From the Floor at NAB

I've been hanging out at NAB this weekend and spending a lot of time with my buddy Ted from Red. We drove out to Vegas in his little hybrid and only spent $20 on gas. It was pretty funny considering what we would have paid had we drove an SUV out here from LA.

Ted really enjoys beating the system and it seems that the company he works for, Red Digital Cinema enjoys doing that as well.

Today Red announced a new camera that will shoot better than HD and film and the price point is $3000. This may not mean anything to you if you are doing an online show but if you plan on showing it on Apple TV or selling or licensing your show or footage to TV, DVD or other HD formats this little camera will be a big deal.

Here are the specs:

SPECIFICATIONS:
NEW 2/3" MYSTERIUM X SENSOR
1-120 FPS (180FPS BURST)
UP TO 100 MB/SEC REDCODE RAW AND RGB RECORDING TO DUAL COMPACT FLASH
4.8" LCD
8X T2.8 RED ZOOM LENS
FULL AUTO OR FULL MANUAL SHOOTING MODES
HDMI and HD-SDI
FIREWIRE 800 and USB2
STILL MODE
COMPATIBLE WITH MANY RED ONE ACCESSORIES
WI-FI CONTROL

Another thing that Red is known for is posting these little warning lables that I really respect.

"SPECIFICATIONS, DELIVERY DATES AND DESIGN ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE... COUNT ON IT."

It's always fun to see Red go through a NAB and see what a great job Red does of bringing their products to market.

This year Red's booth has two lines. One to get into the booth to see the cameras and one to get into a theater to see footage shot on the first 100 Red cameras in the first 100 days of the Red Camera's release. The entrance to see the Red camera footage even had a pre-show video of Red footage to watch while we were waiting.

Jim Jannard, the founder of Oakley is also the founder and mastermind behind the Red One camera and he was in the NAB Red theater introducing the Red footage before each screening. It's really interesting to see a man who is independently wealthy down in the trenches demonstrating his new products. Jim is truly passionate about what he manufactures and it shows in everything thing he does. ( The even had red ropes for the cue line) It's amazing to see how proud he and everyone associated with Red are.

I’m Seeing Red.

The Red Camera that is.



All of us Independent Producers are waiting and waiting and waiting for the Red Camera to come out but I have an idea it will be well worth the wait.

I can’t really tell you what I do or don’t know about the Red Camera because I’m under Friend DA. But what I can tell you about is my best friend Ted Schilowitz who is the Leader of the Rebellion at Red Digital Cinema.

Long before there was any French Maid TV Ted and I met when we were both in our early twenties and freelancing at Cable Vision of Central Florida in Orlando. Boy, those were the days. Universal Studios Orlando and Disney MGM Studios were being built and Ted and I thought we were going to break into the movie business. One day I was editing the biggest show on Cable Vision’s local access channel, “Giovanni’s Birthday Big Top” (more about that some other time) and this long-haired surfer dude in flip flops Oakley sunglasses and a torn Inlet Charlie’s T-shirt walks in and says, “Hey I need to edit.” And I said, “Talk to scheduling and they’ll schedule you some time.” He said, “No, I need to edit now.” Well, we went around and around. I stood my ground and eventually he invited me surfing and we became friends. Ted and I went on to work on MTV’s Remote Control together and a few kids’ shows including What Would You Do? and the pilot for All That at Nickelodeon. After we both figured out that Orlando’s Studios were just lost leaders to get more tourist we both moved to Los Angeles where we worked on Crazy Careers for Kids WB and projects for E! Entertainment. We also launched a few interactive creepy stories online but I'll save those for Halloween.

One day Ted told me he had a great opportunity with a company that makes converter boxes. I asked if he was going to be producing corporate videos for them and he said, “No.” he was going to be consulting with them on new products that work with Final Cut Pro. I didn’t understand how Ted could leave the creative side and jump into some boring consulting gig but Ted went to work at AJA where he launched the IO Box and several other products and had a blast doing it. I couldn’t imagine Ted having more fun. That is until he became employee number 1 at Red Digital Cinema.

Through all this time Ted has been a great friend. He’s always been there for me through thick and thin. To see him over the last two years be involved with the Red Camera experience has been a blast for me. From IBC to the Sundance Film Festival to seeing the line around the Red Tent at NAB in Vegas for the Film that Peter Jackson shot with two of the Red Cameras, it has been amazing. Ted has created buzz without really trying to create buzz. To see Ted on the big screen at NAB, to see him on the Apple Store's Video Wall and Apple.com and seeing him on the Apple Final Cut Studio Tour has been a lark. I can hardly wait for the camera to come out.

However for most of us in the online video world with maybe the exception of Pixel Corps.’ Alex Lindsay no one will care about or be using the Red Digital camera for viral videos and video podcasts because the quality far exceeds what we need at this time but as bandwidth increases and Internet access to the best 100” HDTVs even the little Sony Bravia 52 in Flat Panel LCD TV increases we might see some online videos shot with the Red Camera. And I'll just smile and tell everyone I around, my buddy Ted worked on that Red Camera.

One last thing about Ted, with all they Hype around the Red Camera and all the people wanting to interview Ted he still takes time to talk to the little independent guys and gives them interviews when he can.