Podfire was launched on 30 April 2008 to much fanfare.

From the get go, it was an interesting experience working with “different” people. For the host and producer of one of the shows (for convenience’s sake, we’ll call it “the show” from here on) were pretty temperamental.

The Show

I hadn’t had much contact with the producer & host before we signed them on to do the show. It was really the producer’s initial concept - and i respected that.

However, as the scheduled filming loomed closer, i decided to have a look at their previous works (the producer and the hosts’ previous collaborations). I was horrified! They had no idea how to present, wafer-thin content, inferior equipment and cheesy editing.

Time for an intervention!

I sat the producer down and planned through the storyboard and sequence of the shoot. I didn’t want to improvise and “wing-it” on the day of the shooting. The producer was in agreement.

We shot episode 1 and 2 on the same day. It was a tiring experience. The producer hadn’t pre-arranged to film at the locations. The burden fell on me to PR with the owners - spoke in my limited Chinese to convince the owners to let us film at their premises. In all fairness, we didn’t know the exact address of the food stalls to make the arrangements.

I had the foresight to create a logo beforehand… and to add in a Chinese name in the title so that chinese stall keepers could understand what we are doing. Some perceived credibility goes a long way.

The agreement was that Podfire provided the video equipment and manpower for the filming. Podfire also did the editing of the show as the producer and host didn’t have a Mac to do post-production. I tried my best to keep them in the loop… but with the producer having a day job meant we can’t meet during office hours to review the footage.

In the frantic rush to meet the 30 April Soft Launch deadline, i probably pushed too hard on the creative direction. But it was all for the good of the show. I did my best with the material that i have and the host that the producer chose.

But the unreasonable characters soon reared its ugly head…

First they were angry that i didn’t show them the finished video before we released it. All they had to do was ask and i would have gladly showed them the video at my office. The host drives for goodness sake.

Next they didn’t like the fact that the videos was too polished - they deliberately wanted it to be crappy so as to draw the ire and whiplash of the community (which probably explained the quality of their previous collaborations). This point i was in disagreement - for the bad quality reflects badly on the image of Podfire and our shows. Yes, we are new to this game, but we are dedicated to a certain production quality - near broadcast quality if possible.

Then they were unhappy about a simple little watermark that my lawyers said we need to put on the video for anti-piracy protection. After speaking to the host, we agreed that there was a better way to present the watermark and we agreed to make amends in the next episode.

I was ready to accommodate to all their needs. I even offered to let them do the post-production using the equipment at my office (a Quad Core Mac Pro) so that they can have full creative control over how the show is presented.

We had planned for a 5 episode pilot season… but i felt really the show had potential and i told the producer we should push it further beyond the initial 5. I was ready to go all the way with them.

The Backstab

After our first day of shooting, the producer started asking many detailed questions about the gear that Podfire were using. At first, i thought that it was just professional curiosity. Then he started probing into the model numbers and cost of the equipment. That probably started off some alarm bells… but i gave them the benefit of the doubt.

As it turns out, the producer was amassing his own resources to start a production company. I knew he was gonna get his own gear to film another podcast show - but i didn’t know his plans went as far as setting up a competing company.

What angered me wasn’t the fact that they wanted to compete… but the fact that he started talking to talents that i was pursuing for new shows. He was pitching show ideas to people to do podcast shows with him - without telling who it was for.

I only have myself to blame for openly sharing podcast ideas i had in development. Such an abuse of my trust could not be tolerated.

Mixed Signals

Then the producer and host started giving me mixed signals. The host wanted to stay on with Podfire while the other wanted to pull out of Podfire because of “creative differences”. To me, these were mere teething issues in a brand new collaboration - differences in working styles that could be ironed out eventually.

Then again, from my conversations with the host, i realise that the producer had wanted to setup his own production company all along. He just lacked the resources or smarts to get it done. I suppose “creative differences” seems to be a convenient excuse to get out of a working relationship with Podfire.

Conclusion

I embraced the duo when others warned me not to. I nurtured the show and brought it to life so that they could gain fame and recognition from it. I invested time and money for the show. Yet all i had in return was insult, betrayal and frustrating confusion.

How does one expect me to react? I forgive them and wish them all the best. They had also probably invested much money into their new business - which i am wondering how the producer can cope with his own day job? And the poor host has to do all the post-production and marketing work that i used to do for them. I’m sure they will have their share of birth pains and probably should evaluate their options carefully.

If its competition they want, they should probably stay out of Podfire’s way.

Coming into year 2 of the business, i was faced with a dilemma… the company was growing and i needed additional fund injection to grow the business.

The projects were coming in fast and we need to hire staff. With new headcount will require new computers and more furniture / office desk space. More desk space means i have to pay rent soon. I have to get a proper company bank account (to start write invoices payable to my company name). The company was making money - but just enough to keep us afloat, not enough to grow. (more…)

Went on a trip to UK (London, Manchester) and Austria (Vienna) in the first 2 weeks of June.

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