I am the Supervising Producer of “Giada at Home”. I bet a lot of folks probably want to know exactly what that title means.  Well, our G@H LA staff wrapped production on Season 2.  We began in mid-November and finished just before Valentine’s Day.  In December, Citizen Pictures' new associate producer, Mallory Potock came out to Los Angeles to work on the set for three weeks and learn the ropes of our production at Culver Studios.  Unfortunately for Mallory, I was her means of transportation so she got to work my hours, in at 630 in the morning… out at 830…pm.  In any case, Mallory stepped up and embraced the fast pace and crazy hours of production on a cooking show.  I don’t know that Mallory really knew what I did either, but I can tell you that after a few weeks as my right arm, she tagged a photo on Facebook for me of sign that she found on a wall.  In so many words, she said it reminded her of me.  It is kind of funny, but it reminds me of me too.  It doesn’t matter how big the problem is, whose problem it is or how we are going to fix the problem… it becomes my problem, that is my job and quite honestly… I love it.  I make sure our little creative village at Stage 9 is a fully functioning factory for a couple months at a time and then I put it away.  I make sure everyone from the dishwasher to the art assistant, script supervisor to director, host to lighting director has what they need to do their job at 100 percent.  It is not always easy (trust me), but I embrace this challenge everyday.  I feel like I have climbed a Mount Everest when I have finished.  It is a great adrenaline rush and you can’t beat that feeling of accomplishment.  It is all about results… “Let me drop everything and work on your problem”.

Jenna Reynolds

One of the reasons I love working in production is that even though my job is the same, what I’m working on changes every day.  One day I could be learning about harvesting camel’s milk in Morocco and the next how to make homemade marshmallows.  It can be Christmas in July or Halloween in June.

With changing themes come changing props, and that is where things get interesting.   I don’t want to mislead you, my job usually has nothing to do with props.  Most of the variety of props and subjects are captured in the field… but every once in a while we need to do a pick up shoot on our stage.  And that’s when I  burst into action.  I run into the metaphorical phone booth as Heather Hansen, production manager, and run back out as Heather Hansen random-prop-master-extraordinaire!   read more...

How many times can you watch a movie before you have trouble seeing mistakes? When does quality control take a hit and suffer? I would say… about 53, but it’s not science.

I stopped counting the number of times I watched Race Across the Sky when the number could no longer fit on my fingers and toes. Even as check disks come back from the DVD authoring company, I still watch them. I find something new every time, not mistakes but enjoyable moments, and that makes me love the movie even more. I will even watch the movie once again when the final DVD comes back, just to see the work that was put into the whole process and the stunning Blu-ray picture.

Andrew Moraski

Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn boast millions of users in multiple countries. The numbers are impressive, but what are some ways we can use all of this social media to our advantage?   read more...

Our wonderful friend and EP of Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin, Tim McOsker: on the zip line in New Zealand showing you how it's done "down under". Take it away Tim...

Look, I’ll say it.  And I don’t care if I’m the first to say it. “Giada at Home”, the Food Network series that we feverishly produce here in Content, is posing huge dangers for everyone involved. (I’m sorry, people, but someone has to come out with this.)  Frankly, it’s a frightening situation and I’m not going to cover it up any longer.  Producing the post production for “Giada at Home” has challenged my sense of self, taken a toll on my health and is certainly not a job for the weak of will, weak of wallet or weak of appetite-control.   read more...

Watch TV on any evening and you’ll see a bevy of glitzy, cutting-edge commercials designed to make us want new cars, soft drinks, cable services, snack foods, you name it.

That’s why I watch TV in the morning.  CNN or MSNBC usually.  Why? 

Because that’s where I get to watch the best commercials on TV:  financial commercials.   read more...

It was an interesting feeling, not completely unknown, but I hadn’t felt it in awhile. I was scared. I don’t get afraid much anymore when I’m producing a show…I get nervous, I get nauseous, and I’m prone to panic. That’s not fear. But I found myself afraid when I was down in New Zealand last week…I shouldn’t have been, but I was. We were in the Waitomo Caves, which if you look them up are these tremendous underground caves in the northern island that snake hundreds of feet below the rolling shires.   read more....

For all of its creative fronts, production is a very technical, tough profession.  You need to put in your time in the field, schlepping gear, and working long days for nothing.  You put in your hours and if you are lucky enough, someone takes you under their wing and nurtures your career.  Having a mentor in your corner is crucial.  Here’s the rub, women directors and executives in the film industry are few and far between.  Which makes female role models for aspiring filmmakers almost non-existent.  Even when there is someone bright, lucky and determined enough to break through that glass ceiling – they are often met with backlash.  It’s happening right now to Kathryn Bigelow, the director of The Hurt Locker.  Bigelow is the only female director to win an academy award.    read more...

Shooting good High Def video in the backcountry is much like backcountry skiing or snowboarding – you never really know what you’re going to get.  It can be sunny, no wind, in the 30’s, and everywhere you point the camera you get a postcard kind of shot.  Battery life is no issue, lens fogging, snow on the lens, cold fingers, setting up for shots is all easy.  Or, it can be pure survival.    read more...