Lately I’ve been following a few sites that dedicate themselves to showing others the “in’s and out’s” of various industries.  Nick Campbell is a 30-something Motion Graphics expert who’s got a great site called GREYSCALEGORILLA and spends his time creating tutorials and live chats with young students who’d like to make a living doing what he does.  Andrew Kramer is a Special Effects and Graphics expert that works behind-the-scenes at VIDEO CO-PILOT doing the same thing.  So as someone who’s had moderate success working in production, creating animation, and even selling online projects… I figured I’d offer up whatever I could to help those who’re interested in a career in show business.

On top of that, I actually have access to many individuals who are successful way beyond myself, and I actually still have a fully-functional talk show set (pictured) in my garage that’s begging to be used.  With any luck, I’ll soon post some interviews with Directors, Writers, A.D.’s, Voice Actors, and anyone else I can coax to sit down for an hour or so. So if anyone has questions, comments, or ideas, they’re welcome in the comments below, and I promise to respond to anyone brave enough to submit them.

Now for the advice. On this initial outing, I figure I’ll keep it close to my own experience, and hope that the lessons can be applied to as many as possible. However, the answers to the question, “How did you break into this business?” are as varying as can be. But one thing is usually in common: persistence.

So as someone who grew up wanting to work in movies and television, I found that I had virtually no one to look to when it came time to make that dream into a reality. So here’s some of the best advice I could think of.

#1. MOVE TO A PLACE WHERE ENTERTAINMENT IS MADE - I grew up in Springfield, Oregon… not exactly the Mecca for TV or Movie Production. So when I graduated from the University of Oregon, my friend and I packed up our U-Haul and drove down to Hollywood (or Encino to be exact) to “make it”. The sad fact is, there’s very few places in the world where Productions start… so find them, and get yourself there.

#2. FINDING THAT FIRST GIG – How did I do it? Roughly 18-hours after arriving in Los Angeles, I walked into various temporary agencies in the city and asked if they had any Entertainment Jobs – and then only signed up with the ones who did. Within weeks, I worked at the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, Warner Brothers, and eventually caught on at a small studio in Hollywood where MadTV was being produced. My first entertainment job? A Production Assistant with MadTV. Coincidence? Not at all. You see, I actually told everyone who would listen that I wanted to get into production… and finally someone listened. So be vocal. You’d be surprised how many people know someone who works in the industry, so let people know what you’re looking to do, and someone just might give you that contact that gets you your first job.

#3. HOW TO ACT IN THAT FIRST INTERVIEW – After a year at MadTV, I became the Production Coordinator for the show and ironically was now interviewing potential Production Assistants less that a year after I was hired. So what did I look for? In a word: Eagerness. Being a Production Assistant (or “P.A.”) is a hard, thankless job that eats up a ton of waking hours. So for those who aren’t interested in making a career out of working in the industry, they don’t last long. Also, don’t be afraid to tell the interviewer what your dream job would be. Wanting to be a writer, director, or producer means that you’re willing to show up on time and learn… and often it can get you closer to those who are doing the work you’d like to someday.

#4. WORK YOUR BUTT OFF - To many that spend a day on a set, there seems to be not a lot going on. Cameramen set down their cameras while lighting is being adjusted. Actors go to their dressing rooms. In short: people relax between the hard work. As a P.A., try to find stuff to do during these moments. On MadTV, Production Assistants were responsible for delivering scripts, picking up lunches, and running things to and from set. But often, it seemed like a lot of sitting around.

I made a name for myself by doing stupid stuff like straightening up the Production Kitchen, or asking the Production Coordinator if he had anything “extra” that needed doing. More times than not, this meant copying forms that the Coordinator would eventually do himself, but it was always appreciated. If enough people see you putting in the extra effort, it’ll be rewarded. My reward? I jumped from being a P.A. to being a Director’s Assistant after just about a month on the job. This gave me access to several seasoned Directors on a week-by-week basis… and after some time getting to know them, some invaluable advice.

#5. MAKE STUFF – In today’s world, there’s tools available to any young writer or director that can help them start making content. This, more often than not, can be the “in” they need to get that first job at the next level. Remember… ANY experience is REAL experience. Even if you help out on a project that goes horribly wrong, there’s lessons to be learned for next time.

So that’s it for now. Again, comment below if you have any questions… or ask me on Twitter @rarch070.

By the way, this is Chris’ picture to the left (from his Twitter account), and aside from the fact that he’s showing 200% more chest hair than I like in my “tech reporters” – I also take issue with the core argument he makes in his article.  You see, the iPad wasn’t some flawed device that needed a ton of changes to “turn it around” in the marketplace.  Quite the opposite.  The original iPad blew past even the most ambitious sales estimates – most predicted between 2 and 7 million units for 2010 – in moving some 14.7 million by the end of last year.

So instead of critiquing the things Apple did include in the new iPad, Chris’ article takes the hypothetical stance that Apple was trying to “hide” something while unveiling the latest version of a product that actually sold better after six months of being available to the public.  So while many companies probably would have waited until sales had dipped on their original device, Apple made good on their reputation for annually “rebooting” it’s devices, but is also trying to pull a fast one on electronics buyers?  It’s simply doesn’t make any sense.

So yes, even though Taylor comes clean with disclosure that, “Yeah, I want to buy one, too,” I can’t help but think his thinking is faulty – as are his “list” of items that Apple supposedly should have fixed:

1. Apple’s 30-pin Connector

Taylor’s first argument is that Apple should have dropped the 30-pin connector that’s been around since 2003.  He uses the argument that, “In a device that’s supposed to be about effortless connecting, and a world that is moving to cloud syncing, this is an increasingly clunky throwback.”  But is it?  For those of us with MobleMe accounts, the world of “cloud syncing” is already here.  My calendars, contacts, and other information syncs effortlessly behind-the-scenes.  However, the 30-pin connector is used form time to time to transfer HD movies which would take forever even on my high speed connection – let alone how it would affect those who share my household network.

Not to mention that the 30-pin connector is used primarily as a recharging tool – or did Chris want Apple to invent “cloud-based” charging too?  Oh, and before we forget, let’s also remember that there’s hundreds of devices and companies that create products for that 30-pin connector to actually add features to the device.  Heck, Steve Jobs even introduced a HDMI-Out Adapter – that uses the 30-pin connector to share the screen to a large-scale monitor – during his speech yesterday, but maybe Chris missed that part?

2. How Much Memory the iPad 2 Has

Chris wants to make a big deal out of the fact that Steve Jobs didn’t divulge the amount of RAM that comes in the new iPad.  Rumor has it that the iPad 2 will come with 512mb, which is twice what the original had, but you could also say that it simply comes with “enough to run iOS efficiently”.  After all, I haven’t heard of original iPad owners complaining of a lack of RAM, especially in light of how it handles multitasking on “as needed” basis.  Does it matter that some other tablets are shipping with more RAM?  Only if it improves the overall user experience, which I don’t think it will.  Plus, the Motorola XOOM makes you pay through the nose ($799 entry price) for the luxury of having it.

3. A Retina Screen For The iPad?

This is one of those rumors that gained some traction early, but didn’t amount to much.  But that didn’t stop Chris from touching on it as if the screen upgrade was a must.  “Contrary to what the rumor mill had been expecting, there was no improvement in screen resolution — meaning the iPad 2 is already lagging behind the iPhone 4, with its much-touted retina display,” he stated.  But I’m not totally convinced of the need for a “double resolution” screen for a device that measures just under 10-inches.  As for the iPhone (and it’s 3.5 inch) screen, the high-res screen was a nice addition – but the iPad already crams 1024 x 768 pixels into a 9.7″ screen.  Heck I’m currently typing on a 22″ desktop monitor with 1920 x 1080 resolution, and I don’t see people arguing for high-res monitors?  Or am I missing something?

4. Holding Back Innovations?

Mr. Taylor ends his article by accusing Apple of “holding back” innovations in order to maximize an “iPad 3″ launch next year.  But couldn’t that be said about every device that’s ever launched?  After all, this isn’t about cramming everything you can into a tablet to “wow” technology reporters.  It about striking a balance between introducing innovations, and creating a device that people will actually purchase for the amount of money you’re asking.

And with that said, Apple achieved these goals with the iPad 2:

1. They added two cameras (VGA on front and 5MP back) which will bring FaceTime and HD video recording with it.
2. They doubled (at least) the processor speeds of the original iPad – adding 9x the video performance.
3. They doubled (reportedly) the amount of RAM to 512mb.
4. They added dual connectivity to 3G Networks (Verizon and AT&T) to every 3G iPad.
5. They added a three-axis gyroscope for additional features in games, apps, maps, and anything else developers see fit to use it for.
6. They made it 33% thinner, as well as flattening the back for better flat-surface usage.
7. They made it 15% lighter, while keeping the battery life the same.

And oh yeah, they did all this while keeping the price the exact same as the original?  That’s right, for just $499 you can get yourself an contract-free iPad and access to 60,000+ apps developed especially for the device.

The only “competitor” in the current marketplace is the Motorola XOOM which, contract-free, will set you back some $799 for their device (or 60% more), and you will have access to the 100 apps (or .2% as many as the iPad) made especially for the tablet.

And trust me, that $300 difference and the lack of apps is something that Apple hopes you didn’t miss when you consider buying a tablet.

If you like articles like these, follow me on Twitter: @rarch070

I first became aware of Mr. Moritz’ work in the months following the original iPhone launch in 2007.  After a hugely successful weekend, Moritz simply manufactured a phony sales prediction in an attempt to smear Apple.  According to his July 3rd 2007 article, “The sales goal — or so-called whisper number — both internally at Apple and on Wall Street was a nice round 1 million phones.”  The only problem?  Apple sold out of the $599 (or 8GB) version of the device, and did sell some 700,000 iPhones – making it an impossibility that they ever expected to sell 1 million handsets.  Meanwhile, other analysts who weren’t dealing in “whisper numbers” predicted sales anywhere from 312,000 (Bill Shope, J.P. Morgan) to 350,000 (David Bailey, Goldman Sachs), which is less than a third of what Moritz claims Apple and analysts expected.

Then in September of 2007, when Apple killed the 4GB iPhone and dropped the price on the 8GB iPhone to $399, Moritz claimed, “The move will add more evidence to the speculation that the iPhone, while causing quite a buzz, may not be selling as rapidly as some optimists had expected.”  Again, just who these “optimists” were either eluded Moritz’ ability to name them – or, again, simply came from his own imagination.  At any rate, Apple set a sales goal of 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, and ended up selling over 13 million.

But even after being so wrong about the iPhone again and again, it didn’t stop Moritz from doubting Apple’s ability to create a tablet computer as early as March of 2009 – a full year before the iPad went on sale.  In his article, “Apple’s Netbook Foray Will Flop” he states: “One prediction: The Apple tablet, instead of being a stunning iPhone-like innovation, will probably end up with a fate more like the MacBook Air.”  Did you notice how he, in one sentence, gives credit to the iPhone’s innovation – while at the same time taking a swipe at a product that no one had seen yet?  And it got worse.

After actually taking a look at Steve Jobs’ keynote address in which showed off the iPad to the public, Moritz was even more critical of the device.  His January 28, 2010 article entitled “Behold: The Apple iFlop” was wildly negative toward Apple’s new offering.  He called it “Neither ‘truly magical’ nor ‘revolutionary’,” as he ran through a laundry list of so-called “shortcomings” he saw for the iPad – while also touting the “mixed” reaction from analysts.  However in the very same article, he cited Doug Reed, an analyst who actually bumped up his sales projections for the iPad to 4.1 million (from 2.5 million) by the end of 2010.  For the record, Apple sold 14.7 million iPads from March 3rd to December 31st 2010 – with half of those (7.3 million) coming in the final quarter of the year.

Now one would think that a guy who’s been so consistently wrong on predicting Apple’s economic future would avoid commenting on the company, right?  I mean after all, he’s a writer for TheStreet.com, and should have some ability to suss out the companies who’ve “peaked”, and those that are still a solid investment opportunity for his readers.  And yet just one week after the launch of the iPad, he was at it again.  This time publishing an article entitled: “Apple: Sell Before the Fall” – in which he outlines the four reasons why investors should take their profits and run.  I won’t bore you with all the reasons, suffice to say that it was a recap of what every Apple critic says – the computers are expensive, the iPhone is locked to one carrier, the iPad isn’t “magical”, and so on.  But the best part of the article came at the end, when he stated, “Investors like to call the stock’s premium valuation ‘the Apple tax.’  It might be time for your refund.”

Now I could jump up and down and call Scott Moritz’ and idiot and a fool.  But one piece of information does a better job than any amount of words could.  On the day Moritz’ advised investors to sell, Apple closed at 223.02 – and today the stock sits at 348.16.

God help the readers of TheStreet.

If you like articles like these, follow me on Twitter: @rarch070

Oh yeah, and if you like articles like these, follow me on Twitter: @rarch070

Meanwhile, here’s the best videos of late February 2011:

1. Baby Destroys Hotel Bar – This one was sent to me my my brother, Ryan, and I must say I haven’t laughed this hard in a while.  A filmmaker took his one year-old daughter, and made a short film called Las Palmas… and this is the trailer for the film:

2. Geese Running Down the Road – This one was sent to be by my brother-in-law (Bob), and features a surreal sight. At first I thought these birds were computer generated… but now I think it was just an amazing moment caught on tape:

3. Cat Gives Thumbs-Up – Another strange moment with an animal caught on tape. This cat is a leather jacket away from starring in the “Happy Days” meets “Cats” musical:

4. Old Men with Lightsabers – This one was recommended by my brother, although I’d already seen it earlier in the week. My goodness it’s easy to turn any stick into a lightsaber, huh?

5. Epic VFX Time! – If you’ve never seen videos by Freddy W. or the Epic Meal Time guys – please check them out HERE and HERE. But this video is how they got together to make some Epic Visual Effects! Too cool!:

And yet – as of January 2011 – just over eight months since the it hit the shelves, Apple has sold and estimated 14.8 million iPad’s.  But let’s remember that this was far from a sure thing as far as industry “experts” were concerned.  Reporters like Linen DeFiller wrote articles with titles like: “Apple iPad – failure, joke, or fiasco? Pick one.”  MarketWatch’s John C. Dvorak stated, “The tablet market has only succeeded as a niche market over the years and it was hoped Apple would dream up some new paradigm to change all that. From what I’ve seen and heard, this won’t be it.”  And one analyst, Gene Munster, even lowered his 2010 sales estimates for the iPad from 5.6 million to 4.3 million after the first weekends sales numbers were in – yet the iPad nearly tripled his adjustment.

What’s more?  According to this report, Apple sold the bulk of 2010 iPads (or 7.3 million) during the Christmas quarter of 2010.  Which means a six month old device was actually increasing it’s already robust sales?  The report also states that 9 out of 10 app downloads to mobile devices (including phones and tablets) were from Apple’s App Store.  So while Android may be touting its App “Marketplace”, application developers flock to Apple’s iOS platform for one reason: that’s where the money is.

But with all of Apple’s success in a tablet market while others have struggled, one would think that talk of a “tablet war” could wait until a worthy challenger actually appeared and proved itself in the marketplace, right?  Not a chance.

You see, the technology writers love to tout a war, even when there’s no real competition at all.  After all, over a dozen mobile devices have been labeled “iPhone killers” over the years, even though no smartphone has come close to the 73 million units the iPhone has sold since it’s 2007 debut.  And while the iPhone still holds only a small fraction of the world’s overall handset market share, it does account for 50% of the global share of profits, as this table (below) shows.

Which all brings me to today’s article from Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal, entitled: “Motorola Xoom Starts Tablet Wars With iPad,” which tries to start a fistfight over tablet supremacy with a product that hasn’t even hit the shelves yet.  If you haven’t seen the Xoom yet – here’s how they decided to take a swipe at Apple during this year’s Super Bowl.  The commercial was titled, “Empower the People”, and sought to borrow the same “big brother” theme that Apple had delivered nearly 25 years earlier.  The only problem with this message?  It’s a bit hard to see how the Xoom seeks to “empower” the people?

Could it be by undercutting the price of the iPad?  After all, lowering the price point for a device could introduce tablet computing to a whole new group who simply can’t afford Apple’s product.  But nope, as it turns out, Motorola’s Xoom is actually more expensive than the iPad – and substantially so.  The entry price for the WiFi-only iPad is $499.  If you want a Xoom without a cellphone contract, it’s going to set you back $800.  You can get a “discounted” Xoom for $600, but you’re looking at a two-year contract with Verizon that will set you back between $20-$80 a month – depending on your data usage.  Meanwhile, Apple offers no-contract data (via AT&T) for between $15 and $25 per month which users can use as needed.  Which seems more “empowering” here?

Is Motorola “empowering” people through better hardware?  Maybe.  Although they’re competing against a year-old device (an eternity in tech gadgets) and offer much worse battery life than the iPad.  By Mossberg’s own testing, the iPad delivered 11.5 hours of continuous use, while the Xoom gave out after 7.5.  Also the Xoom offers only one size of internal memory (32GB), while the iPad gives consumers an option between 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB in their tiered pricing.  To be fair, Motorola offers an external storage slot that, although it doesn’t work now, promises to be operational with a “future upgrade”.  The same goes with the ability for the Xoom to play Flash Video at launch.  I guess delayed features are considered “empowering” these days?

But what goes without saying in all this is that Apple has had the “device wars” won for a long time with a little invention called “iTunes”.  Yes, this one program has made the idea of syncing a device to your home computer both easy and efficient, and has eluded the makers of MP3 devices, smart phones, and now tablet manufacturers.  After all, iTunes was seen as such an advantage to those at Palm, that they simply tried to hack their smartphone (The Palm Pre) in order to allow users to sync their device with Apple’s “do-it-all” program.

And along with the App Store, which currently offers around 60,000 iPad-specific apps, compared to just a handful for the Xoom – and you have two entirely different user experiences waiting for consumers.

But one thing is for sure, as long as companies chase after Apple’s successes with copycat products, there’ll be multitudes of reporters promising a “war” where there’s only a bloodbath.

If you like articles like these, follow me on Twitter: @rarch070

So with that, on to Quick Tip #1: Taking a screen shot of your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Taking the screenshot is quite simple.  All you do it position whatever you’d like on your screen you’d like to take a picture of, and hit the “Home Button” (the big round button on the face) – and the “Power Button” (the silver button on top of the device) at the same time.  At this point, you should see the screen flash for a second, as well as hearing the camera “click” sound as well.  Now you can go to your “Photos” icon on the home screen, and your screenshots will be located as the most recent pictures in your Camera Roll.  Pretty slick, right?

Now you might be asking yourself, “Why would I need to take a screenshot?”  Well, in my Mom’s case, she sometimes has slower than normal internet speeds, so I’ll ask her to run the “Speedtest App” and email me the results.  So instead of “testing” and then manually typing the numbers into an email or text… she simply screenshots the results and sends them my way.   (NOTE: By the way, the Speedtest App is useful and free, so CLICK HERE TO GET IT if you’d like.)

Another good use?  In the Twitter/Facebook World… sometimes I like to crop photos on the fly.  Here’s an example of a picture I took of a billboard featuring the Showtime program “Shameless”:

Now it’s not neccesarily a bad photo, but I couldn’t quite get close enough to get the framing I wanted.  Could I have “zoomed in”?  Sure.  However, the “zooming” on the iPhone can often lead to blurry photos with minimal shaking of the device.  But in this case, it was no problem.  I simply opened the photo in my camera roll.  “Pinch Zoomed” the photo to the size I wanted and snapped a screenshot the adjusted photo:

And there you have it.  A crystal-clear picture with quick close-up.  With the new cropping, I simply upload the pic to TwitPic… and no need to use any additional software to edit the photo.

So that’s about it.  Hope this helps someone out there… and if you like posts like these, follow me on Twitter (@rarch070) for more to come.

Now before I get too far in the story, I have to say that I’m still amazed at the idea of walking around with something like the iPhone.  Just four years ago, I owned the LG ENV as a cell phone and used it for nothing more than making calls.  Now I regularly check my emails, look up news on an hourly basis, use Google Maps, take photos and videos, and much more.  It still astounds me what this little device can do… which brings me back to Yelp.

As I said before, I wanted to find a place near my meeting (at 26th and Colorado) that was casual enough to get food quickly, but would still allow me to sit for 20-25 minutes and enjoy my coffee.  So I searched for a cheap place (Yelp organizes it’s restaurants by 1-4 dollar signs) that was within a one-mile radius that were classified as “Breakfast and Brunch” and came up with the Bagel Nosh Deli.

A quick look at the stars (4 out of 5 – 96 reviews) told me that this place wasn’t a dump – and a quick review from a customer told me that the bagels were “The best on the West Coast”… which sold me immediately.  I arrived a few minutes later to see that the dining room was casual, but nice – and also had free WiFi.  It was one of those places where you place your order at the counter and they cook your food (or in my case, toast a bagel) while you wait.  The coffee (and refils) were self-serve and everything in the kitchen ran like a well-oiled machine.

It was yet another case where Yelp assisted me in finding a place I’d probably never even know about otherwise… and yet I’ll remember this place for the half-a-dozen times I find myself in the “West LA area” every year.

My wife and I rave (sometimes like lunatics) about Yelp to virtually everyone we know.  We’ve traveled to New York, North Carolina, San Diego, Oregon, and New Mexico over the past year, and have always found great restaurants in each location thanks to this “magical” app.

So if you happen to own an iPhone, and occasionally find yourself struggling to find a good place to eat… give it a shot.  Oh yeah, and Yelp can also help you find virtually anything in your immediate area, including: Bars, Banks, Gas Stations, Drugstores and more… although I must say I’m a 90% “food user” myself.

Jack made this sales tape for Winnebago in 1989, which also produced these glorious outtakes. These clips of Jack swearing, sweating, and swatting flies were passed around on bootleg VHS tapes for years… and were a natural for YouTube when it came along – where it became an instant sensation. But although his popularity was huge, Jack was nowhere to be found. It seems that almost 20 years earlier, after getting fired from Winnebago when the blooper footage was leaked, Jack disappeared from sight – which is where the documentary starts.

Now I won’t ruin the movie for you, but it is one of those rare documentaries that not only takes you somewhere you didn’t expect, but also does it in a way that is most entertaining and satisfying.
If you have Netflix… this one is definitley “queue-worthy”.