And we're back!

One thing life has thought me over and over again is to be really patient and to have a whole lot of faith.  After two years of ups and downs due to certain circumstances we've finally steered this ship back to calmer waters.

So I can now tell you all what I've been up to.  Go grab a coffee or summink as this will take a while.

When I initially started the Art of Living show, it was to help out people with regards to their lifestyle.  We don't just say "buying a home" as there is a whole lot more to it!  We showed the videos on our website so those of you who missed the weekly show on our national Free to Air channel NTV7 could watch it but only in segments, and not the entire half hour show.   In 2010 it was expensive to stream videos as we had not developed cloud sharing technology yet.

I have always been a firm believer that the Internet is the way forward in all things visual, and did say that we were going to use broadcasting as a medium initially to get the "word" out.  Now the time has come to implement my dream of converting my web site into an Internet Television portal.  "isnt' that just like having video on demand you say?" Well not really, Instead of pulling the videos from you tube which is what we currently have on our web, our videos will be streamed directly on our site, so no lag as streaming is seamless , and in it's entirety, so you can watch the whole show now online (yippie!) It's very much like your very own television channel.  (Don't worry I'll still have segments on You tube and Vimeo !)

We have already started the conversion, it will take a couple of months give or take to ensure that we've worked out all the kinks and tweak it, but it should look amazeballs when it's ready, as our IT partner from Elitewerks  has designed an incredible landing page! (I shan't tell you more of what else they're doing as it will spoil the surprise)  In the mean time, I've finished my marketing video and will be rolling it out this week to our developers.

Here is the link to VIMEO if you'd prefer to watch the video there!   Art of Living show marketing promo on Vimeo

Biggie Ups!

The B is Back

Let me just say it's positively SHOCKING, and yes downright disgusting that I've not blogged for almost two years.... "sorry?"  does not cut it. So lets set the apollo gies aside and start to make it better.

Firstly belated happy "all the celebrations" from August 2011 (ok ok so I can generalise like the best of em)  and lets get into what's been going on for those lost months.  Ready?  go get a chair and a cuppa, always works best.

Lets just fast forward to today, I'm in the middle of sending out a complete break down of our budget for all our shows, docos and programs to certain agencies who want to become involved, the accountant hired to do the job is having nightmares, and is doing his best to keep me at bay whilst I bombard him with questions, the predominant one being "WHEN IS IT READY???!!".  Poor guy, I have to check what his medical coverage is!

Much is afoot, we're putting together a marketing/advertising video for the Art of Living Show Season 2.  I sat down with the team and gave them my quirky ideas, (the feedback was.. "you watch waaayyy to many shows!")  I'm trying to redefine the look and feel of our opening and closing montage, and working on ways to make the show slicker and more with what's currently important when choosing a home to buy, or invest in  or renovate.  The impending elections give us more time to tweak what we'd like to do, as no one is making a move until after May 5th.

We are also looking at changing the way viewers see our web page so stay tuned for that, I can only BLURT it out once we've made the change!  We've also been to FINAS where we were received really well and had a lot of

a homestay we viewed in Pahang

positive feedback on the show.  We're still big on digital media and IPTV and hope that all this will take off as we launch our second season.

So with that, I'm going to head out and meet up with more folk in the biz to stir up the dust that has settled on this shelf and hopefully create a small, wee stir in you too regarding our show.

Cheers!
Dx

Christmas and New Year

It was a completely and utterly mad week prior to Christmas, we were shooting episode 2 and some other episodes as well, I was falling asleep half way through the printing of our storyboards in the middle of the night as we had such early starts.

I am absolutely amazed I managed my lines! But we did it! Oh yes we did it.

Then we had the preview party, which Kym kindly help organise with Jo Jo at his Wine Shop, HM Wines, in Bangsar for the first Episode.

I was so nervous, I was prowling around like a cat on a hot tin roof! I even bugged my brother to come and give me support! His version of support was "ok"

Me - So what do you think of the show?

Bro - "Ok"

Me - Would you watch this show?

Bro - "O..K."

Me - Do you think we look stylish and professional?

Bro - " Ok...hmm"

Me - Do you want a drink?

Bro - Ok

That folks is my brother giving his stamp of approval...

The Night went well, we had mostly very positive comments, and a few that were "hmmnn???", but overall the main sponsor loved it and so did the developers so that was that!

Then it was back to finishing off the final bits of editing for Episode 2, and as usual, me being me, I was not that psyched with the sound (my former music background..eh) so I was irritating my editor about the music beds and the overall sound of the show.. (he will most probably be nodding through gritted teeth here) and of course, I still can't get used to seeing myself on screen, it feels weird, and I am my own biggest critic.. I think he is so fed up of hearing "I LOOK SO FAT!", even my Film Director was looking at me quizzically..

We finally got everything transferred and sent out to the Broadcaster and in my deluded mind I thought I could concentrate on the holidays... but no, there were more interviews and meetings, so I cancelled our holiday to OZ. However , and there is always a however I managed to surprise my family with a trip to Phuket on Christmas day, so off we flew to have some fun in the sun.

It was wonderful to be away, but I just had a look at my phone bill, between my producer in Oz, Kl and my Film Director, Celcom must be raking it in!

Upon returning to KL, we were inundated with all sorts of last minute details, and finally on the 5th, my gal pals organised a night in to watch the show on one of their big screen TVs. It was a noisy, uproariously funny night, with much ribbing and shoulder bumping. When the show finally came on, they were all making their comments and finally one them yelled "SHUT UP I AM TRYING TO WATCH THE BLINKING SHOW !!!" Did they ? Nooo... ( I am still nursing a sore arm from all the smacking I got.. you know how girls are!)

So now we are nose to the grindstone again, I have to finish scripting the up coming shows and make sure I've storyboarded them properly, deal with my producers and finalise the shooting schedules...

Stay tuned for more, and don't forget to watch the show every wed at 8.30 on ntv7 or on our website www.artoflivingshow.com

Saluti!

Dx