MEET OUR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

BOB BORIS -Executive Producer for Media-Arts Associates Television, is also producer for Spacecraft Productions and Central Florida Public Broadcasting, Inc. 

The Executive Producer is in charge of the overall production and negotiates the production for the production company. 

CONCEPT

WHY VIEWERS WILL WATCH

KEY FACTORS

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

ABOUT MAA-TV

MEET THE PRODUCERS

Part of a frame from a Media-Arts Associates Television storyboard. Storyboards are usually hand drawn and cartoon-like, but give producers and others a chance to see how certain scenes work. 

This week, Bob is back onto his money kick again. 

There are times when I feel that making TV documentaries is the most exciting job I could think of. 

While I do not often get to play with the "toys", the cameras, microphones, non-linear editing machines and the like, I do get to work with some terrific people in creating the project and then making it real. From concept through treatments and storyboards, the producer's side is often filled with surprises and excitement.

I wish that thought lasted into the lows. Then, I believe TV documentary work is trivial, unrecognized, unappreciated and overlooked.

Producers all go through that: they love doing it and then they fall into slumps of exasperation: especially when issues about financing are concerned.

You may (or may not) believe how consuming it is to rally underwriters together for a major television program. Viewers believe that public TV somehow runs on a gushing wellspring of funds from public and private sources. Closer to the truth is that programming must often take a back seat to network and station operations.

 That means that most funds going through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and such, filter through the so-called bureaucracy before any of it reaches producers like Media-Arts Associates Television. More than likely the public TV program or series you love to watch had to be produced from private funds.

In the last decade, public TV series and documentary specials have had to rely almost entirely on special grants and the generous gifts of major underwriters such as large corporations and individuals. That's why you are seeing so many company names at the beginning and ends of the programs.

There is one bright light shining through the gloom, however. While network operating costs and station operations costs  continue to climb; amazingly, production costs have stabilized and in some cases are even coming down!

The reason is  the advent of digital recording and editing.  Manpower costs as much as it ever had, but now, editors can accomplish so much more with the new NLE's (non-linear editors) and a new crop of super digital cameras offer fantastic opportunities in recording (One example: we can now produce fantastic pictures in low light, under 50fc, compared to over 100fc for typical camera systems). 

I've tried them out and I believe that in less than a year or two, all producers will be using the new digital gear.

But before that, I have to get cracking and reach the underwriters!

Next time, Bob writes about the work that goes into producing a public TV documentary and goes through some of the steps the Technology! series is taking right now!

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