Forrester Media's Atlanta Video Production Blog

The Studio is Buzzin' Today

Well, Michael, Simon, Keith, Elizabeth and a crew of 10 are away on location for 2 days for a rather large shoot for one of our favorite clients. Usually, that would make for a nice quiet time for me back here at the studio. I'd catch up on some paperwork, maybe do a little post work, just generally answer the phones and get out some estimates.

But we've got a lot going on today! PA Adam is painting the studio, we've had it completely green screen for awhile now but we have a big medical talk show shoot next Tuesday so it's time to lose the green.

Our carpenter, Jim, is out back building a new 3 person desk for that same show and it's a beauty! Very modern lines and a great looking finish. We can't wait to get it under the lights on Monday.

Tomorrow we'll be casting actors for another project. I've got about 25 coming throughout the day plus some babies as well. It should be an interesting time. Well, it's much better to be busy than not.

Is 2009 over yet!!!

I know it's only six weeks old but this year has got off to a bad start (for me personally). I've had a few issues including my home furnace breaking down, car problems, teeth falling out and my home hot water heater leaking though my kitchen ceiling. I realize that these are no big deal (with so many issues surrounding us each and everyday) but one of these situations did make me wonder... if the economy is so bad now can you NOT find someone to do quality and timely work.
As mentioned my hot water heater sprang a leak and water dripped into my kitchen (the heater is in my attic). Of course I called a plumber (after two visits to tell me there was no problem) and it still leaked I called another plumber. He turned up and said I needed a new water heater which he could install for $850 I said O.K and he promised to show up to put it in. He did not as he said he could not find the right heater but would be there the next day to put it in (he told me he needed the money so he would be there on time). Guess what, he didn't show and not only that he never called with an excuse. After that I called around various plumbers (prices ranged from $800 to $1,600 for exactly the same work). I was amazed at the range and also annoyed that the first plumber decided he didn't need the work  especially when the economy is struggling and people are losing their jobs.  I did settle on one company the plumber showed up on time and did the job (how hard was that) and I paid him.
I know in the last few years you hear about problems with getting things done...customer service had become obsolete but you would think in tough times companies would make that extra effort to keep customers happy and then have them recommend them to family and friends just in case they may need their services.
Here at Forrester Media we work very hard on keeping all our customers happy and in fact most of our business this year has been from old clients. In this era it's important to a companies success to follow up with all your customers and be on time and be on budget...are you listening plumbers????

Coming up on a busy week!

    This week is looking to get pretty busy, which is good!  Just today we had a green screen shoot in the studio and I have a few editing projects to work on today. 

   We are also digitizing the material from todays shoot on to the clients external harddrive.  We have actually been seeing this quite frequently.  We shoot HDV and instead of investing in an HDV deck (that the client may only use a few times) we will digitize the material for them and hand it over, if they have plans to edit on their own. 

  Toward the end of this week we are going to be doing the big on location shoot at the house we rented for the client.  So we are in preparation for that in the next few days, gathering props and other necessities for those days.

   Hopefully we will have some great pictures to post from the excitement!

Looking for Work?

Last night I saw a story about 35 job openings in Miami, FL, for firefighter positions. The turnout was 1,200 people looking for one of those 35 jobs, most of which camped out over night to be first in line. Today, you better have a plan B and a plan C as your back ups. Our back up plan here at Forrester is to not be niched into one market. We are capable of handling any video prodution project, broadcast or corporate, from BET Sunday Best, to live shots with our Congressman, to green screen walk on videos for medical websites. In the economy today you have to be flexible and willing to work with your clients for the best outcome, after all, some income is better than no income! I believe we're doing the best job we can on working with clients for a best possible solution here at Forrester Media. We are a one stop shop which allows us to work with clients financially, especially when pre production, production, and post production are all handled here at our studio. This "bundling" idea is much more cost efficient that contracting out all those services.

Finding a home

You just never know what you'll be doing next here at Forrester Media. For instance, last week a client called and wanted us to help in the planning of a shoot here in Atlanta. O.K. I know that doesn't sound that unusual because that's the business we're in. But this was a little different...they wanted us to find a house for them to shoot in. Not just any house they wanted a large home that they could shoot numerous interviews in. Well where do you start such a project?  How about the good old internet. So I did a search for homes in Atlanta for daily rental. Believe it or not lots of places popped up so I investigated further and was able to send our client a list within a few hours.
They picked one particular house Stonehurst Place in downtown. So I contacted the owner and we proceeded to talk back and forth about using the house for the shoot. The house is beautiful and restored to the elegance of a bygone age.  It has five bedrooms and is the perfect place for our clients and the shoot. If you get a chance check out the house. You never know when you might be in Atlanta and staying in a home like this is a better option than staying in a hotel.