Content Marketing & Film Resource

Unleashing The Full Power of Facebook Live

Ian Barrett July 21, 2016 Production, Tips & Tricks, Video production, live stream, facebook live Leave a Comment

Here are the facts: Video performs well on Facebook and Live Video performs even better.

Most of the videos you see on Facebook Live are people sharing 5-20 minutes of an event.

Facebook Live is a great feature for sharing events with your friends the moment it happens. It lets you tap into the power of your curated social network and it makes viewing with a mobile device simple.

Now, if I were to cite a drawback it would be the limited quality of the shared audio and video. Cellphone video may not always be the best vehicle to share your brand.

We take a different approach. We've been using it to produce and share live multi-cam shows. In fact, we've had so much success with it, we started producing two live multi-cam shows at our studios.

You're may wonder how we can pull off a multi-cam switch with cellphones. The answer is that we don't. We use a Broadcast switcher and run optical connections to our cameras. We're running a television studio into FB live. This allows us to add some fun bling to our broadcasts: custom graphics, great audio and pre-packaged content.

What we love about it (and what you probably love, too) is the immediate sharing to a targeted audience through a social network.

This is the exact same set-up we use for Broadcast television, Livestream, Ustream, Justin.tv, etc. - but without the expense and hassle.

For many clients this type of sharing is groundbreaking and creates traction on a network that they have been cultivating for years.

The interface also allows for interaction via comments and reaction emojis with a slight, but manageable, delay.

Now, the technology itself is not new or particularly groundbreaking. But the power it gives to anyone with an account and a device is. Everyone now has the potential to be a broadcaster.

The secondary benefit is the ability to share the finished video in a variety of different ways. Research has shown that a 2/3 majority of the views happen after the live broadcast. Once a video publishes, Facebook Insights shows you where people joined and where they left. The insights also lets you see what parts of the broadcast they liked the most by noting the reaction emojis.

Our own recent experience with a radio broadcaster and our client was an out of the park success. The radio station loved it because it enhanced their broadcast AND gave them content to share after the broadcast was over. This meant that thousands of fans who weren't able to attend still got to see what they were missing.

The Daily Beast, CNN, and TMZ are just a few of the early adopters to Facebook Live video and they've seen great success.

This is the beginning of a big trend. We predict that as adoption increases, you'll see more high-end multi-cam productions on Facebook in the near future. And I'm sure it's making Google and YouTube a little nervous.

The way we look at it, if you are marketing person who wants to make something big happen for your company or your client, Facebook Live is a powerful option. And if you are looking to make a bigger impact than your competition, then looking into a multi-camera option is the right way to go.

Production Tips & Tricks Video production live stream facebook live

4 Tools My iPhone Will Never Replace

Ian Barrett May 17, 2016 Production Gear, Gear Blog, film Gear Leave a Comment

I write a lot about gear and production for a couple of reasons:

I love the topic
We travel quite a bit and we always have to be prepared no matter what, no matter how long the shoot runs, and I like sharing the gear decisions that have been galvanized during field production.

We are huge fans of technology and of course we all have smart phones. They are a godsend for production. Smartphones keep us connected and they provide amazing assistance with specialized apps. You can use your smart phone for almost anything.

But…that's not always a great idea.

Here are four tools my iPhone will never replace:

#1 A GPS:

We love Waze for navigation, but it has its limitations. For example, the longest trip you can take with Waze is 500 miles. And there limited points of interest available, too, which means when you are looking for a gas station or restaurant unless you google the address you are out of luck. Also, you'll need to be in an area will cell coverage as opposed to GPS which uses satellites, in most cases this isn't a problem, but some of our shoots take us well outside cell phone coverage.

But the biggest set back occurs when you get a phone call during your drive. Your navigation and your contact will talk to you at the same time. Worst case, you'll miss a turn or an important piece of information. Best case, you'll be annoyed.

I use a Tom Tom standalone GPS. I program my entire itinerary into the device before I start my trip. When I land and get my rental car, I already have the hotel destination and all my locations loaded and ready to go.

Best of all it's hands free. I'm not using valuable battery life on my phone on an extended or unexpected drive to a location.

#2 A Watch /Chronograph:

It's funny to me, but it seems that nobody wears watches anymore, especially college kids.

At MediaBoss we require our interns to wear a watch on set and that's because we don't allow talent or crew phones on set. They can cause interference with microphones and the inevitable "I swear I turned it to silent!" can ruin the best take of the day. Not to mention, "I was just checking my texts" and the middle of the scene phone-drop. The risks are just not necessary.

A simple, inexpensive watch with chronograph and lighted numbers is an amazing asset. It keeps everyone coordinated and also keeps crew from taking hands off gear or cameras for time checks.

Speaking of time checks, watches are also great when the pushy PR person tries to cut short your 5 minute celebrity interview by 2 minutes. By the time you get your phone out to argue, they are already walking off the set.

Having a watch has saved me from that situation more than once.

#3 A Flashlight

In a pinch the flashlight function of your phone is great, but it's not ideal for extended use.

It drains the battery and takes away the use of one of your hands, making you less useful especially during load out.

At night or in a club, you'll need both hands free and a powerful long-lasting light.

There are a million options, but I like a smaller flashlight with variable intensity and a clip that I can hold in my teeth (gaffers tape is helpful here.) Another option is a headstrap mounted light, which we also keep in our grip bag, it's a great tool in those situations.

#4 A Multi-Tool w/Knife

I know. Smartphones don't have knives. But that's the point. I can't tell you the number of times our crew has saved the day because we have a knife or multi-tool. I never go on set without one.

Whether a screw needs tightening or a thread needs to be cut off somebody's wardrobe, your phone is completely useless.

Sometimes we rely on our smart devices too much.

It's always the little things that hold up a shoot and by being prepared you can do a better job keeping the gremlins at bay.

As always, everything goes in a backpack which goes on every shoot, everytime.

Obviously, we bring more gear than that - a lot more - but these are a great start.

Production Gear Gear Blog film Gear

The Future of Episodic Television: A Working Producer’s Perspective

Ian Barrett January 14, 2016 Video, web series production, pilot production, television production Leave a Comment

Originally published on Production Hub.

Everything changes and television is no exception.

Online is the new episodic television. The amount of time people spent consuming only video each day jumped 23.3% in 2015 and is set to increase by a further 19.8% in 2016. Advances in technology only boosted this trend with increases in mobile video performance and storage capacities.

Our viewing habits have affected the way production is done today, too. Everyone has a mobile video production facility in their pocket.

This isn’t news. The shift from what we think of as traditional television – and traditional production – has been happening for well over a decade. I’ve been producing television through these evolutions and I’m still here to talk about it.

In 1996 I started a television show that ran through 2003. I was ahead of the DIY curve because I had to be! I jumped in with both feet and embraced any technology that could help me do my job quickly and affordably. I bought a Sony V5000 Hi8 camera and went non-linear for post-production with an AVID system. Over the years I went multi-cam with DV, DVCam, and HDV formats - affordable increases in production quality that my audience appreciated. At the time this was breaking all the rules of TV production, now no one gives it a second thought.

The series was a weekly, 30-minute music-based program that featured exclusive live performances and interviews all captured on location. I made 257 original episodes over the course of 8 seasons.

When I started the show, I only worked with small bands. But by the time the series had come to an end, I had shot some of the biggest bands in the world, including Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen.

In the meantime, some of those small bands I had worked with in the beginning grew up to become multi-platinum powerhouses like Kid Rock, Creed, 3 Doors Down, Matchbox 20 and Limp Bizkit. I wound up Directing and Producing videos and television shows for Godsmack, Sevendust, and Down.

I loved my show, and more importantly so did the fans. They would watch the show, buy CDs and go out to concerts. But the span of those years saw those days disappear. The music industry completely changed. The mp3 had killed their business model and distribution. Kids no longer wanted to pay for their music. This made record companies change the way they promoted their music. Suddenly, putting bands on TV for exposure seemed like a financial loss for them. As a result, we moved on and found a different focus.

In 2009, we started production on an 88-episode run of an entertainment and lifestyles show. We raised our own capital for the two-year series and made deals directly with television station (CBS affiliate) and our own sponsors. MediaBoss TV was in the studio business, creating our own programming and putting it on the air. It wasn’t an ideal business. It was labor and financially intensive with a low profit reward.

Even then MediaBoss integrated social media very effectively into our program, but it was becoming very clear to us that the tail was beginning to wag the dog and the web was becoming the place to air creative content. It was clear the climate had changed yet again - this time for broadcast television itself. Financially, the country was in the midst of an economic crisis and the market was correcting itself.

Here’s what we learned:

Television airtime was expensive and budgets were shrinking.
Sponsors were becoming increasingly concerned about how to leverage social media.
Production partners were still over charging for web site creation and online video integration.
Finally, 2009 marked the beginning of Millennials’ effect on broadcast media.

They watched their ‘television’ on their laptops using Netflix and Hulu, while downloading torrents of their favorite shows and movies.

Guess what happened? We learned how to make websites, started our own social media business and started generating our own content. We created a comedy pilot called ‘Broad Strokes’. Although it got to Comedy Central and Lionsgate, we were frustrated by the lack of results. Then, we created another series of pilots for a reality show called ‘Women Interrupted’ intended for WE. Which got canned when they ‘changed direction.’

Both experiences were very expensive and frustrating. And they were a clear demonstration of how the committee process of TV production has become its own albatross.

We changed gears again and decided to share our own original content on the web. Enter ‘Partners (2012)’ our very first web series. We co-created it with a talented actor/writer Matty Blake. We financed it ourselves and built a custom website.

We saw results almost immediately. It worked, and we could monitor its progress ourselves. Its success was based three simple observations:

Content needs to be cut into short, mobile-friendly episodes.
It needs to have an edge.
Viewers need to be able to share it easily.

Partners was all of these things and we shot it quickly (2 days), affordably and were able to share it quickly. Best of all, the entire team - including talent - could sit at a single conference table. Partners was something we made for ourselves and lots of people liked it - including producers, agents and cable outlets. Although we don’t have a deal for the show yet, every member of the Partners cast has done network programming in the last year.

This reality is not lost on Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. They’ve all signed talent directly from the web to create original programming for their paid internet/broadband subscription services. The cable networks jumped into the game quickly as well because the benefits became clear. They needed compelling content and they didn’t have the resources or time to develop it themselves. Web metrics and YouTube hits have become a clear statement of potential success vs the pilot/development model. Broad City is a great example of the power of the internet. It began as a simple YouTube series (2009-2011), written and created by two talented actresses, Ilanna Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. Over time it created its own audience and caught the eye of Amy Poehler who took it directly to Comedy Central.

I’m going to be honest, there is no way Comedy Central would have had the foresight or initiative to put two unknown twenty-something females as co-leads in a network comedy show. In February, Broad City will begin Season 3.

The game has changed and the web is still cranking out hits daily. The major networks are struggling to keep up, TV viewership is aging and appointment viewership is a dying model. It’s all about 'Netflix and Chill’ and ‘binging’.

And here we are now, heading into 2016, and the game is well established. It’s DIY, you don’t need to know somebody at the network anymore. You need to take the time, make the investment and create the content yourself. If the fans like it, you’ll get hits, if you get the hits, the networks will come looking for you.

I’m not over simplifying this: the Future of Episodic Television is on the web. Just get out there and make it. There has never been a better time to create content and there have never been more places to share it. My guess is, if you have read this far you already have an idea of what you want to make and you are ready to do it. I’ve been doing TV for a long time and this is what I’m doing now. MediaBoss’ new web series is in pre-production now and making its début on the web in the fall of 2016.

See you on the Internet.

Additional Resources:

Video web series production pilot production television production

Scott Weiland / STP "Atlanta"

Ian Barrett December 04, 2015 Video Leave a Comment

I had the opportunity to record Scott Weiland and Dean DeLeo performing "Atlanta" in 1999 - right after Scott completed rehab the first time.

The song is about the end of his relationship with his ex-wife.

We are devastated by the loss of Scott and our hearts go out to his friends and family.

Video

Making the Pilot: A No Nonsense Guide to Pilot Production

Ian Barrett October 27, 2015 Creativity, Production, Tips & Tricks Leave a Comment

Pilot production is tough.

There’s a lot riding on the pilot. This single episode needs to present all the unique characteristics of your production and sell sponsors or networks on your idea.

If you are talking to networks, they generally fund the pilot. You would have already attached a director and talent to the production and the network would generally set you up in one of their studios to create the pilot.

To be clear, this blog isn’t about that.

It’s about you.

You don’t have a network budget, but you do have a great idea and some money. And you really believe your show idea can go somewhere.

It’s time to put that script and that budget on the line and get it made. But where do you start?

First, let’s dig a little deeper.

Many show pilots go on to become the first episode in a series. ‘Great!’, you think. ‘One out of the way.’

Well, yes and no. Because of this, there’s quite a bit of pressure to immediately engage and capture an audience.

Now, Netflix released some interesting data this fall that shows the pilot is rarely the episode that hooks a viewer. In fact, according to their data, that magical episode is usually between episode 2 and 8!

However, that doesn’t mean that the pilot can be phoned in. A 22 episode story arc won’t mean anything if the pilot falls flat on its face. Because chances are, you won’t be given the chance to either:

a) produce the remaining 21 episodes or

b) air the remaining 21 episodes.

Another obstacle is that your pilot really needs to look as much like a typical episode as possible.

That means it’s necessary to work as hard as you can to nail talent, locations, costumes, props, lighting and camera all at the same time.

What’s changed about the business is that web series have become the new concept development hot bed.

This means you can make a successful web series and get the attention of anyone from Producers to Network Execs to the actual Agents who are looking for vehicles for their clients.

That’s how “Broad City” came to the attention of Amy Poehler. She stepped in as Executive Producer and got them their deal.

1. When do I know I need to make a Pilot?

When people approach us about producing their show pilot, it’s usually because people have expressed interest in their show idea.

Whether it’s an unscripted or scripted program, they need a pilot to fully pitch a network or sponsor and get the series funded.

Thanks to the rise of online video series, we’ve seen a spike in interest in pilot production in recent years. This is largely due to the fact that the number of outlets has gone from a few to hundreds.

And there is an entire business for branded web series (sponsored original content) outside of any network or distributor.

2. How much does it cost?

That’s always the first or second question people ask us, and we respond the same way every time:

How much does a car cost?

How much does a watch cost?

How much does a stroller cost? (new dad, here.)

It’s absolutely relative. But the important factors are the scale of the production: i.e. the number of days of shooting, locations, props, costumes etc.

What’s important is that your pilot looks like you are invested (read: you spent a lot of money).
Good production is absolutely the key component to making the people who watch your pilot go, “Wow” instead of “Ummm, we’re not interested.”

On our end we do everything on a fixed budget. This means you pay us and you get a guaranteed broadcast quality pilot that you can show to networks and sponsors alike, with no post-production surprises.

In addition, every element of the production will meet broadcast standards. This is critical, because in many scenarios your pilot becomes the first episode of the series.

You don’t want to do this twice. And in most cases, you won’t get that second chance, anyway.

3. What’s involved?

Well, MediaBoss is a production company that produces unscripted and scripted television shows. We have created hundreds of hours of television and we bring that experience to the client. Our pilots are award-winning and have resulted in broadcast programs.

That’s important because making a pilot is a lot harder than shooting an episode that is part of an established series.

Everything is brand new in a pilot: the music, the graphics, the shooting schedule, the actors and crew and their relationship with the director.

It’s really difficult to make it look like this is Episode 100 and not Episode One, or the first time everyone has worked together.

But that’s the job we love and it’s where our experience pays off.

First, you bring in your script and meet the team. The team includes the producer, director, production manager and staff writer.

After a reading we do a script breakdown and figure out what needs to be done to make it happen. That’s where our budget comes from.

5. When does the shoot happen?

The first shoot happens after the budget is agreed on, a production agreement is signed, and a deposit is delivered.

The production agreement will outline the shooting, editing and delivery schedule.

But first, we get into the pre-production stage. Casting, locations, makeup, props, legal clearances are just a few examples of things that need to be locked up before you can start shooting.

Then there’s the conversation with the MediaBoss production team about your show’s “look”.

How will it be lit, shot and edited. The color palette, acting style, production style, etc.

The whole team needs to be on the same page with all of these elements. In the end, that’s what the director is responsible for on set.

So when that’s lined up it’s time to shoot.

6. What’s the shooting like?

It’s hell on wheels. I think the fantasy of the ‘set life’ and the reality are pretty far apart.

Filmmaking is blue-collar work. Period.

You have a job to do and it has to be done to these specs. And it has to be good.

I’ve meet a lot of well-dressed directors on set and I have to say that on a managed budget production, you better see some sweat and a team of people hustling otherwise your not going to make your shot list for the day!

When you are shooting on a tight schedule with a lot of set-ups, you don’t have time to screw around.

You can’t afford one part of the production to hold any of the other parts up.

So, no you can’t take all day to light that cutaway. It needs to be lit and shot in 15 minutes. And you need to move onto the next thing and the whole crew has to be in synch with that.

Sets can go from chaos to ‘We are shooting this now, action!’ in a couple of minutes. It’s so important to have a good experienced crew, because they all know what’s needed and they do it.

The director also needs to get the best out of the actors and that rapport can’t take all day to develop. He also needs to know when to take an alternate shot or move on even thought something isn’t perfect, because time is the enemy and when you run out of that, there is no more production.

That’s not to say that the mood on set needs to be tense.

In fact, it should be the opposite and everyone should feel like they are on the same team working a very long series of days to an amazing goal.

A good director can make that happen, too. If you hear yelling on set, it’s not a good thing.

The best crews just know what to do instinctively.

7. What’s next?

Next is the post-production phase. This where all those pieces are edited together to create a program.

It’s important to remember that post-production is actually the bigger part of your budget.

There are no ‘simple’ edits. Everything needs to be done to the highest standard, from audio to color correction and effects to graphics.

It’s about a 5:1 ratio. Five days of post for every day of shooting. That’s not a fixed number. There are a lot of companies that can spend a month on a :30 second spot. But that’s not the world of pilot production.

Generally people want to start sharing a pilot as quickly as possible.

8. And then what?

And then it’s done!

Now you take meetings, put it online, share it in festivals and try to get the series made.

We are happy that all of our pilot work has been so well received, regardless of budget. When people see a MediaBoss produced pilot the reaction is always, “That looks great!” We never want to hear that someone lost a gig to a poorly produced pilot. And trust me, we have met more than a few people who blew a budget on a pilot that they couldn’t even share with anybody when it was finished. This extends to the network level.

9. How do you prevent that?

Do your research. Find a good team. Manage your budget and be ready to show it to everyone you can.

Ask questions:
Are they insured?
How many things have they done?
What kind of cameras will they be using?
Audio?
What do they use for post-production?
Do they rent or own?
Do they have a studio?

Ask to see a reel of their work.

We have over 400 television shows and nearing a thousand videos under our belt. We pride ourselves on producing award-winning products for our clients. We are fun to work with and we get the job done, on budget.

We’re really proud of what we do and we are dedicated to making each product better than the last.

Check out MediaBoss’ pilot for the show “Partners”.

Creativity Production Tips & Tricks

Ian Barrett

Unleashing The Full Power of Facebook Live

4 Tools My iPhone Will Never Replace

The Future of Episodic Television: A Working Producer’s Perspective

Scott Weiland / STP "Atlanta"

Making the Pilot: A No Nonsense Guide to Pilot Production

Pilot production is tough.

Content Creation Blog

Ian Barrett

Recent Posts

Unleashing The Full Power of Facebook Live

4 Tools My iPhone Will Never Replace

#1 A GPS:

#2 A Watch /Chronograph:

#3 A Flashlight

#4 A Multi-Tool w/Knife

The Future of Episodic Television: A Working Producer’s Perspective

Scott Weiland / STP "Atlanta"

Making the Pilot: A No Nonsense Guide to Pilot Production

Pilot production is tough.

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