RE-INVENTING THE TELEVISION NEWS BUSINESS
A revolution in storytelling for television news
Creating entirely new & cost effective production methods
From the world leaders in video production training and the creators of Character Driven Storytelling™
WHAT WE DO
Over the past 35 years, we have designed, built or restructured some of the most powerful news and journalism companies in the world.
We replace the traditional TV news ‘crew’ with one highly trained journalist, working alone with nothing but an iPhone.
No more TV news ‘crews’, no editors and no field producers.
This is television news done the way newspaper journalism is done – one reporter with their electronic pad and pencil.
In doing this, we can cut the cost of production by as much as 5% while increasing ratings and audience engagement.
In the place of conventional TV news ‘packages’ – ie, reporter stand up, interview, b-roll, man on the street, we marry great journalism with Netflix and Hollywood storytelling.
It’s a combination that works.
We have taken most of our clients to #1 in their respective markets.
EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE CAN TEACH YOUR STAFF TO PRODUCE
ITAY HOD
Itay Hod, MMJ with KPIX/CBS in San Francisco, took the 5-Day Intensive Video Storytelling Bootcamp in 2018.
Because he works alone, with only an iPhone, he was able to embed himself with a homeless family.
Here’s the story he produced in a one-day turn.
KIET DO
Kiet Do, an MMJ with KPIX/CBS in San Francisco, took the 5-Day Intensive Video Storytelling Bootcamp in 2021.
Here is a story he produced, all on his own, with only an iPhone and in a one-day turn.
TAYLOR SCHAUB
Taylor Schaub, an MMJ with Spectrum News 1 in LA, took the 5-Day Intensive Video Storytelling Bootcamp in 2023.
Here is a story he turned in only one day, using only an iPhone. It was the first video story he ever did and it was nominated for an Emmy.
THE BOOTCAMP
How do we convert stations and whole networks to working in this way?
Since 1988, we have run intensive 5-Day Video Storytelling Bootcamps
We have done these all over the world.
These are hands-on bootcamps, and participants learn an entirely new way of creating TV news stories.
-We shoot at a 3:1 ratio or lower, so turnaround times are fast.
-We go directly from camera to timelilne and edit – no written scripts. We work in the medium of pictures and sound.
-We are entirely character-driven.
-We are driven by pictures and real events.
-We are focused almost entirely on ’the viewer experience’.
Since 1988, more than 70,000 journalists around the world have taken our bootcamps, either in person on virtualy.
Case Studies
CBS News
We have started to work with CBS News, bringing our ideas of character-driven storytelling to one of the most successful and biggest networks in the United States. Since beginning to work with them ratings have climbed and more importantly, audience engagement is through the ceiling.
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New York Times Television
We started New York Times Television in 1990 and it was the first paper to be brought into the world of TV. It quickly became one of the most successful non-fiction production companies in the United States. The series and documentaries we produced won many awards including multiple Emmys.
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The BBC
We have been working with the BBC since the year 2000 helping to convert their national news network to our visual storytelling technique. Most recently we have trained teams from their sports, documentaries, and comedy divisions to make character-driven stories using only smartphones.
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Spectrum News
For the past five years we have worked with Spectrum News to introduce and train their journalists on visual, character driven storytelling using smartphones helping to create a different kind of local news for their network of 24-Hour News Stations across the United States.
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The United Nations
In 2006, we were approached by the United Nations. Rather than rely on news outlets, it would be much easier to train the field operatives to produce their own stories. We spent two years working with the UN, training more than 100 of their staff in bootcamps in Geneva and Nairobi.
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The Newark Star-Ledger
We trained 50 print reporters at the paper to shoot and tell their own stories, in conjunction with their print work. We built a TV newsroom in their existing print newsroom – you could not ask for a better set and they began to live stream their stories in conjunction with their print work.
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Mcgraw Hill
We spent two years with McGraw Hill, training more than 150 of their staffers, making them completely video literate. McGraw/Hill media properties we transit included Business Week, Aviation Week, (what was the name of the architecture magazine), and JD Power and Associates.
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Voice of America
In 1990, we were approached by The Voice of America, the official broadcasting agency for the United States Government. When we met with VOA, they were only a short wave radio broadcaster, but working with them, we took them into television, launching VOA-TV.
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Michael on Media
In a recent study by The Reuters Institute, 40% of Americans no longer watch or read the news at all. They find it too depressing. All doom and gloom.
Ironically, when I ask working journalists to self-select stories they want to work on for the week, I think it is fair to say that not one, out of 70,000 has ever chosen a murder, a shooting, a fire, a car crash, a shark attack and so on. The ‘bread and butter’ of ‘news’.
To a person, they almost always select stories are are upbeat, uplifting and heartwarming. This tells us something. This tells us what people actually WANT to see. These are stories that universally make us feel better about our world, our community and ourselves.
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