While shooting footage for Rick Springfield Friday at the Arena Theater, management asked us to shoot a quick promo for an upcoming gig in Lansing, MI. All footage and audio from the Arena show. Check it out:

Click here for the latest article we wrote about shooting, editing, and delivering the DVD set for the 2009 Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise. It’s a little on the technical side but hey, that’s what we deal with sometimes. There are links to sample videos at the end of the article.

Well, WE weren’t on Oprah, but our work was. Rick Springfield was a surprise guest serenading two audience members on Monday’s show (“Jessie’s Girl”, of course). He talked about this year’s cruise and showed a short clip from the video we produced of last year’s cruise.

We got word that Rick will be on the Ellen DeGeneres show on October 30th; I wonder if they will show the clip on her show too?

Stay tuned…

We received a very nice note from Rick commenting on the DVD we produced while on board a cruise ship in November:

“Working with you David and Christie on the first cruise was amazing. I can’t believe the quality of what you did. Incredible. I didn’t even realize you were filming half the time and the dedication and time you put into the all night editing sessions should put you guys at the top of the heap. The whole DVD you made was musical, got what I thought were the best moments of the cruise and performances and the editing was seamless and highly professional. You both are brilliant at what you do. THESE GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!”

UPDATE JANUARY 10th, 2009: As promised, here are two clips from the DVD we produced for Rick & Company; the first is a montage from the opening night concert. We had four cameras rolling and two camera operators. There were many house PA issues that night which you can hear in this clip. Hey whaddaya expect, it was a full on rock concert taking place on a boat in the ocean! I really don’t think Carnival had done this before. But they got everything squared away for all performances after this.

This second clip is a montage of the rest of the DVD. It includes a little bit from the Lido deck concert (previously unreleased), a short bit from Rick’s and John Waite’s acoustic duo performance, a little bit from the Movie Night fun, a little from the Cozumel Beach Party, and a special ending note from Rick.

In all, the DVD was an hour and a half long and we produced nearly 700 copies while still on board the ship. In case you couldn’t tell, we had an absolute blast on this trip, as did everyone we came in contact with. In fact, I hear they are doing it again in 2009. Click Here for details on the second (annual?) Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise.

When Grammy award winner, 80’s rocker, and General Hospital heartthrob Rick Springfield embarks on a 5-day Caribbean cruise November 13th out of Miami, David and Christie will be in tow – but not as cruise guests. Rick has hired McKnight Video to document the concerts taking place during his Carnival cruise in support of his latest CD Venus in Overdrive. Rick and his band will play host to 1,200 fans (the Rick Springfield and Friends Cruise sold out just weeks after it was announced).

We were chosen specifically for our ability to film, edit, and deliver the finished DVD to hundreds of fans while still on board the ship. Though we have provided editing and pre-production support to Rick’s team in the past, we had no idea it would lead to this!

Here’s the scoop: we often produce InstantView productions at wedding receptions in the Houston and Galveston area. An InstantView, also known as a Same Day Edit, is where guests view a cinematic video highlight of the wedding that took place only hours before. In the course of working on the other videos, Rick and his team saw some of these that we’ve done and it started snowballing from there. We’re slated to produce a DVD of the three concerts and other fan events taking place during the cruise. We will be working around the clock to make this happen. We’ll pretty much have our whole stuido on board.

The limited edition DVD is expected to be close to two hours long and 600 – 1000 DVD’s will be delivered to Rick’s merchandising team on the final day of the cruise.

Here’s a commercial for Ford featuring Texas blues funk artist Hamilton Loomis. Hamilton hails from Galveston TX but travels and plays all over the USA in his Ford van. This piece has shots from all over the country; our shots are of course from Texas. You have to check this out, you won’t believe how many miles are on this van!

Here’s a bit of trivia: before venturing into video production, David played bass in Hamilton’s band from 1997 to 2001 and can be heard on the CDs All Fired Up and Live Highlights…logged a lot of miles in that van as well.

Thanks Ham, job very well done.

Kudos to Rick Springfield on his new hit record, “Venus in Overdrive” – here’s the abbreviated press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 6, 2008

RICK SPRINGFIELD HAS HIS HIGHEST CHART DEBUT IN OVER 20 YEARS WITH “VENUS IN OVERDRIVE,” HIS LATEST RELEASE

Grammy® winner Rick Springfield has secured his highest chart debut position in more than 20 years with his latest album, Venus in Overdrive. Coming in at No. 28 on the Billboard chart, Springfield’s first CD of all new material in almost 5 years is also his debut album on New Door Records/UMe.

The singer was highly visible last week with a string of national television appearances including: “Good Morning America,” “Live with Regis and Kelly,” “The Early Show,” “FOX and Friends,” “On the Record With Greta Van Susteren,” “Entertainment Tonight” and the week before street date re-airing of “Oprah.” Springfield also returned to “General Hospital” in the recurring role as Dr. Noah Drake, as well as the rock star Eli Love who performed the current single, “What’s Victoria’s Secret?”

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For more information visit Rick Springfield’s Website…and keep watching this space on McKnightVideo.com for related news…

Here is a new heartfelt Christmas song from pop-rock star Rick Springfield. The song was co-written by Derek Hilland, and proceeds from the sales of the CD go to charity. For more information on the organizations, please visit – American Gold Star Mothers, who are mothers that have lost a son or daughter in service of our country: www.GoldStarMoms.com and Cherished Lives, a memorial website where soldiers’ families can create a free memorial website for their loved ones: www.CherishedLives.com.

We played a very small part in the making of this video and wanted to share it with our friends. We encourage you to buy the Christmas CD, available from RickSpringfield.com.