Video Producing & Directing Vlog: ABS
- Posted on 14th December 2016
- in Entertainment, entertainment books, Video Production
- by Ben
Through my old buddy Bob Kaylor in September of 1989 I got my first video producing and directing job: a TV pilot for an offbeat cable show called Auto Buyers’ Showcase.
Bob’s brother in law was a partner in a two man ad agency, Carnahan & Mitty. These two guys had a unique idea for a money making show on Leased Access Cable where you pay a small fee for the broadcasts and you can have paid ads – which you can’t have on (free) Public Access. They wanted Bob to produce and direct but he recommended me.
The style of the program was a news/info format with an Anchorwoman and a car expert as co-hosts. The idea was a half-hour program to showcase car dealerships in quasi documentary style, five minute commercials they dubbed “advertorials”. There were to be several features on each program: “Dream Car” a seven or eight minute piece about a high-end vehicle such as a Lamborghini or, in the pilot, a Bentley, a technological piece (How does fuel injection work?) and an interview with a prominent figure in the car world.
The car expert, John Russell, was a columnist for one of the motor magazines – Car and Driver, I think – and as anchor woman we hired Judy Grafe. She had been a reporter on WPIX -TV in New York so she was the real deal.
Given the recent experience I had gained with Elizabeth’s show, I was pretty comfortable and competent in the three-camera studio and the shoot went well and we got it all done on time and within budget.
On location we shot interviews with the Rolls-Royce spokesman and retired Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin, the inventor responsible for the three-point lap and shoulder seat belt. He was a cute old fellow who looked a lot like Saint Nick.
The line Mr. Bohlin said about passenger being “eyected from the wehicle.” didn’t make the cut and it took several repetitions of “What?” before I grasped that he was saying “ejected from the vehicle.”
You’ll find many stories of video producing and directing when you click here and get Circumstances Beyond My Control.
Tags: Author Ben Bryant, entertainment book, John Russell, Jusy Grafe, Video Directing, video production books
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