The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 19 with Online Video Host & Producer Shannon Morse

Shannon Morse (@Snubs)  is a producer and host of several online video shows such as Tekzilla and Hak5. Following early training in theatrical performance and hotel/restaurant management, she transitioned into new media. Across her many projects, she’s responsible for all research, writing, and production. Read more about Shannon on her site, snubsie.com

In this episode, we discuss Shannon’s origins in film/video production, the struggle of working for multiple employers with multiple studio workflows, and some of her outside (geeky) pursuits.

 

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Show Notes & Links

• Tekzilla
• Hak5
• TWiT Network, Before You Buy, Coding 101
• Shannon worked at Domino’s Pizza
• Producer duties include “making sure everyone is having a good day.”
• “The Producer Mentality”, not always a great thing
• Sheryl Sandberg and her problem with the word “bossy”
• “I don’t like anything built on a base layer of chaos.”
• Shannon has a background in theatre and choir, rather than tv/media production
• “How the sausage gets made” aka “The recipe” for podcasting
• Ham Radio
• Prescott is obsessed with DIY Network and HGTV
• National Weather Service
• Garage/Hacker Mentality
• Shannon’s dad was a nerd and early computer guy
• Star Trek
• X-Files
• Previous episode with Ashley Milne-Tyte
• BBC Radio 4
• When Gmail is down
• The Slash Generation
• En-tre-pren-eur, hard for Shannon to pronounce
• Shannon is obsessed with Anime
• Sailor Moon
• Shannon is a coupon maven, who recently donated a cache of grooming products
• Hoarding, a pathology that might affect Prescott’s parents
• Zombie Apocalypse planning
• Prescott created a “Lucifer’s Hammer” wish list on Amazon
• Lucifer’s Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
• Hurricane Sandy
• LED Candle
• 1Password episode of Mac Power Users
• On a call with the cable company
• Weddings are hard, even for producers

Tools

• Google Apps
• Slate board
• Google Hangouts, for remote conversations
• Trello
• HTML format
• UpWrite Desk
• Keepass
• Lastpass
• 1Password for Mac and iOS
• info.xhead (RIP) from xhead software
• Wallet (RIP) after their founders were acqui-hired by Facebook

Techniques

• Divide duties and responsibilities to prevent overlap, chaos
• Write as if you’re speaking it. Practice until you get it.
• Record multiple takes into multiple cameras.
• Know yourself, and what type of employment best suits you.

Habits

• Keep the editors in mind when shooting video. Think of other people when you’re working.
• Make annotations and notes, even if they’re only for yourself
• Record all your passwords and other info in a password manager; back up the data file to an external drive (don’t trust the cloud only)
• Use 2-factor authentication for all your sites
• Wake up at a consistent time every morning
• Always have cereal!
• Dedicate certain days to specific aspects of your business, eg. recording day, editing day