Who are the great local production guys?

[yugoidar]

I saw this on another board and thought it was a good idea.

Let's shine the spotlight on the guys/gals who labor behind the scenes creating the commercials and promos that we hear in each market. 

Who do you feel does the best work?  Got a favorite from the past? That's alright, too. Any thoughts?

 

[qman]

I nominate Dave Roberts. I worked with him for several months at 3WG before he moved over to WVOR. That guy was a wizard in the production room.

 

[1234-1]

Skip Edmunds was amazing when he didn't have both hands tied behind his back and a GM who used to argue that the time on his watch was more accurate than the time on Skip's digital production equipment!

 

[Call Me Sherlock]

I nominate Dave Roberts. I worked with him for several months at 3WG before he moved over to WVOR. That guy was a wizard in the production room.

Qman, I have to agree.  Roberts, a raving lunatic (I mean that in a positive way), was absolutely the most creative production guy that I've ever worked with.  From his home-made jingles sung over production library beds to his amazingly creative, and sometimes "off the wall" copy - he was absolutely the best!  Mike O'Brien at WVOR during the same era was no slouch either.

 

[qman]

Neither was (and still is BTW) Wade Keller.

 

[alw]

Pat Feldballe.

He went and did what most of us only dreamed about.

He got out of radio when the gettin' was good, set up studio space from where his voice can be heard locally, nationally and internationally.

He's all over Ch 2, Time-Life music spots......and the list is long enough to actually make a living solely through independant production.

I don't think I could have garnered up the nads to even attempt it.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

Jim Pastrick! I remember watching him work in the late '80s. I can only imagine how much better he is today with digital equipment rather than tape.

 

[alw]

Jim Pastrick! I remember watching him work in the late '80s. I can only imagine how much better he is today with digital equipment rather than tape.

Mr. Pastrick learned at the feet of the master.

Jeff Kaye!

 

[GSmitty]

Dave Roberts started at WVOR the same day I did - January 7, 1980.
He was a classic - a fantastic production guy and a wild man!

And on another post Bob Savage mentioned Frank Scheidt. He was (and still is) a master.

I'll cast a vote for each of them.

I can't speak to the Buffalo guys. When I was in Buffalo waaaaaaay back, we were our own "production guys."

 

[cee]

When I was in Buffalo waaaaaaay back, we were our own "production guys."

And a good point. There were a lot of us way back who were our own "production guys" That includes me. We got good by necessity. I jocked and did production, sometimes I even did news. I did whatever I was called on to do...kinda what most major market talent is doing nowadays in our current state of overly corporatized, downsized radio(but I digress). There are a lot of us who might not be considered production legends, but nonetheless knew our way around those ancient days of Gates audio boards and Ampex tape machines.

Speaking of doing a lot with a little: I was always impressed by stories I heard about the behind the scenes work of KB's Al Lafler, especially the much celebrated War of the Worlds production. Those of you who had the opportunity to at least tour KB's not so state of the art production facilities on Main Street know what I'm talking about.

 

[qman]

When I was @ 3WG I was Jack of all trades and master of none. I was on the air, was production manager (no where near the caliber of a Dave Roberts or Frank Scheidt, mind you), music director and operations manager. A full plate indeed!

 

[x13thfloorrand]

Sad but true

Life is indeed a cycle; It appears Production is a double edge sword; the qman post of Production Director, Music, On air, and Ops Manager sometimes means Production gets tossed to the bottom in 21st century radio On the other hand, production 'produces' product, and if theres' no product, then no sales.

Gordy Dysinger (sp) and Chris Nitcher seem ready to carry the torch of great production wizz locally. Skip edmunds was top notch before sadly being shown the door.

 

[OneDaySale]

I think everyone who has a chance to do production in buffalo is good. Although I preface that with the fact that now-a-days you can fix all your mistakes digitally and I think the quality has suffered, no one is able to put the time and effort into the production anymore.

I would put Gordy on the top of the list though, that man was crazy with the 8-track

 

[Cary Pall]

I was in Roch during 74-75 and again in the mid 80s, so my knowledge is a patchwork; I'm sure others at other times in market history did great stuff, too. Rochester has always had a production feel that was much bigger than its market rank.

During his days at "The Nerve", Gene Filiaci was one of the best anywhere in alternative radio. And I mean anywhere. During the mid 90s, I was all over the map monitoring the format, and it was cookie-cutter filtered "edge" guy in every market. Not Rochester. The Nerve was unique, organic and many times as off the wall as Armand Schoebrouck. Which makes sense if you grew up on House Of Guitars spots as Gene did.

Jim Pastrick was and is always a great one, Mike O'Brien, too. And Mr.Savage can throw down with the best when he wants to. Frank Scheidt was a master (is still?). In the WAXC days, Larry White wasn't bad, either.

Although it's not strictly "production", the tech value of Engineer Donald (Don Ariano) to the Palvino show on BBF was absolutely awesome. And funny as hell.

Some will remember Mark Driscoll in the market at BBF in 74-75. He did all of the imaging on the station during that time, and it was very innovative stuff for the day. He went on to a lucrative voiceover career.

And you gotta love Ferdie. I especially loved his almost recent appearance on Adult Swim's "Harvey Birdman".

 

[yugoidar]

My list in no particular order...

Rochester - Marc Driscoll, Frank Scheidt, Dave Roberts, Mike O'Brian, Cary Pall Buffalo - Jeff Kaye, Jim Pastrick, Bob Wood, Chris Nichter, Gordy Dysinger, Keith Luke

Collectively, these guys put out an amazing body of work over the years and some continue to do some great stuff today.

 

[qman]

When it came to local imaging production, Dave Mason was no slouch, either.

 

[Kal]

I've done a bit of Production in my day. I would nominate Pat Feldballe, Jim Pastrick, Chris Nichter, Skip Edmunds and Chris Whittingham. (Sorry if I missed anyone! LOL) I loved production and miss it!

I'm humbled to have been included in the list above.

Kal

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

It's genuinely gratifying to read the kind words from peers in the business. Truth is, there are many men and women who are skilled production people in Buffalo and Rochester: Creative "wack-jobs" who come up with brilliant commercials and promos; and "mechanics" who have a knack with the blade (or mouse), splicing, mixing and reading copy. Many of today's production junkies have one thing in common: We came up on analog and were influenced by people who came before us, whether it was Jeff Kaye, Steve Mitchell, Mike Roszman and others like BobTaylor who is an outstanding production person. Most production guys and ladies took notes from the people with whom we worked and took our share of criticism from the tribal elders, who eventually made us better.

Along with Gordy Dysinger, I'll add a few other names from the Citadel Buffalo shop: Diva Val Townsend who has a terrific production delivery and 97 Rock production chief Joe Kaus who has great pipes. I also want to note the "young guns" like Jim Jacka and Josh Potter, who produce the great skits for Shredd & Ragan. Todd Broady and Matt Young at Entercom turn out some nice stuff too.

When it comes to answering the question as to "who," I'll just check the box that says "All Of The Above Names" mentioned in this entire thread.

BTW, ALW remarks that he hears our friend Pat Feldballe all over the country. Well, I can't turn on Channel 17 or WNED-AM without hearing Al's promos, liners and top of the hour IDs.

 

[shiftless]

My opinion of some great local production voices have already been mentioned,great choices indeed, they are the backbones of the radio station.But also, they can be artists when they create it. Not easy, to have time constraints,sales people making changes,having to wait on other people, and probably go out of their ways sometimes to help teach the craft to others.I think we tend to listen to a spot and it goes through our heads without really listening.But a lot of times in Buffalo, you'll catch a spot that maybe you found funny or maybe you liked the voice.That's the creativeness of the guys who produce it.By the way, writing the spot is important as well, which comes from sales, but that's another story.I admire the hard work our production guys do, and the hard work and talents they have.So I will mention Pat F.,Jim P.,Todd B,Skip E, Chris,Matt Young,Joe Chile,Shy Guy, Nicholas P,Dan Rinelli,Magic at WBLK,Shannon Steele, Brian Demay,forgot about some other people,but they all do a fine job.