There isn’t a production company in the world that doesn’t need extra hands.  Especially when you’re coming down the home stretch of pre production. With last minute script changes, location permits, meals on set to arrange, props, wardrobe, set construction and the like – the final days before actual production can feel like your head is stuck in the spin cycle of a washing machine.  Your budget is tight and as a producer you’re not going to even think about going over budget when you haven’t yet shot one minute of footage.  Interns to the rescue.  However, I’ve found that there are some production companies and producers who not only don’t understand the benefits of an intern but the responsibility that comes with hiring…

On June 22nd ABC  will premiere the new action game show Downfall from FremantleMedia .  You may be wondering how this new game is played.  Allow me to fill you in.

Apparently, while perched on top of a 10-story building in Los Angeles, contestants will race against a clock to answer trivia questions  in an effort to win MAJOR prizes and $1 million dollars in cash. Doesn’t sound too difficult, except for the ‘perched’ part, I’m not sure what that means, but I suspect it’s not laying back in a cozy leather recliner sipping champagne from gold flutes.  But, here’s the ‘fun’ part, while contestants are trying to answer the trivia questions, the life-size prizes and cash move along on a gigantic conveyor belt.  The…

Less you think TV is all doctor shows, crime dramas, and reality fluff – there are some television shows that are attempting to make a difference. The new reality direction is aimed at childhood obesity.  As I’ve noted in an earlier post, obesity in America is an epidemic.  One in twenty-five children is obese.  I know this because:  1) I have eyes and I can see, and 2) An episode I produced for the Real Savvy Mom series centered on childhood obesity. While in production, I was shocked to learn that there are a growing percentage of children under of the age of 12 who are exhibiting symptoms previously only seen in overweight adults.  Symptoms as life threatening as heart disease…

Music publishing is a lucrative business.  For years songwriters, and their labels relied on selling albums, and licensing their music to other outlets, in particular, commercials, TV shows, video games and movies.  In fact, I produced a show that relied heavily on music licensing.  The show’s premise was the untold story of musical songs.  It was a great idea but altogether difficult to produce.  To secure the rights to a song you must pay the music publisher, the writer and the performers. I know I summed it up in one sentence and I wish it had been that easy to produce, but it wasn’t.  In some cases the permissions were difficult to obtain and in other instances the fees requested for the license would have…

There’s no hiding the fact that NBC is at the bottom of the ratings heap.  Clearly an hour of prime-time with Jay Leno was not the answer to their problems.  So, he was cancelled and now they’ve got an entirely new line-up for the fall.

UNDERCOVERS : From executive producer J.J. Abrams  (Alias, LOST, Star Trek).  This one hour drama features a seemingly typical married couple who own a small catering company in Los Angeles.  However, secretly the duo are two retired CIA spies.  When fellow spy and friend goes missing they are reinstated.  “Undercovers” has been described as a mix between “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “The Bourne Identity.”

THE EVENT: An emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker, an everyman who…

There’ a new series being produced.  It’s a form of entertainment that will combine television programming with the web and social media.  The backers behind this new venture are established media giants.  I believe it will either be a game changer or an idea whose hype was bigger than its content.

THE PLAYERS

Ben Silverman
Producer and Television Executive
Founded Reveille Studios in 2002 and produced such hits as The Office, Ugly Betty and The Tudors.

In 2007 he became Co-chairman of NBC Entertainment.  In 2009 NBC chose not to renew his contract.  I’m guessing the network was disappointed with the ratings under his helm and expected to see the kind of genius he displayed at Reveille. The reason for his departure from NBC…

I came across a very interesting radio interview on NPR with Edward Jay Epstein author of the new book The Hollywood Economist.  He made the interesting observation that movie going has changed since the 1940’s.

“In the 1940s, [going to the movies] was the national pastime. Approximately 67 percent of the American public — every week, on the average — went to a movie. And they didn’t just see movies — they saw newsreels, they saw cartoons, animation, shorts, a second feature — but it was their weekly pastime. Today, less than 10 percent of the public, on the average, go to the movies in a week.”

I don’t have to go back as far as the 40’s.  I can take a…

When creating a Production Schedule start backwards from the delivery date. Whether you’re using sophisticated scheduling software, or you’re just using a gigantic wall calendar,  begin with the delivery date. Otherwise you’ll be working on that production schedule for the rest of your natural born days.

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE ORDER

1.  Deliver final master to the network
2.  Create all the deliverables for the network. (Contracts, final scripts, releases, DVD copies, etc.)
3.  Close caption your show
4.  Mix your tracks
5.  Final on-line edit
6.  Rough cut delivered to the network.  Factor in the various executives who will need to weigh in, comment and approve.  You’ll need time to get their comments, make the changes, deliver those changes, and then…

I’m going to have to answer yes to the above question.  I’ve seen ad agencies get carried away by producing  commercials that are so creative and outside the box that they forgot to sell the product, and in some cases the ad doesn’t even tell you what the product is.

The basics of Marketing 101 are to get your product known and get it sold.  Therefore, it would seem obvious that the purpose of a commercial is to sell the product.  It doesn’t matter how many Clio awards one wins for best ad of the year, what matters, or what should matter is moving the product into the hands of the consumer.  I know, as creatives, we don’t like to hear words like sales, profit,…

By Marisa O’Neill

Today’s Guest blogger  is Marisa O’Neill.  Yes, we look a bit similar – that’s because we’re identical twins.  Marisa is a television line producer by day and by night she’s my go to girl for what’s the latest in television.

Did ABC shoot themselves in the foot by introducing two ongoing series with complicated mythologies and a never ending guess who done it plot? I’m talking specifically about V and Flash Forward.  I admit I was interested at first, and did my due diligence by watching each episode.  I was a bit intrigued, applauded their high production value, set design, editing and often times the acting and writing. When their last episodes aired I wanted to know more. Then, they left the…