The motherload!

A fellow blogger shared her list of arthouse websites with me and it's extensive!

I won't just post her info on my site... so please check out promogirl's website for the list:

http://tvpromos.blogspot.com/

This is an incredible list of some of the wildest, most creative work being done out there in TV land.

Enjoy! And thanks Promogirl.

Jump!

When I worked in Houston, I got to work with former President Bush twice. What a great guy. No matter how you feel about politics or his son - he was charming and nice each time.

To be honest, the first time I worked with the President(and his wife Barbara) - I was making up a project to do so. The Superbowl was coming to Houston and since they live in H-town - I wrote a promo for them to read. It worked out great and it was very cool meeting them.

The next time was even better, as the station was doing a "day of sharing" following the Tsunami in Southeast Asia. His people made sure we all got photographed with the president and he even signed my script "Don, Brilliant text! George Bush 41"

Now I know its silly - but I really enjoyed working with him. Its a great feeling having the President read your words.

And today, I see this picture of 41.

Any president that's that old that still SKY DIVES?!?!!!!!!! is ok by me.


Have you had the chance to meet someone cool because of work? Tell us all about it.

Inspiration.

Imagine working at Nike. Your job? To inspire. To push creativity in the designers, the commercial producers and the sales team.

What a job, eh? Well that job was once held by Kevin Carroll, who called himself "The Katalyst"...

If you've ever heard him speak - you were inspired. If you've read his book - you were inspired.

Kevin has a great story about the desire and passion he had as a kid and how he continues it to this day.

Kevin's book "Rules of the Red Rubber Ball" is a quick read, maybe 15 minutes, tops. But it has a powerful message.

He talks about following your passion and loving every minute of it.

In the book, Kevin explains how a red rubber ball helped him become one of the first black trainers in the NBA, with the 76ers.

He then went on to work for Nike, where he inspired these spots:





Here is one of my favorite passages from the book, that encourages me to think differently everyday:

For creativity to serve you well, you must exercise it daily. You must nourish it, or it will weaken.

How?

Breakout of your routine, everyday.

Put yourself in uncomfortable situations, everyday.

Look at the world with the innocent eyes of a child by approaching everything in your life with wonder, not assumption.

Be playful, not always serious.

His book inspires people to follow their passions and enjoy the ride.

Simplicity.

Sometimes, we get so complicated with our promos. Facts, figures, flying boxes and whiz bang effects.

Sometimes I think we're just trying to trick viewers into thinking we actually have a good story - when we really don't.

Below is one of the best examples I've seen of a promo that is simple, direct and fun. Its from WFAA(late 90's?)...



If anyone has a spot they'd like to share - please let me know. I'd love to use this blog to share great spots that can get us talking, thinking and making better spots.

What's in your favorites?

I love to surf the net. I love to keep up to date on what's going on in the tv industry. I love to see what's going on in the world. Here are my fav websites - how about you?

drudgereport.com --- i love this site, keeps me up to date
tvspy.com -- great tv news website
tvtattle.com -- updated each afternoon, I learn a ton about tv/movies here
ftvlive.com -- sure, its a pay site - but I love it
newsblues.com -- another pay, tv news site
lostremote.com -- great way to keep up on web trends
tvbarn.com -- another tv/movie industry site
welldunne.blogspot.com -- a must for anyone who wants to know who's who and who's where
nbcumv.com -- NBC's media village, good for press releases, etc

I also check out my local newspaper's site and a select few TV station websites(KHOU.COM is a great local news site)

What about you? What keeps you busy when waiting for a script to be approved or for that render to complete?

Share you fav sites below...

The Daily Show vs. One Scary Freakin' Promo

Thanks to Tim Taylor - who forwarded this to me.

I've never been more frightened in my life. very funny stuff...

I love Videohelper

How many of you use Videohelper for your promos? There is a survey to the right...

I have loved that library ever since I received a demo reel with such song titles as "What the funk?" and "Shot in the head"...

Their titles and descriptions can many times be hilarious - but most importantly, the music is perfect for promos!!!

For those of you who are not using it - their website is second to none. You can search for whatever you could possibly imagine and it'll find something! The search engine has a way of knowing what you're looking for. You can also download the song right into your avid - making those silly CDs obsolete.

the website is playvideohelper.com in case you didn't know.

Does anyone have any other great music packages they would recommend?