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NZ Macguide Issue 6 Cream is a bustling television production company that operates in an office near Auckland's Karangahape Rd. Every desk has a Mac, and every one is in use. There's a real mix of models from older PowerPC towers to some G3 laptops that the scriptwriters can take home.
For Cream TV founder Nigel Snowden, Macs are indispensable tools. "We might sit around discussing ideas, I might write that up into a paragraph, then I'll run the idea past the commissioners of the channels, either in a meeting or via email, and then, based on their feedback, we'll either develop a project or not."
If a project gets the green light, Cream's researchers start combing the internet and other sources for information and the production manager will be briefed with a logic sheet covering content, staffing, time frames and any potential production and legal issues that may arise. From this, a budget is worked out in a spreadsheet, the budget's submitted to a broadcaster, and if they say yes, "We're away." A contract is prepared by the broadcaster, Cream signs it and schedules are worked out, with production projects staggered to spread the workload efficiently. "Everyone is project specific, although there is a core staff of 'Creamers' who stay on for all projects." Preferred outside camera operators, editors and sound people etcetera are then contracted.  | "We're just one happy Mac family" - Cream TV founder Nigel Snowden | Meteoric rise
Nigel Snowden only founded Cream TV in May 2001. "We got a commission for a six-part series for TV3, and then quite quickly we got commissions for three other series, one of which was Border Patrol. From there on in we've just grown at a phenomenal rate - we have 16 staff with another two starting next week." Cream now does most of its work for TV1 and TV2, and there's a TVNZ business series starting shortly that profiles high-end business successes. There are currently eight series and two documentaries on the go. Nigel has always worked with Macs "Although I would describe myself as computer illiterate ... as would other people in the office!" Melanie Webber: "And that's what Macs are good for."
Nigel was using Macs doing production work in Hong Kong, where the Avid editing system was also Mac based. "You can actually sit down on an Avid and, because you're familiar with how Macs work, you can basically work out the fundamentals in half an hour." When Nigel started Cream, he didn't even consider the PC option. Most of the Macs, apart from three laptops, are leased from MacInside. This is cost-effective in terms of tax and means that the machines arrived configured for Cream's needs. Leasing also means that Cream can be flexible - for example, somebody on a month's contract can get a Mac for that month from the day they arrive.
Keeping Macs going
Melanie Webber has become the company's Mac fixit person, solving many software and network problems - but she had to be won over from the PC world. "I think the turning point was the iMac." Melanie's had to write an in-house idiot's guide for anyone who arrives with no Mac experience "Because when I arrived, I missed things from the PC world like the right-click mouse, and things like that - using the Control key for a right-click equivalent - really throws PC people." Melanie has gleaned her knowledge from various sources, including Macguide. "The information on aliases was really useful." Nigel: "We're going to subscribe, actually, because it is so helpful."
The Production Line
Mac involvement continues through to production as the TV series are shot on digital video. Recently the company began working up its own Avid 'off-line' suites for rough cuts or series. Nigel: "It's an inexpensive process of whittling down your story, making sure it's being told in a concise way with the right shots. Then you go through a process of approval with the broadcaster." Once everything is in rough shape and approved, it goes off to a post-production house for polishing - the graphics are added, it's graded (huh?!), the beginning and ending is added and titles are put on. Then it goes off to an audio composition house like Liquid (music etc), then to a sound post production house like Eden Terrace Audio or Auckland Audio for the dialogue and sound affects to be added. Liquid, also Mac based, is a preferred contractor and Cream uses Mac-based Dashwood Design a lot for graphic design.  | Melanie Webber was won over from the PC camp: Mac ease-of-use has made work more productive | DV explosion
Digital video has done for television (and, increasingly, film) what desktop publishing did for print. Melanie: "Even film is digitised for editing these days." Basically everything that Cream does is shot on tape. The tape is then 'digitised' into the computer as data, which is then manipulated in the Avid. This is known as non-linear editing (as opposed to linear editing which involves the tapes themselves - hooking two vcrs together and dubbing across is the most basic version of linear editing). Melanie: "When you shoot on film, you would have an intermediate step - the telecine - which is just transferring the film to tape. The tape will then be digitised into the Avid, and 'cut'. Once you've got your final version, you get a neg cutter who will cut the film to reflect this. Effect shots will thus actually be reprinted onto film for showing. "This way your original film stays untouched no matter how much editing is done. Avid is software for Mac (and/or PC) and a new version will even run on a G4 laptop; editors can literally take broadcast-quality footage home to work on. (FinalCut Pro is the rising competitor in off-line editing, and Avid recently launched Avid Xpress DV 3.5 to compete with it in the low-end market, offering the same quality of colour correction as the full-blown Avid package. Moon TV on Sky was put together by Lee Hart in FinalCut Pro.) Newcomers to the digital television industry are trained at tertiary institutions by people like Rob Verheuven at South Seas, the television school in (?). A usual start is as a 'PA' - production assistant - with preference going to those who are multi-skilled. Nigel: "Desktop systems have literally revolutionised the way you make programmes. The traditional post production house is a thing of the past as there's no longer a need to spend vast amounts of money on cumbersome gear when you can do most of what you need for a fraction of the money." Rushes - working cuts of segments being shot - can now even be viewed on set, knocked together directly as the crew is working, instead of hours or days later - in this time-driven industry, better efficiency is always the goal. Footage is so compact it can be carried around on hard drives or even burnt to CDs or DVDs, with a complete half-hour television programme easily fitting on one compact disc - this does wonders for storage, as old-style series might have to be spread over as many as 400 tapes. Nigel has big plans for Cream TV: international sales, possible off-shore work and other ventures all being made possible by readily embracing Mac-based technology.
Nigel: "We embrace technology with fervour because it gives us so many options."
© Parkside Media 2002
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