John Coleman Wrapping 15th Consecutive Year Producing Monterey Historic Races

Producer-Director-Writer John W. Coleman is wrapping up his 15th consecutive television production of the annual Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races for Speed Channel. "Fifteen years is without a doubt a major accomplishment in the world of TV," says Coleman. This year's milestone means he has produced the television coverage for almost half of the event's 36 year history.

One of the reasons for the successful long run of the TV coverage is the fresh approach Coleman has been able to bring each year. "The nature of the event doesn't change much and the historic race cars are often the same so it's a creative challenge to make a TV Special that captures the tradition in a new and exciting way." This year, the show concentrates on coverage of three of the event's most exciting races. But past coverage has taken a variety of approaches. "One year we did a documentary just about the honored marque-an esoteric gem, the Indy Roadsters. It involved traveling back to the Indianapolis Hall of Fame Museum. In that special we told the glorious history of those rare cars through the modern-day racers who restored and preserved them and brought them to Monterey to race again." That documentary won a number of awards.

On another occasion, Coleman and his crew produced the event live for satellite feed to the network. "That year we were on the air live for a total of seven hours over the weekend. Going live takes unique skills and the production can be very intense. Not everybody can do it." Coleman was able to do it successfully due in part to his over 25 years of experience, much of it in live broadcast television.

The Rolex Monterey Historic Races take place each year on the oak studded hills of Mazda Raceway, Laguna Seca. Covering the event for television requires a lot of logistical planning by Coleman. "Whether we're live or shooting for post-production, the heart of the event is seeing the rare historic race cars zip around that track. And it's over two miles of blacktop with eleven turns! So, each year, I hire a small army of TV technicians, a lot of top-quality broadcast equipment and arrange for a ton of support-everything from port-a-potties to hotel rooms and meals."

Coleman sums it up; "For me, the fun of this particular yearly event is meeting the unique complex of challenges-both creative and logistical-that are presented. Capturing the pageantry, competition and history in state-of-the-art quality video; coordinating between the network, sponsors, the promoter, venue, entrants, cast, crew and vendors; and telling stories large and small that make viewers simultaneously feel they've experienced the event and yet want to be at the next one-now that's fun!"

John W. Coleman is a producer-director-writer and consultant with over 25 years experience in various media. He can be contacted at the Twin Oaks Communications company website.

Tina Wilson Completes Voiceover Projects

Voice talent and vocalist Tina Wilson has been busy providing voiceover on a variety of projects. She just completed a project for Laguna Woods TV. It was a video called the Tower Facilities Video. One other project that she is particularly proud of is a documentary called Voices of a Never Ending Dawn produced by O.C based producer Pamela Peak. It's the untold historic story of an American WWI Polar Bear force in arctic Russia. It will be aired on PBS.

Tina Wilson is proud to unveil her newly redesigned website at www.tinawilsontalent.com. Please visit it to listen to her most recent voice over demos.

You're Invited To A Special Media Event June 20!

Sign up now for MediaProCamp! This is a first for the media industry and it's FREE includingAM coffee, etc and lunch.

MediaProCamp is an all-day get-together of professionals working in every job category and representing every form of media. You'll do powerful networking and collaboration with top pros from every aspect of the industry! You pick the topics with new roundtable-style sessions every 45 minutes.It's a very fluid forum for an exciting cross-pollination of creative ideas, techniques and useful information for anyone working in the media. Because the format involves lots of small group sessions, you'll get to work with a number of media industry heavyweights slated to participate.Youcontribute your expertise and share with other professionals. Laptops are useful but optional. You can create a topic for discussion and form a group, or sit in on any group/any topic you choose.

Space Is Limited! You Must Register Online Now at the Orange County New Media Meetup Group.
For more information visit the MCAI website.

Event: MediaProCamp Presented by The Media Communications Association LA/OC Chapter
Date/times: Saturday June 20th 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Cost: FREE to all media professionals
Location: Digital Media Center, 1300 S. Bristol, Santa Ana, CA

For more info see these press releases:
MediaProCamp Starts in Orange County
First MediaProCamp Features Industry Notables
First MCAI Media Pro Camp to be Held at Santa Ana College's Digital Media Center

Voiceover Artist, and MAOC member Travis has been busy working on projects in Los Angeles, Orange County and working on documentaries shown on the East Coast.  The Los Angeles Philharmonic's Virtual Tour of Walt Disney Concert Hall, winner of a "Telly Award", produced by Media Alliance member The Buddy Group is now up on the LA Philharmonic's website: www.LAPhil.com . 

Travis also narrated the "Treasures of LA" event, presented by the Los Angeles Central City Association at the Bonneventure, honoring William Bratton, Jim Hill, Oscar De La Hoya, Dodger Don Newcombe, and others. He was also in Los Angeles to narrate a documentary on the wars in Afganistan and Iraq.  Other documentaries included one on San Diego's Coronado Bridge, George Washington -for a museum on the East Coast and one on the Revolutionary War for another museum.  Training programs included Honda, Isuzu, ING financial, Yahama, and an automotive equipment promotional program recorded at Media Alliance member Creative Media Recording.