Event and Video Producer
How do you schedule shoots with a couple of hundred employees in multiple countries and cities in three weeks? Well, that was basically my assignment for Client I. I was skeptical about the aggressive timeline, but I made 160 individual appointments with basic tools (Google Sheet, Outlook and Post It). The calendar looked like a dentist’s appointment schedule. Each employee queued in the assembly line for 15 minutes for makeup and 15 minutes for the shoot.
I was kept rather busy at Duarte this year and did not have a chance to post any blogs for a while. Here are my top three memorable projects that I worked on.
#3
Project: Videos On Demand for Developer Conference
Reason: It is simply a pleasure to work with this passionate client for five years in a row. I was also lucky to hire many veteran members to my post production team. Here is a photo of my crew. I managed to stand on one foot despite the lack of sleep.
This was a customer success video for Client S. My role for this project is to supervise post production. The testimonial was already shot in Tokyo by local crew.
There are a lot of changes (new faces, equipment and process) since the last time I worked for this client on campus. However, one thing, which remains the same is how tight the network security was. With all types of IoT’s, there is a new focus on security. The video may explain more.
It was impressive to see how many rehearsals Client A went through for this product launch. The 90-minute keynote session was comprised of multiple presenters with technically challenging product demos using all devices you can think of (Mac Pro, MacBook, iPad, iPhone, Surface tablet, Android phone). The client chose Tokyo this year as Japan is the second biggest market for them. It was interesting to attend a series of rehearsals both in San Francisco and Tokyo, and to see the progress along the way. Thorough preparation definitely paid off to the flawless presentations.
In spite of the midnight load-in schedule, the local Japanese agency put together all the necessary personnel and equipment by 6:00am as scheduled.
Nothing is more fun than working on a project when the client is passionate about their project. This event falls into that category. This is my 4th consecutive year to work on this prestigious event for Client A through Agency D. Because this is a developer conference, I am fortunate to work with the finest programmers and engineers. They set up and troubleshoot software and hardware that they created. It is a dream environment as a vendor.
My role was to hire, train and supervise a team of video post production crew. It was certainly aggressive schedule to edit and publish over 100 breakout session videos on demand (or 76 hours of video) in five days, but we did it again … successfully. A lack of sleep daunted me, but I was able to keep my energy up with the help of Odwalla juices (thanks to Steve Jobs’ legacy).
My contribution to this TV show is tiny, but it was interesting to be a part of this Animal Planet show called “Giant Killer Hornet Populations Exploding Faster Than Ever,” one of deadly animal episodes for Monster Week. The episode was premiered on May 20th. The program looked a lot more dramatic and scarier than I anticipated. You certainly think twice about visiting mountainous areas of Japan.
The venue was Tokyo International Forum which is very impressive architecturally. This is my fifth time working as a live-streaming producer for Client O. I had already visited the venue for a location scout last summer, which was a big help. Unlike a similar event I did for the same client three years ago in Tokyo, we had good pre-production in place as some lessons were learned from past experience. Live streaming went well without any technical glitches thanks to my supervisors, John and Tim as well as the client and the local production company on the Tokyo side.
The only disappointment is that I missed cherry blossoms by one week.
