Week 1: CBS Station Promotion & Advertising

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As most of you know from my previous post, I am a summer intern for CBS Television in Los Angeles. I work in the promotion and advertising department where my duties range from updating the CBS personnel website known as PromoNet, to engaging myself and my creativity in department meetings, etc. But that’s not all, in keeping with my primary interests (production, etc) I am to engage myself in the editing rooms, as well as write scripts for on-air promos. The first day was anything but slow: at CBS Television Studios in Studio City, I sat through an informative and exhaustive company orientation. There, I was able to meet all of the other interns. After orientation and exchanging contacts, I headed over to Hollywood to meet with my boss; Steve King. We caught up, gave me the Television City tour, and treated me to lunch. I have my own, very comfortable office with my name on the door (which is pretty cool)…but, the best part about working in TV? You guessed it: a TV in your office. It’s freaking’ awesome. After getting myself and my things accommodated, it was time to get down to business. Another boss of mine, Jeff Melby, sat me down and gave me the tutorial on how to update the PromoNet page. PromoNet for those of you who don’t know, is a webpage strictly for use of CBS employees. On that page, you will find just about everything pertaining to CBS TV: from graphics and music, logos, tie-in planners, and announcements. It’s a really neat site. Now, I mentioned to Steve before I even got the job, “I honestly don’t watch TV.” That was about to change, and within a matter of days, I stuck my nose into the show guide for the fall season of 2010-2011. I memorized the actors, dates, show names, and most importantly: air times. Steve quizzes me almost every chance he gets just to make sure I’m on top of my game. It may sound funny, but I’ve only spent a week with all of them, and it feels like they’re my extended family. I feel like a kid, and they’re really doing an outstanding job guiding me through the ins and outs of the biz. We’ve also been working on CBS’s new logo designs and colors for the fall season as well; it’s an entirely different look. It’s fresh, young, hot, and sleek and I think it’s something a lot of people are going to enjoy. But, the most important and exhaustive thing I’ve worked on this past week is our launch campaign for the much anticipated, reboot, “this isn’t your father’s version”, of HAWAII FIVE-0. Now, not ever having been a fan of TV, and NOT because I’m a CBS employee, I must tell you that I’ve seen the pilot for this show and it looks great. It’s got a great, young, and hot cast which I’m really looking forward to watching this fall. The campaign we’ve been working on is to get a couple of street performers to either hum, or play the legendary theme song of the show in front of his/her town’s recognizable landmark. We’re in talks with just about every market you could imagine, from Washington DC, to Kansas City, Missouri. It’s really going to be something special, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Being from Miami, I have been pushing for us to partner with our CBS-WFOR Miami/Ft. Lauderdale affiliate. The reason being is I pitched Steve the idea of having some really gorgeous women, and hard bodied guys on the South Beach strip humming and performing to the FIVE-0 theme song. He loved the idea and said if we could pull it off that he’d give it a go: well…we pulled it off. I’m really excited about the coming month at CBS; it’s such a productive, friendly, and informative place to work. The thing that I have loved most about this past week? Well, it’s definitely the ability to be able to sit alongside some of the most creative minds in the business and be able to soak it all up like a sponge. Steve calls me in every chance he gets so I can be a part of their meetings and creative discussions…the part that I’ve disliked the most? L.A. TRAFFIC. These men are helping me more and more every day. They give me every opportunity to display my creativity and my knowledge. Sitting in that office, at the cusp of my childhood dream, with pen and paper in hand, and CBS I.D. proudly displayed on my shirt pocket says: “You’ve got your foot in the door, now take that next step and become legendary.” To be perfectly honest with you, my bosses fill me with an unparalleled level of confidence and as a matter of fact, it’s the most confident I’ve ever felt about anything my entire life. Until next week, -EO www.cbs.com/primetime/hawaii_five_o/video/


About the author

ElliotOsrin

Elliot Mathew Osrin, (born August 24th, 1990) is an American artist, film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He was born and raised in Miami, Florida and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

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