CRASH!

brill-building

bye bye SNL… and I have no idea who that guy is…

For the past four years, we have had our offices at 1619 Broadway, where we sublet space from Broadway Video and SNL.  It was an interesting place to work.

Then, on Tuesday, BV called and said that they had sold part of the building and they were consolidating and we had to vacate…. by the end of the month.

Well, with Thanksgiving coming, this did not look like a particularly pleasant prospect.  I like to keep the office close to home and midtown office space is notoriously difficult to find, particularly on short notice.

I was wrong.

The economic downturn has hit harder and faster than I thought.

Within a few hours, we had found a space.  And it was not the kind of space I had thought we would end up in.

Our new address is on 54th and Park.  It is the office of a former hedge fund. Former, in that it was all there, all but the people.

It has a fireplace. And a bathroom with a tub. And wired rooms with desks with Bloomberg terminals and leather furniture. Just no people.  You might call it a fire sale.  “Just take it” said the last person there, who then turned out the lights.

This morning I opened The Guardian to read the headline:

Woolworths, Founded in 1909, 820 Stores, once worth £830m, for sale yesterday for £1
It’s all pretty sobering stuff.
Like 1929 all over again.. maybe.
If there is a silver lining (and it’s pretty well hidden so far), it is that, as The New York Times pondered yesterday, this depression will be different. Instead of the family hanging together on Walton Mountain, it is more likely that people will sit at home in front of their TV sets… or laptops.
That is what you do when you are unemployed.
And that means that the demand for content for TV will at least remain.. to some extent. Some cable operations will no doubt go dark, as advertising dollars evaporate.  But those that stay in business will still have to put product on the air.
But… but… they are going to have far less money to pay for that product. So cost cutting will become paramount. More content for less dollars…
The handwriting, so to speak, is on the wall.
And the inquiries we have gotten so far seem to reflect this quite clearly.
The best course you can take for the coming storm?  Prepare yourself for deep cost cuts.  Those who survive? Those who can deliver content for the lowest possible cost.
And as for the new office?
Well, I will certainly miss some aspects of the old one.
There was nothing like walking a client past lifesize photos of John Belushi or Eddie Murphy on the way to the conference room to instill a sense of confidence.
But now, we can do the roaring fire thing instead.
Goes well with the British accent, I think.
Michael Rosenblum

For more than 30 years, Michael Rosenblum has been on the cutting edge of the digital video journalism revolution. During this time, he has lead a drive for video literacy, and the complete rethinking of how television is made and controlled. His work has included: The complete transitioning of The BBC's national network (UK) to a VJ-driven model, starting in 2002. The complete conversion of The Voice of America, the United State's Government's broadcasting agency, (and the largest broadcaster in the world), from short wave radio to television broadcasting and webcasting using the VJ paradigm (1998-present). The construction of NYT Television, a New York Times Company, and the largest producer of non-fiction television in the US. Rosenblum was both the founder and President of NYT TV, (all based on this paradigm (1996-1998). The President and Founder of Video News International, a global VJ-driven newsgathering company, with more than 100 journalists around the world. (1993-1996). Other clients include Spectrum News, Verizon and CBS News.

4 Comments
  • $ November 21, 2008

    Good score on the new office space!

    See!

    Even in down times there is opportunity!

    That bathtub may come in handy for some of your VJ’s! 😉

  • rosenblumtv November 20, 2008

    Must be their back offices.
    Broadway Video is owned by Lorne Michaels. Its his production company. I guess they do the editing there. In any event, they had great free snacks every day at 4PM.

  • Shep Hayes November 20, 2008

    I thought all of the SNL offices were at 30 Rock? Is BV moving there?

  • Ben Joseph November 20, 2008

    Oh man. I went through two jobs in that building. It’s a little heartbreaking to BV go.