Re: Avid says No to NAB 2008

[Ron Lindeboom] "
As I said, Walter, there were over 400 major movies released last year from the Hollywierd machine. A couple were edited on Final Cut. The rest? Avid."

I honestly pay no attention to movies because that's not my market. And as you say, 400 major movies. That's a pittance compared to thousands upon thousands of projects created for all the television networks and stations each year. I'd rather concentrate my efforts on those projects that try to land one high profile movie. That single movie won't earn us the same income as the almost 200 projects we will complete this year alone.


[Ron Lindeboom] "Ditto for the major networks that use a few of the other systems but for the vast lion's share? Ditto. Avid."

The networks really don't cut much themselves anymore. That's all handled by the production companies. But again, you want to talk about the "major networks" which I consider to be ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. 4 networks compared to over 200 networks broadcasting on satellite and cable in the U.S. alone. Not to mention the hundreds (maybe thousands) of networks and stations around the world.

So let's just say that those 4 networks cut exclusively on Avid, of course they don't, but let's just say they did. The amount of programming produced just for those 4 networks pales in comparison to the amount of total programming created for the rest of the broadcasting world.

So again, I'm going to concentrate my efforts on the many thousands of broadcast opportunities out there instead of focusing directly in on the "big four" because there's much more money to be made elsewhere.

I'm in a very fortunate position that I get to work on one of my favorite shows on television, Good Eats (#1 on the network by the way) but that alone could not sustain our shop. We will deliver over 100 stories to NBC, PBS and Yahoo! this year. We've delivered environmental documentaries to Doha, Qatar. We've authored our first two Blu-ray disc titles for the Carter Center in Atlanta and will be producing at least 6 more in 2008. We helped launched Edward Norton's new conservation society. We've been working with The Weather Channel for the past three months. Over the next few years we will be cutting Sundance Documentaries.

So if cutting major motion films and cutting on the major networks is the absolute criteria for being successful, then Avid can keep that. I'll take the other thousands upon thousands of projects out there that keep us busy.

Final Cut Studio allows me to do this by simply adding workstations to meet the needs of my clients and the artists rather than finding the projects that can afford to keep my Avid DS/HD suite running.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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