StarPrompt Teleprompting Service

EIGHT REASONS WHY YOU WANT TO USE STARPROMPT.TV

FLASH BULLETIN: Bev Feldman on American Public Radio's "The Story."  I talk about The Two Sides of Nancy Reagan, Accidentally Prompting Porn, Setting a Trap for Bill Clinton, and The New Year's Day Cup Runneth Over Splash!   Go over to the RIGHT COLUMN to "Pages" and click on Bev On American Public Radio. 

1. StarPrompt.TV is owned by Bev Feldman, who has been prompting since computerized prompting was invented.  (If you ask what year that was I'll be forced to add 25% to your bill.)

2. We LOVE working in the business!   My Dad was a legendary soundeffects man for CBS radio and I grew up at Gower and Sunset watching him work. So -- it's genetic.

3. The owner -- that's me -- is easy to get and talk to.  (Call or text Bev Feldman @ 818-445-7936)

4. We've done everything there is to do in prompting and we still do it (notable exception: PORN -- I accidentally did porn once, and while it's a hilarious story, it was, uh, such generous helping of porn that I am still savoring the experience many years later).  But yes, we do anything with a host-- commercials, speeches, PSAs, reality, industrials, corporate, movie spots, promos,live shows, studio gigs, yada yada yada. But NOT porn.

5. Nepotism RULES at StarPrompt.TV.  It's the Feldminians... me, our daughter Silver, and my husband Tom Feldman.  The beauty of nepotism is that if a Feldman makes a mistake, it triggers family psychodrama, which is far more powerful than visiting HR to "talk it over."  Trust us, no Feldman wants to go there.  So we do good all the time.

6. Tom Feldman is "working below his pay grade" when he does prompter for us.  Actually, Tom's a Emmy-Award winning gaffer.  When he's not out working with our grip and lighting truck,( AKA the COMBOTRUCK), and I've got a full calendar, he jumps in for us.  Why could this be extra good for you?  Well, sometimes he just can't help himself, and he lights your set too.   

7. We're Monk-ish about your scripts.  We make them look exactly right on our screen for your talent or we twitch.

8. Sometimes, sometimes, if we really really really like your nonprofit cause, we'll do our best to donate our services.

DO BULLET POINTS WORK FOR SPEAKERS WHO ARE USING A TELEPROMPTER?

Not very often... unless you're a comedian.

And then, bullet points cue you to the order of your JOKES, which you've memorized.

• SLEEPING FIREMAN
• PEEING 3-LEGGED DOG
• CHIPPER RAPES LAWNMOWER 

But BPs rarely work for speakers reading prompter, OTHER than if the speaker talks on this topic all the time.  And I do mean all the time.  So giving the corporate executive a fresh list of bullets to hit in the hopes that he or she will appear more "natural" does not usually work.  Really.

Recent case in point-- I worked with a guy who claims to be the Greatest Salesman in the World. This was a training video product, not cheap, on salesmanship.  When I got the script I KNEW we were in trouble.  Someone had bulletized his live-audience presentation and called it a script.   

Our difficult super-salesman had not read his script out loud beforehand, and so did not realize that while he was very familiar with the bulletized concepts, he could not say what he wanted in coherent sentences in front of a camera! 

It was a train wreck. 

The shoot was called off on the second day: scrapped until there is a script composed of actual sentences.  It was an expensive, frustrating, and avoidable mistake!

Normally I would have seen this as an opportunity to mention my script writing services.  Clients sometimes hire me to write a new script.  But for this guy, I would have to be paid in multiples of Ferarris. 

If and when this project comes around again, I'm going to:

• raise my rate by a factor of ten
• put another operator on it
• go to the beach
• take in a movie
• visit a whiskey bar
• ALL OF THE ABOVE 

/ / / / / / / / /

Attack of the Teleprompter!

I Don't Get Star-Struck That Much...

...but when Jeff Bridges strides up to you with his hand extended and says, "Hello, I'm The Dude," you lose it.  Well, I do.  I did.

I Heart Chris Harrison

Ok, there are hosts, and then there are HOSTS.

Chris Harrison is a HOST.  A dream host.  He nails it.  Plus, he's EASY to get along with, EASY to look at, EASY to be around.  The whole package.  Nothing not to like.

So we have an outdoor shoot on a high-rise rooftop recently, Chris walks up, sees me, and says, "Well, I see we have the Master on the set."

Like I said.

Keep A Child Alive

I recently worked on PSA's for Keep A Child Alive. Started by Alicia Keys, it's a nonprofit dedicated to keeping people alive who have HIV/AIDS, particularly women and children. There will be a very interesting and innovative initiative coming up soon, called "Buy Life." We worked with a lot of celebrities, who are going to kill off their "digital lives" (Twitter, Facebook) until those lives are bought back by their fans. All proceeds go to Alicia's clinics. They are doing good, good work. It was a pleasure to be a part of it. Watch for it! Celebrities wearing grey t-shirts with bar codes on it. Go crazy! Donate!

ANOTHER Testimonial for StarPrompt's Outstanding Services!

Handsome host Alexander Cukor profusely thanks us for our services... I think.

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OBAMA: TOO TELEPROMPTER DEPENDENT????

There's an article from Politico about President Obama using the Teleprompter "to death."   It carries a critical tone, stating that the president is the most dependent President on Teleprompter EVER.  He is compared to Bush and Clinton.  But Ronald Reagan is never mentioned.  Computerized prompting was an early technology at the time of the Reagan White House, but the Reaganites embraced it fully.  I know.  The prompting company I was working for at the time was in a sales conversation with the White House for a long time.  They eventually bought a different system, but that system went on to be used "to death" by the late President.
Obama Teleprompter Article
   

EVEN BORAT NEEDS A LITTLE PROMPTING

Hey English speaking peoples!

Jagshemash, Pepsi Max!

What what what the other day Bev come over and she give really really professional prompting all over me.  She fun lady nice.   -- Borat  

KISS & Me....

  Got a call from Tommy Thayer, lead guitarist of KISS, asking about prompting for an upcoming shoot. 

I admit that I have not been a KISS fan (I'm the wrong demographic), but I certainly have been aware of them for forever.  So it turns out that Tommy needed a prompter for a public service announcement.  He had done one last year without a prompter and he was not happy with it. He also mentioned that he was not happy with the lighting. I asked who was shooting this one, and he said he didn't have anyone yet.  Long story short: Tom shot it, and I did the prompting.  We were helped out in many ways by good friend Eddie Pong, who being the biggest Chinese guy you've ever seen, made a great stand-in for Tommy.

When we were making logistical arrangements for the shoot, Tom told Tommy that he wanted to be in the location (Sound Edit in Hollywood) early enough that he would have two hours for lighting.  Tommy was astonished... we think the lighting before took 10 minutes -- and looked like it.  Tom's lighting was great, and Tommy appreciated the difference.

All went smoothly, Tommy was just a regular kind of guy.  There was no rock star attitude.  At the end he was very very happy, and said, "KISS will be calling you."  Well, OK, bring it on!

Lt. Uhura Thanks Bev....

Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura from Bev Feldman on Vimeo.

John Burke -- The Swiss Army Knife of TV Hosts!

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John Burke Tells It Like It IS from Bev Feldman on Vimeo. p>John is SUCH a dependable host!  Take it from someone on this side of the teleprompter cart.

WRAPPING EVERYDAY ITALIAN

We just wrapped the 6th year of Food Network's Everyday Italian.  As usual, working on the host wraps was a true delight;  Giada is a wonderful person, the scripts are well-written (thanks, Alex!) and I come home and try out recipes on my family and friends.

I just made Giada's watermelon, basil and tomato skewers for my husband Tom's birthday party, and it was a BIG hit!

ALLSTATE COMMERCIALS

This was a big shoot.

Dennis Haysbert was a delight to work with, it was well-run, there was GREAT food, and the check cleared.  What more do you want?

REUNION WITH A SUPER MAN!

We just worked again with Dean Cain, if you can call what's going on in this picture "working."  It's been a while since we did our four years together on Ripley's Believe It or Not.  If I'm looking really really happy, it's because I really really am happy.  Dean is a great guy.

IN THE PRESENCE OF GREATNESS

StarPrompt's finest, Bev Feldman and ace operator (and spawn) Silver Feldman, had the honor of prompting Sidney Poitier.  He's still smoking HOT and TWO GENERATIONS think so!!!  What an HONOR!  Wow!  What a wonderful man!!!

THERE ARE NO DEAD PARROTS HERE!

 Heaven is working five days with John Cleese and one of the best crews on the planet. In Monteceito.  Around horses.  With good food and a room with an (ocean) view.  And getting PAID for it! -- Bev

HOW TO BOOK A TELEPROMPTER

We are a service.  That means a technician comes out and provides everything needed for prompter and does the job.  (Note:  Like everybody else, we don't rent out gear. Too sophisticated to have it come back alive.)

When booking us, here's the questions we'll ask you:

The date and location of the job.

How many cameras will have prompter on them.

What kind of cameras are you using? (Beta-cam, DV-Cam, etc.)

Do you want the prompter mounted on the head, the jib arm, or do you want the prompter to "push up" to the camera?

Are you shooting indoors or outdoors?

Is there electricity?

When will the script be available, and by what means: e.g., email, thumb drive on set, CD, floppy disk.

Those are the basics.

Give us a call at 818-445-7936.  That's our cell phone.  Also call our office at 818-790-7418 and talk to Christine or leave a message there.

Thanks for using StarPrompt!

Bev Feldman, owner-operator