When Post Time Productions launched in 1992 (as Post Time Video) in a small backroom cubicle of Kentucky Sports Medicine, it consisted of two guys, a video editing system, and a single camera. Delegated to shooting weddings, high school sports, legal depositions, and medical videos for its above-mentioned landlord, it wasn't long before the small operation began to crave more of Lexington's limelight.
Fast-forward to 2003: With the help of some savvy investors, firsthand leadership from industry experts, and a handpicked staff of video production artists and technicians, Post Time Productions positioned itself to go first in the market with full high definition video and has since grown to become one of Central Kentucky's leading HD broadcast and corporate video production groups, with several highly anticipated local and national projects soon to be released this year.
Since its launch into full high definition five years ago, Post Time has expanded to include 10 core staff members, boasts three full-HD Avid editing suites and high-def camera crews, and has partnered with the audio production group Dynamix Productions - all under the same studio roof on North Ashland Avenue. Acquiring Host Communications' internal video production department along with its senior video editor Darren Platt and producer Graeme Hart in 2006 pushed Post Time closer toward its goals.
"2008 has stacked up nicely," said Douglas High, general manager and executive producer for Post Time. High joined the small crew in 2002 after a 10-year stint in local television in Ohio and Kentucky, both in front of and behind the camera.
High has taken his role very seriously, working hard to increase client base as well as staying up to date on the latest equipment and industry trends. "We have the absolute latest in professional broadcast camera and edit gear, to be sure," said High. "But it's our staff of phenomenal producers, videographers, editors and customer support members who have made the difference. Ö We are a family here, including our clients, and I'm immensely proud of what we have built together."
Post Time's most recent productions will enjoy regional, statewide, and nationwide audiences and have included an A&E documentary on The Monkees, a PBS national broadcast on the career of legendary talk show host Mike Douglas, and to be broadcast this July on KET, a documentary on the frontier history of Kentucky bourbon. Also airing later this year will be Post Time's 90-minute Civil War documentary, "Retreat from Gettysburg," based on the award-winning book by Lexington author and historian Kent Masterson Brown, detailing the military genius of General Robert E. Lee's retreat from the famous battle in 1863.
"One of the things Post Time tries to foster is relationships with independent producers," High said. "Tom Thurman, who has a great track record and has several documentaries on Starz Network, worked with us last year on a Hunter S. Thompson program, and we recently worked together on another project for legendary actor Nick Nolte."
Thurman and Nolte developed a friendship, and when Nolte wanted to tell his story, Thurman recruited the Post Time crew. "We flew out a three-camera HD crew of eight employees to California and shot Nolte at his home," High said. The biography finished post-production in March and will be screened at the Cannes Marketplace, part of the world's largest and most famous film festival, in late May. High, Thurman, and Nolte himself will attend the festival to help promote and seek distribution for the film.
High stated that building strong relationships with independent producers in Lexington, such as Kent Brown, who brought them the history of bourbon and the Civil War documentary series, former competitor-turned-pal Al Greenfield, who spearheaded The Monkees and Mike Douglas programs, and noted filmmaker Tom Thurman, who had the direct relationship with Nolte, is a key ingredient to the company's success and future growth - but he doesn't forget his base.
"While these sorts of programs raise our profile beyond Lexington, it's still our local commercial, corporate and agency video production work that is our backbone, no question," said High. Highlight's from the past year on the local scene have included winning the contract to produce Central Kentucky's new marketing video for the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as corporate video product for Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate, Lexmark, Toyota, UK, Keeneland and many more.
"We are expanding in 2008 to continue to deliver the quality and timeliness of service and product our clients have come to expect and deserve from us," High said.
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Post Time also partners with Business Lexington to co-produce the publication's new 30-minute monthly business news magazine program, broadcast on KET. to see the show.
Local may keep the lights on, as they say, but it's the partnerships with these independent, Lexington-based producers that have helped project the once-little video-crew-that-could into the national arena.
"It's a strong calling card when the quality of our work is embraced by this caliber of regional and national broadcast partners," said High. "We can produce these programs here in Lexington more cost effectively for the networks than studios in Atlanta or Nashville could ever hope to, while working with the very same equipment and technology platforms the larger markets employ. Ö I'd also put our editors, shooters and producers up against anyone out there. All we needed was a foot in the national door and finally, we have it. Ö Now we just need to keep prying it open."
Vitally important to the company's recent success and growth, High said, are Post Time's two local principals, Wood Simpson and Misdee Wrigley Miller, "who have given us the resources and the time to show what we can do. It's a luxury and a generosity I have rarely seen in this industry, and we are all grateful to them for it," High said. "They are both very passionate about the craft of video production."
As this growing company gains even more momentum in 2008, keep your eyes 'posted' to the credits as they scroll down your TV screen; they may just include the words "Produced in Lexington, Kentucky."