed. They were founded by the guys who started FastChannel, so I get the impression that ER is the new and improved version of DGFastChannel. They’re all software/cloud based, so nobody has to acquire proprietary gear to work with them. They take a high quality mpeg 2 or ProRes HQ master file and encode it specifically for each station’s playback server, so automated re-encoding by the stations shouldn’t be an issue. (Incidentally, the ProRes HQ file is a much more accurate representation of the spot sitting on my NLE timeline than the mpeg 2 format for either ER or DG). The list of stations using ER is large and growing, though not quite as ubiquitous as DG’s. If a station isn’t partnered with them yet, they can also dump the spot to Beta SP and have it delivered, much like DG. Since there isn’t any proprietary gear for a station to buy in order to partner with ER, it seems like stations are coming online with them pretty quickly.
So far we haven’t had any complaints about their customer service/billing/traffic departments. We’ve had a few hiccups with DG in that regard. Nothing that serious, but I know some others have had worse experiences with DG.
Another nice thing about ER is their online portal. You can view everything you’ve ever uploaded (in multiple formats for those married to a particular platform), enter traffic instructions, track uploads and deliveries, download QC reports if a spot is flagged, etc. You can even give clients limited access to the portal so that they can have an online library of their spots. And it’s very user friendly.
So, the comparisons between DG and ER are such that we’d migrate our workflow over to ER even if they charged the same as DG, but fortunately, they’re way cheaper than DG. Even for those guys who love good ol’ tape, one look at the ER rate card will make ’em think twice about ever sending out another Beta SP.
Lest I start to sound like an ER honk, I’m really hoping that ER’s HD delivery prices start coming down, as the price is still about 10x that of SD delivery. That’s enough to make me want to actually call up each station to request their HD formatting specs/FTP address info. And we all know how much fun that conversation can be …
I once had a guy tell me I could just email a flash file. Seriously.
Mark Grossardt
Video Editor
Clark Creative Group -
A Cow article on this stuff would be awesome, but until then, I’ll toss out my limited experiences:
DIY – Unless you’re only dealing with a few stations that are very clear on their specs, this is a HUGE headache. For our shop, it’s just not worth it.
DG FastChannel – Not a bad option. DG has very exacting specs, and their QC seems pretty high. Upload one spot to DG, and they’ll distribute it, so it’s quick and easy. Some places will automatically re-encode the DG file to conform with their playback servers, so that’s a bummer. Just about everyone we’ve ever worked with accepts DG files.
Extreme Reach – We haven’t used these guys yet, but we’re looking into it. They were founded by the guys who started FastChannel, so I get the impression that ER is the new and improved version of DG FastChannel. They’re all software/cloud based, so nobody has to acquire proprietary gear to work with them. They also encode your master file specifically for each station’s playback server, so automated re-encoding shouldn’t be an issue. Their list of stations using them is large and growing. They’re also cheaper than DG.
I’d be interested to hear of others’ experiences with DG, ER, or any of the other companies listed above.
Mark Grossardt
Video Editor
Clark Creative Group -
Todd, I’m surprised that the local stations in your market seem to handle Beta SP dubs with care. We went with DG because we were tired of our local stations jacking up the tapes we were sending out. It seemed like a no-brainer since DG’s internal QC is pretty good. Their mpeg 2 specs are really specific, and every now and then we’ll even get a call from their people about some problem in a spot that we didn’t catch.
But in the end, I’m not sure if we receive fewer complaints about spots looking horrible on air now or before we started using DG. What plays on the air is obviously not what we sent the stations, and they just don’t seem to care. It seems that once a tape/file is in the hands of a local station, all bets are off.
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To echo other posters, minor in something that really interests you.
That being said, I see that you mention Creative Writing as an option. I believe that good writers make good editors. Great writers really understand structure, pacing, tone, motivation, drama, etc. – essentially all of the elements necessary to tell a good story. Seems to translate pretty well into the editing world, no?
So, minor in something that seems cool, and if Creative Writing seems cool to you, I think that’s a great option.