Shop Talk S01E09: Get A Handle On Digital Content Production Quality

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The shift from producing live events to becoming a digital content producer is such a daunting task that some orchestras opt for not even trying. Among the biggest challenges is simply getting started and that’s what today’s podcast is all about.

I asked two professionals to take part in the discussion and bring perspectives from opposite ends of the experience scale to the conversation. The first was conductor Bruce Kiesling, who in full disclosure mode is a client of mine. After reaching out to ask about the best way to publish a new video series he was making at his website, I immediately noticed the production quality. We started talking about it and I discovered he was doing everything firsthand and was teaching himself the skills along the way.

This is exactly the sort of perspective needed for this conversation. Having said that, it also needs input from professional and after learning that Bruce was also working with one of his orchestras to produce digital content and he was very happy with how things were turning out with the production company he was working, I took his recommendation to invite one of the partners from that company, Niccolo Go, as the other guest.

If you’re curious about how those videos made expressly for digital distribution are turning out, you can see them at the Sequoia Symphony Orchestra’s YouTube page.

It’s another fabulous conversation loaded with firsthand experience views, resources, and checklists for how orchestras can go about finding production partners or get started with in-house resources.

You definitely want to up the production values when it comes to audio capture. Click to Tweet
Everything I've learned about animation I just Googled 'how do I do this in Premiere Pro' and there is some YouTuber that has great content but teaches at my speed. Click to Tweet
the conversation should be about what can we learn now with video content that we can adapt to our live events later? Click to Tweet
Budget size doesn't matter, creating digital content during the pandemic levels the playing field. Click to Tweet

Resources

Live Streaming

Video Production

  • wistia.com: Great resource on video production, content, and marketing content Big fan see “1, 10, 100.”

What To Look For In A Production Partner

Per Niccolo Go…

  1. What is your investment?
  2. See the work of the production company or agency, do you like what do they do?
  3. Meet the people and ask questions like
    1. how does creative development work?
    2. what does the production cycle look like?
    3. what will be expected of our team?
    4. have you done work similar to our project?
  4. Does their work culture match yours, meet the managers and directors and have chat with them, will they care about your project?

Guests

Bruce Kiesling

Bruce Kiesling

Active in a wide variety of music, Bruce Kiesling has a national profile as a conductor and music educator from coast to coast, from classical repertoire at Carnegie Hall to the stage of the Hollywood Bowl conducting with Stevie Wonder and Latin superstars Juanes and Gloria Estefan.

His current Music Director positions include the Adrian Symphony in Michigan and the Sequoia Symphony Orchestra in California. He is also Artistic Director and Conductor of the School of Orchestral Studies at the NY Summer School of the Arts, and conducts the orchestra and opera program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. With both of his professional orchestras, ticket sales and sponsorships have increased to record levels and his concert comments and insider stories have become popular additions to programs. Bruce’s programs show a particular affinity for American repertoire, and include a huge range from live to picture film screenings to pop and rock.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

Niccolo Go

Niccolo Go

Niccolo Go is a Partner Creative Director at go Creative Group. He’s a collaborator at heart who looks after the clients needs and creates content that helps solve a problem, moves their business, and tells a compelling story. He is also a music lover and a season ticket holder at the Sequoia Symphony Orchestra.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

About Shop Talk

The official podcast of Adaptistration.com, Shop Talk invites captivating guests to talk about engaging topics connected to the orchestra business.

Shop Talk Archives | Shop Talk; Last Call Archives

Publication Schedule (subject to change #obvs)

  • E01: Reaching Diverse Audiences Through The Marcom Lens, Ann Marie Sorrell and Ceci Dadisman 08/18/2020
  • E02: Art Has Always Been Political, Weston Sprott and Jason Haaheim 09/01/2020
  • E03: Deconstructing Silos, Anwar Nasir and Scott Harrison 09/15/2020
  • E04: Fostering BIPOC And Women Composers, Anne M. Guzzo, Daniel Hege, and Holly Mulcahy 09/29/2020
  • E05: What Orchestras Administrators Really Need, Zak Vassar and Jeff Vom Saal 10/13/2020
  • E06: The Need For Expertise, Mark Almond and Jason Haaheim 10/27/2020
  • E07: Changing Your Narrative, Mark Larson and Scott Silberstein 11/10/2020
  • E08: Centering Equity, Ruby Lopez Harper and Brea M. Heidelberg 11/17/2020
  • E09: How to Create High-Quality Video Content, Bruce Kiesling and Niccolo Go 12/08/2020
  • E10: Walking Back Artistic Elitism, Kenji Bunch and Jenny Bilfield 12/22/2020
  • E11: Being A Content Creator Before It Was Cool, Jeff Curnow 01/05/2021
  • E12: The Commercial Life, Ceci Dadisman and Marc van Bree 01/19/2021
  • E13: Composers In Academia, David MacDonald and Sam Merciers 2/2/2021
  • E14: Musician Injuries Could Soar After COVID: Artistic Decision Makers Perspective, Jennifer Arnold and Tito Muñoz 3/9/2021
  • E15: Musician Injuries Could Soar After COVID: Musician Perspective, Jon Bowen, Catherine Chen, and Yumi Hwang-Williams 3/23/2021
  • E16: Academia/Pro Divide: Eric Esparza and Michael Lewanski

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

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Shop Talk S01E09: Get A Handle On Digital Content Production Quality

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