RedFish Launches Three New One-Hour Specials for TV

In 2010, RedFish Studios will be taking three new one-hour specials to air in Ontario: The Independent School Report, The Ontario Summer Camp Review, and The Ontario Post-Secondary Education Spotlight.

Each of these shows will run on SunTV in Toronto starting in February of this year. Each episode will highlight 10 leading facilities in their respective field. We will hear from students, campers, leaders, teachers and parents as well as a comprehensive look at the offerings that are among the choices available today.

Each special will run twice within a two month period.

For more information about these programs contact: Rob Pagetto, RedFish Studios 416 593 8881

Response to Last Bride Standing Is Outstanding

We were all very excited to see what the outcome would be yesterday evening when Last Bride Standing took to the airwaves across Ontario on SunTV. This first series, intended to be the flagship of a new brand of reality programming, was to be the weather vein on how to take this program to markets around the world.

Here's what happened:

• A lovely launch party was held at Le Jardin hosted by Carlo Parentela the show creator and the host of the program. Dinner was incredible and the crowd loved the show.
• We all head from our families. Everyone was quite impressed. Some guys groaned...excellent.
• Then on Monday morning the emails and calls began. Friends, sponsors, broadcasters, and various media inquiring and congratulating.

So far....so good.....Shouldn't expect much, rite? Wrong. Before we knew it we were in the midst of a house on fire! The show seems to be taking off.

• By lunch time plans to put up billboards on the Gardiner Expressway and 400 Highway in the big city had been arranged.
• A promotion for the show will now run on SUN-TV regularly to promote the show and a contest to win $20,000 toward your wedding. Way cool.
• A new commercial for the show was cut to run on SUN-TV and to promote the contest.
• The ratings arrived for the show and although (unlike some yentas in our midst - LOL!) I will not reveal exact numbers I can tell you we were all very pleased with how many people tuned in.
• Within minutes of getting ratings news, we also found out the website did over 13,000 visits last evening alone.

It is unbelievable the momentum a good idea can gain. In our daily planning meeting today I will report that someone to remain nameless (Carlo) announced that we are headed to Vegas with the the show. A major casino has expressed interest in hosting the contest and show there as well.

I have to admit, I was skeptical almost up until the week of shooting. Carlo and Howard would constantly say, "...relax, this is a show....a good show.....". Maybe I worry too much.

Way to go, Carlo, Howard, Andrew, Angela, Rob, Tarik....and on and on and on. Way to go.

Mike Wixson

Flounder...I mean Founder.

RedFish Studios

Everyone Has An Idea for a Show. This guy made it actually happen.

Each week we receive a lot of concepts for TV shows (please don't send more). Some of the ideas are alright. Most of them are interesting for one segment maybe a half-hour and that's it. Some of the ideas are so bad they ruin my week (LOL!). Most of the time when we get a suggestion for a show I will have to send a letter saying that it is not for us at this time....yadda yadda yadda. I am getting really good at this. So good, I may have missed some good ideas along the way just because I am getting smooth at saying, "No." Just ask my kids. It is my favorite word according to them.

Just when I thought I would never have to say, "Yes" again, along came Carlo Parentela. He is a successful businessman who owns an impressive Conference and Event facility in Toronto called, LeJardin. It is incredibly popular for weddings. The place is stunning.

Carlo had an idea. It took much convincing from RedFish Producer, Rob Pagetto to even listen to the concept. I was in the hills of Tuscany when Rob called and wanted to talk about the concept. I was on holiday and did not remotely care. He made me listen. I did. Wow! What an idea! What a great idea!

Sure enough four days later, back in Toronto, Rob introduced me to Carlo, who had an idea for a TV reality series called Last Bride Standing. Within minutes together, I could see that nothing was going to get in Carlo's way. He knew he had an unbeatable idea and he was going to do it, dammit.

Although Carlo has had no formal training in TV or broadcast business, over the next two months he worked tirelessly to get a handle on how we deal with broadcasters, the creative process and even editing. While the show was an unbelievable amount of work and is still in post production today, Carlo quickly adapted his business acumen to his new passion, Last Bride Standing. The results have been amazing. Tonight the first episode airs on SUNTV (Rogers 15) across Ontario and into various parts of Canada. Even before the show has aired in it's home town there is interest in creating localized versions of the show in markets all around the world. Even in Toronto, before the show aired once, SUN-TV has decided to build a massive $300,000 local promotion for the show - even giving away a wedding to viewers who tune in.

Not bad for your first show, Carlo. International appeal, promotional appeal and now a desire from the broadcaster that we make more as soon as possible.

Directed by Howard Glassman (Humble Howard) and being post-produced by Angela Schermaul (sought after as one of the nation's most creative directors of post production), the show is the original concept of Parentela. Truth is, it is the oldest contest on the books. Last one touching the prize wins it. But his vision for how this becomes a reality show really was a sharp assumption. Howard, Carlo and myself spent hours pouring over how the show would work, but the "concept" was never touched. The seed that was Carlo's idea remains the basis for the show.

Tonight you will meet Carlo Parentela on TV for the first time. He is larger than life. He is a character. He is savvy....and he is now a TV PRODUCER. Congratulations, Carlo let's set those PVRs for tonight at 6:30 on SUNTV for Last Bride Standing. Even better, tune in live.

Visit www.lastbridestanding.com for more information about the show or how you can get involved as a contestant.

Last Bride Standing Launches Sunday

It seems like only yesterday this production was in the planning stages and we were wondering what the outcome would be. We wondered if we really had a show, here. Guess what? We definitely have a show. A really compelling show.

Last Bride Standing airs starting this Sunday on SunTV at 6:30 right before 60 Minutes. Already the series is getting attention from broadcasters and cross-promotional sponsors who have seen a sneak-preview of the show.

Follow five of the hardest days in lives of 19 young brides-to-be as they compete to win a luxurious wedding at LeJardin Event and Conference Center in Woodbridge, Ontario.

Hosted by Carlo Parentela, the owner of LeJardin, this series is jammed with drama, emotional moments and triumph. Don't miss Last Bride Standing on SUNTV (Rogers 15) this Sunday at 6:30. Pass it on.

CTV - The threat that made no sense.

I was not surprised to see Bell and Rogers on the front page of the Toronto Star this morning scrapping like school boys right in front of the headmaster. The head master in this case is the chair of the CRTC, Konrad von Finckenstien. His patients obviously under duress as he tried to understand the lame plea of CTV's, Paul Sparkes that the business model of the CTV stations is "broken" in this economy. They need fees for local stations to augment their broken business model. Yeah, right.

Rogers says, "Ya, rite!" They feel that there is no reason that CTV should get anymore than they do from advertising. After all, Rogers provides them the means to reach viewers, what they do to capitalize on them is up to the broadcaster, not the cable carrier. It is not like this is a new model. CTV lined up with every other major player to get coverage on local carriers like Rogers and told the CRTC that it was a fool-proof business model...and guess what? On that basis, they were granted licenses for local broadcast. They were not dragged into it. They saw it as a license to print money. Now, as the world of TV changes, CTV finds themselves in a situation where they have waaaaaaaaaay too much overhead, waaaaaaaaay too little focus on what media means in this day and age, and no signs of shrinking their top-heavy executive to "fix their broken business model". No. They want more money. They do not want to remap their business at all. They want the head master to find in their favor and make Rogers hand over cash for content on their cable systems.

Prepare to see more of this kind of volleying near the net. Last year Jim Shaw sent SHAWkwaves when he, a distributor of cable and satellite broadcast, started to shut down broadcasters on his system stating he wanted a larger slice of the consumer pie. What a cowboy. Why do I like him so much?

It seems that these broadcasters' eyes are shut tight about the realities of TV business in this era of content-everywhere and a million channel universe that they (CTV and others) created out of sheer greed and not the need for more varied content.

When I hear that the CRTC and I are both frustrated about the same thing I have to scratch my head. That rarely happens. As a producer, I am constantly amazed with the CRTC's ability to let these big guys get away with murder. Today I felt like I was sitting on the same page as the commission saying: " Please. You guys fix it yourself. You wanted the local licenses so if you don't use them, we will give them to other parties." I hope they do. Local TV could use a resurrection in the worst way right now and CTV seems blind to any solutions that may work.

RedFish now offers financing on all corporate projects.

Staring this week, RedFish will begin to work with companies who have the mandate to integrate video into their marketing, training or outreach programs. To this point, corporate video was something companies had to add to their fiscal budgets in one large sum all a one time. We feel that having to accommodate a new line in the corporate budget, especially for young or small businesses that are trying to get an edge on their competition, was more than some could take on all at once.

Our solution is a simple one: Now you can finance your corporate video, music video, event coverage and finance the project with us - INTEREST FREE for the first year. After that you pay only 2% financing fees on the remaining amount. There are no penalties for early payment and no personal guarantees are needed if your company qualifies.

Now you can afford to build video into your business plan. Create a commercial for TV or the web, an informercial....whatever you need to put your business in the winning position.

Find out more today: Contact Mike Wixson 416 593 8881, ext 25 or email mike@redfishentertainment.com

Is Technology going to sacrifice the art of video and film?

If you follow the Official Google blog about the future of video you will not get much to read. Essentially, their opinion is that video online in the future will "become more ubiquitous than ever" due to the constantly falling price of the technology required to capture and edit video. "Consumers will become creators". These guys have not seen the video my dad shoots. Good luck keeping your head if he's behind the camera.

While I do agree with this sentiment, I don't think that more people shooting and editing video will replace good judgment of what is good content and what is not. More out there simply means more to pick through to get to what you want. The 500 channel universe is already showing us that. Now multiply that by a half-billion content providers... sure you content choices are limitless at that point, but really who wants to wade through a bunch of targeted, home-made shows about whatever? It seems unlikely.

On the other hand... video will most likely become more "ubiquitous" than you can imagine in places like community information site, educational online offerings, and even within affinity groups as I have mentioned before in this blog. Will it replace compelling, high-quality programming and content? No. It will simply drive it into a pay-per-play business space that filters out the garbage and subscribes you to the programming you want for entertainment.

Yes, technology makes creating video more accessible. Yes, technology is making new ways to make video look cool much easier. Yes, technology is bringing down the cost...until you want to watch something dramatic, something epic, or even just content that required sets you will find yourself yearning for real entertainment-budget content.

Sorry, Joe Video Camera, your name in lights is still far, far in the distance.

I am just wrapping. Tell me your thoughts.

Mike Wixson

RedFish Studios

mike@redfishentertainment.com

(Please remember your local food bank)

"It's Just Business" An excuse to be a jerk?

Have you ever been in a situation where someone was justifying their actions by saying these simple words: "It's not personal. It's just business."? This is something I am sure any of us can say we have at least overheard. You ever think about this statement? It basically means: "I could not give a crap about you personally and you might as well just hand me your money or I have no need for you".

When someone says something like this to me I almost instantly disregard doing business with them. I do not want the business of someone who disregards that I run a business that affects the lives of many people... PERSONALLY. If you say that it's only business you are likely justifying an underhanded or greed-infused bit of business that you have embarked upon.

Sure, a business needs to run like one, but let me tell you there are a lot of businesses out there and a lot of clients. I choose to find the partners out there who will first focus on the project, the quality of service or the general outcome of our work together before having to justify their actions by believing that it's "only business" in their own minds.

The other truth about this statement is that you will usually hear it immediately after you have discovered that someone has taken advantage of you. It is usually a dishonorable aftershock.

Use your business mind, but remember you are a PERSON. You deal with PEOPLE. They have PERSONS they are responsible for feeding and clothing..etc... If you are justifying your means with the good ol' "It's just business" line, you need to re-evaluate your approach to life, not just business.

Watch out for these people: Their M.O. is take advantage of you and your business. Your only defense will be to not do business with them. They will shut you down without caring.

Have a great day.

Back in Production with ManUp!

The whole gang is here! We are shooting seven more episodes of ManUp! for MenTV this weekend. There are over 25 crazy challenges and almost a hundred guy-based trivia questions all that will lead to our newest batch of ManUp! Champions.

Our winners win a legit wrestling-style belt to boast about forever more.

This might be a good time for me to mention to great people who make this show. I am not trying to name everyone here, so if you got missed, let me know and I will update this blog. Here we go:

The guys who first thought of the idea:

Denzil Wadds and Tim Keenleyside (Fingerprint Communications) They write the show with howard and work with us to develop new concepts for the show.

Nicki Traikos - She is the world's best on-set make-up artist. Also a valued member of our team on many, many other projects.

Angela Schermaul - Angela is the post-production wizard that makes the show sing! She is a very talented editor, but more than that: she has vision for what a show should look like to make it the most compelling it can be.

Andrew Newton - You might have read about him in this blog. Andrew is in charge of all productions at RedFish - Poor guy has to watch over as many as 10 simultaneous projects and ensure they are delivered technically perfect. A challenge set out for only the best.

Tarik Pirbhai - Tarik is a source of calm. He is my counter-part in charge of running the actual business. He is not all numbers...Tarik is a creative soul who looks out for everyone on our team everyday.

Our Camera and Audio guys are the best. Not only are they totally pro at what they do, they are a constant source of laughter and fun. They are the ultimate crew for TV. Many thanks, guys.

Each week we have some of the most intellectual and hard working PAs you will ever find. To all of those folks...many thanks for your efforts.

This is a good time to mention our host, co-director and co-writer: Howard Glassman. Better known as Humble Howard, he is the driving force behind the fun that ManUp! is. He make me mental with his desire to freak out the network, but that is part of what makes ManUp! so much fun to watch.

And I leave this guy for last because without him....no show: Rob Pagetto, our in-house head of production projects like TV shows, and large corporate projects. He gets every detail of Man-Up worked out and ready to go for every shoot. Not to mention he is the floor director for ManUp! as well.

Here we go....seven more and this season is done.

Many thanks to everyone who participated ....OH Don Gaudet..at MenTV. Thanks for buying the show! Without you....well...it's obvious.

Mike

Live photostream from the show:

Andrew's Studio Adventures

Andrew Newton is a man of systems. He envisions how things will work, he plans what has to be done to make it work and then he figures out how to do it when Tarik sees the budget and cuts it in half! This is a very special skill Andrew has.

A bit of background, Mr. Newton is a design grad, so he has an eye for imagery and space. He graduated and got what all respectable graphic design grads get... he was A&R'd by Nettwerk Records digital division, Nettmedia, and got a job at that prominent music label. Nettmedia placed Andrew at their client EMI Music to teach them about this new thing to them called the Internet. As a web savant in the early, early days of internet broadcast he ran the ongoing broadcast at Virtually Canadian (The worlds first 24/7 online radio station). After that for years Andrew sold digital marketing solutions to agency's and publishers; while planning his next big move. During this time Andrew honed in on a trend that was not nearly the buzz-word it is today-SEO. Andrew approached me with a rich SEO idea and I said: "Enough of that...let's make TV shows..." He has been around in the reaching-masses biz as a lead-thinker for a long time.

Now Andrew is our General Manager. This means he is in charge of everything that gets produced from a delivery-perspective. From studio shoot to satellite feed, Andrew is the guy who runs the show.

This interview should be interesting because I drive him crazy and this is the last thing he wants to do today. He is a pretty busy guy.

Andrew!!! Andrew....got a sec?

Andrew: "No."

Mike: "Catch you later?"

Andrew: "No."

I have a plan to get this interview...Chocolate. Off to Mac's for a treat....

Mike: Hey Andrew... What made you decide to get into broadcast production?

Andrew (eating chocolate like a bat eats a grape) : "You did. Remember?"

Mike: Oh, yeah.. What do you remember the early days of RedFish being like.

Andrew (laughing): I don't remember them.

Mike: All a blur, huh?

Andrew: Crunching numbers in Tarik's office about a project we are still working on called Broadcast SEO. Do you have any idea how relevant that search string will become?

Mike: What have we done since then? That you can recall in less than 15 seconds. Go!

Andrew: (laughing). We went from making commercials you would see on WUTV in 1988 to a company that just won an international award for a commercial we produced about Gonnorrhea...and somehow we have produced 54 half-hour TV shows that are pretty compelling; and 26 that are dry, yet informative. We have come a long way.

Mike: What made you first believe we were going to pull this off?

Andrew: That's not a fair question. You didn't even know this was going to happen. You just needed something to sell (laughing).

Mike: How did we build a sound stage in 14 days to get ready to shoot Man-up!?

Andrew: You grinding us. You drove us. Although people love me at first, it soon becomes apparent that I expect results.

Mike: But you had a plan.

Andrew: Sure I spent three fucking months planning every nut, every bolt, every squirt of green glue. Then, of course, Tarik said, "No. Do it for half". ...and it still kicks ass!

Mike: Brag a bit about it.

Andrew: Well....it is built for sound. For such high and open working space, there is almost no reverberation. We are in a reasonably size space, we can handle over 24,000k of lights, we shoot live to drive with as many as 5 cameras. We hit ground running 14 days after we started building the studio because we had to. Now we have an excellent studio space for rent, did I mention its air-conditioned? End of story.

Mike: What are your pride points in the company?

Andrew: I like the executive. I like the creative nature of the company. All the problems I will ever have at work revolve around how many tools I want us to have and the scope of our projects will dictate that I get the tools I need when I need them.

Mike: What does the future hold?

Andrew: More entertainment. The only thing the future wants is more entertainment.

And you will find it starting November 22 at 6:30 on SunTV. Good plug?

Mike: Brilliant. How was my interview?

Andrew: Not bad. I'm not a real fan of "what the future holds" kind of questions. Can I go back to work now?

Well that's Andrew for you, folks. Gotta love him. He is a good and honorable man. I hope you have the privilege of working with him soon.

Renaissance Man for a New Age

You may know Humble Howard as the consummate morning radio host. He redefined what a morning man does when he arrived in Toronto so many years ago to be teamed up with Fred Patterson to become the dynamic duo....HUMBLE & FRED. You may also know Howard from his many years on television in Toronto - Ed The Sock comes to mind right away. He is still pulling big numbers along with his morning show team including Colleen Rusholme, Kim Stockwood and Rick Hodge at EZ Rock in Toronto. All of this is quite well known about Howard.

But there is more. Much more. For the last two years Humble Howard (Howard Glassman) has been working with RedFish Studios as a lead hand in creating and devloping a number of TV shows that are picking up steam in Canada and other markets around the world.

We first contacted Howard to be the host of ManUP! It seemed like a long shot because the show was so...um.... ridiculous. It required a host with Lettermanesque people skills and the ability to keep the show moving. " If only we could get Humble Howard...", I recall saying. One email later to Howard and he was in. Not just to be the host, but to write it, and co-direct it. He has incredible vision for this show and three seasons later, it seems to be going strong. The show is a riot. You can see video and pics at manuptv.blogpot.com whenever you get a minute.

It did not stop with ManUP! Howard quickly began to dig in as one of the creative forces at RedFish behind shows like The Spirited Chef with Christopher Woods (who still appears on Howard's morning radio regularly), and now The Last Bride Standing.

You may think of Howard as a funny guy. He is. You may think of him as a performer. He certainly is. You may not, right away, realize that he is also a savvy broadcast businessman, a creative director and a dedicated producer behind the scenes.

He is driven like very few individuals I have met in this industry. He is an incredibly hard worker putting in as many as 15 hours a day between EZ Rock and RedFish Studios. Why? He has vision that is motivated by his desire to entertain the masses...even if he is not in front of the camera.

Howard is the Executive Producer who watches over the development of all of our new projects as well as delivering the shows we are in production with.

Humble Howard reminds me what we should tell every person entering the broadcast business: "You are going make enormous efforts or fail." He makes enormous efforts and the results are amazing. Sure is he a great radio personality, but that is just a glimpse of who Howard is. He is truly a renaissance man for our era of broadcast.

Reality Lag? The Side-Effects of Reality Show Production

It was a five day, 24-hour a-day production. We were following the on-going action and drama of 19 brides-to-be as they competed to win a wedding worth over $65,000. Prizes in total: $100,000! This was a serious affair.

We knew that going in which is what made it such a good subject for a reality show. The last contestant with her hand on the wall of Le Jardin (banquet facility in Toronto) was to win the contest and take the big prize.

The show, LAST BRIDE STANDING, is a very compelling program. We are proud of what it is becoming in post production. The crew at all levels was amazing. Here is where things got a little weird: Most of the production crew has many, many productions under their belt. They are focused on their craft and they are amazing at it. Normally, we shoot, edit, sell and enjoy. This time was a little different. For days after we wrapped shooting, I was getting calls from various camera operators, audio techs, producers and even our support crew saying that they were experiencing "side-effects" from the shoot we just did.

I have to admit, I was experiencing the same thing: Unable to fall asleep at a normal time, not so hungry, obsession about what we had just witnesses in shooting the show... the list kept growing until on day four after, everyone seemed to feel back to normal. Did we experience Production Lag? It seems like it.

We had all become so involved in what we were producing and we spent so many hours with the contestants that when it was all over, how much emotional stock we had put into the show really began to surface.

The show has a touching ending (sorry can't say anymore) and I can attest to this because even as we were shooting it happening, tears ran down the cheeks of seasoned production veterans who have probably rarely had that happen to them on set.

Reality TV show production has side-effects. I hope some of those side-effects are great ratings and international distribution. We will see starting November 22 on SUN-TV. Hope you tune in.

Planning for the future of TV

Contrary to popular alarmist belief, TV isn't going anywhere. It is evolving but not disappearing.

There was a time that we all envisioned TV being interactive in much the same way the internet is quickly becoming. Who wants to interact with their TV? I want to stare at it hoping that it doesn't want anything from me. It already has my attention. That is all I can offer my television. No. It did not take...interactive gaming is now console-specific and the idea that you would email, phone, and make microwave pizza with your TV is a notion that most of us have let go of.

So then what will become of TV in the future? Well, already there are tons networks with targeted programming objectives that make up the 10 zillion channel universe we all pay through the nose for each month with our cable bill. The TV audience pie has been divided so many times now that ad-revenues and cable subscription revenues are almost on-par in some cases, networks generate next to no advertising revenue. Ah-ha! There you go. Already there is a shift away from Ad Revenues to Consumer Revenues. There is the first big change we are seeing. This means that people are already paying for the content they want the most (in theory).

What else is on the horizon? With the advent of social media taking hold (watch for the tweet about this blog later...) television may just turn into a mass launch-pad for people who have similar interests. Once you have affinity with a group of other like-minded people and you can connect with them through social media, the content on TV then just becomes the launch pad for what viewers can do on their own, together. TV might just become the mass-communication voice of Social Media and our participation will become real, but not through our LCD TVs, but through each other and our interests merely covered on TV.

Sure, the more splintered the TV content universe becomes, the more likely we will become a community through targeted programming and the use of social media attached to the broadcast specifically.

Happy viewing.

Mike Wixson

Executive Producer

RedFish Studios

Video in a new corporate era

There is no doubt about it, the landscape of communications has changed; video has become a perfect medium for getting your message to a targeted audience at the lowest cost.

With the advent of streaming video (video that arrives seamlessly to most computers around the world); video being used on a corporate level has changed and become elevated with each day that passes.

From a place where only badly-synced video live from the floor of a convention was the initial bar to which we all set our expectations; corporate video online now has graduated to multi-camera shoots which can switch pre-produced video and even include animation, graphics and animated still imagery.

Where once corporate videos online were a way of showing how advanced your company is with communicating; now using video to train employees remotely, test the skills of students, and even incorporate multiple locations simultaneously in the same broadcast are very much a part of the plan companies of all sizes are implementing.

What is next? Communications specialists are always on the look out for where the future of this kind of outreach is headed, and to this point the future seems to have arrived with greater speed than anyone had planned. The future of video online includes the obvious one: video on demand programming that reaches beyond our personal lives. Companies will begin to broadcast daily to keep staff "in the loop". Big corporations will produce their own mass-appeal content because traditional means of broadcast will no longer have enough reach or sell-through. We will be trained, tested, and vetted as employees through online-remote training that is ongoing and meaningful compared to long, boring meetings.

The future is almost here. In fact, it is. Already the search engines are being altered to find good, relatable video content. SEO as an industry is now focused on what video does to put you in the lead on the web. Marketing firms are now creating commercials and content that reaches only online video audiences.

How do you get caught up on the trend that will not slow down? Take the time to find out what your options are and how you can incorporate video into your website, your corporate culture, and your future outreach campaigns.

Don't just tell us about your company. Show us.

Last Bride Standing Promo Now Online

RedFish is deep into post production of Last Bride Standing. There is a taste of what is to come right now if you visit our site. It is looking really good. The show has so much drama. We are really proud of how it is looking. Carlo came by for a look last week and he was quite amazed as well.