The New Video Model

Anyone who knows me has heard me say time and time again, “If content is king, we are the kingmakers.” As production professionals it is our job to execute the creative vision of the producers, directors and actors. We work on everything from the corporate training video to the “A” list feature films. Although the venues change, our basic values don’t. It is our job to give the production its highest value, given the time and budget allowed.
It is human nature to want to repeat what has been successful in the past, such as the way we light a scene or an interview, or the type and amount of tools we use, or maybe it’s the type of productions we work on. Just one word of warning to my fellow production people … don’t get too comfortable!
Most of us in the industry have grown up with the network TV model. Television shows were 30 minutes or an hour. A special was two hours. Networks fought for a single night a week… a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday. It had a narrow demographic, 18- to 34-year-old males. Ditto for females. For the great majority of its model life, there were only three venues: NBC, ABC and CBS. I delve into ancient history to set the stage of a mindset, which is the old network TV model.
We are in the first breath of the new video model. I have come to believe that with this new model, the work for production professionals will increase a hundred fold, yes a hundred fold, but I also predict that 75% of the people in the industry will not make the transition.
Let’s go back even further, when the main source of entertainment changed from radio to television in the mid twentieth century. Some venues made the change. “Gunsmoke,” a simple story line that used the western and its marshal in a small town as its storytelling device was originally a radio show. It was an easy transition to TV. Just film the story already being told. Change the actors to more attractive people, tweak the pacing and … POOF… a TV show.
The same is true for Milton Berle or Sid Ceaser, talented comics doing a vaudeville variety show. That went on for a few years, but the man who defined the new network TV model was a Cuban bandleader. The situation comedy was an unknown medium until a man named Desi Arnez figured it out. I won’t go into the history of “I Love Lucy,” but this vision was empire-building.
“Lucy” was entering an unknown medium. However, as it turns out, it was the lack of knowledge that became the show’s biggest asset. Desi had performed in movies and on radio, but only as a Cuban bandleader. It was his good fortune to have one of the best comedic actresses who ever lived fall in love with him. The new TV network model was in its infancy, and no one had figured out the dynamics, but Lucille got a chance at a show. She refused to move forward unless her husband, Desi, could produce and be in the show. She won her battle; the rest is history that we continue to watch to this day.
In a situation that probably couldn’t get sold now that featured an Irish housewife married to a Cuban bandleader, it was up to Desi to learn to appreciate his Lucy’s talents. The show’s success depended on Lucille’s abilities with the pacing and timing of her comedic talent. This was captured dead on.
The couple didn’t have any production experience; they just had to make it work. The solution was the three-camera shoot that was carefully blocked and that moved around the comedic action. This was Desi’s brainchild. The birth of the sitcom, the birth of an empire, the birth of a model was defined.
Our new video model has not taken its first real step yet, and just as a baby takes its first step, there is an intrinsic joy in that fact that it will be followed by thousands more. As it moves on, it will run and win its own races.
We are blessed to be present at the birth of our new model. We haven’t seen the new model yet but we know the name of the family. We call in “Online.” We’ve picked out some names, including “YouTube,” with its 2.5 billion viewers, “Yahoo” with 390 million, and “MySpace” with 298 million. Our Desi or Lucy have not delivered it to us yet, but I can tell you that he or she has probably never shot, edited or lit a video before.
Be ready to execute their creative vision and you won’t end up being in the 75% left behind in the old model. To my associates in the industry and the lay video producers yet to come, I leave you with this message: Stay professional, be creative and use your knowledge. If you do, you’ll be a kingmaker!

Craig “Burnie” Burns – In the video production industry for 20+ years, Burns has watched it evolve. With keen insights, Burns is imprinting his own vision, creating companies that will be a part of the new model. Send him your questions.