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.

ManUp! Was Renewed & New Episodes on TV!

ManUp! Canada has just been renewed for a Second & Third Season. That means 26 new episodes are coming your way in Fall 2009. Production on Season 2 began in July.

ManUp begins airing November 7th at 11AM on MenTV for 26 weeks.

Men TV can be found at the following location on each of the listed cable and satellite companies:


Rogers - 280
Cogeco - 163
Shaw - 97
Mountain Cable - 140
Bell Express Vu - 629
Star Choice - 570