Got a new puppy? Need to train her or him? Well we just produced an iPhone and iPod touch app for you.
I've been creating media for over 20 years now. And made my start at NPR's national headquarters in DC. in 1989. While at NPR as coop student from Northeastern University (Boston) I was involved editorial meetings on-air celebs like with Liane Hansen (Weekend Edition Sunday), sat in live shows such as "All Things Considered"and became skilled on how to cut reel to reel audio tape with a razor blade....(yes this was before NPR cut their shows on desktops...seems like light years away but boy has technology changed for the better) but what I really learned is how quality media can directly impact and empower its information consumers.
Fast forward 22 years and I find myself running my ten year old production company, Grazioso Pictures Inc, making 80% of our work for the web and non-traditional broadcast outlets.... launching our very first iPhone application in Apple's iTunes "App Store." Our app is called Puppy Coach 101 and it's my maiden venture into Iphone app. Taking my video background and experience from working in TV (BBC, History Channel, PBS Kids) and an producing and creative and content directing an app for smart phone screens. Exciting step!
Here's an "app trailer" alias a "web commercial" we created to promote our puppy training application.
Our goal with this YouTube video is help get the word out to potential customers in a lite, fun way in 60 seconds, empowering online viewers to easily share with friends and family. You also may see our add show up on google search and on Facebook sidebars. Here's the result of the trailer.
DIRECT LINK TO "Puppy Coach 101" in iTunes App Store
It's been a creative adventure to bring this app from an idea (born in the lobby of my bikram yoga studio) through content development to production to design and user interface programming and eventually (after 9 months of gestation) into Apple's app store this week.
For $2.99. a price of a Starbucks coffee, puppy owners get exclusive access to 37 "bite-size" videos (each averaging about 40 seconds) to learn how to train their new puppy. We decided that we would not stream the videos as many other apps do because we wanted iPhone users (like ourselves) to be able to access the video lessons from anywhere the moment they wanted to train their pet. And have them worry about being near a wifi connection. To flip side is the app is 177MB, a few minute download via a decent speed wireless connection.
So puppy Coach 101 app can be used anywhere, home, beach, park, anyplace. We find it's best to use a set of headphones and coach your dog. We wanted this app to be video heavy and contrast other puppy and dog training and obedience apps that are text-based. Who wants to read when they are training their puppy? How passe.
As I filmmaker I say,"If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video is worth a million!" And in our video you can see and hear Joanne's expert training including the tone of her voice and how she uses treats to coach the dog and build a each lesson.
To create this app was a three way partnership between myself (the new media filmmaker and /video producer, content guy) to app user interface designer and programmer as well as a content expert.
I partnered with emerging app developers at Pixeldream in NYC and dog and puppy training coach and expert Joanne Lekas. I've worked steadily with Andres Ramirez of PD for over 12 years, even before I started my production company. He's been coding interactive projects since CDROMs back in the 90s after he graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston. Over the last year he's taken himself on the learn to program app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Puppy Coach 101 is he's companies first "for sale" app as well as mine and Joanne's.
Where did the idea start? I overhead Joannes informally coaching fellow yogis in the lobby of a hot yoga studio we both attend. Joanne's coaching was clear, positive and very different from what I thought puppy training is. Then after calls I approached Joanne we had lunch and first began work on a traditional broadcast TV pilot.
But soon we realized bringing an idea to television had a long and risky road. Then the notion dawned on me that a video-based app for the iPhone would meet my goals of bringing educational media directly to users, iPhone is inherently interactive and can be entertainingly educational, we'd get instant feedback to improve it, users can access it anywhere as it's on demand in their pockets, plus we'd have a potential revenue stream if our app was successful. All qualities that broadcast television, being the passive medium that it is, is lacking.
Thus our Puppy Coach 101 app was born. It's now for sale and if we meet our projections then we'll roll out a new version in a few months. Perhaps new volumes and levels of canine training as well. However we have a list of other app subjects we want to conquer.
All apps I make will be video based since this is my strength. New ideas are already cooking and now that we have the Puppy Coach 101 app in the itunes store, the architecture is built and many lessons have been learned along the way giving is experience (and some wisdom) for the next app creation.
If you have an idea and wish to brainstorm please feel free to contact me.
In the meantime visit our app developer's website:
http://apps.graziosopictures.com/
I've been creating media for over 20 years now. And made my start at NPR's national headquarters in DC. in 1989. While at NPR as coop student from Northeastern University (Boston) I was involved editorial meetings on-air celebs like with Liane Hansen (Weekend Edition Sunday), sat in live shows such as "All Things Considered"and became skilled on how to cut reel to reel audio tape with a razor blade....(yes this was before NPR cut their shows on desktops...seems like light years away but boy has technology changed for the better) but what I really learned is how quality media can directly impact and empower its information consumers.
Fast forward 22 years and I find myself running my ten year old production company, Grazioso Pictures Inc, making 80% of our work for the web and non-traditional broadcast outlets.... launching our very first iPhone application in Apple's iTunes "App Store." Our app is called Puppy Coach 101 and it's my maiden venture into Iphone app. Taking my video background and experience from working in TV (BBC, History Channel, PBS Kids) and an producing and creative and content directing an app for smart phone screens. Exciting step!
Our goal with this YouTube video is help get the word out to potential customers in a lite, fun way in 60 seconds, empowering online viewers to easily share with friends and family. You also may see our add show up on google search and on Facebook sidebars. Here's the result of the trailer.
DIRECT LINK TO "Puppy Coach 101" in iTunes App Store
It's been a creative adventure to bring this app from an idea (born in the lobby of my bikram yoga studio) through content development to production to design and user interface programming and eventually (after 9 months of gestation) into Apple's app store this week.
For $2.99. a price of a Starbucks coffee, puppy owners get exclusive access to 37 "bite-size" videos (each averaging about 40 seconds) to learn how to train their new puppy. We decided that we would not stream the videos as many other apps do because we wanted iPhone users (like ourselves) to be able to access the video lessons from anywhere the moment they wanted to train their pet. And have them worry about being near a wifi connection. To flip side is the app is 177MB, a few minute download via a decent speed wireless connection.
So puppy Coach 101 app can be used anywhere, home, beach, park, anyplace. We find it's best to use a set of headphones and coach your dog. We wanted this app to be video heavy and contrast other puppy and dog training and obedience apps that are text-based. Who wants to read when they are training their puppy? How passe.
As I filmmaker I say,"If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video is worth a million!" And in our video you can see and hear Joanne's expert training including the tone of her voice and how she uses treats to coach the dog and build a each lesson.
To create this app was a three way partnership between myself (the new media filmmaker and /video producer, content guy) to app user interface designer and programmer as well as a content expert.
I partnered with emerging app developers at Pixeldream in NYC and dog and puppy training coach and expert Joanne Lekas. I've worked steadily with Andres Ramirez of PD for over 12 years, even before I started my production company. He's been coding interactive projects since CDROMs back in the 90s after he graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston. Over the last year he's taken himself on the learn to program app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Puppy Coach 101 is he's companies first "for sale" app as well as mine and Joanne's.
But soon we realized bringing an idea to television had a long and risky road. Then the notion dawned on me that a video-based app for the iPhone would meet my goals of bringing educational media directly to users, iPhone is inherently interactive and can be entertainingly educational, we'd get instant feedback to improve it, users can access it anywhere as it's on demand in their pockets, plus we'd have a potential revenue stream if our app was successful. All qualities that broadcast television, being the passive medium that it is, is lacking.
Thus our Puppy Coach 101 app was born. It's now for sale and if we meet our projections then we'll roll out a new version in a few months. Perhaps new volumes and levels of canine training as well. However we have a list of other app subjects we want to conquer.
All apps I make will be video based since this is my strength. New ideas are already cooking and now that we have the Puppy Coach 101 app in the itunes store, the architecture is built and many lessons have been learned along the way giving is experience (and some wisdom) for the next app creation.
If you have an idea and wish to brainstorm please feel free to contact me.
In the meantime visit our app developer's website:
http://apps.graziosopictures.com/
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