AT IMAGE MANAGEMENT, I PRODUCED AND DIRECTED DOZENS OF REAL ESTATE PROJECTS AND A WEEKLY SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER PROGRAM ENTITLED, SUCCESSFUL LIVING WITH PASTORS MARTHA AND ALVIN JONES. WE WERE ALL PRETTY YOUNG AND LOVED WHAT WE WERE DOING. I MADE A NUMBER OF COMMERCIALS AS WELL INCLUDING, MY ONE AND ONLY 10 SECOND SPOT FOR CLASSY 95. BACK THEN, TEN SECOND COMMERCIALS WERE RARE, MAYBE BECAUSE PEOPLE HAD LONGER ATTENTIONS SPANS. NOW, 60 SECOND COMMERCIALS ARE NON-EXISTENT AND EVEN A 30 SECOND SPOT FEELS TOO LONG. I GUESS YOU COULD SAY WE WERE AHEAD OF OUR TIME. THE CLASSY 95 (WCLY) TEN SECOND SPOT STAND OUT FOR ME, THE ETERNAL GEEK, BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST COMMERCIAL, AIRED IN D.C., TO USE THE QUANTEL MIRAGE DIGITAL VIDEO EFFECTS GENERATOR. YOU CAN SUM-UP THAT AWESOME MACHINE UP IN THREE SIMPLE WORDS, “PAGE TURN EFFECT”. AT 500,000 DOLLARS, ONLY A HANDFUL OF FACILITIES COULD AFFORD TO OWN ONE BUT DAVE AND I HAD TO FIND A WAY TO WORK IT IN ON ONE OF OUR PRODUCTIONS. SO WE TOOK IT OUT FOR A SPIN ON WCLY’S 10 SECOND SPOTS.

TO STAY ON BUDGET, WE DROVE TO NEW YORK CITY, HOME OF BROADWAY VIDEO. BROADWAY WAS THE ONLY FACILITY ON THE EAST COAST TO OWN A MIRAGE. WITH PHIL COLLINS (WHOM WE LATER DID A PSA WITH IN NYC)BLASTING ON CASSETTE, WE HOPPED ON THE INTERSTATE AND PROCEEDED FOR THE NEXT FOUR AND A HALF HOURS TO THE BIG APPLE. ARRIVING IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, BROADWAY VIDEO WAS IN THE HEART OF TIME SQUARE AND SINCE IT WAS OWNED BY SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE PRODUCER LORNE MICHAELS, WE WERE THINKING MAYBE, JUST MAYBE HE MIGHT BE HANGING AROUND. AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME, BROADWAY VIDEO WAS REGARDED BY POST AND MILLIMETER MAGAZINE AS THE WORLD’S BEST SPOT FOR POST-PRODUCTION, GRAPHICS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS. SO DAVE AND I WERE GUARANTEED A GOOD TIME NO MATTER WHAT. LOOKING BACK NOW, I’M NOT SURE WE REALLY NEEDED TO MAKE THAT LONG JOURNEY, ESPECIALLY FOR A TEN SECOND SPOT THAT COMES AND GOES IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE. WE PROBABLY WERE MORE CURIOUS ABOUT BROADWAY VIDEO AND THE QUANTEL MIRAGE OR MAYBE WE JUST NEEDED TO TO HIT THE ROAD AND HAVE AN ADVENTURE. REGARDLESS, WCLY GAVE US AN EXCUSE TO TAKE A ROAD TRIP AND HAVE SOME FUN. OF COURSE, WE SHOT SOME B-ROLL ALONG THE WAY AND IN TIMES SQUARE AS WELL, ISN’T THAT WHAT EVERY VIDIOT DOES, HEY YOU NEVER KNOW, RIGHT?

THE SPOT I PRODUCED AND DIRECTED ON 35MM FILM FOR THE WELLINGTON HOTEL IS ANOTHER ONE I’LL NEVER FORGET. THAT SPOT NEARLY COST ME MY JOB. YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT THAT ONE BELOW, YOU CAN FIND THIS STORY AND STORIES ABOUT EACH VIDEO IN THE EXCERPTS BELOW EACH VIDEO.

THEN THERE WAS THE AMTRAK TLS VIDEO SHOT IN PHILLY. I’LL BE FOREVER THANKFUL TO THE FREELANCE CREW THAT ACCOMPANIED DAVE AND I ON THAT ONE. THE TLS WAS A MASSIVE LOCOMOTIVE RETROFITTED TO PICK UP OLD, WOODEN RAILROAD TIES AND REPLACE THEM WITH BRAND NEW TRACK. THE TLS OR TRACK LAYING SYSTEM, PERFORMED THIS AMAZING FEAT IN LINE AS THE 50-TON TRAIN KEEPS ON MOVING, SCOOPING AND LAYING, MOVING, SCOOPING AND LAYING. MY TEAM WAS INTREPID, TAKING HAND HELD SHOTS FROM HIGH AND LOW POSITIONS AND ALSO WITH A FISHER DOLLY RUNNING IN REVERSE. 

A FEW FINAL NOTES ON MY TIME AT IMAGE MANAGEMENT. JIM SECURED AN OPPORTUNITY TO PRODUCE A PACKAGE OF ON-AIR GRAPHICS FOR A NEW CABLE START-UP, THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL. WE DESIGNED THAT PACKAGE FOR MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY SO THEY COULD BE USED TO PROMOTE ONE PROGRAM OR SHOW VIEWERS A COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF PROGRAMS FOR THE MONTH OR WEEK. DISCOVERY HAD VERY LITTLE MONEY, SINCE THEY WERE JUST STARTING UP AND THIS WAS THEIR FIRST ATTEMPT AT ON-AIR BRANDING. THEY ENDED UP DOING PRETTY WELL I’D SAY. 

JOE FRIES, A VICE-PRESIDENT WITH THE LEARNING CHANNEL (RENAMED TLC A FEW YEARS LATER), JOINED IMAGE MANAGEMENT ABOUT SIX MONTHS AFTER I STARTED. JOE AND I MADE A TRIP OUT WEST, AFTER HE GOT SETTLED IN AT IMAGE MANAGEMENT, TO OSTENSIBLY ATTEND ONE OF THE FIRST NCTA (NATIONAL CABLE TELEVISION ASSOCIATION)CONVENTIONS IN LAS VEGAS. HE INTRODUCED ME TO SOME OF HIS OLD CRONIES AT THE LEARNING CHANNEL WITH THE GOAL OF DRUMMING UP SOME NEW BUSINESS FOR JIM. BUT VEGAS AND JOE FRIES WERE A BAD COMBINATION. HE ENDED UP LOSING EVERY PENNY HE “AND I” BOTH HAD. IT WAS A HARBINGER OF THINGS TO COME.

DAVE KAPLAN WENT FROM INTERN TO EMPLOYEE NUMBER THREE. HIS GOAL, PRIOR TO INTERNING, WAS TO RETURN TO A.U. HE HAD TAKEN SOME TIME OFF TO GAIN SOME PRACTICAL VIDEO PRODUCTION SKILLS. I LIKE TO THINK I WAS A GOOD MENTOR TO DAVE BUT HE HAD MOST OF THE SKILLS ALREADY WHEN I JOINED THE COMPANY. ONCE DAVE PICKED UP HIS FIRST IKEGAMI HL-79E, GOODBYE A.U., HELLO HOLLYWOOD. DAVE WAS BORN TO MAKE VIDEOS, MUCH TO THE CHAGRIN OF HIS PARENTS. 

THE HOURS WERE LONG AND WE OFTEN STAYED THE WHOLE NIGHT AT THE OFFICE. THE PAY WASN’T MAKING ME RICH BUT I WAS HAVING A LOT OF FUN. MY GOAL OF BECOMING A PRODUCER/DIRECTOR HAD OFFICIALLY BEGUN AT IMAGE MANAGEMENT, THANKS JIM. I MADE A GREAT FRIEND IN DAVE KAPLAN WHO WORKED THE PAIR OF SONY U-MATICS AS HARD AS I DID. JIM ROBINSON WENT ON TO BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF ABC RADIO NETWORKS AND IS NOW A TALENT AGENT FOR MANY WELL KNOWN RADIO PERSONALITIES.

IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, IMAGE MANAGEMENT WAS THE MOST FUN I EVER HAD MAKING VIDEO. I BECAME A FILMMAKER WITH THE FREEDOM TO EXPERIMENT AND TRY NEW THINGS. I DEVELOPED SKILLS THAT WOULD SERVE ME WELL IN THE FUTURE. I’M FOREVER GRATEFUL TO JIM ROBINSON FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY A ROLE IN HIS COMPANY.