The end of 1993 would be a pivotal time for CNET. We would move our headquarters from NY to San Francisco, we would join forces with Kevin Wendle Productions, start work on producing real pilots for television shows and still be no farther along in figuring out where the shows might actually air. This was the classic build it and they will come strategy, but even with that it would be a much longer and more painful journey than we thought.
Late summer of 1993 I ran into my friend Robin Fisher from Big Fish Marketing. She said she’d been working with Brandon Tartikoff and gave me a creative brainstorming project for a David Letterman promo. When the project wrapped she mentioned meeting a marketing person from NY that was working on a computer focused cable network. She knew I was a fan of tech and encouraged me to call Bettina Cisneros, “Time is of the essence they’re meeting lots of producers in LA”. I worked with Kevin Wendle Productions as Creative Producer and was busy with The WB Television Network branding project...I wasn’t sure I should load more on my plate so I put off calling Bettina.
Interesting projects always passed through Kevin’s Beverly Hills office. Ironically, just weeks after Robin recommended calling Bettina, Kevin and Producer Dan Baker met with Halsey Minor. Dan asked Halsey what his next meeting was. He said, “It‘s with a television creative company because if we’re going to have a 24 hour cable network we’ll need great creative”. Immediately Dan said we have our own Creative Producer on staff you should see his reel. Early in the reel Halsey saw an image promotion for CNN Business that he’d seen on-air, he didn’t look at the rest of the reel. He just kept asking me questions on how the CNN Business spot was created. Bettina and I finally met at the COMDEX launch event as Kevin Wendle had signed on to produce 4 pilots for CNET. Starting my amazing adventure with CNET in October of 1993.
Late summer of 1993 I ran into my friend Robin Fisher from Big Fish Marketing. She said she’d been working with Brandon Tartikoff and gave me a creative brainstorming project for a David Letterman promo. When the project wrapped she mentioned meeting a marketing person from NY that was working on a computer focused cable network. She knew I was a fan of tech and encouraged me to call Bettina Cisneros, “Time is of the essence they’re meeting lots of producers in LA”. I worked with Kevin Wendle Productions as Creative Producer and was busy with The WB Television Network branding project...I wasn’t sure I should load more on my plate so I put off calling Bettina.
Interesting projects always passed through Kevin’s Beverly Hills office. Ironically, just weeks after Robin recommended calling Bettina, Kevin and Producer Dan Baker met with Halsey Minor. Dan asked Halsey what his next meeting was. He said, “It‘s with a television creative company because if we’re going to have a 24 hour cable network we’ll need great creative”. Immediately Dan said we have our own Creative Producer on staff you should see his reel. Early in the reel Halsey saw an image promotion for CNN Business that he’d seen on-air, he didn’t look at the rest of the reel. He just kept asking me questions on how the CNN Business spot was created. Bettina and I finally met at the COMDEX launch event as Kevin Wendle had signed on to produce 4 pilots for CNET. Starting my amazing adventure with CNET in October of 1993.