Making Media Now

Brandon Katz Deciphers the Strategies of Streaming Services

Does this sound familiar to you: you settle in for the night hoping to find something to watch on one of the half dozen streaming services you somehow subscribe to and can’t seem to find something that appeals to you?  

 

Or you’re chatting with friends about what they’re watching but no one can seem to remember exactly what their new favorite program is on? Deciphering viewing options among various streaming services can certainly feel like a chore. And that’s a challenge for viewers and streaming companies alike. 

 

That’s why host Michael Azevedo invited Brandon Katz, senior entertainment industry strategist at Parrot Analytics, on to the podcast to discuss this vexing issues for streaming channels and audiences alike: why do the services have such a difficult time helping people find more things on their services to watch? 

Michael's chat is based in part a recent column of his in the Observer, titled Steamers Have Figured Out How to Get Sign-Up—The Real Question is How to Keep Them. It was an informative and fun conversation.

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead

"Safe Sets: Dying to Work in the Film Industry" Sounds An Alarm

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back Dr. Paul Heinzelmann to the podcast to talk about his debut documentary, "Safe Sets: Dying to Work in the Film Industry," which will premiere at the New Hampshire Festival on October 19.  

 

Over the past few years, Paul, who is a physician and former clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School has taken his interest in on-set safety and turned it into a compelling and important documentary. The film is a feature length exploration of systemic issues impacting the health and wellbeing of film workers, was shot in Boston, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Vancouver.

 

The documentary weaves together candid interviews with technicians, union representatives, public health experts, and notable performers including Jon Hamm and John Malkovich, with the story of Dr. Paul's effort to conduct research into health and safety in the film industry.

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead

 

Tracing the Rise & Impact of Fox News with Josh Levin of the "Slow Burn" Podcast

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Josh Levin the writer and host of "Slow Burn: The Rise of Fox News", a 6-episode series that takes listeners back to a crucial inflection point in American history: the moment between 2000 and 2004 when Fox News first surged to power.

 

When the Fox News Channel launched in 1996, critics called it disorganized, incompetent, and laughably inept. But it wouldn’t be a joke for long. During the 2000 election, Fox News would captivate the nation – and just maybe change the fate of American democracy.

 

In the podcast series, which debuted in mid-September, Josh and his fellow producers talk to the hosts, reporters, and producers who built Fox News, many of whom have never spoken publicly.

Josh Levine is the editorial director of the Slow Burn podcast. He was also the host of the Slow Burn seasons on David Duke and co-hosts the sports podcast Hang Up and Listen. He is the author of The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth.

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead

"The American Vice President" A Heartbeat Away from the Most Powerful Job in the World

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Michelle Ferrari, an award winning documentary filmmaker whose latest film “The American Vice-President” will debut on PBS’ American Experience series on October 1. 

 

The film explores the little-known story of the second-highest office in the land, tracing its evolution from a constitutional afterthought to its current position of enormous political consequence. Focusing on the fraught period between 1963 and 1974, when a grief-stricken and then scandal-plagued America was forced to clarify the role of the vice president, the film examines the passage and first uses of the 25th Amendment and offers a fresh and surprising perspective on succession in the executive branch. 

 

Michelle Ferrari (Director/Writer/Producer) has been creating innovative, critically acclaimed documentary narratives for more than two decades. Her work as a screenwriter and story editor has been seen on PBS, HBO, and at film festivals nationwide, and has garnered honors from the Writers Guild of America, the Western Writers Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

 

The writer of numerous AMERICAN EXPERIENCE films –– among them The Perfect Crime, Silicon Valley, Roads to Memphis, and Kit Carson –– Ferrari is perhaps best known for the highly rated Seabiscuit, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing.

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead

Jodi Wellman Reminds Us "You Only Die Once" So Make Your 4000 Mondays Count

A few weeks the NewYork Times published an article, written by Emily Labor-Warren, that examined the practice of conducting something called a life review. 

 

It was in the article that host Michael Azevedo learned about the life and work of Jodi Wellman, his guest on this episode of Making Media Now.

 

The Times’ article begins by laying out a bit of Jodi’s story: Jodi Wellman was devastated when her mother died of a heart attack at age 58. Cleaning out her apartment made her feel even worse. Drawers and closets overflowed with abandoned projects: unpublished manuscripts and business cards for ventures that had never gotten started.

 

At the time, Jodi was in her early 30s, living in Chicago and working her way up the corporate rungs at a fitness club chain. But, over the course of five years, that work began to feel empty.

Determined not to stagnate like her mother, Jodi quit her job to become an executive coach, eventually entering a master’s degree program in positive psychology. There, she developed a strategy for living fully: Think about death, a lot.

Now also a speaker and the author of “You Only Die Once,” Jodi believes that focusing on how short life is makes you less likely to squander it. 

To help her clients figure out how to spend their limited time, she asks them dozens of questions, organized by life phase — things like what activities made them happiest as a child, and what they would change about their 40s and 50s.

Her approach is a twist on the practice of conducting a “life review,” where people systematically reflect on their past, through conversations or in writing, to identify character strengths and develop self-awareness and acceptance.

In addition to being a speaker, coach, and author, Jodi is the force behind the website Four Thousand Mondays which helps visitors vividly calculate approximately how many Mondays they have left and use that information as a catalyst to live life on purpose, inspired and totally alive.

Jodi joined Michael from her home in Palm Springs, CA. 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead

Jerry Weinstein of JDUB Productions Covers All The Angles of Sports TV Production

If you’re a college football fan here’s something you already know: the 2024 NCAA College Football season kicked off this past weekend! The college football season goes from now until the end of the regular season on Dec. 14, with the national championship game slated to be played in late January. And Michael Azevedo's  guest on this episode of Making Media Now is 6-time Emmy winning live sports producer and director Jerry Weinstein (aka Dubber or JDub), the president and CEO of JDUB Productions, will be deploying a small army of TV production crews throughout the land to cover every acrobatic catch, crushing sack, and hard-fought touchdown!

 

JDUB Productions has been packaging—and we discuss fully what exactly packaging entails—since 1998 for clients such as ESPN, CBS, ABC, and Fox Sports. They currently produce more than 180 live events annually.

 

In addition to heading up all those broadcasting efforts, Dubber is also the Director for the NBA's LA Lakers. Dubber spoke to meet from his home in Manhattan Beach, CA. We discussed a whole range of live sports production issues and even managed to sneak a discussion of the upcoming NFL season.

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead

 

Crews For A Cause: Using Film and Media to Make a Difference

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo is joined by filmmaker Stebs Schinnerer to discuss his career as a director, cinematographer, and editor as well as his work as one of the founding members of a group called Crews for a Cause.

 

Crews for a Cause is a 100% volunteer run nonprofit production group made up of production assistants, producers, makeup artists, directors, cinematographers and everyone in between.

 

The organization specializes in creating short form video content for great causes in need of telling their story. Their goal is to support and bring together passionate and empowered entertainment professionals to produce, film & edit videos benefiting good causes and people in need—at little or no cost to them.

 

You can learn more about Crews for a Cause at crewsforacause.org

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead

"Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine": Monitoring Climate Change on New England's Coast

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo is joined by the makers of a new three-part documentary series called “Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine” which premiered on US Public Television stations in late July. Joining Michael are co-director Chun-Wei Yi and series producer Brian Skerry.

“Sea Change” explores a body of water that is warming 97 percent faster than the global ocean, and what that means for the Gulf of Maine – for the animals, for the jobs dependent upon it and the millions of people along its shores – and may serve as a preview of what could happen worldwide due to climate change.

“Sea Change” blends science, exploration, stunning natural history and stories of human experience to illuminate how what happens here could have profound global implications.

Viewers will encounter the spectacular wilderness and wildlife that still teems in these waters.

The series also documents the range of people including scientists, Native Americans, fishers and entrepreneurs working to reveal the Gulf’s complex history and helping to understand what role the ocean plays in all of our lives.

All 3 episodes are available via the PBS App and via NOVA on YouTube. 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

"Two American Families, 1991-2024": 3 Decades of Struggle & Determination

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are documentary filmmakers Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes. Tom and Kathleen join Michael to discuss their latest film for PBS’s Frontline series called "Two American Families, 1991-2024." The film follows two Milwaukee families, one black, one white, over the last thirty-odd years. 

Two American Families 1991-2024 premiered on Frontline on July 23 but is still available for streaming via the Frontline website, the PBS App and on YouTube, where at the time of this recording, it has received more than 360k views.

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

Sarah T. Schwab & Brian Long Declare Filmmaking Independence with Cardinal Flix

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Sarah T. Schwab and Brian Long, the co-founders of Cardinal Flix, an independent film production company, seeking to change the film industry for the better by creating authentic & personal narrative films, while also maintaining a determined commitment to social responsibility in the filmmaking industry.

 

Cardinal Flix produces films in a variety of genres, ranging from family dramas to psychological thrillers and tell stories about love, fear, sexuality and death. Their most recent film, “A Stage of Twilight” was written and directed by Sarah Schwab and stars Karen Allen ("Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Animal House," “Indiana Jones and “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”) and William Sadler (“Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey,” “The Comey Rule,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” Iron Man 3,” “Die Hard 2”).

 

Sarah and Brian are currently in post production on a psychological thriller called "Crybaby Bridge," which Sarah co-wrote and directed. The film stars two-time Emmy-nominated actress Sydney Mikayla and Erik King from the long-running Showtime series Dexter. 

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead