Apollo Productions

Thanks to Apollo Productions for sharing their Teddy Pendergrass tribute montage. Apollo says, please feel free to air or use as you wish.

WHAT DOES MINUTE MAID HAVE TO DO WITH PRODUCTION?

A few weeks ago I saw a Minute Made TV ad that caught my attention. The one with the guy that avoided an awkward moment with his daughter’s art teacher on the escalator at the mall, all because he boosted his brain with Minute Maid’s enhanced juice. After the punch line was hit, the product brand name was flashed across the screen in bold letters. Pretty cool ad, I mumbled to myself.

Then the branding slogan flashed on the screen in even bolder letters, “Put Good In, Get Good Out”! Hmmmm, simple yet profound. That’s when I sat up and said out loud “This is the perfect message for radio!” Everyone from programming, sales, promotions, and yes…PRODUCTION! All parties involved with the product that comes out of the speakers should be just as equally concerned with the start of the process as the final product. We need to erase the notion that if you put in a half effort on the front side, somehow a Harry Potter wand will be waved in the middle of the process and a pot of gold coins will magically appear at the end of the rainbow. It just isn’t the case, especially for my fellow creative personnel.

Continue to emphasize to your respective sales staff that the success or failure of a client spot starts with THEM and ends with YOU. Ask them to take a little bit more time during the client sit down to get the full scope of what he/she wants, and how that relates to what the station is able to do. Think before you just rework an old script and start repeating the phone number 20 times to fill up 60 seconds. This should be a slap in the face to the client and it stifles the creative production process greatly.

The aforementioned example is often a tactic used to close a deal after a long day in the field, and somehow allow an AE to turn in missing copy right as everyone else is leaving for the day (oh and did I mention it starts tomorrow!) What happens next is the client get a half dead voice with a Donnell Jones “Girl you know what’s up” music bed slapped under it and it’s popped into Scott, Audio Vault, etc.  A classic example of not putting good in, and you didn’t get good out. No one wins in this situation. Now, when the spot runs and doesn’t work for the client, they lose faith in our medium and cancel their schedule almost immediately and may not return because marketing budgets are already tight. And we all know what happens when the money leaves.

I can be a little tough on sales sometimes, but production staff, the same can be said when it comes to our initial effort. If you start your production or imaging task with out-of-whack microphone processing, horrific YouTube clips, and poor reads from talent, you can’t expect that you are going to come out with award-winning material (or even broadcast worthy for that matter) on the back end.  Though our industry has been hit with a terrible case of “get more work done faster than before and with less than you had before” there is always enough time to ensure we put our best foot forward. Minute Maid might be on to something.

“Whether You Think You Can or If You Think You Can’t. You’re Right!”

Questions, comments, concerns email Rob arob06@gmail.com

About Rob Swynga

Over the past 5 years Anthony “Rob Swynga” Robinson has served as the Creative Services Director for CBS Radio Washington DC’s WPGC 95.5 and WHFS 1580 “The Big Talker” as well as the Promotions and Assistant Marketing Director for WPGC. He has 12 years of combined on air, production, and marketing experience. In addition to overseeing one of the countries’ most demanding production/imaging departments he also operates Infinite Concepts Marketing & Communications LLC. A company that specializes in media imaging and production as well as marketing consultation and execution. He is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.

Listen and learn from Ben’s Urban Insite production podcast. You can email Ben at bburnside@gmail.com.

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Welcome back! You are now inside “Real 2 Reel Talk” with me, Nikki-Nicole.  First, I gotta say, this is radio and just know somebody knows somebody!! So all you BOYS out there hating on a female because she’s getting recognition, making money and making a name for herself. Just know I hear what you say!! And I would get “REAL” and shout you out by name…BUT that ain’t me, but just know I know!!! LMAO!!!!
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Ok…now that the request line shouts are out the way… Let’s get down to the business of this article. About four months ago, I was asked to return to my alma mater, Winston-Salem State University to speak to communication majors about radio. (deep sigh) “Oh God!!!” What do I say to a group of eager communication students that only see the industry from the outside?  Do I tell them what they want to hear, what I have experienced, the truth, or lies??  Radio has changed dramatically since I entered in four years ago.  I can remember being a student sitting in those same chairs as radio professionals came in, and sugarcoated 97% of the radio industry. Well, not me!!!!  I really don’t know what I’m going to talk about, I’m just going to express my “love” for radio. The good, the bad and the ugly!!!  I’ll let you know how it goes!!!
CHEW TOBACCO CHEW TOBACCO CHEW TOBACCO SPIT…..IF YOU AIN’T A RAM, YOU AIN’T %# !!!!!! CLASS OF 2006 !!!! 

That’s who I am and this is MY column. “Real 2 Reel Talk” with Nikki-Nicole!!! You can address your comments, concerns and thoughts to nikki@2hot4radiosounds.com

Heyyyyy, what’s up beautiful people? Welcome back! You are now inside “Real to Reel Talk” with me, Nikki-Nicole. You’ve had the introduction, now its time to get down to the nitty gritty of radio and the realm that I love, PRODUCTION!!!!

Hair, nails and production; in addition, as a female I have to work a little harder than my male counterpart. Ah hell, who am I kidding? I have to work A LOT HARDER!! I am not just hair, nails, and all the other beautiful attributes of a woman. I am hair, nails and PRODUCTION!!!

Hair, nails and production: weird, right? Well, I decided to call it that, because that’s what makes up a fraction of my life and who I am. I go to the hair and nail salon every two weeks, and I teach myself something new EVERYDAY in the production room!! The same way I keep myself looking good I keep my production fresh, hot and in high-demand. It’s not about being cocky, but its about finding something that you enjoy, and being the best!! There are so many dimensions of radio, but you have to explore them all to find out which one fits you.

This is “Real 2 Reel Talk”, right? So let’s be REAL. A few females in the industry are in it to see what celebrities they can go home with!! Let’s be 4 real. Some do a 4-hour shift, go home and never see them at a station meeting or event in the community. For some reason, there is always a star-studded picture with a celebrity and they put 20% of work/energy into the station. That’s a hair and nails female (lol)!! Ladies, you don’t have to be a beast at production, but find something you’re good at, so we all don’t get looked at like that. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of women who keep it sexy, and professional all at the same time (KUDOS), but we all have to be on the same page. If radio isn’t for you, then kick rocks and let someone who wants to be an asset to a company get their shine on!! All I’m saying; is, if you can sit in a hair and nail salon for 2-3 hours, spend about $75-$100 then you can give the radio station an extra 2-3 hours a day to learn something new!!!

That’s who I am and this is MY column. “Real 2 Reel Talk” with Nikki-Nicole!!! You can address your comments, concerns and thoughts to nikki@2hot4radiosounds.com