BURBANK — Equipment rental house/tech service provider Wexler Video is currently providing production and post production gear for more than a dozen reality series, including The Amazing Race, Jersey Shore and Undercover Boss. The mix of gear varies from show to show, ranging from Avid and Final Cut editorial systems on up to complete production, editorial and post production workflows.
Although Wexler is technically classed as an equipment rental house, what it really sells is expertise. It designs custom workflows for its clients and supports them with technological know-how through every phase of production. “We consult on every job before any media gets recorded,” explains Josh Rizzo, the company’s VP of technology. Rizzo adds that Wexler maintains one of the industry’s most productive research and development departments and has developed proprietary technologies for such things as faster-than-realtime ingest and live remote review-and-approval.
Some of Wexler’s bigger clients have several shows in production simultaneously. In such instances, the company supplies complete packages of production and post technology from the cameras, microphones and wireless devices used on the set to editorial workflows that may include more than 70 Avid workstations and ISIS storage capable of holding more than 70TBs of data.
In such a large editorial environment, efficient data management is essential. Wexler provides clients with a variety of solutions for managing such tasks as ingest, logging, transcriptions, review and approvals.
“Production needs drive technological advancement, but, often, by the time it gets there, the needs have changed,” he explains. “Ultimately, it requires experienced human media asset management in addition to technology to achieve efficient workflow management.”
In order to keep pace with a changing industry, Wexler continues to press forward with its R&D efforts and to work closely with its clients to solve their problems. “We hire people who are passionate about technology and finding better, more efficient ways to meet goals,” Rizzo says. “We don’t just try to keep up with trends; we aim to drive them.”