Anyone familiar with Discovery Production Guidlines

P

Paul Folger

Member
Hello,

I am helping to produce a show we hope to sell to Animal Planet. I’ve done my best to search for production guidelines and deliverable guidelines. I’ve looked at the Discovery Producers Portal, http://producers.discovery.com/ , but unless you currently have a relationship with Discovery you can’t access the Production Guide distributed by the Production Management Department. We could, of course, submit our idea to Discovery but since part of the agreement is to agree that Discovery may have already thought of the show and or been previously approached with the same show - I am weary of pursuing this. It is true that many people come up with similar ideas but the idea isn’t the whole of show. A good show not only includes a great idea but it also includes the way the show is produced. So we’ve decided to go ahead a produce the pilot.

To date the only production guidelines that I’ve been able to find is at this link. http://www.animalplanet.ca/reports/Article.aspx?aid=237 This is Animal Planet Canada and the HD Specs were last updated in 2006.

I know certain shows get away with using far more than just the 15% of HDV per show. I know shows like “Deadliest Catch,” and “Wreckreation Nation,” do this – probably because they lose a lot of cameras.

Anyhow, besides the first objective of producing a great story, I don’t want to go to far astray from the Discovery guidelines and not be able to sell the show. I’ve been mostly a Panasonic user but recently I’ve been leaning towards the XDCAM mainly because of the work flow and affordability of the media. I also want to stay in the 1920X1080 resolution. I love the P2 format, no moving parts, but it’s not cheap and the workflow has a certain risk factor of losing data during data dump and unlike the P2 the Sony Media is immediately archival.

If you have recent experience with Discovery or specifically Animal Planet I could sure use some ideas on what cameras they prefer or can I get away with HDV? My past experience includes using the Varicam, HVX200, and DVX100. This week I will being using the PDW350 XD HD Cam for an ENG shoot. Also, any ideas on POV cameras or B-roll cameras would be helpful. Have you used the Panny 200/170/500 for a Discovery show? I'm pretty sure the 200 and 170 don't shoot true 1920X1080. Am I wrong? Does the 500 with the 2/3 chip shoot a full 1920X1080?

If I was going to shoot a feature or short film I would go with Panasonic but with ENG I’m willing to consider Sony.

Thanks
 
From what I understand, Discovery rates their programs in Gold, Silver and Bronze categories. Only the best HD cameras are used for Gold series, which is the bigger budgeted productions, usually with re-enactments, etc. I can tell you that the XDCAM HD and EX line of cameras have been approved for Silver productions for full 100% acquisition, as long as they use full 35 mps. I think you'd be safe with even the cheaper EX1.

I don't think they will allow the HPX500 for full acquisition, although I've heard from one guy who did use the camera. The 500 uses pixel shift technology. There's been many debates on this forum in regards to whether the final image is true 1920x1080, so I'm not even going to go there. Besides, it doesn't matter what anyone on this board thinks - Discovery will have the final say.
As far as the 2/3" chips, one person shot an HD program for ESPN HD, and according to him, ESPN requires no less than a 2/3" chip camera, so he did use the 500.

If I were to shoot a pilot for Discovery, I probably would use my 500, although I'd find a very good HD lens to rent.

The program "Little People, Big World" on TLC HD uses the JVC HD200/250 cameras, and they're 1/3" chip, 19 mbs HDV. By their own guidelines, the JVCs shouldn't be allowed for full acquisition. So, it's really hard to tell what they'll find acceptable.
 
We're halfway through the same situation you are in with the exception that we are wanting to sell to Discovery HD or one of the offshoots. My attitude is the same as yours as far as trying to first sell the idea to the network. Too damn hard to do. If we successfully sell ours, then I might try that next time because I will have (I assume) a working relationship with someone there. On the other hand, I do have an agent type in the wings in case he's needed.

You're right about the information that you need being "locked up" and I think I can understand why. The people who approve programming for their stations simply don't have the time to answer every would-be producers questions. Think about it...how many permutations of questions could be asked about camera combinations at any give time?

For what it's worth, we're shooting HPX 500, Red camera and using an HVX200 to strap onto moving equipment for some shots. Is that a wide range of formats or what?

I would'nt worry about the equipment very much. If you give them good clean well lit shots with enough resolution and a good story, nobody gives a damn how you did it.

I would, however worry about whether or not your approach to your story fits their vision of what they want their channel to be in the future. That is absolutely critical.

Best of luck. Go for it.
 
Thanks guys for your replies.

Vanvideo, I've heard about the Gold, Silver, and Bronze categories but you've enlightened me with more detail.

film842, your right that story is the real issue. We think we have a good one. Yes that is quite a mix of cameras.

Paul
 
Paul Folger said:
Thanks guys for your replies.

Vanvideo, I've heard about the Gold, Silver, and Bronze categories but you've enlightened me with more detail.

film842, your right that story is the real issue. We think we have a good one. Yes that is quite a mix of cameras.

Paul
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In my experience the type of content will drive the tech as much as any guidelines. If it is a scenery driven story (think the Planet Earth series) you will need a much better rig than a people based reality series. How much of the story is visual and how much is auditory?
Ironically the budgets end up being about the same, its just a matter of whether its going into the sound rig or camera rig.
I've been on broadcast shoots that used one $3500 HDV camera and 12 $3500 wireless mics. Happens all the time. Especially on the reality shows. The sound guy often is the highest paid tech on the crew around here.
 
I just did sound on a gig for something for animal planet this week. We shot on XDCAM (355) but they wanted HDV. I think they said they had been shooting on a Z1. This was a reality-type people show. Glad I got the "In The Hospital" segment versus the "In The Snake Pit" rattlesnake portion.
 
videomagician said:
We shot on XDCAM (355) but they wanted HDV. I think they said they had been shooting on a Z1.
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Do you know if this is a show that has already been bought by Animal Planet or are they hoping Animal Planet picks it up? I've shot with the XDCAM 355 and it's a decent camera but only 1440X1080. However, it seems that except for shows like "Planet Earth" most everyone is shooting less than the 1920X1080.


videomagician said:
This was a reality-type people show. Glad I got the "In The Hospital" segment versus the "In The Snake Pit" rattlesnake portion.
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I'm very concerned about about the whole wild animal thing. It's not worth the shot or the show if it's my life. Of course, it would be good material for the AP show "Untamed and Uncut" but no thanks.
 
Jasons56,

I've been the sound guy many times in my life and often the sound tech seems to be ignored. A lot of producers call the sound tech last. I don't know why it's just that the camera guy gets all the attention.

As for the show I'm doing most of the cast will be the animals. I plan on bringing four wireless and a boom. Nothin as complicated as a large cast (human) reality show.
 
One important point that nobody in this thread has brought up. If you create a show and try to sell it to a cable network, Discovery or elsewhere, if the show looks decent and is well shot, the cable nets mostly do not care what it was shot on.

If you are commissioned for a single episode or series by a Discovery Networks outlet, you are contractually required to shoot their formats and follow their rules and requirements about which cameras are required. Most people on boards have NOT been commissioned by Discovery Networks so most of the conversations that people have, worrying about which camera to shoot on, really don't matter. It is best to worry about IF you can sell a show or series to them, rather than postulating about which camcorder you need to buy to shoot said show. Until you have a signed contract, it is all just talk.

Dan
 
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puredrifting said:
One important point that nobody in this thread has brought up. If you create a show and try to sell it to a cable network, Discovery or elsewhere, if the show looks decent and is well shot, the cable nets mostly do not care what it was shot on.

If you are commissioned for a single episode or series by a Discovery Networks outlet, you are contractually required to shoot their formats and follow their rules and requirements about which cameras are required. Most people on boards have NOT been commissioned by Discovery Networks so most of the conversations that people have, worrying about which camera to shoot on, really don't matter. It is best to worry about IF you can sell a show or series to them, rather than postulating about which camcorder you need to buy to shoot said show. Until you have a signed contract, it is all just talk.

Dan[/quote)

I agree completely.
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