Casting New Mining Series for Major Network

[Punchdrunk2015]

Hello All,

I hope this message finds you well! My name is Colin Sprague and I am a Developing Producer at Original Media Productions/Punchdrunk Development in Los Angeles. We are a multi-media production company behind shows such as Swamp People, Dual Survival, The Pool Master, the LA/NY/Miami Ink Series and award winning movies The Squid and the Whale and Half Nelson.

The reason I'm reaching out to all of you here is that I am in the very early stages of Developing a new mining series for a major television network. I'm trying to find a new way in to the mining space because, quite frankly, I think most mining series on air today follow the same format and ultimately end up relying on manufactured drama instead of portraying mining in an honest and accurate way. The goal is to develop a show that steers away from character drama and focuses more on the explorative, natural, and historical aspects of modern day mining. My hope is to find and cast a small company of prospectors, whether it be a group of friends or family, that are extremely passionate about finding gold and are willing to get into nature to find it.

If this sounds like a project that interests you, you have an idea about new ways into the mining television space, or you know someone who might be a good fit for something like this, please feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected]. I am happy to give more details and talk in depth about the series! In the meantime, feel free to check out Original Media, NYC, Los Angeles to get a sense of who we are and what shows we have produced in the past. I hope you all are well and I look forward to talking with some of you soon!

Wishing all you the best,

Colin Sprague
Associate Producer
Punchdrunk Development -- In association with Original Media
Original Media, NYC, Los Angeles

 

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[meMiner]

I wish you luck with your endeavor. If you successfully create such a show, I will certainly watch it. My recommendation is to do a little bit of research and find/reach out to the individuals that you find interesting or get into a mining area and talk directly to the experienced miners. I think you will find some really knowledgeable people with great skills and wonderful stories. Some are on the forums (just read their posts) and many are not. They will also be able to direct you to others.

 

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[Bejay]

It is often said that "people wanting to know" need to do research. However I would suggest finding a few miners that fit your concept and rely on a few as CONSULTANTS. Lots of us have been doing the small miner game for a very long time.

Brian

 

[Bonaro]

I really don't think some of you get it. You seem to discount the mining shows because they don't act the way real miners would. If you set a film crew crew on a successful commercial mining op it would make for damn boring film. I really could not care less if a show is scripted...it's entertainment! if scripting makes the show more entertaining then I will watch it.

Colin, Forget the negativity, you will get my email shortly.

 

[IdahoGoldGettR]

I really don't think some of you get it. You seem to discount the mining shows because they don't act the way real miners would. If you set a film crew crew on a successful commercial mining op it would make for damn boring film. I really could not care less if a show is scripted...it's entertainment! if scripting makes the show more entertaining then I will watch it.

Colin, Forget the negativity, you will get my email shortly.

REALLY? Say you. I beg to differ and so would the millions of viewers who have (and are watching) the Yukon Gold show as we speak. Apparently their Canadian production has not only been televised but if you want to see the 3rd season here in the good 'ole U.S.A., you got to pay for it on YouTube. What's that tell you about a so-called "boring successful commercial mining op?" You can have all the drama you want, script it any way you see fit but if you can't appeal to the social network with honesty, it will bite you in a$$. To top a show like the "Yukon Gold," you would have to find the right core who to this date is repeating history. And I mean working the grounds as they ounce did utilizing nothing but primitive hand tools, possibly steam engines or water wheels, and enduring such hardships that our "49er's" and their followers may have incurred. If you don't think that these libertarians do exist, you may be in for a real shocker.

 

[fowledup]

Anybody else remember Kurt Gowdy and the American Sportsman or Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom- that was way before TV got "Real" and exciting, our whole family loved those shows, actually everyone in the neighborhood young and old loved them. Only time you could get us kids back indoors, we never missed an episode growing up, it was an event not a show. Sure it was scripted, but in a far different way, not to sound overly cheesy but it was happy drama not dire straits, game changer, end of the world bs. Alas I rant! Those that know will understand!

 

[azblackbird]

Anybody else remember Kurt Gowdy and the American Sportsman or Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom- that was way before TV got "Real" and exciting, our whole family loved those shows, actually everyone in the neighborhood young and old loved them. Only time you could get us kids back indoors, we never missed an episode growing up, it was an event not a show. Sure it was scripted, but in a far different way, not to sound overly cheesy but it was happy drama not dire straits, game changer, end of the world bs. Alas I rant! Those that know will understand!

If I remember correctly the American Sportsman was on Saturday afternoon along with Wide World of Sports, and the Wild Kingdom was on Sunday night right after or before Wonderful World of Disney. As a kid I didn't get to watch much Saturday TV as I was always working, but come Sunday nights, Wild Kingdom and Disney were my must watch shows. Jim Fowler and Marlin Perkins were my inspiration for wanting a Rokon (2 wheel drive motorcycle) after seeing them riding in the Serengeti. Heck, I even tried to convert my bicycle into a 2WD, that's how infatuated I was.

Here's some footage from back in those days that started it all...

 

[Goldwasher]

Email sent

 

[Bonaro]

Ok you guys, here is the challenge. Go on youtube and search up a couple episodes of wild kingdom of wild world of sports. now sit there and watch at least 3 episodes and come back and tell me it was exicting and something you would go back and watch again. Fact is, they WERE good shows but now you have become accustomed to much more. If they STILL were good shows and popular to the masses, they would still be on the air....they are not. what you are feeling is only nostalgia.

The new "reality" shows are entertainment. You get your panties in a wad because they are scripted or not real but all that is irrelevant. They are not dramatic shows about mining, they are show about drama in a mining setting....get it?
You may like Yukon Gold but another may like Gold Rush all of them exist for one purpose only....entertainment. When they cease being entertaining to the masses you can find them on youtube along with wild kingdom

FYI - Archie Bunker was not a real person, he was an actor playing a racist bigot in a scripted show....but he was fun to watch, wasnt he?

 

[Medina Joe]

Ok you guys, here is the challenge. Go on youtube and search up a couple episodes of wild kingdom of wild world of sports. now sit there and watch at least 3 episodes and come back and tell me it was exicting and something you would go back and watch again. Fact is, they WERE good shows but now you have become accustomed to much more. If they STILL were good shows and popular to the masses, they would still be on the air....they are not. what you are feeling is only nostalgia.

The new "reality" shows are entertainment. You get your panties in a wad because they are scripted or not real but all that is irrelevant. They are not dramatic shows about mining, they are show about drama in a mining setting....get it?
You may like Yukon Gold but another may like Gold Rush all of them exist for one purpose only....entertainment. When they cease being entertaining to the masses you can find them on youtube along with wild kingdom

FYI - Archie Bunker was not a real person, he was an actor playing a racist bigot in a scripted show....but he was fun to watch, wasnt he?

YOU MEATHEAD

 

[fowledup]

Bonaro, your dead on with the nostalgia. But it's not the crappy color, cheesy, clothes, and weird voice over's from Marlin Perkins. Don't get me wrong I do love my HD and all the fixins. I just keep waiting for someone to do a show that catches on and brings back that, I don't know what ya call it- spirit, maybe. I want a show that entertains, educates, and impossible as it sounds, does what those shows did for us as youngsters- make today's kids drop their electronics and spend some time and interact with their families. We lost all that sense of adventure and wonder when "seeing was no longer believing".

 

[Red James Cash]

Once a camera is introduced,reality is no longer reality,it becomes staged,nothing more nothing less than FAKE.

 

[AzViper]

31 post have been made after this thread had been started. Colin Sprague has not been back. I suspected he would not be back. Came and gone like the wind... I suppose he did not like the replies if he was for real in the first place...

 

[Red James Cash]

Came and gone like the wind... I suppose he did not like the replies if he was for real in the first place...

What he didnt like and what he ran from was the truth
he was looking for a zombie to degrade themselves on tv to make a few bucks.

 

[Bonaro]

Bonaro, your dead on with the nostalgia. But it's not the crappy color, cheesy, clothes, and weird voice over's from Marlin Perkins. Don't get me wrong I do love my HD and all the fixins. I just keep waiting for someone to do a show that catches on and brings back that, I don't know what ya call it- spirit, maybe. I want a show that entertains, educates, and impossible as it sounds, does what those shows did for us as youngsters- make today's kids drop their electronics and spend some time and interact with their families. We lost all that sense of adventure and wonder when "seeing was no longer believing".

Fowledup, you and I are in the older generation and we like wild kingdom. Partly because it's interesting (to us) and partly for nostalgia. We (our generation) could not care less about who is the batchelor or how to keep up with a kardashian. For the same reason we dont watch Charloe Chaplin or Laurence Welk...but our parents did. EVERY SINGLE TV SHOW on the air today lives and dies by ratings. When few enough people are watching they are off the air and only found on you tube.

Shows like Gold Rush are frustrating for us because we know better, we are immersed in the industry and can easily spot all of the mistakes. Most of us can do better than those on TV...but we are a small group and the gold shows were not created to amuse only miners, they are aimed at the uninformed masses (ratings)
Go find a logger and ask him what he thinks about Ax Men
Go find a guy who runs an antique store and ask him what he thinks about American Pickers
Go find the owner of a pawn shop and ask about Pawn Stars....I think you know what you will hear, the same whimpering you hear from the miners that feel compelled to berate Gold Rush.

BTW - Wasnt it just last season that Gold Rush was the #1 most watched cable show on TV? Maybe there is something to it...

Sincerely,
Meathead

 

[mofugly13]

You are right on about how 'reality' shows are perceived by those who actually practice the subject matter. Go to homedistillers.com and see what they have to say about 'Moonshiners', go to any gunsmithing section of a shooting sports forum and see what they have to say about 'Sons of Guns', it's all meant to be entertaining, and to me, it certainly is.

 

[austin]

But guys, those shows are not aimed at US, they are for the general public, who will watch and enjoy them and then go buy whatever the sponsor might be selling. I enjoy whatever is on and I consider myself just part of the general public. We at TNet are given a chance to star in these and contribute to the script, but it is about appealing to a much wider audience...

 

[releventchair]

31 post have been made after this thread had been started. Colin Sprague has not been back. I suspected he would not be back. Came and gone like the wind... I suppose he did not like the replies if he was for real in the first place...

His avatar was logged in this morning. Likely reading posts.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I remind members that Mr Sprague is a member here and will be treated with the same respect as all other members....

Any violations of our rules towards Mr Sprague will not end well...

 

[Goodyguy]

Hello All,

I hope this message finds you well! My name is Colin Sprague and I am a Developing Producer at Original Media Productions/Punchdrunk Development in Los Angeles. We are a multi-media production company behind shows such as Swamp People, Dual Survival, The Pool Master, the LA/NY/Miami Ink Series and award winning movies The Squid and the Whale and Half Nelson.

The reason I'm reaching out to all of you here is that I am in the very early stages of Developing a new mining series for a major television network. I'm trying to find a new way in to the mining space because, quite frankly, I think most mining series on air today follow the same format and ultimately end up relying on manufactured drama instead of portraying mining in an honest and accurate way. The goal is to develop a show that steers away from character drama and focuses more on the explorative, natural, and historical aspects of modern day mining. My hope is to find and cast a small company of prospectors, whether it be a group of friends or family, that are extremely passionate about finding gold and are willing to get into nature to find it.

If this sounds like a project that interests you, you have an idea about new ways into the mining television space, or you know someone who might be a good fit for something like this, please feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected]. I am happy to give more details and talk in depth about the series! In the meantime, feel free to check out Original Media, NYC, Los Angeles to get a sense of who we are and what shows we have produced in the past. I hope you all are well and I look forward to talking with some of you soon!

Wishing all you the best,

Colin Sprague
Associate Producer
Punchdrunk Development -- In association with Original Media
Original Media, NYC, Los Angeles

Sounds like something I would be happy to be involved with, unlike other propositions I've been contacted for.

* MadJack_ME I would love to be on your short list of contacts as a potential crew member. After seeing you on the first season of Ice Cold Gold I know you and I are on the same page.

I also feel that I have a lot to bring to the table. Such as a great deal of natural character along with experience in all facets of prospecting/mining/geology as well as having my own small scale mining equipment such as trommel, dredges, highbankers, sluices, rock crushers, etc. (Pm sent)

Sincerely,
Goodyguy~

 

[huntsman53]

31 post have been made after this thread had been started. Colin Sprague has not been back. I suspected he would not be back. Came and gone like the wind... I suppose he did not like the replies if he was for real in the first place...

It is likely that he posted this Thread to get folks that are serious about such an undertaking to contact him via email and possibly PM. He likely never intended or plans to respond to any of the replies to his post! Why would he when a few of the replies offer constructive criticism and good ideas but the majority are either negative or sarcastic or both. Besides, he probably posted a similar or identical feeder Thread post on other Gold Prospecting Forum sites and probably does not have time to respond nor should he as any response would likely be met by more negative or sarcastic replies. He likely planned on and should only respond to the positive contacts made from the posting from the folks that have likely emailed him with interest in the project. I could be wrong about why he has not responded but if I were Mr. Sprague and I posted such a Thread, that is exactly what I would do!


Frank