Resolutions

The promo I've been talking about is still in limbo but it looks like it could make it up online sometime soon. In the meantime, I'd like thoughs on this one. The idea hit me right before the Christmas holiday. I wrote it down and had script approval in a day. I shot it two days later and edited it the next day. It's pretty simply done. It was the message we wanted to convey at the end of a year that saw huge property tax protests and a severe rise in crime. Basically, it's a call to action for viewers to watch the news. Like I said... nothing fancy and flashy here. It ran till a week or two past January 1st.

Still holding!

There has been progress on the spot I mentioned in my last post but the promo has yet to make air. That's what happens when your consultant is traveling and your GM is off for a week of hitting the slopes.

The wheels slowly began to turn again yesterday. Our consultant is actually in town and stopped by my boss' office to weigh in. He liked it! He actually liked it! Now it's a matter of convincing the GM to let us move forward. We'll see. It's certainly not the greatest spot ever (and not something I'd enter for an Emmy - although I loved the suggestion to run it overnight and do just that), but it is different. When so many of our spots have looked exactly alike lately, different is good. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) in today's Internet age if a promo campaign isn't resonating well with the public you're likely going to hear about it very quickly.

In the meanwhile I'm producing run of the mill sweeps promos. Is it just me or is this February just lame? I'm not seeing any really good ideas out there anywhere. It's as if everyone has decided not to expend the energy since the networks are offering us so few new episodes of anything.

Speaking of that... Thanks a lot CBS for burning through all those CSI shows out of book. It's not like we wanted a decent lead-in or anything. Jeez. At least we've got Dexter. I've curious to see how the network will make that presentable on broadcast television.

On standby...

So the promo I mentioned in my last blog entry is now in approval limbo. The promotion manager wanted to step outside the box a little and had a song created for a spot to start running in the AFC Championship game. I edited it and got some help from one of our DS editors to put a few finishing touches on it. The spot looks nice and everyone who has watched it has caught themselves humming the lyrics half an hour later. Yet the spot did not air in the game today. We're waiting on the consultant's okay.

Eyah.

I certainly don't blame the GM for wanting multiple opinions. It's his job first and foremost to protect the brand and if he has concerns then they should certainly be addressed. I'm totally cool with the knowledge the promo might never make air. That's how it goes sometimes. We've all been there... investing hours and days into a promo only to have it go to tape and nowhere else. What can you do?

After all the trouble and effort my boss put into getting the song, though, I hope it airs. One way or the other I'll see what I can do about posting it here. They might put the kibosh on that, too. It is their brand after all. They just let me play with it. :-)

Curses!

Argh! No Super Bowl repeat for Peyton and company. Watching that ball slip through Dallas Clark's hands was painful. I felt for the guy. All the more because we work with him a lot at the station. In fact, he and Bob Sanders are expected in the studio tonight. I wonder if they'll call in sick. Freaking Chargers... At least our voice guy should be happy. You reading this Erik???

So now I'm rooting for the Packers. Truthfully I don't care who goes to the big game - so long as it isn't the Patriots. Hating Tom Brady is pretty much required in order to live in Indy. I'm just saying.

So I've spent several hours this weekend at the office working on a spot to air in the AFC Championship game. Even though it will be Colts-less we should still see nice numbers. We're tossing the spot together pretty quickly with plans to dress it up even after it's initial airing. Hopefully we'll pull yet another rabbit out of our hat and have something really cool and kind of fun for the game. I'll endeavor to put the spot online once it's completed. It won't be anything ground breaking... but it has a nice beat. :-)

Sweeps and Super Bowls

Well it's been awhile since I wrote. Almost a month, in fact. The holidays always seem to tie me up and have their way with me. Then I need a week or two just to recover (and lose weight). I'm finally getting back in the groove at work but it's been tough. I need a good campaign or spot to give me a push in the right direction. It looks like I'll have to deal with sweeps first, however... ***sighs***

Hopefully we'll have some good stories for the Feb. book. I say hopefully because I have no idea what we're doing. Throw in the possibility of the Colts going to the Super Bowl again and the ever present threat of a whopping snowstorm and you've got the potential for an ugly February month, indeed.

Last January and February was an interesting time to work in our promotion office. Three stations originate out of the building where I work and we hub several more. One of those stations happens to be the CBS affiliate which, you guessed it, carried the Colts vs. Bears Super Bowl matchup. I can honestly say I never clocked more overtime in my life. There was one day where I was in at 3:00 AM! We handed out posters at numerous events. To this day our competition still winds up with our posters in their live shots because so many people in the city kept them and put them up in their businesses. Gotta love it.

So if the Colts do the unimaginable and beat the Patriots (unlikely but wouldn't that kick ass?) and go to Phoenix, we'll pull out all the stops again. The only down side is that Fox gets the big game this year. Still, there is nothing like working at a station when the hometown team is in the Super Bowl. It's pretty amazing.

I'll try to be better about posting here this year. I also resolve to upload more of my own work. Hopefully those will be two resolutions I can actually pull off...

Here's one for you

The quality isn't the greatest but here is a promo I was involved in producing. The script isn't mine but I helped with the shooting and editing. And if the voice sounds familiar... that's Scott Rummel. He does movie trailers. Lots and lots of movie trailers. I believe he's the voice for the new TV trailers for I Am Legend and Sweeny Todd.

I posted this one because I beleive it has some of our nicest visuals to date. I'd love to know what you think.

5 voice guys in a limo

I may have mentioned this one before but Ijust have to post it. For anyone that works with voice over guys... you'll love this. And your voice guys (or gals) probably will, too. Ours did. ;-)

It's not a promo...

But it's a fun ad. I laugh every time I see this new Verizon Wireless spot. "Does he... bite? Yeah."

Speechless

I am 100% behind the writers when it comes to the current strike. Studios are trying to screw them over. As much as I hate to miss out on new episodes of my favorite shows (or see some of my new faves not get renewed as a result) the writers still have my full support. That's why I absolutely love the messages several high profile actors are putting out there. This is one of my favorites...



And be sure to check out some of the other clips from the site as well. http://speechlesswithoutwriters.com/ It's nice to see the actors getting behind the people who put the words in their mouths... ;-)

A cool new spot

Has anyone seen the new promos for the Sarah Conner Chronicles on FOX? I was only mildly interested in the series until catching one the other night. I have to admit the promo did what it was supposed to do. I am so watching the premiere. I especially loved that creepy shot of the Terminator sans skin there toward the end. Nicely conceived and edited.

Here's another spot I came across while browsing YouTube. Can you imagine the time this one took? Yikes!

Thank God...

It's over. Another November sweeps has come and mercifully gone. A lot of the aggravation was washed away when our promotion manager treated us to a nice celebratory dinner at Ruth's Chris, however. I recommend the upside down chocolate souffle. I'd put up with twice as much sweeps irritation if I could have two of those at the end of it all.

So I'm wondering if any stations out there had some new, really ground breaking investigations or stories. Something we've not seen before. And if the news departments didn't deliver what about the promos? I saw our competition picking up their game a little bit. They had some really nice spots that made me stop and take notice. They also goosed my competitive nature a bit. Always a good thing.

Two of our biggest stories revolved around sports figures. We did a very interesting interview with Colts' punter Hunter Smith who chose our station to confess his battle with depression. The other was the big 3 interview I've mentioned in previous posts. The story did in fact pull in some big numbers and we held our quarter hour with both part one and part two. Tackling these interviews like they were stories instead of sports pieces made all the difference. My former news director who has moved out to California caught my spots for the Big 3 when our sports anchor sent them to him. He sent along a very nice note that just made my day. And I must confess that I've never done a spot that had more people talking. It was weird, and very gratifying, to get that much feedback.

We also did a story that's gotten us sued. Don't you just hate it when that happens? Our station, and our parent company, are standing by the story.

Our other big stories? You can never go wrong with stories about the state wasting your money. And property taxes have been a huge issue here in Indy. We did more on that. We also had a few stories about air travel - specifically people stealing from your luggage and air traffic safety. That was about it.

Anyone out there with some sweeps stories to share? That includes stories that didn't work. That info is gold.

On to year ender promos and the next big image campaign for the AFC Championship game...

Inspiration... and where to find it.

There is nothing worse for a promotion producer than when the well of creative ideas runs dry. I'm not talking about writing the script. Staring at that blank computer screen is a different kind of hell. I'm talking about coming up with a "look" for your promo. Something you haven't done before. Something that pushes your skills to a new level. Perhaps you had a boxes phase. Then maybe you moved on to your circles phase. Then maybe you got really creative and did a boxes AND circles phase. Now you're bored with your work and you need some knew creative inspiration to get your imagination kick started again.

I usually keep the list I'm about to post here a guarded secret - something I only share with co-workers and a select few other stations in our broadcast group. But with so many people now sharing their creative ideas and talents with us on the world wide web I started to feel a little selfish. So now I'm going to share the love... or at least my list of inspiration...

Art houses and post houses have the coolest ideas. In my spare time at work (what little I have) I always look out for new sites. Over the years I've collected a bunch. Whenever I'm in desperate need of a creative kick in the pants I've found it on one of these sites. I hope they're useful to someone out there. If you have any to share that aren't on the list I'd love to see them.

Without further delay... the list.

#
http://www.602communications.com/
http://www.72andsunny.com/
http://www.168designgroup.com/
http://www.1741films.com/
http://www.2000strong.com/


A
http://www.a52.com/
http://www.activateyourimage.com/
http://www.aerodrome.com/
http://www.attik.com/
http://www.autonomy.tv/


B
http://www.beehive.tv/
http://www.belief.com/
http://www.bigstudios.com/
http://www.blur.com/
http://www.brickyardvfx.com/
http://www.broadwayvideo.com/
http://www.buckla.com/
http://www.bungalow3.com/


C
http://www.ca-square.com/
http://www.charlex.com/
http://www.citizenpictures.com/
http://www.click3x.com/
http://www.computercafe.com/
http://www.conceptfarm.com/
http://www.crash-sues.com/
http://www.creativebubble.com/
HTTP://WWW.CROSSROADSTELEVISION.COM/
http://www.curiouspictures.com/
http://www.cuppacoffee.com/

D
http://www.d-kitchen.com/
http://www.devastudios.com/
http://www.drfilmdesign.com/
http://www.dzpusa.com/


E
http://www.eargoo.com/
http://www.edgeworx.com/
http://www.editionaleffects.com/
http://www.elevate.tv/
http://www.eviltwinproductions.com/
http://www.exopolis.com/
http://www.eyeballnyc.com/


F
http://www.filmworksfx.com/
http://www.filternyc.com/
http://www.freestylecollective.com/
http://www.fueldesign.com/

G
http://www.ghostmilk.com/
http://www.giantoctopus.com/


H-I-J-K-L
http://www.homenyc.tv/
http://www.hothauscreative.com/
http://www.iamelement.com/
http://www.imaginaryforces.com/
http://www.impossiblepictures.com/
http://www.industrialcreative.com/
http://www.interspectacular.com/
http://www.interfacevideo.com/
http://www.kachew.com/
http://www.light-borne.com/
http://www.loopmedia.com/


M
http://www.makinestudios.com/
http://www.mfactor.com/ (seriously cool snipes)
http://www.moceanvenice.com/
http://www.montgomerycreative.com/
http://www.motiontheory.com/
http://www.moving-picture.com/


N-O-P
http://www.nailgun.tv/
http://www.newspeak.tv/
http://www.nthdegree.tv/
http://www.oceanvisualfx.com/
http://www.perceptv.com/
http://www.phoenixeditorial.com/
http://www.picturemill.com/
http://www.primalscreen.com/
http://www.prosceniumpictures.com/
http://www.psyop.tv/
http://www.pwny.com/
http://www.pyrocreative.com/

Q-R
http://www.radium.com/
http://www.red8studios.com/
http://www.ringoffire.com/
http://www.riotmanhattan.com/
http://www.riverstreet.net/
http://www.rudehoney.com/
http://www.rushes.co.uk/


S
http://www.shilodesign.com/
http://www.smashpoint.com/
http://www.splicehere.tv/
http://www.stardust.tv/
http://www.studiocity.com/
http://www.steelevfx.com/


T
http://www.t-a-g.com/
http://www.teamgroup.tv/
http://www.the-archipelago.com/ (this is the website for Lee Hunt and Concrete Pictures)
http://www.the-mill.com/
http://www.thestudioupstairs.com/
http://www.thinkc.com/
http://www.trancedesigns.com/
http://www.transistorstudios.com/
http://www.troika.tv/
http://www.trollback.com/
http://www.twistfilm.com/


U-V
http://www.unioneditorial.com/
http://www.uvphactory.com/
http://www.verbmedia.com/
http://www.videoboxstudios.com/
http://www.viewpointstudios.com/
http://www.vidiots.tv/


X-Y-Z
http://www.yuco.com/
http://www.zapcast.com/
http://www.zonadesign.com/

The Big 3

So I've found myself in a bit of a dilemma with a recent special report. Our sports anchor landed an impressive interview with Tony George (owner of the Indy Motor Speedway), Herb Simon (co-owner of the Pacers) and Jim Irsay (owner of the Colts). All three men sat down for one interview together. Truly a moment in Indiana sports history. We wanted to start generating buzz early in October so I put together a POP of sorts reminding viewers of all the exclusive sports interviews the guy has landed before. We tagged it out by saying wait till you see who he has November 5th. It worked. We had radio stations calling us, athletes asking the reporter, even our own sales staff was begging to know who it was. So what's my problem? Do three team owners in one room together justify the buzz or would we let people down when they finally saw who it was?

We did switch to promos for the actual interview last Thursday where their identities were revealed. Radio stations still wanted interviews and people who aren't normally sports fans admitted to being more than a little curious to see what these guys had to say. The interview airs tonight so we'll see if our strategy pays off. If it fails it certainly won't be from a lack of promotion. The spot aired on the DomeVision at the Colts/Patriots game as well as airing during the broadcast of the game itself. The game had a freaking 65 share. Too bad it had such a bummer ending...

Next up for me is another sports related special report. Then I'm off to work on a few things for sister station WNDY. I hope to experiment with getting some videos up on here in the near future. Wish me luck...

Here we go again...

Another sweeps month is now upon us. I'm coming out lucky this month since I only have two special report promos to edit. One is already in the can. The other should be completed tomorrow. Of course something always pops up during sweeps months so I'll probably have at least one more in there before it's all said and done.

A link for you... http://youtube.com/user/wish. We now have our own YouTube page for all our stations. There should be user pages for WNDY and Indy Univision as well. At least now I'll have a place to put my promos, as will the rest of the staff. The quality of the videos isn't the greatest but we're working on it.

The Indiana Broadcasters Association is having their Spectrum Awards this weekend. All told I believe the department is up for four (a record). None of us has ever won this one so we'll see if we can finally add this trophy to our department awards shelf. Of course if we do win one I'll have to lose a Family Feud or Bernie Mac bobble head doll to make room for it, but I suppose some sacrifices must be made...

Finally I have to share a superstition with you. I've been with WISH for almost 7 1/2 years. Over those years, I've learned that any time we're doing very well ratings-wise going into a book we usually wind up tanking the first several nights. Conversely the opposite is also true. When we're completely sucking going into a book we suddenly pull huge numbers when the book launches. Right now we've been doing very well as we head into tonight. That makes me nervous. We've got great stories and good promotion, not to mention a nice lead-in in Without a Trace, but you just never know. Viewers can be very fickle as we all know.

I'll be back in the next day or so to chat more about the promos I mentioned in my last entry. After tonight the cat will be out of the bag as to the identity of the big interview.

Hello again...

I've apparently been neglecting my blog. I realized my last post was over a month ago so I thought I'd better check in. There is nothing major to report on the work front. November sweeps will be upon us soon as will winter weather in Indiana. As such I'm working on special report promos and a winter weather image. We do have some great special reports this month so I'm hoping that will translate into even better ratings. Fingers crossed. As for the weather... it's supposed to get to 83 today. Seems odd that I need to swing by the office later to log snow footage. Bleh.

So have you been following the latest goings on in Hollywood lately? No, not Brittney and her custody crap... the possible impending writers' strike. I can't say that I blame the writers for threatening to walk. We're no longer just a TV and multiplex world. We've got I-Tunes, DVDs, online distribution... the entertainment product is making its way to viewers in a multitude of new ways. It seems only fair that the writers get a nice slice of that money pie. But the thought of what a strike could do to everyone else with a job in the entertainment industry... ouch. I'll be watching closely to see what happens in the coming week or so. I just wonder what the networks will do once they run out of programming. Will they switch to British shows as some have suggested? Will they simply opt for cheap and lame reality programs? Their choice, if it comes to it, will be telling.

I guess I do have one little thing to talk about when it comes to work. I finished a promo that teases a big sports interview we have for November. We don't say who it is in the spot and that approach seems to have revved up people's curiosity. It's fun to do promos like this but also a little odd. The spot serves to get the public talking but it's also obviously designed to be a little of a mind game for the competition. I feel so devious... I'll talk more about this when I get to a point where I can identify the subjects of the interview. This one has been a wild project to take on.

I'll try not to let a month go by before my next post. See ya.

How the other half lives...

Today's pics... Night shooting for ids... A million dollar + view in the daylight... Taking over a neighborhood... The million + view at night. The city shots were taken from the 7th floor of the Villagio on the south side of Indianapolis. Pretty sweet...

We wrapped up shooting yesterday with the Steadicam but I forgot to bring my camera for that one. Oops. The shots we got at the Villagio were absolutely beautiful. We shot them on HD and our anchors looked gorgeous.

I love night shoots. I hate the long day that usually goes with them... but it always seems worth it if the fates aligns to give you beautiful shots. The fates were indeed kind. I can't wait to get the transfers back. This should make the competition a little green with envy. At least we hope so! :-)

The Steadicam shoot was interesting. I was a bit rushed for my part of it (late anchors) but I saw some shots that I'm hoping will look as kickass on a big screen as they did in that small monitor I was watching. Fingers are crossed...

I think the pace is about to pick up at work. A lot of things seem to be materializing in the pipe and rushing at us with quite a bit of speed. I may not have much time to post in the next few weeks but I'll try...

Finally...

My days of being the Susan Lucci of the promotion department are over. It only took nine nominations but last night I finally won a freaking Emmy. Oddly it was for a promo I came in and did on a weekend because there were a lot of reservations from management about doing it. It was decided that I would put it together so we could show off a finished product instead of trying to explain what it would look like. It paid off then and apparently now. How about that?

Unfortunately we didn't do so well in some other categories. It's tough when you think your co-workers have the best stories but don't take home the trophy. Just to show you how fickle the whole process is, however, one of our reporters won ever major award for an investigative piece, including a Peabody, then didn't even get nominated for the Emmy. Weird.

Research is back so we'll soon have a new slew of promos to produce. In the meantime I've been wrapping up all the launch and re-launch work for our My Network affiliate. Tomorrow will be the worst of it then it should get considerably easier. I do have promo shoots the first three days of the week. I'll bring my camera along since we'll be working with a Steadicam on one of them.

Back in action...

I've been a little remiss in updating this blog recently. Truthfully I haven't had a whole lot to report. Work has been busy but there are no huge projects on my plate at the moment. I'm sure that will all change once we get our research back at the end of this week.

Saturday was SkyConcert - the Labor Day fireworks show in downtown Indy. I worked most of the day setting up our station's tent and handing out goodies to everyone. Man, you want attention at your booth at any event... get a prize wheel. People flock to it like it's crack. I'm not a fan of participating at events but I don't absolutely hate it, either. I'm just happier sitting in my edit booth or working on a script in my nice air conditioned office than mingling with the masses.

I'm getting more involved with our web projects which has been very educational. I spent Thursday in our regional internet director's office trying to come up with a tag line and promotion campaign for a new site we're working on. When I left we were pretty up beat about some of the ideas we generated. Right now I have to admit that this is the project that's got my creativity sparking. It's nice to step outside your comfort zone every now and then - especially when you don't fall flat on your face...

I'll be serving in more of a special projects producer role this coming Monday. I'm sworn to secrecy about the shoot for now, but I can say that it's a huge interview and that there are lots of cameras involved. The reporter actually asked me to come which I thought was nice. I'm not usually a fixture on interviews. I'm the one who promotes that we have them.

Off to paint my spare room. Hope everyone has a nice Labor Day!

So I finally checked out Saving Grace. I missed the pilot since my DVR decided to record black instead - again. The show is a bit over the top, yet, I found it engaging. Weird but engaging. Give it a try if you're looking for something to watch. Just prepare yourself. The language is not what you're used to if you're a network watcher like me.

I also gave Mind Control on the Sci-Fi channel a shot. It was good for one episode but I can't imagine checking in week after week. And speaking of Sci-Fi... what is wrong with their promo department? Could they make Flash Gordon look any more boring? The show's lead is a handsome guy but the promos make him look dull as dirt. I have never gotten this channel's way of promoting their shows. Still don't. The only one they ever managed to promote halfway decently was Battlestar. If they'd give their other shows a little more promo love they'd probably do better in the ratings...

So now that I'm yapping about promos I might as well turn to the promos I'm working on. I'm still wrapped up in the fall launch for our My Network affiliate. I had made a lot of progress - until the programming department went and changed the whole syndicated schedule!!!!! Ouch. My head hurts from banging it against the wall. So now all the work myself and an editor did is in the toilet. We start over almost from scratch next week. Blah.

I'm also still working on Colts promos. I hope to have one done on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed.

We're also looking at launching a new website so I'm fiddling around with a spot for that. I can't say more until things firm up on this front but the project has the potential to be a lot of fun. I'm hoping I can jump into this one with both feet. Any additional experience I can get with on-line stuff is a good thing.

Oh, as for on-line stuff... Check out Denver's CBS 4 promo reel on YouTube. A co-worker stumbled across it the other day. They've got some really enjoyable spots - stuff that stands out from the norm. Maybe the folks at Sci-Fi should take notes...

Later.

Colts' week continues!

This morning we worked with Dallas Clark (Left) and Bob Sanders (Right). I wish I could work with these guys every day. They're hysterical. When we had a moment of downtime they asked, "What should we do now?" My reply? "Dance," I said jokingly.

They did.

I'm pretty sure it was some version of the infamous Colts' Crunk. I was laughing too hard to really pay attention. Seriously, both Dallas and Bob were genuinely nice guys and a pleasure to be around. And I was the lucky girl who got to put her arm around both of them in the group picture. But I'm not going to share that one... ;-) That's WISH sports anchor Anthony Calhoun in the middle on the second shot. We kept calling them the three sexy men during the shoot. I think they liked that.

So it was a crazy day at work. I'm pretty good at juggling lots of things at once, but this morning there were just one too many things in play. I knew I was going to forget something. I could feel it. Lunch finally rolled around so I left for a bit to regroup after running around like a demented chicken with its head cut off all morning. On my way back I got a call from the boss. "Aren't you coming to the web meeting?" Crap. Told you I was forgetting something.

So I rushed back to the station in time to catch the last 20 minutes or so. Then I stayed afterward for a bit to chat with our internet director. He's got some really amazing ideas. I'm looking forward to helping implement them... and being on time for the next meeting.

Not much else to report. I still haven't checked out Saving Grace, yet. Hopefully I'll get around to watching it this weekend. I did finally see last week's "summer finale" of Ghost Hunters. The one that took place near the site of the Manson murders. I don't know if the show is real or not but I got goosebumps on that one. Maybe they have the voice they caught on tape on-line at Sci-fi's website. Creeeeeepy.