Work Samples: Essay | Article

Waxman.TV Relocating to the Southeast

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANDY SPRINGS, GEORGIA— May 21, 2015 Waxman.TV is relocating to the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area on Monday, June 1, 2015. Founded in July 2014 in Santa Rosa, California, Waxman.TV collaborates with individuals, small businesses, and nonprofits to uncover and share the hidden stories that make our community great. Waxman.TV also develops independent series for public television and cable TV.

“The Atlanta metro area is a great place to grow a small, independent production company,” says owner and Executive Producer David S Waxman. “I’m looking forward to working with the talented pool of television and film professionals that call Atlanta home.” The lower cost of doing business in the southeast vs. California also played a role in Waxman’s decision to relocate.

Waxman.TV plans on maintaining its close ties to the San Francisco North Bay community for the foreseeable future, especially the wine industry and the public television community in its former home base of operations of Sonoma County, California.

David S. Waxman’s Lecture on Aspect Ratio

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Video Coming Soon

To understand why we have 16×9 and 4×3 and other exciting ratio standards, it helps to learn a little film history. Standards wars cause a lot of funny things to happen.

You’ve heard of betamax vs. vhs. hd-dvd vs blu-ray.

Today’s ratio standards evolved over the history of film.

Celebrate new beginnings

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Happy Holidays from Waxman.TVAt Waxman.TV, we are are celebrating this new season of new beginnings by giving back to the community. We are grateful for the kindness of friends and family, the beauty of Northern California, and the opportunities that await our company in 2015.

David the Dynamic Floor DirectorFor the last 9 years, I worked for my favorite nonprofit organization in the world: KRCB North Bay Public Media. Well-meaning friends would often point out that I could earn so much more money in the private sector. While true, I saw my work at KRCB as a way of giving back to the community. My 9 years at KRCB were my volunteer work and annual donation to an important cause. I received much more than I could ever give.

I started Waxman.TV because it was the best way to remain true to my ideals while also earning a living wage, so that I may grow my own roots here in Northern California. As a startup company, cash is tight: I am building a premium, high-quality broadcast and video production company. However, I still feel compelled to give back at year’s end. As they say, “Tis the season!”

David does MickaCoo outreachThis year I am giving a gift to one of my other favorite nonprofit organizations: Palomacy Pigeon and Dove Adoptions (formerly MickaCoo Pigeon and Dove Rescue), for which I’ve been volunteering since 2012. After 7 years, this grassroots animal rescue is on the verge of its own new beginning. I cannot say more until after the official announcement on Saturday, December 6; on Sunday morning, please check back here for the world premiere of a 3-minute video for and about this essential nonprofit, the people who make it work, and the lives we are saving through this essential work.

We’re proud to present this 3-minute video, released to coincide with Saturday’s big announcement:

We're so proud to be featured on the PigeonRescue.org home page

We’re so proud to be featured on the PigeonRescue.org home page

It’s December. Normally, I’d buy my friends and family members bottles of wine, fancy art, tasty treats, gadgets and gizmos, or gimmicky gifts galore. This year, I donated my personal gift-giving budget to finance the production of a high-quality, professional video to announce MickaCoo’s big change. That said, if you still feel compelled to buy me a gift, here is my wishlist (in no particular order):

  • Donation in Waxman.TV’s name to Palomacy (formerly MickaCoo)
  • Donation in Waxman.TV’s name to KRCB.
  • New business referrals.
  • Starbucks gift cards (hey! it’s an addiction!)

I am grateful beyond words for my friends and family, my clients, my community, and this beautiful place I am fortunate to call home.

Here’s to new beginnings!

David Waxman
Owner, Executive Producer, and Director/Writer/Editor
waxman.TV: Creative Nonfiction Storytelling.
Proudly established July 1, 2014 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Millennials, Wines, and Waxman.TV

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Why Millennials?

A pie chart that shows 70 million Millennials, 44 million Gen Xers, 77 million Boomers, and 42 million retirees age 69 and up

There are 70 million millennials in America. All are at or near the legal drinking age. Of those, 55% percent choose high-end wines.

Millennials age 21 – 35 are the children of the largest generation in American history. While only a quarter of this population drink wine several times a week or more, when they do choose wine, they choose “higher-end” selections 2-to-1. In other words, the young generation that already chooses premium coffee, prefers microbrews, and demands the best ingredients in their cocktails, have an interest in choosing quality and value over quantity and scale.

Yet this age group has trouble identifying which products to choose, as these anecdotal experiences I recently collected revealed to me.

“I want it to be as easy to choose fine wine as it is to order a [microbrew],” a 33-year-old suburban home-owning network administrator told me.

“How do I judge one chardonnay against another?” asked a 30-year-old moderate-income city apartment dweller.

Two 20-somethings enjoy a glass of fine red wine

While over half prefer fine wine, only 11% of millennials belong to a wine club of any kind.

“I learned how to order wine from experience,” a 28-year-old marketing professional said. Self-identified as a “foodie,” he reported that his comfort purchasing wine largely stems from attending business meals at New York City’s finest restaurants. Outside of major cities and major wine-growing regions, relatively few Americans of any age will ever have the opportunity to talk to a sommelier.

How do you engage customers?

Nearly three fifths of frequent wine drinkers in the Baby Boomer cohort report that they are members of at least one wine club. Ninety percent of their children are not. If the wine industry wants to engage these young wine consumers, they are going to need to find them.

And Millennials are on social media. Yet simply posting endless stories to your social media feed is not the way to build a new audience.

Content is king. If you create compelling media to engage this growing population of quality wine consumers, they will come.

 Coming soon: Part Two: Why Online Video?