Walter Prepping to serve the seafood sauce

It’s that time of year again and BCM Founder Walter Biscardi, Jr. is gearing up for his traditional “Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes.”   The meal was brought over from Italy by Walter’s grandfather Lou and growing up it was the only way he know to celebrate Christmas Eve.   Walter has modified it from his grandfather’s original meal and actually tweaks the menu every couple of years as he loves to try new things.  Honestly if he wasn’t running a production company he’d surely have a restaurant by now.

So as we all gather together for this 2013 Holiday Season, here’s his menu for the Christmas Eve celebration along with all the recipes so you and yours can enjoy.   Many of these are quite simple.  If you’ve never tried the Randall’s Ordinary Scallops, you owe it to yourself to try this incredibly simple and delicious dish.  The Salmon baked in foil is incredibly simple and tasty.  Even the Tortonis make an amazing dessert and are simple to prepare.

Seafood Purchasing tip:  I purchase all of my seafood from my local Costco on Dec. 22nd each year except the Calamari because they don’t carry it.  But all other seafood you see in these recipes comes from their store.  It’s amazing and it’s quite the savings vs. a fish or super market pricing.   In fact we probably purchase close to 70% of the ingredients for this meal at Costco, including their insanely awesome first press extra virgin olive oil.

Prepare, Eat, Enjoy!

Walter’s grandfather holding court with great stories on Christmas Eve.

The Biscardi Feast of the Seven Fishes: 2013

Cocktails & Antipasta

House Cocktail: Poinsettia featuring Cointreau, Prosecco and Cranberry Juice

Fried Calamari & Catfish

Fried Cauliflower

Italian Cheese & Meats

Homemade Mozzarella Cheese with fresh basil.

Roasted Red Peppers with fresh basil __________________________

First Course – Pasta Two Ways

Pasta with the Biscardi Family Fish Sauce including: Clams, Mussels, Catfish, Shrimp, Calamari, Lobster Tail

Pasta with Marinara Sauce including Sun Dried Tomatoes. ________________________

Second Course – Seafood Two Ways & Meat 

Crab and Ricotta Cannelloni

Randall’s Ordinary Scallops

Italian Sausage and Peppers

Ricotta & Spinach Stuffed Shells  ____________________________

Third Course – Seafood Two Other Ways & Vegetables 

Shrimp Cocktail

Salmon Baked in Foil

Cauliflower Sformato

Broccoli Rabe with Garlic and chili pepper

Cioppiolini’s and Potatoes    _______________________________

Dessert 

Tortoni

Cookies provided by guests

Coffee / Espresso / Hot Chocolate / Tea ________________________

THE RECIPES:

Lori, Walter and Kim on Christmas Eve a long time ago…..

Breaded Cauliflower, Fried Fish and Fried Calamari  (use the same eggs, breadcrumb combination for all.  Works best in a deep fryer, but can also be fried in a heavy pan like a cast iron pan.)

• 2 heads of Cauliflower, chopped.
• 1-2 lbs Catfish, cut into chunks or strips.
• 1-2lbs Calamari cut into 1/2″ strips.
• 4 – 6 eggs for dipping for each of the items
• 1/4 cup of milk
• Seasoned Breadcrumbs for dipping
• Peanut Oil for frying.  Generally 1 gallon for a deep fryer.  Want to submerge the food in oil.

1. Pre-heat the Deep Fryer to 375 degrees.
2. Mix the eggs and milk together.
3. Dip into egg, and then into breadcrumbs.  Be sure to coat fully.
4. Fry in batches for 2 minutes each.

Note: if you have Vegetarians attending the meal, cook the Cauliflower in the oil first, then cook the seafood.

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Homemade Mozzarella with Fresh Basil

We use this Williams-Sonoma DIY Mozzarella kit for the cheese.

First Press Extra Virgin Olive Oil (we use the Costco brand sold once a year in the glass bottles)

Slice the cheese approx. 1/4″ thick, top each slice with a basil leaf, repeat around a platter and drizzle with the oil.

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This is how Walter makes it through the preparation schedule for the Feast…

Roasted Red Pepper Salad with Fresh Basil

Make at least one day in advance to allow the flavors to blend.  

• 6 Red Peppers
• Paper Bag big enough to hold the 6 peppers or a pot with a lid. (for steaming the peppers after they cook)
• 1 head of garlic, minced
• Fresh Basil, chopped
• Pepper to taste
• Airtight container approx 8” x 3” and 3” deep (like Tupperware)

1. Place a rack approx. 6 inches from the top of the oven, set oven to Broil OR heat your grill to medium heat.
2. Wash and place the whole peppers on a baking sheet and place under the broiler, (or on the grill) be sure to leave the oven door open a crack.
3. Turn the peppers as needed until they are just about completely blacked on all sides.  Should take from 10 – 20 minutes in the oven, 8-10 minutes on the Grill.
4. Put the peppers into a paper bag and seal the bag, let rest at least 10 minutes. (or in a pot with a lid)
5. Peel the skin off the peppers and discard.
6. Slice the peppers open and discard the seeds and the stem.
7. Slice the peppers vertically in 1/4 – 1/2” strips.
8. Place a layer of pepper strips in the bottom of the container
9. Sprinkle basil, garlic, oregano and pepper on the peppers  (can omit any of these to taste)
10. Repeat this process until all of the peppers and mozzarella are used, should be 3 – 4 layers depending on the size of the container.
11. Place the container in the refrigerator overnight.
12. Remove from the refrigerator and place onto a serving plate approx. 30 minutes before serving.

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Mama Biscardi’s Feast of the Seven Fishes Fish Sauce.

• 1/2 bushel Littleneck Clams
• 3 lbs Mussels
• 2 Lobster Tails
• 2 lbs Shrimp
• 2 lbs Fresh Fish (Talapia, Sole, Catfish, etc….)
• 1 lb Calamari sliced
• Garlic in Oil
• 2 full cans of white clam sauce (Progresso’s)
• 1 – 106 oz Can of Whole Tomatoes
• 2 – 14.5 oz Can of Diced Tomatoes
• 1-2 tablespoons of sugar
• Fresh Basil
• Crushed Hot Pepper

1. Clean all of the seafood, including scrubbing the shells of the clams and mussels.
2. De-vein the shrimp.
3. Set all of the seafood aside in the refrigerator.
4. Steam the clams and mussels in garlic, wine, butter.
5. Strain the juices from the clams and mussels and add to the sauce.
6. Fry the calamari just before adding and pour in with the oil.
7. Put the clams and mussels aside.
8. Lightly brown the garlic in oil.
9. Add the full can of white clam sauce.
10. Add the strained clams.
11. Bring to a light boil.
12. Add all of the Tomatoes and the Sugar, turn the heat down to medium low.
13. Add fresh basil to taste
14. Add Crushed Hot Pepper to taste.
15. Let simmer at least 2 hours over low to medium heat.
16.  Relax, have a glass of wine, smile, say hello to your friends…..
17. One hour before serving – Lobster Tails
18. 30 minutes before serving – add the Calamari
19. 15 minutes before serving – add the steamed clams and mussels
20. 10 minutes before serving – add the Shrimp and Fresh Fish.
21. Serve over 2 – 3 pounds of fresh linguine.

A look at the sauce simmering on the stove.

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Dom DeLuise’s Marinara Sauce

• Makes 2 quarts
• 4 tbsp Olive Oil
• 5 Cloves Garlic Minced
• 1 medium onion minced.
• 2 28oz cans peeled tomatoes, cut
• 1 6oz can tomato paste
• 4 tbsp sun dried tomatoes
• 10 fresh basil leaves

1. In a deep 10” fry pan, heat oil and saute the garlic and onion.
2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and sundried tomatoes.
3. Put on medium heat for 20-30 minutes, stir occassionally.
4. Tear basil leaves into small pieces and sprinkle on top after adding to pasta.

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Crab & Ricotta Canneloni (Note: the Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed shells are the exact same recipe, just switching out the Crab for Spinach to make it a vegetarian friendly dish.)

• 1 box (8 ounces) cannelloni or manicotti pasta (about 12 shells)
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2tbs Butter
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 pound Snow or King Crab meat (Lump Crab from Costco is awesome for this)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Bechamel Sauce, recipe follows

NOTE: We cook and stuff the pasta a day in advance, bake on Xmas Eve.

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook according to directions on the box.  NOTE: Carefully remove the pasta from the water, they split easily when cooked.
2. Shred the Crab Meat.
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter and saute the garlic.   Add the crab meat and toss for approx. 1 minute  or so to heat up and absorb the butter / garlic.
4. In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, 3/4 cup Parmesan, egg yolk, basil, crab, salt, and pepper.  Using an espresso spoon, fill the cannelloni with the crab mixture and place in a buttered baking dish.  If preparing in advance, cover and place in the refrigerator.

Bechamel Sauce (note: Sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance)

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 to 5 cloves garlic, chopped.
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups whole milk, warmed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, toss in the garlic and cook for approx. 1 minute.
2. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes.
3. Gradually add the warm milk, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick, smooth, and creamy, about 10 minutes (do not allow the sauce to boil). Remove from the heat and stir in the salt and pepper.
4. If necessary, saute a little more garlic in butter and add to the sauce. (The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cool and then cover and refrigerate.)

To Serve: PreHeat Oven to 350 Degrees.

Top the filled cannelloni with the Bechamel Sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake until bubbly and the top is golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

This is what Christmas Eve looked like at my house growing up. This is the early 60’s

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• 2 bunches scallions, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Paprika
• Pinch Salt
• Pinch pepper
• 4 ounces (1 stick) butter
• 2 pounds scallops
• Seasoned breadcrumbs to coat

1. Mix scallions, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper together.
2. In a sauté pan, melt butter.  When butter is melted, add sauté scallion mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, coat the scallops with bread crumbs.  Add the coated scallops to the sauté mixture.  Stir and cook about 2 – 4 minutes.

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Crock Pot Italian Sausage

• 5 lbs Italian sausage, in casings
• 4 large green peppers, sliced
• 3 large onions, sliced
• 1 -2 garlic cloves, minced
• 28 ounces tomato puree
• 14 ounces tomato sauce
• 12 ounces tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar

1. Cut sausage into 4 or 5″ pieces and brown on all sides in batches in skillet.
2. Saute peppers, onions, and garlic in drippings.
3. Combine tomato puree, sauce, and paste in bowl.
4. Add seasonings and sugar.
5. Layer half of sausage, onions, and peppers in 6qt cooker.
6. Cover with half the tomato mixture. Repeat layers. Cover.
7. Cook on high 1 hour and low 5-6 hours.
8. Serve as a side item, on rolls or tossed with the pasta of your choice.

SUPER easy to make Sausage and Peppers and this is a hit on Super Bowl Sunday too!

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Spinach and Ricotta Shells with Bechamel Sauce (I serve this in the shells to easily differentiate the crab and vegetarian versions of this dish, though you could use the same Cannelonni shells as the Crab)

24 shells 

• 1 box (12 ounces) of Jumbo Shells
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 4 tbs Butter
• 6 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 bags of Spinach (6 or 8oz bags)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

Bechamel Sauce, recipe follows

NOTE: We cook and stuff the pasta a day in advance, bake on Xmas Eve.

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook according to directions on the box.  NOTE: Carefully remove the pasta from the water, they split easily when cooked.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter and saute the garlic.   Add the spinach approx. 1/2 bag at a time and cook down.  Approx. 4 minutes for all.
3. In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, 3/4 cup Parmesan, egg yolk, basil, spinach, salt, and pepper.  Using an espresso spoon, fill the cannelloni with the crab mixture and place in a buttered baking dish.  If preparing in advance, cover and place in the refrigerator.

Bechamel Sauce (note: Sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance)

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 to 5 cloves garlic, chopped.
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups whole milk, warmed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, toss in the garlic and cook for approx. 1 minute.
2. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes.
3. Gradually add the warm milk, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick, smooth, and creamy, about 10 minutes (do not allow the sauce to boil).
4. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt and pepper.
5. If necessary, saute a little more garlic in butter and add to the sauce. (The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cool and then cover and refrigerate.)

To Serve: PreHeat Oven to 350 Degrees.

Top the filled shells with the Bechamel Sauce and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake until bubbly and the top is golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Very pretty dish and the non-vegetarians love this too!

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Alton Brown’s Shrimp Cocktail (I worked on the series for 5 years so of course I have to have an AB recipe in here!)

His full recipe is here on the Food Network website and it’s the brine that seems to really make the difference.  However I actually cook my shrimp on the grill instead.  Medium heat on the grill, 2 minutes first side, 1 minute second side.  This also makes an insane grilled shrimp if you eat them right off the grill.

Cooking tip: I cook these a day in advance, but leave the shells on the shrimp and put them in the fridge.  Then clean them the morning of Christmas Eve before prepping them to serve.  Keeping them in the shells overnight seems to help keep the shrimp moist and retains more of the olive oil flavor.

Easily the best, most flavorful Shrimp Cocktail I’ve ever had.

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Salmon Baked in Foil

This is a Giada recipe from the Food Network as well.  SUPER simple to make.  Be sure to cook this just prior to serving.  Serve each person their own foil pouch.

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Cauliflower Sformato

This is a brand new recipe for me in 2013 and it comes from La Cucina Italiana Magazine.  This makes an incredible presentation at the table and if you have trouble getting your kids to eat vegetables, try this on them. Don’t tell them it’s cauliflower!

Serving Tip: Make these either in the morning or the day before.  You MUST let these cool completely before you try to flip it out of the pan.   Reheat and just before serving, top with more breadcrumb and broil to brown it up.

I used an angel food cake pan for the Sformato and it worked well.

I added more breadcrumb to the top and broiled before serving.

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Broccoli Rabe with Chili and Garlic.

I got this one from the same La Cucina Italiana article.  If you can, definitely make this a day in advance of your meal or at least a few hours in advance.  The garlic really blends in the more the dish has a chance to sit.

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Cioppolini’s and Potatoes (Cioppolini’s are small Italian onions)

• 2 lbs of Cippiolinis, cleaned and halved  (Can substitute Pearl Onions)
• 6 med-large Red Potatoes, cleaned and sliced
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 3 Garlic Cloves, sliced
• Salt to taste
• Crushed Red Pepper to taste
• Paprika to taste

1. Fry the onions in the oil over medium heat
2. Add the sliced Potatoes and cook for a few minutes covered.
3. Add the Garlic and Salt.
4. Add the Red Pepper and Paprika.
5. Stir often Cook approx. 10 minutes depending on the depth of the pan and how many potatoes you have in there, could take a bit longer.  Keep the cover on during the entire cooking process.

We make these a day in advance and reheat, covered, in the oven.

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Tortoni (basically an Italian light ice cream)

• 1/4 cup almonds, sliced
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/4 cups macaroon crumbs  (an 8oz container of macaroons makes approx. 2 cups of crumbs)
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 candied cherries (optional)

1. Spread out almonds on a cookie sheet and place in a preheated 325 degree oven for 3 minutes.  Turn tray around, toss nuts with a metal spatula and toast for another 3 minutes.
2. Cut the macaroons in quarters, then toss into a food processor or chopper and process into crumbs.
3. In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup of cream, the macaroon crumbs and confectioners’ sugar.
4. Chill for 30 minutes.
5. Mix in the rum and vanilla and chill for another 30 minutes.
6. Whip the remaining 1 cup of cream to soft peaks and fold into the macaroon mixture.
7. Divide the mixture among eight 4-ounce paper cups.
8. Top with the almonds and cherries, if desired.
9. Cover with foil and freeze for 4 hours or until firm.

(Can be made up to 3 days in advance.  Be sure to tightly cover with foil)

This is how we relax on Christmas Morning….

The post Holiday Recipes: 2013 Edition! appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

Getting to and from the show.

NAB does a great job providing free shuttle transportation to and from the show via many of the hotels along The Strip.   Whether you stay in one of these hotels or not, as an attendee, you have access to these busses.   So look at the NAB Bus Schedule and pick a hotel nearby to pick up the shuttle, be sure to have your convention badge on you as you generally have to show it to the bus driver to get on.

I tend to take the shuttle busses to the show and then the Las Vegas Monorail from the show depending on what time I’m leaving.   Busses can get swamped at the end of the day and while the Monorail costs money, it tends to move more people faster out of the event.   I just hop off at the hotel the closest to mine on the way back.

Dress for comfort, especially your feet!

NAB is a big show.   Let me rephrase that.   NAB is a HUGE SHOW.  As in thousands upon thousands of square feet of exhibition space.   Let me say that again.   NAB IS A MASSIVE SHOW!   You may have been to big shows before,but imagine walking through and around 4 football stadiums (US or European) to see everything and that kind of gives you a sense of how large this thing is.   In other words, you’re going to be walking….. a lot…… forwards, backwards, up, down and all around.

It cannot be said enough that comfortable shoes are a MUST at this show.  I wear running shoes that have fabric that breathes.  Women…. how in the heck do you wear heels?   I have no idea, yet I see them walking the show floor every year like it’s something they have to do.  No, you honestly don’t.  Same with the men wearing wingtip business shoes.  Why?  They are simply not comfortable to walk around 4 football fields or to even stand still for hours at a time.    The NAB show floor is not really the place to make a fashion statement so just relax.   Remember your feet will swell up standing and walking all day long, keep the shoes comfortable!

For dress, I tend to go with comfortable jeans and t-shirts or short sleeved button down shirts.   South Lower, where most of Post Production is housed, can get a little warm on Monday / Tuesday just because of the thousands of bodies in the hall.   Check the weather forecasts before you come for nighttime temps, as oftentimes a light sweater or jacket is good at night when the temps drop.   While 60 degrees might sound nice and warm with just a T-Shirt, with no sun and a 10-15 mph wind, that light jacket you brought along will feel much better.

Beyond the jeans, the only event I know of that really requires any sort of “dress code” is the annual AJA Party which is held in an exclusive nightclub usually.   Other than that, just “come as you are.”

Plan Ahead, Use Reference Points.

A big key is to plan ahead and then prioritize your plan.  There is so much to see that it’s easy to get overwhelmed at the show, it’s literally the biggest toy box for all of to play in with everything we’d ever need to make great shows.   All the stuff you read about on the internet and in magazines is on display.   It’s easy to get caught up spending way too much time on some really super cool toy that you don’t need, can’t afford, would never use, but it’s just so freakin’ cool and before you know it, two hours are gone.

So pick the toys you REALLY want to see, then prioritize them in order of what’s the most important thing you need  all the way down to those that would be fun to see, but it wouldn’t matter if you missed them.   You will accomplish much more and see those things that will make a difference for you in the next 12 months.

The show floor oftentimes makes no logical sense.   Booth numbers that go smoothly from number to number suddenly veer off into nonsense and you stand around saying “Well it should be right here, it’s the next number in sequence.”  Fortunately “there’s an app for that.”

If you have a smartphone or tablet download the fabulous NAB Mobile App.  I used this for the past few years and it’s awesome.   My favorite feature is that you can highlight all the folks you want to visit ahead of time.  During the show, the app will show me where I am and where my target destinations are, makes for easy navigation around the show.   Well, easier navigation, you’re still going to have those “WTF?” moments when the booth numbers make no logical sense….

Another great way to help with navigation on the show floor and to find your way back to location is to use reference points.  Pick a banner, a booth, whatever that has a high sign that you can clearly see to use as a reference point to find your way around.   I often use the AJA Video Systems booth and one of the music libraries in South Lower as my reference points for example.    I can visually see that point and if I know a booth I’m looking for is in the general area, I can use that to find it.

In particular, use these reference points to find the bathrooms.   Small thing I know, but at least in South Hall, they are along the far left and right walls and finding these easily is a good thing.  

Stay tuned for the Sunday announcements.

Many companies presenting at NAB will either have press events or issue press releases on Sunday announcing their latest toys that will be on display in the exhibition halls.  Websites such as CreativeCow.net have great news feeds that help you follow along with the almost dizzying array of releases.

Make notes of the releases that are of special interest to you so you’ll know what that company is debuting, locate their booth number, and prepare some questions.  Yeah, write your questions down or put them in your phone / tablet because you’ll definitely forget what you were going to ask when you get to the booth.    EVERYTHING sounds incredible in the press release, seeing it on the show floor and asking the right questions can get you a better picture of what the toy can and cannot do.

Most of the manufacturers on the show floor are very frank about what their products CAN’T do.  They want to make sure the right information gets out and they want you to be a satisfied customer.  So don’t just take everything at face value, ask questions!

Monday Morning

You do not have to start lining up at 8:30am to be the very first one into the convention hall.   Things do not start disappearing at 9:01am.   Every single year, there’s a huge mob of people just lining up outside South Hall waiting to sprint into the convention.  You don’t win points for being first.   Just relax, grab a cup of coffee or tea at the Starbucks and when the gates open, there will be plenty of room for everyone.   The place holds something like 100,000 people, so relax…..

Limited time to visit?  Come later in the week.

If you’ve already made your plans, it might be too late for this, but if you really want to get hands on with equipment and software in the booths and ask questions, Wednesday and Thursday are the best days.   Monday and Tuesday the crowds are the largest.   Especially Thursday the crowds are always much smaller giving you much better access to the booths.

If you are going to be there all week, my advice is to avoid the “big booths” Monday and make discoveries in the outlying smaller booths in all the halls.  Especially lighting and audio always seem to have the smaller crowds and they make great areas to visit, especially Monday all day.

Also take in the outdoor exhibits between South and Central Hall where there are remote production trucks, satellite uplinks and other very cool displays.   While you may never have the need for a remote production truck, just walking through one and seeing how they have managed to configure an entire production facility in a very small footprint can certainly give you some ideas for designing your own production space.

In Central Hall I always go in to check out what’s the latest in microphones and field recording because when a show idea comes up, for whatever reason I start thinking about the microphones I saw and how we can use them.

I’ve also found some really cool widgets, software and tools for my work that I never would have found without just strolling “off the beaten path” as it were, such as my incredibly awesome Anthro edit consoles.   Not sure where all the aerial platforms are going to be, but there are multiple remote controlled helicopter and multi-rotor companies out there now that provide outstanding platforms to shoot from the air.

Pace Yourself, stay hydrated.

Unless you are only in Vegas for one day (because your cheap boss wouldn’t spring for at least two days) pace yourself, nothing is going anywhere for four days.  It’s not like those stupid 4am day after Thanksgiving sales, there’s nothing that’s going to disappear except maybe some of the free swag that you’ll probably throw away when you get home anyway.

Many of the booths have chairs, small theaters with presentations throughout the day which are great to just sit and take a break for a few minutes.   Sit in on some of the presentations that are about the toys you are considering.   Sure these are well planned 15 – 30 minute presentations, but watching them can give you a good sense of whether the toy is what you expected it to be.  In addition, the presentations allow you to form questions to pose to the folks working these toys in the booth.   And there’s that sitting down for 15 – 30 minutes part that’s a good thing for your feet.

And above all stay hydrated, drink lots of water.   The air is very dry in Las Vegas and it’s easy to get dehydrated with all the walking around you’re going to be doing.   Not just at the convention, walking around the streets of Vegas will wear you out if you don’t stay hydrated.    One of my first stops every year is to CVS pharmacy or small shop on the street to pick up a 6 pack of bottled water that I can refill as the week goes on.

Remember that Vegas also uses a lot of forced perspective, so things that appear to be right down the block are actually 1/2 mile or more away.   For example what looks like a short walk from New York, New York Casino to Treasure Island is more like a 30 to 45 minute walk up the street.

Evening Events.

Many manufacturers and groups have evening and after hours events.   These are as simple as meet and greets to the world-renowed AJA VIP party.   Some are free and some cost to attend.  For the most part they’re fun and these are generally the best place to simply hang and meet up with your peers.   You’ll find many of the bloggers, the writers, and folks who post on the various forums and tweet away all year long.  And don’t be shy at these events, just walk up and say hello.

Now the same suggestions for the main show, also apply to the evening events.  Primarily, pace yourself.   There are a LOT of evening events, pick and choose a few, if you don’t make them all, so what?   It’s ok.   And manage your intake of alcohol.   Yes everyone likes to party and have a beer or two, but I’m amazed at the number of folks revert back to frat college days and get completely wasted to the point where you really don’t even want to be around them.    As many of the beer companies remind us, “Drink Responsibly.”   And at most of these you’re going to do a lot of standing, so again, wear comfortable shoes!

My absolute favorite event each year is the Media Motion Ball.  It’s a smaller gathering, costs a bit more money because they serve a very nice buffet sit down dinner and is more low key than some of the other larger gatherings.   It’s quieter so we can all chat and it’s a very friendly atmosphere.   The sponsor tables are also usually in the same room and are very approachable.  Often you’ll find the folks from the “big booths” like Blackmagic Design where you can meet more one on one with the product folks than out on the floor.

The biggest event for the Post Production industry is always the SuperMeet.  Part carnival, part demonstration, always entertaining.  Home of the one of the largest raffles in all of NAB.   It’s also a great place to find out if there are any Post Production User Groups in your area as they do a parade of user groups as part of the event.  Personally I go for about the first 1/4 to 1/2 of the event spending more time out in the sponsor area as it’s a great place for me to catch up with a lot of my friends and to meet many of you from the CreativeCow, my blog and Twitter.

I got reminded of the Red Giant / Maxon Pinball Party this year and am definitely going to make it there this year.  150 pinball machines with an ice cream truck just sounds like way too much fun to pass up.

Most manufacturers and groups will have events posted on their websites or at the booths so check them out and decide if anything works for you.  And if you don’t want to go out and party, then don’t, there are so many great restaurants and food joints all over town, go enjoy yourself at one of those.

I forgot my hard drive, power cord, etc…

The Fashion Show Mall (weird name I know) located near Treasure Island and the Wynn hotel has an Apple Store and other electronics stores that should have whatever you left behind or lost on your way to Las Vegas.   Other good stores and a great food court in there as well.

By the way, bring a small power tap or power strip so you can recharge all that electronic gear you need at night.

Beyond the Show, my suggestions for food and fun.

You’re in Las Vegas, there are literally tons of things to do besides gambling.   Quite honestly gambling bores me, I used to work in the largest casino in the world and slot machines and such never interested me.  I do place one bet each year on the weekend NASCAR race, but beyond that, not much else.    So here’s some thoughts beyond the obvious gambling and drinking.

I can’t over emphasize how good the restaurants are both on and off the Strip.   Buca de Beppo is wonderful off the strip.   Our favorite buffet has been the Spice Market Buffett in Planet Hollywood but this year we’re going to try out the Bacchanal Buffet in Ceasars Palace because it features ice cream from our good friends at High Road Craft.    

The best grouping of restaurants in one hotel is the Venetian with Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio being the standout, but there are a lot of great choices in that one hotel including the Grand Lux and an awesome Mexican Cantina.  If you go downstairs in the Shoppes at Palazzos you’ll find an absolutely killer Espressamente Illy coffee house / gelato shop.  My favorite coffee in Vegas.

One fun thing that presents tons of photo opportunities is the Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum in the Venetian Hotel.   What makes it so fun is that nothing is behind glass, it’s all out so you can stand and pose with the wax people.   It’s silly fun with something like 54 celebrities or so to get your picture with in a walk at your own pace style.

Of the “big shows” in I’ve seen in Vegas, “O” at the Bellagio simply takes the cake for spectacle.  I spent as much time enjoying the show as I did marveling at the staging and just trying to figure out what sort of a warped mind can actually create some of this.  Simply stunning both creatively and technically.

The show is what you make it.

Simply put, NAB Show is what you make it.  You’re around somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 people for a few days.   The way you make connections and the way you network is to walk up and say “hello.”   That’s how I got to know so many people over the years.   I’ve read their blogs, their articles, watched their companies grow, etc….  and when I saw them on the show floor, I just walked over and said “hello” and gave them my card.

Some folks I never heard from again.  But those that did reach out have turned into some of the most valuable resources and best friends I could possibly ask for.   Networking and meeting new people is the main reason I attend most years.   Yeah, Vegas itself gets to be boring when you go every single year, but what keeps me coming back is simply getting the chance to see everyone in one place each year.

So don’t be shy, don’t be rude either, but if you want to say hello to folks, say hello.

There you go, some tips and tricks from a veteran of the Las Vegas NAB Scene.  Most importantly have fun. Bring lots and lots of business cards, shake a lot hands and make yourself some new friends you can call upon when need advice.   We’ll see you there!
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“Oh we’ll just fix that in Post.”  

“Oh we’ll just fix that in Post” …Those are 7 of the most famous words in all of media production.  Whatever happens in the field, it doesn’t matter, those technical wizards in the darkened rooms with computers galore can make it absolutely perfect.   And that IS true if you have an endless budget, we can pretty much fix and create anything your heart desires.  But as I’m sure many of you don’t have an endless budget, there is often a more cost effective solution.

Get Post Production involved right from the beginning of the video production project.   Seems when most folks get a project started they call together everyone necessary to make it happen EXCEPT post production.   It’s like the Post isn’t important even though that’s where your project is going to end up and be finished.

First off, in today’s digital world, solid media management is paramount to any video production project.   When you erase your digital card / hard drive / storage device you’re using in the field, that data is gone forever.   In post production, we’re used to managing a tremendous amount of data for any given project so we can help establish a solid data management workflow from file naming convention down to storage and archiving the data so everything you shoot is protected.    If you simply shoot the project and walk into a Post facility with a bunch of drives, the first thing you’re going to pay for is someone to go through and organize the entire project into something manageable.

Not to mention one of the biggest issues we run into is lack of complete camera data.   This happens constantly when we receive raw camera data from the field and at the very least you can lose timecode and at worst loss of picture or audio or both.   It’s so important to transfer the digital camera data correctly for the type of camera you’re using or information will simply get lost between the field and Post.   There’s nothing more frustrating for a Producer than having hours upon hours of footage that all starts at timecode 00:00:00:00 from Reel 001 and trying to give notes to the editor.   Get Post involved at the get-go and you can be better prepared from the moment you walk in the door.

Getting the editors, graphic designers, animators, sound designers and even colorists involved from the beginning can also add a lot more creative input on your project.    When you share your vision and plan for your project, very often those who will finish the show can share some insights on projects they’ve recently completed, ideas to make your project different, additional camera angles and shots and so on.   Post artists can also help determine what’s better to shoot practical in the field or create digitally later.   In other words, starting with post production can oftentimes lead to a much better end product and certainly help you to get the most bang for your budget.

So while we’ll never be able to completely eliminate the classic “Fix It In Post” problem, if you bring Post Production into your project from the start, we can help create a smoother workflow, less headaches, and more creative end product.

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.  www.biscardicreative.com | 770-271-3427

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Recently we went looking for a cheaper alternative white board and stumbled upon IdeaPaint.  The company makes chalkboard and dry erase paints.  In fact one of their products is a clear dry erase paint so we can paint directly on top of existing colors.   So we decided to give it a whirl and sure enough, we love it!   A lot of folks have asked about the process and let’s face it, who doesn’t want to write on your walls, so here’s the process from start to finish along with some first-hand tips.

IdeaPaint comes in a very simple kit which includes This, That, a Roller, a mixing stick and a can opener.

Each kit is good for 50 Square Feet.  If you order more than 50 Square Feet at a time, you get multiple kits.   Once you mix everything, you have one hour to paint and you cannot store any unused paint, so make sure you’re ready for all of your painting before you mix.

Typically IdeaPaint goes on entire walls, but in our case, we essentially made big dry erase boards in the middle of our walls.  After all, we can’t reach the top of our 9 foot walls so that would just be a waste to paint it up there.   Everything was taped off with blue painter’s tape.

Conference Room Prepped

Nicole’s Office Prepped.

Kitchen Cabinet side prepped.

Once everything was taped off, we simply mixed This into That, stirred for 30 seconds, then let it rest for 2 minutes per the instructions.

The paint has a water like consistency as you can see below.   So if you go back up to the picture of Nicole’s office, you’ll see we taped a dropcloth to the wall because the paint will drip when rolling simply because it’s so watery.   That just helps to keep the drips off the wall, though it’s VERY easy to paint over any drips later.

The instructions tell you to cut in the edges with a small foam roller or a foam brush, but we did fine using a regular brush just for the cut ins.   Since we’re only painting over a portion of the walls, it’s very obvious where the dry erase “board” is because the color gets a little darker and it has a very shiny gloss to it.   Originally we were planning to install some trim on either side of the board, but it’s so obvious, it’s not necessary.

Nicole’s wall freshly painted.

Nicole’s wall with the tape removed.  As you can see, the “board” is very obvious on the wall so no trim is necessary, but the color of the wall shows through the paint.  The sign on the bottom tells folks not to write on the wall yet.

When painting, there is definitely a strong odor initially from the paint so be sure to ventilate well.   Really for just the first 30 minutes as the smell does go away very quickly.   But the smell did permeate our entire facility for the first 30 minutes.    We actually painted both rooms first thing in the morning so we could open the doors and let fresh air in rather than painting last thing and then closing up the building.

Once the paint dries, there is conflicting information between the paint kit and the website on curing time before you can use the dry erase wall.   The kit says 4 days but the website says 7 days.   So we went with the 7 day wait.  Nicole took the first stabs at writing on the wall in the conference room…..

The instructions note that you need to use a microfiber cloth to fully clean the walls and they’re correct.   What we do is use a regular dry erase eraser to take most of the drawing off the wall and then go over that with the microfiber cloth.   It’s an extra step, but honestly well worth it.

So far we have IdeaPaint in the Conference Room, Nicole’s Office, Machine Room and even a small board in the kitchen using two complete kits.  I’m ordering two more kits for my office and another wall in the Conference Room.   This truly is IdeaPaint ready for my inspirations whenever they strike.   Very cool stuff and we’d recommend it if you’re looking for a nice white board writing space, but don’t want to have to purchase and hang a white board.   C’mon, it’s fun to write on walls!

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.  www.biscardicreative.com | 770-271-3427

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Davinci Resolve Update

So in my last blog I mentioned how we were setting up a new Resolve suite and the plan was to transition our Dell PC Workstation over to Davinci Resolve.   Well, that didn’t work out so well because the machine only had one nVidia card and we could not get Resolve to launch on it.   I could have sworn it had dual nVidias but it didn’t so we reverted back to the Mac Pro 12 core which DOES have dual nVidia cards.

Anthro Fit Console, Computer Monitors (L & R), Flanders Scientific LM-2461W (Center) and Tangent Element Panels (front) in position.  6500k lights wash the wall.

Now those of you who have followed me for a while may remember that after NAB I got a set of Tangent Element panels that would not work with our system in the original screening room.   We use Gefen 5500 Cat5 USB / DVI Extenders in that and most of our suites, and after about 5 minutes, the entire system would slow to a crawl when the Tangent Panels were enabled.   So I continued to use the Wave panel in that suite because that worked fine.

In the new suite, we’re using a different set of extenders, with Gefen stand alone Cat5 DVI extenders and a Smart USB Cat5 extender.   Yeah, technically this USB Extender is for use with Smart Boards, but we’re just using it to extend USB on our computer.  Well now the Tangent panels are working perfectly fine.   So the just over $100 USB extender works superior to the $2500 DVI / USB Extender.   Who knows why, but I’m glad I can finally start learning utilizing the Tangents.

If you followed my tweets this past week you know that I’ve not been able to get Resolve 9.0 to launch on the Mac Pro.  In fact, I’ve been trying for weeks on multiple systems and it kept crashing.   I was extremely lucky to have Blackmagic Design’s Rohit Gupta and Peter Chamberlain in town this week visiting David Catt and all three made a quick visit to the office this morning.   I did what any business owner would do when they have the product engineers and designers in the facility, I asked them to fix it!

Rohit Gupta (left), Peter Chamberlain (right), David Catt (standing)

Turns out the problem was as simple as the Mac Pro not booting up in 64 bit mode.   I honestly had no idea Lion could boot up in 32 bit mode and according to Rohit, since this was a clean install on the 12 core Mac Pro, it should have defaulted to 64 bit when installed.   So now I have to go back and look at all the other machines I tried to ensure they’re all in 64 bit.

That took all of 1 minutes for him to figure out.  Then I got a nice personal walkthrough of the changes in Resolve 9 including some of the updated 9.0.3 features.   I’m beyond excited about getting my feet wet in the new software.

Davinci Resolve 9 running (finally) in my suite.  Not sure why the back wall has a green cast in this photo, must be the iPhone

With the guys in Rebecca’s Atomic Café.   Somehow I’m always the short one in photos….   Really appreciated their help and compliments of our facility.

iMac Update

The second of our 27″ iMac machines arrived, literally the day before the new ones were announced.  So of course we told John that his new machine sucks and threatened to egg it.   But I digress….

Actually the machine caused a bit of a headache with the 32GB RAM kit from Other World Computing.  For the first time since I’ve been ordering from them, we had major issues with their products.   The first 32GB RAM kit (4 sticks, 8GB each) had two bad RAM sticks.   iMac would not boot with all four of them in there.   So OWC sent a second complete kit.   Again, two bad RAM sticks.   So I mixed the two good sticks from the first order and the two good sticks from the second order and finally the machine started up with the full 32GB of RAM.  OWC of course took the four bad ones back and credited me for the purchase price.

Edit 5’s 27″ iMac, Behringer MON800, AJA IoXT, Flanders Scientific LM-2340W

This time I ordered an AJA T-Tap but because John does more capturing than the projects in Edit 2, we moved the original AJA IoXT into his suite and the T-Tap is installed in Edit 2.   But they are literally interchangeable and I’m really growing on the idea of external boxes over internal cards.   We also have the Blackmagic UltraStudio 3D so we can swap that in to do Resolve work in any suite as we replace our Mac Pros with the iMacs.   Not that easy to do with Kona / Decklink cards inside a machine.

And yes, I plan to continue to replace our Mac Pros with the iMacs because they are working out really well and the price is right.   The newly announced iMacs are just an absolutely killer edit workstation that will be augmented by just a few Mac Pro 12 Core machines to do heavy rendering.   But for day to day editing with Premiere Pro or Avid, these machines are proving themselves as solid editing workstations in daily work.

Original Programming

If you haven’t seen the website yet, we’re planning to launch our first original series in early 2013.   Not something I ever imagined producing, but an idea that I developed and have found a very enthusiastic audience.   Concept is “Here to Cheer!” and it’s a new spin on Competitive Cheer.   I’m very fortunate to have assembled an amazing, seasoned team to pull this series together and we’re looking forward to getting the venture off the ground.  Will definitely update this blog and the Here to Cheer blog as we move forward.

In addition, we have more original concepts forthcoming that span everything from lifestyle to travel to cooking to animals to sports for both broadcast and digital delivery.   We had a couple of false steps in the beginning but after re-grouping, changing direction and changing personnel, 2013 is going to be a very fun year.   We’re fortunate to be working with some incredible folks to make it all happen.

I Scream You Scream for Ice Cream

Finally, if you are in Atlanta Saturday, Nov. 3rd you must head over to High Road Craft for their 2nd Anniversary party.  Happening from 12-4 pm, it will feature some good food, music and of course ice cream.

I’m very fortunate to have gotten to know owners Keith & Nicki Schroeder over this past year and not only are they two of the most incredible folks you’ll ever meet, their company creates simply the most kick-ass ice cream and gelato you’ve ever tasted.   You never know what flavors they’ll have but here’s something I found the last time I was there and yes, it was ridiculously good.

If you like ice cream, you owe it to yourself to get to the 2nd Anniversary party.  If you can’t make it this Saturday, well they do have Factory Store hours every Saturday from 10am – 4pm.    Not from Atlanta?  Whole Foods & Fresh Market both carry their pints so you can pick them up there.   You’ll be glad you did.

That’s some thoughts on this blustery evening.  Stay safe my Northeast friends!

BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you.   No technobabble.  Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget.  Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.  www.biscardicreative.com | 770-271-3427

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Report the News, Don’t Tell Me What to Think

When Fox News came along they came with a clear agenda on what to report and how it should be reported.     The idea is to shape the viewer opinion and discussion for a pre-determined outcome rather than simply reporting the news and letting the viewers make their own mind about the events.   So instead of anchors and reporters delivering the stories, they make use of endless “commentators” and “experts” to tell the viewers what they should think of the story.  Fox ensures that the majority of the voices the viewer will hear follow the proper message that Fox management wants to deliver on a daily basis.    In addition, the anchors have very defined positions on many of the stories.

As a result, instead of being well educated about events both in the United States and abroad, multiple studies show that Fox News viewers are the least informed about the actual news going on around the world.    When you don’t have to think for yourself, you tend to not pay attention to the information.    And when Fox uses loads of panels and discussions, they can fill more time with less actual “news” so they can further restrict the amount of stories their audience is exposed to on any given day.    Of course, Fox News also flat out lies when the need calls for it. 

So then, why has CNN (and MSNBC for that matter) adopted this “new style” of television news with endless commentators, experts, and panels who discuss ad nauseam the news of the day?   As I recall from my days at the network, CNN viewers slanted towards those who were well educated in the news and events of the world.  Now by “well educated” I’m not talking about schooling, I mean people who have an understanding and interest in the events of the world.   In other words, these viewers can think for themselves.   They are not people who want to be told what to think, how to think and who to be angry at.   These are also viewers who are not leaving CNN to watch Fox either, they’re just simply not tuning in anymore because it’s insulting to be told what to think. 

The viewers are also not tuning in because, well,  there’s not very much news with this format.  Just like Fox can manipulate how little “news” their audience actually receives daily, this format restricts CNN from actually reporting, well, the news.   At any given moment on CNN it feels like there’s a 30 second soundbite and then a 10 minute discussion on what we just heard to tell us what we should think.   Boring and repetitive.  I don’t care who the host is, or who the panelists are or how interesting the topic might be, boring and repetitive.

I’d be willing to bet that NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams reports more stories in its 30 minute nightly broadcast than CNN and Fox News combined in most of their 30 minute blocks.   Quite honestly I enjoy NBC Nightly News more than any other newscast because they do get right to the point with the stories and they squeeze the most news into that 30 minutes because that’s all the time they have.

So how about getting back to basics and telling the story.   No prejudice, no slant, no experts telling us what we’re supposed to think about the story, no arguments between “left and right.”   Just tell the story and do the best damn reporting from multiple resources like CNN used to do.

Don’t allow On Air Talent to slant or take sides

This is taking yet another cue from Fox News, but it’s a slippery slope.   There are hosts across the CNN family of networks that openly take sides and even make accusations without having all of the facts on hand.   One host in particular is famous for declaration of guilt or innocence long before the facts or the verdicts are in.

This is tabloid journalism at its worst and has no place in a company that considers itself the “Worldwide Leader In News.”   Just run TMZ or hire the Jersey Shore crew to give opinions on news events and call it day if you want go that route.   It’s impossible to differentiate “serious journalism” from “tabloid journalism” if it all comes from the same place.

I firmly believe hiring on-air Talent for their opinions is the single most destructive thing that has happened to CNN’s credibility in its history.     Credibility lost by allowing one on air person to declare guilt at all costs demeans the work of the real journalists working under the same banner.

At one time the mantra of the network was: “The News is the Star.”   In other words, Journalists are observers who report what they find.   Journalists don’t interject their own opinion, they don’t make up facts, they don’t shout down others, they observe, investigate and report on what they find.  It’s time to get rid of the opinions and put talented people back on camera who actually understand newsgathering and can report the stories of the day fairly.

Tell me the WHOLE Story.

This is 24 hours of news per day.  When did the stories shrink to 30 to 60 seconds with nary time to hear anything useful?    What’s so important that the news has to be extremely short when you have 24 hours to fill?

The American attention span is short, but yet I keep hearing from educated viewers (again, not talking school education here) that CBS Sunday Morning is their favorite news program on the air.  Could there BE a more slower paced news show on television?   Why do they like it?  Because the stories are allowed to breathe and we get much more information from them than just a 60 second soundbite and some b-roll.    Same with 60 Minutes on Sunday evenings.

I’m not saying you run 10 minute stories all day long on CNN, but 2:30 – 5:00 packages throughout the day would be wonderful.   Give the reporters, writers, producers and editors time to who the story from multiple angles and more information.   Run the 7:00 to 10:00 minute features when the story warrants.    If a story runs over the “traditional top of the hour break” then so be it.  The internet doesn’t run on one hour blocks so CNN really doesn’t have to either.   Sure it’s nice on the TV Guides, but if it’s the difference between a chopped up 1 minute story and 10 minutes to tell the whole story, well just tell the story.   We have 24 hours to make up for whatever story we missed “at the top of the hour.”

For the audience that wants to get just the quick headlines of the days events, well that’s what Headline News was designed for and they can just watch that….. oh wait….. it’s now HLN and just another network full of people telling us what we’re supposed to think and who we’re supposed to be angry with.   Never mind, I can only fix one network at a time.

Bring back the Talent.

Here’s something that I know will be completely radical and I probably should not put this out there in public, but…… I would bring back a lot  of editorial, reporting and production talent.   Blasphemy I know because the majority of the money in a corporation is supposed to be spent on management, management perks and more management.

Management in corporate America is paid so disproportionately to the rank and file that certainly with trimming even a small portion of management from the company, that would free up money to bring back creative talent.    Management can’t create a quality on-air product worth watching, but the corporation mentality keeps rewarding bad decisions that lead to ever smaller audiences and quite honestly that doesn’t make any sense.

CNN is a NEWS ORGANIZATION that reports the news VISUALLY so without talent to report, write, photograph and edit, well,  you’ve got nothing to show other than a bunch of “experts, panelists and commentators” to tell us what to think.   So first and foremost I would bring back the actual talent that can report and show the news.   That probably means taking a look at the many levels of management to see how to start trimming that area back instead of the constant firing of the production talent that is so prevalent today.    

You simply can’t produce an accurate, high quality, on air product if you don’t have the journalistic and creative talent behind it.   Period.   Hiring a whole bunch of new folks with no credibility or contacts is not going to cut it.  It takes years to build up a reputation as someone to share information with.    The veteran journalistic and creative talent needs to be beefed back up so the network can get back to telling the stories and telling them accurately.

Educate the Viewer

A recent poll showed that when you remove the talking points from an issue and simply present the facts, there is more agreement than disagreement between Americans.

So in addition to telling the whole story, let’s educate the viewer on issues both large and small.   Right now if CNN wants to discuss “ObamaCare” then we’re sure to see two “experts” on both sides of the issue arguing for 5 minutes and generally the person who shouts the loudest wins.   How can you possibly explain something so complex as the 974 page Affordable Health Care Act with two opposite minded people merely shouting talking points in 5 minutes?    There is a need to explain complex issues so regular Americans can understand them, but not to the Elementary schoolchildren playground “I Know You Are, but What Am I?” level.

Once again, we have 24 hours a day, 365 days a year of “news” to fill.  Using the Affordable Health Care Act as an example, break it down and explain exactly what the law is and is not.  How exactly the law affects Americans.   How will it be funded?   How is it different from what is available today and so on.  There are 974 pages to go through and comprehend.   Break the entire Act down in plain English for the viewer to better understand what the issue is.   This will take more than 10 minutes to do, it’ll probably take weeks, maybe months to properly produce a special that accurately explains the law.   You run these specials both on air and with full sections of the website dedicated to these issues.   No slant, no opinion, just the facts and nothing but the facts. 

Educating the viewer will make CNN a very valuable and “go to” resource for the general public.    We already know what both sides of any issue already think, there’s no need to rehash that, tell me something I don’t know.

Use iReporters to augment, not replace.

CNN management recently decided that everyday folks with cell phones are going to be able to replace journalistic and creative professionals.   They won’t.   They certainly can and should augment the creative professionals, but they can’t completely replace them.    iReporters are great for “in the moment” action, breaking news, and even some small town stories, but if you’re going to tell a news story, you need to tell the whole story, from all angles, in a compelling way.

There is an art to shooting and telling the story to ensure that it’s reported fairly and balanced.   Reporters from news organizations can open doors and get folks to speak out on camera that folks with an iPhone won’t get access to.   You need that kind of access to tell the whole story.  General public folks with cellphones often just show one side of the story, the side they see when something is happening.   Getting the whole story requires trained photographers and sound people along with reporters and producers with experience.

So there’s no denying that iReporters or relying on general public folks with cameras should be used to help augment production when needed, but in no way should it ever replace what trained created professionals do.

Call out the lies and the liars who tell them.

It seems in today’s political and news world, folks are allowed to say whatever they want on television with very little questioning.   The attitude seems to be “if I say it, then it’s true.”   That’s completely unacceptable in life, let alone condoning it on news channels by letting the people get away with it.

Let’s call them out.  Make a statement on CNN, another network or at an event that seems questionable, let’s find the truth.  Hold people, especially our public servants, accountable for their actions and statements.  That’s one of the things the news is supposed to do, not leave it to comedians like Jon Stewart and his very talented team at The Daily Show.

Get the news right the first time.

There always has been competition to get breaking news out first.   This was something CNN did very well for a long time, in part because there was nobody else doing 24 hour news.   Now with so much competition, breaking news scoops are measured in seconds rather than minutes or hours.   Apparently getting the news onto the air 5 seconds before anyone else means you’re better than the other guys at getting the stories.   That’s all well and good until you get the story wrong.

The most recent black eye for CNN was the highly anticipated Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Health Care Act, or “Obamacare.”  Not only did CNN get it wrong, it took a full seven minutes for them to correct the story.  

It’s one thing to get it wrong, but to take a full seven minutes on the air to correct yourself?  That’s horrific.   More than anything else, those seven minutes just erodes consumer confidence in the network as a trustworthy news source.   So one has to ask, is it worth a 5 second scoop to get the news wrong or take that extra 30 seconds to confirm the story is correct?

Augment coverage on the internet

CNN actually has one of the best internet news websites on the market, but it’s rather stale on a day to day basis.  Hit that website for an entire week and only the very top section is updated over the course of a week.  All of the rest of the panels seems to stick with the same story all week long.

First off, CNN’s domestic coverage should be a live feed on the home page 24/7.  There’s no excuse for the news coverage to not be one of the first things the viewer sees.  For the overseas audience, they can change this to CNN International / CNN Espanol or another network.

Second, the website should be constantly updating to augment and compliment the television coverage.  The news is all coming from the same place, so why does the website feel like a completely independent operation from the television networks?   The two should compliment each other more tightly than they seem to do now.

Put more live, special interest events on the internet and off the network coverage.  For example, each and every campaign stop by a politician is not a “breaking news event” worthy of live coverage on the network.  Stream those to the internet and those who want to see them, can.   Pick and choose events that are truly “news worthy” and not just stump speeches for network air.   Same for court cases and the like.   If it’s not “news worthy” to the mass audience, move it to the internet for the special interest audiences.

Look for and Give People a Voice

In the case of the United States, there are over 300 million people who live in the country.  If you watch any of the news networks for any length of time, it appears that less than 200 people are allowed to speak for the entire country about any topic.

There are 300 million voices in this country and while it will take some digging, some real journalistic work and reaching out to the affiliates, there are some great stories out there of Americans doing things right.    Just regular people who see a need and come up with a solution.   No fanfare, no committees, no arguments on Sunday Morning talking head shows…..  With 24 hour news, there’s a lot of room to go out and find these stories.   Not just a vehicle for talking heads to spew information on what’s wrong today, CNN can help present solutions to their audience.  Immigration, HealthCare, Poverty, Drought, Climate Change, Pollution, Science, Education and so on.

Very often it’s the people who live with the issues each day that come up with the most creative and cost-effective solutions.  It’s time we start finding those folks.

In a nutshell

I could go on, but these are the major areas where I would start to re-build the network.  It won’t happen overnight, but given the chance, I know myself and a few other CNN alumni could put the network back on the path to credibility and profitability, in that order.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.

CNN Editor 1990 – 1995

Owner, Biscardi Creative Media, Buford, GA

The post How I Would Fix CNN – Thoughts from a CNN Veteran appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

Yesterday Kylee Wall tweeted a photo of her pizza on the grill using my recipe and technique and I got a bunch of requests for the recipe.

Kylee Wall’s awesome looking pizza on the grill.  Nicely done Kylee!

I figured I’ll just share it up here along with some info on a spiffy Smoker Box I just started using too.

Pizza On The Grill

The most important thing to know about Pizza on the Grill is that you MUST use fresh dough.  Can be store bought if you want, but it can NEVER have been frozen.   Previously frozen dough will fall through the grill, if that’s what you have, then use a pizza stone on top of the grill.

Whenever we do the pizza with friends, we always have everyone bring their own toppings so it turns into a pizza party.  I’ll make the sauce and provide the mozzarella cheese and then everyone just brings whatever, it’s fun!

Semolina Pizza Dough (From Eating Well magazine)

1 tsp Honey

2 pkg active dry yeast (2 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Pinch of salt

2 cups Semolina Flour  (also known as pasta flour)

2 to 2 1/2 cups all purpose white flour (more for the board)

In large bowl, dissolve the honey in 2 cups warm water.

Sprinkle in the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy.

Stir in oil and salt, then stir in the semolina flour.

Stir in enough white flour to make a firm soft dough.  Turn out onto a floured, wooden board or counter.

Knead for 8 to 10 minutes, adding flour as needed to prevent from sticking to everything, until you have a smooth and elastic dough.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let rise for at least 2 hours.

You can now refrigerate the dough for four days or freeze it if you want.

Pizza On Grill Cooking Instructions

Prepare the Semolina Pizza Dough above.  Place in a refrigerator for at least 2 hours prior to cooking if possible to cool the dough.

First turn on the grill and set all the burners to low, maybe medium on some grills, but I find low works the best on gas grills. You can use smoke chips too if you want.

Break off a small piece of dough, generally about the size of a tennis ball or maybe smaller, depending on how large / small, thin / thick you want them.  Personal sized pizzas work the best, no larger than a dinner plate.

First stretch and shape into a disc in your hands.

Now roll it out on a floured board or table, being sure to add flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the roller and table.  I flip it after a couple of rolls and keep flipping as a I go.

If you want to show off, you can flip it in the air like a pizza shop.  I only do this to have fun, the pizzas are kind of small to make this really work…..

When it’s the size you want, place it on to a dinner plate, I find real dinner plates work best for preparing the pizzas, not paper plates.  You can serve the finished pizza on paper plates, but use real plates for the prep work.

The post Pizza On The Grill and a Smoker Box appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

Software has gotten to the point where pretty much any NLE tool on the market is now accessible and the Return On Investment can be had in a single job.   So while I wouldn’t call the software “disposable” I would certainly call it affordable and wise to load up the toolbox while the gettin’ is good.

We’re fortunate to be in a position where we’ve been able to test both Adobe and Avid products for a while now.   Adobe has made tremendous strides forward with CS6 but there are still areas that we would like to see addressed, particularly under the hood and some core edit functions, so I’m looking ahead to 2013 for a potential more widespread rollout of Premiere Pro in our workflow.   Of course, we had no idea Autodesk was going to drop this new, more edit friendly, version of Smoke on us and I’m already giving them feedback on where I’d like that product to go in the next 12 months.   Depending on where they go, I can also see a more widespread rollout of Smoke in our workflow in 2013.

But this is 2012 and I’m not going to stand still on Final Cut Pro 7 and just wait to see where both products are next year.    That’s just another year of using an old, increasingly slower edit workflow and right now, Final Cut Pro X doesn’t work for us.  Right now, today, Avid works for our broadcast editorial needs and so right now, that’s the tool I invested in and our editors are quite happy with the Symphony packages that have been installed across the facility this week.  At $999 each they will pay for themselves in one episode of our current series.  They were supposed to be Media Composers, but I saved $2500 across the 5 licenses buying Symphonies instead with that incredible cross-grade offer.   When we need more licenses of the product this year, they will be Media Composers moving forward because they won’t be cross-grades any longer.

So stop agonizing and trying to pick “that perfect NLE” that will serve you today and for the next three years because quite honestly things are changing quite rapidly.   In fact you shouldn’t even have just one NLE on your system.   At the very least every single editor should have Premiere Pro and Avid on your systems so you can work with anyone out there.   You’re also going to find that each tool is better suited for some tasks.   Premiere Pro’s core strength is the “any format native editing” and the interchange with its entire suite.    Avid’s core strength is the tremendous media management for large products and fast keyboard based editing.  Your skill set will translate quite nicely between Avid and Premiere Pro so you should be able to move pretty easily between the two apps.   Smoke 2013 was designed to be used by Avid and Premiere Pro editors so that should be fairly easy as well.

Heck keep in mind you might not even be on the same hardware platform next year.   So many traditional Apple hardware users are discovering that PC workstations are as good as and oftentimes better than their Mac counterparts.

So look at your needs today, right now.   What tool(s) do you need, or want,  to get your work done for the next 12 months?  Plan for that.   Next year if something else comes along and meets your needs better, don’t gripe that your current tool isn’t as good, hasn’t kept up, blah blah blah.   Just get the new tool added to your toolbox and keep on keepin’ on.

In the long run, a suite of tools and expanding your toolset knowledge is going to benefit you better than just hanging onto something familiar because it’s something you’ve used for a year.  Or longer.     My two cents.

The post Forget the Future, Plan for Now. appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

“Cutting It Close with Mitch Jacobson” presented by LiveStream.  I’m approx. 15:10 into this video talking Post to Good Eats.

The Autodesk 2013 Launch Event, Evan Schechtman and I got to do a little fun together.

Ask the Experts Panel at Autodesk  A last minute addition, Autodesk asked me to appear on stage with Evan again because we had so much fun doing the other video.

The post Walter Biscardi, Jr. at NAB 2012 appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.

If you want to find me to say hello, at will be in Booth SL7425 with Small Tree Communications on Monday and Tuesday. Super cool, nerdy geeky guys who make that awesome Ethernet based shared storage system we’ve been using for years.

So in no particular order, here’s some things you might find of interest at this year’s NAB Show. Word of warning, Autodesk and Adobe are right next to each other so expect huge jams of people in that area, particularly Monday / Tuesday.

Creative COW, Booth SL13317. If it were not for the Cow I would not have had the opportunity to meet so many of you through the years on the many incredible forums of creativecow.net. Stop by and say hello, or maybe a moooo to the best creative media resource on the planet.

Small Tree Communications, Booth SL7425. You’ve heard me tout their ethernet based storage for years that has allowed us to connect Mac Pros, Laptops and iMacs to the 48 TB media array. We’ve had up to 12 computers hitting the storage at one time playing back ProRes 720 and 1080 HD. This year they are rolling out Titanium which is the next step forward in the concept. This is going to be great for both remote and facility based production houses.

Autodesk, Booth SL3315. The mantra “Smoke is Changing” is absolutely correct. It’s obvious the design team has spent a lot of time and effort to create this new version that is a complete game changer. I have not been this excited about new software in a very very long time. Autodesk promises a more open and inviting booth this year too so stop by and give the new Smoke a spin.

Avid, Booth SU902. You already know that Symphony is $995 for a cross grade. If you haven’t seen Avid in a while, stop by and see why this is by far the best deal that will come out of NAB this year. I am installing multiple Symphony seats in my shop next week as we have transitions our facility to a more Avid centric workflow.

Adobe Systems, Booth SL2624. The brand new Creative Suite 6 really is a major improvement by the Adobe team. As someone that was able to test the product line, I can tell you that across the board everything has been upgraded. SpeedGrade has been brought to the product family adding the only thing that was missing from the lineup, a color finishing tool.

Flanders Scientific, Booth SL13707. Hands down THE best reference monitors I have ever used. Head to head against much more expensive monitors, I take these every time and we have 7 of them in our shop. Check out the 2461W when you go. Outstanding tech support and service after the sale. Also one of the nicest companies you will ever do business with.

AJA Video Systems. Booth SL3305. If you follow me you know I run their Kona boards throughout the shop, but am eyeing their Thunderbolt based IoXT to replace them. They are definitely a leader in video technology (i/o boards, converters, test generators, to name a few) and watch for some cool new products this year. You should also find Avid, Adobe and Autodesk products running in this booth so you can see first hand how those products interact with the AJA hardware.

BlackMagic Design, Booth SL220. If you somehow miss this gargantuan booth at the entrance to South Hall, you might want to get your eyes checked. If they follow suit from last year, they actually have one of the most accessible and easy to approach booths in the entire show and very approachable. The Resolve and those beautiful control panels are still the star of the booth for me, but BMD offers so much today for the Post and Production professional, you really need to look through this entire booth to make sure you see everything.

FilmLight, Booth SL2420. Baselight color grading plug in for Avid for under $1000. Need I say more?

Plug In Pavilion, Booth SL2024. Multiple plug in vendors including Red Giant Software and others with really cool toys for all NLEs and effects software.

AlterMedia, Booth SL7410. The makers of StudioSuite which is a great production and facility management tool that fits on top of FileMaker Pro. I get a lot of questions on how to manage the facility and this has really fit the bill for us the past few years. VERY in depth and we barely use everything that its capable of. One of the most reasonably priced options I’ve come across too.

Dell / NVidia, Booth 9215. If you follow my blog you know that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the Dell Precision T5500 workstation running Adobe and Avid. Some Dell workstations will be on display in the NVidia Booth, so check them out for yourself along with all those NVidia products you keep reading about.

CRU Dataport, Booth SL10225. You may not know their name but they purchased WeibeTech a few years ago and those are the excellent trayless SATA drive units we use both for RAIDs and our data archiving. We run the RTX 200 and 400 in our shop.

ProMax Systems, Booth 5424. One of the most respected VARs in the country has introduced one of the most beastly editing workstations I’ve read about. The ProMax One looks like the ultimate post production box. I’ll be testing one after NAB.

Canon, Booth C4325. I’ve never wanted to purchase a camera for my company until I saw the C300. And of course they just keep announcing even more digital goodness in the lead up to NAB.

ATTO Technology, Booth SL6320. Makers of host bus adapters that connect to our high speed media arrays. Watch for thunderbolt products this year.

Cache-A Corp, Booth SL10508. Serious archive solutions to protect your data.

ArtBeats, Booth SL5620. Excellent stock footage and more. Quite honestly they keep adding so much stuff I can’t keep up with it all. Really nice folks too.

Pond 5, Booth SL7409. Another excellent source of stock footage.

Hewlett Packard, Booth N5106. Their Z800 is the machine most of my colleagues recommended to me for Post production.

CineBags, Booth C7641. Excellent production bags to protect your gear.

CineToys, Booth 4837. Cool, nerdy stuff for your camera shoots.

Da-Lite Screen Company, Booth SL4920. If you have a projector in your shop, these screens really do make a difference. We have a 7 footer in our screening room.

KB Covers, Booth SL8619. Keyboard skins with shortcuts for multiple editing platforms.

Bella Corp, Booth SL2812. Keyboards, skins and stickers for multiple editing platforms.

GoPro, Booth C3628. Mini cameras.

Contour, Booth C10045. My favorite mini cameras. They’re tube style, not boxy.

The post Things to see at NAB 2012 appeared first on WalterBiscardi.com.