Cbs News / Cbs This Morning Work Values

Daily Duties at Cbs News / Cbs This Morning:

Promoted to Researcher after less than 4 months as an Assistant Producer. The position of "Researcher" was more title than actual job. Supported nearly 30 segment producers with research requests, yet very quickly moved into producing live-studio and live-remote segments of my own. I performed all the duties of an Associate Producer, for three years, without the title or pay. I created story direction, wrote background notes for show anchors, wrote segment intros and questions, coordinated entertainment interviews (music artists, celebrities) and managed all technical / creative elements for live musical segments in-studio and on-remote (London, England and Branson, MO, Nashville, TN). Music ranged from one performer and an acoustic guitar, vocalists with 12-piece bands. I coordinated directly with the managers or talent regarding technical needs and studio vision and then crafted a visual studio experience with the show director, audio team and stage crew (lighting, stage set-up). I created in-studio processes for load-in/load out, rehearsal and set-up, set construction and technical requests (audio and lighting). On remote, I often worked with freelance crews, I developed an at-a-glance outline, for the crews, which highlighted segment focus, satellite truck ready times for NY studio check-in, teases times to hit, tone and lighting requirements, music cues, equipment breakdown and set-up needs. Although we had a show rundown, isolating information/content kept teams focused while on remote and helped flag glitches or production issues in advance. As a music producer (yet, researcher in title) I booked artists directly through record companies and agents and often had to work side deals negotiating bookings for lesser known artists to ensure/guarantee the broadcast would get VIP artist interview/performances first (ahead of the competition Today and Good Morning America). As the #3 rated morning news program, strong entertainment bookings were critical to the overall uptick in viewership and on-air promotion. For two years, I was one of three producers (again still a researcher in title) in the medical unit writing scripts, shooting and editing taped stories, envisioning and communicating the look of props and production for execution by the graphics and prop departments when medical segments required three-dimensional applications to illustrate usage or highlight a concept. I had amassed a large number of contacts in the medical field and learned how to communicate complicated medical information in lay terms. The ability to interpret and translate medical jargon helped me to broaden the vision I brought to the job. Segments I produced had a sense of allure which visually drew the viewer in using common everyday language and visual aids to illustrate complicated concepts. This was a very high profile unit where I filled as many as four of the seven health segments each week. Entertainment was critical to the show but the competitive nature of hard news was still the driver. I was versatile in both areas and in 1992 was sent to Miami, Florida just as Hurricane Andrew approached. No other show researcher was sent on this trip and I managed story efforts for CBS This Morning (along with the Assistant Miami Bureau Chief) for two days before being joined by two other producers once travel to the Miami area was open again. For 11-days I found stories about survivors, followed press conferences on government action, pitched human interest angles to the senior producers in New York, produced live-remotes for show news blocks. In 1993, I was sent with a small team of more experienced producers to Los Angeles for two weeks to follow the Rodney King Civil Rights Trial. A highly competitive live booking situation (trying to beat the competition again). I coordinated and produced live-shots - booked satellite trucks, cut video tape for voice-overs for news segments, coordinated and oversaw the transfer of raw videotape to CBS News New York via satellite for use by all news divisions.Promoted to Researcher after less than 4 months as an Assistant Producer. The position of "Researcher" was more title than actual job. Supported nearly 30 segment producers with research requests, yet very quickly moved into producing live-studio and live-remote segments of my own. I performed all the duties of an Associate Producer, for three years, without the title or pay. I created story direction, wrote background notes for show anchors, wrote segment intros and questions, coordinated entertainment interviews (music artists, celebrities) and managed all technical / creative elements for live musical segments in-studio and on-remote (London, England and Branson, MO, Nashville, TN). Music ranged from one performer and an acoustic guitar, vocalists with 12-piece bands. I coordinated directly with the managers or talent regarding technical needs and studio vision and then crafted a visual studio experience with the show director, audio team and stage crew (lighting, stage set-up). I created in-studio processes for load-in/load out, rehearsal and set-up, set construction and technical requests (audio and lighting). On remote, I often worked with freelance crews, I developed an at-a-glance outline, for the crews, which highlighted segment focus, satellite truck ready times for NY studio check-in, teases times to hit, tone and lighting requirements, music cues, equipment breakdown and set-up needs. Although we had a show rundown, isolating information/content kept teams focused while on remote and helped flag glitches or production issues in advance. As a music producer (yet, researcher in title) I booked artists directly through record companies and agents and often had to work side deals negotiating bookings for lesser known artists to ensure/guarantee the broadcast would get VIP artist interview/performances first (ahead of the competition Today and Good Morning America). As the #3 rated morning news program, strong entertainment bookings were critical to the overall uptick in viewership and on-air promotion. For two years, I was one of three producers (again still a researcher in title) in the medical unit writing scripts, shooting and editing taped stories, envisioning and communicating the look of props and production for execution by the graphics and prop departments when medical segments required three-dimensional applications to illustrate usage or highlight a concept. I had amassed a large number of contacts in the medical field and learned how to communicate complicated medical information in lay terms. The ability to interpret and translate medical jargon helped me to broaden the vision I brought to the job. Segments I produced had a sense of allure, which visually drew the viewer in using common everyday language and visual aids to illustrate complicated concepts. This was a very high profile unit where I filled as many as four of the seven health segments each week. Entertainment was critical to the show but the competitive nature of hard news was still the driver. I was versatile in both areas and in 1992 was sent to Miami, Florida just as Hurricane Andrew approached. No other show researcher was sent on this trip. I managed story efforts for CBS This Morning (along with the Assistant Miami Bureau Chief) for two days before being joined by two other producers once travel to the Miami area was open again. For 11-days I found stories about survivors, followed press conferences on government action, pitched human interest angles to the senior producers in New York, produced live-remotes for show news blocks. In 1993, I was sent with a small team of more experienced producers to Los Angeles for two weeks to follow the Rodney King Civil Rights Trial. A highly competitive live booking situation (trying to beat the competition again). I coordinated and produced live-shots - booked satellite trucks, cut video tape for voice-overs for news segments, coordinated and oversaw the transfer of raw videotape to CBS News New York via satellite for use by all news divisions.

What they like about Cbs News / Cbs This Morning:

Organizations with strong, centralized leadership are particularly attractive to you. You require a work environment with leadership that aggressively seeks to expand and grow the business and does so in a visible and decisive manner. In general you prefer to work in an environment in which there is a strong link between leadership, its actions, and a strong set of company-wide values.

Tags

Current programming, Development, Program management, LIfestyle, Production, Negotiation, Program evolution, Deal making, Pilots, Non-fiction programming, Formatted television, Brand integrity, Original programming, Strategic Planning, Talent development, Editorial management, Series, Specials, Post Production, Inter-department relations, Production company relationships, Talent management, Integration

Skills

Program development, Program evaluation, Contract negotiation, Talent development, Program strategy, Marketing integration, Live segment production, Remote segment production, Field production, Unscripted programming, Non-fiction programming, Formatted television, Large scale studio production, Culinary programming, Lifestyle programming, Script writing, Budget management, Post production , Hard news programming, Graphics ideation, Performance management, Live music production, Script editing, Original program ideation, Budget negotiation, Strategic management, Video production, Program management, Broadcast television

These are some of the questions we asked our climbers about their experiences with Cbs News / Cbs This Morning: