Professional Membership(s): To be announced
Affiliation(s): To be announced
Alex describes the realization that he might actually be a
good producer as an epiphany. "I thought I would get
into producing as it is all about organizing things, and my
organizational skills are top-quality." Alex is a strong
believer in the four major management principles: POLC - planning,
organizing, leading & controlling; utilizing these principles
in all aspects of his everyday life.
He started out in the industrial sector after finishing a
mining trade certificate in Romania, Eastern Europe in the
late 80's. Alex completed his apprenticeship in the textile
industry, working alongside more than 10,000 employees on
the factory floor of a state run company. Alex's early migration
to Brisbane, Australia during the world Expo 88, brought him
closer to Movie World on the Gold Coast, where he virtually
witnessed its birth. Soon after his arrival in Australia,
Alex gained much experience in the packaging world, however
whilst working at St Regis Bates in Queensland (a subsidiary
of AMCOR Packaging), a sudden illness forced him out of employment.
This exit from the workforce allowed Alex to embark on a learning
crusade. He studied Information Technology for a year in 1994
at Queensland University of Technology, but found programming
harder than he originally anticipated. Alex then switched
to International Business the following year; however macro
and microeconomics proved uninteresting even when studied
under Professor Leighton, the former economics adviser to
then Prime Minister, Paul Keating. Alex had begun to show
more interest in Multimedia, during which time he was involved
in a multimedia consortium between Save $$ PC's, Export Access
(Mr. Stollar) / Daki Budtcha Records (Ade Kukoy) & Maroochy
Barambah (the first aboriginal to sing opera at Sydney Opera
House) Queensland University of Technology (multimedia lecturer
Sylvia Saints) and Queensland Arts. Unfortunately the consortium
was unsuccessful in applying for a grant offered by the Prime
Minister at the time, Mr. Paul Keating ($12mil for Arts).
Nevertheless, Alex felt it was one of the greatest projects
he ever worked on and was proud to be the instigator of such
an ambitious assignment.
By late 90's Alex had re-entered the workforce and proceeded
to work in a number of different fields. He began in the beverage
industry where held a numerous positions, progressing from
Mixer to Quality Control and then Production Manager. He was
involved in the manufacture of beverages by several companies,
including Berri range of fruit juices, Lipton range of teas
and Browns brand of juices. Alex then progressed to the pharmaceutical
industry where he was trained to the highest standards of
GMP and HACCP. Familiar with TGA Australia guidelines, FQS2000,
Woolworths Vendor Programme, ANZFA, Codex Alimentarius, US
pharmacopeias & British Pharmacopeias; Alex worked for
a number of reputable companies. During his time in the pharmaceutical
industry, Alex worked for a short stint at Pfizer (formerly
known as Pharmacia & UpJohn & Delta West WA) in Bentley
Technology Park WA, longer term at Herron Pharmaceutical at
Tennyson in Brisbane and New Product Development (NPD Pharmaceuticals)
in Brisbane. He then had a short stint in mineral production
in Queensland working for AUSMIN Pty Ltd, part of SAFE Group
of companies on the Gold Coast, where he was involved in setting
up a liquid manufacturing plant and development of the Viagrow
and helped improve some of the Alroc range of products.
After traveling back and forth between Queensland and Western
Australia, the lure of big money and personal reasons, meant
he finally resided in Perth, WA. Alex currently earns a living
through his involvement in smaller entrepreneurial affaires,
whilst generating capital through a number of small business
investments in the local WA market. Through this he endeavors
to raise some venture capital for his own mobile production
studio which is aimed at making TV commercials, investigative
documentaries and short movies for an international market.
However Alex's immediate attention is drawn to a new technology.
An encoding process by use of a new medium such as PodCasting
(iPod), DVB-H/S/C and DMB-T technologies that drive the market
for compression technologies, and DVB's advanced new systems
(DVB-S2, DVB-H) are now at the forefront of the applications
which will use new video codecs such as MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264)
and VC-1. These technologies are to be predominately used
in the future with the developments in these new coding schemes,
as they represent an ideal solution for the mobile TV market.
Alex gradually moved into small scale production, designing
mostly corporate logos, small scale DVD's and infomercials.
He then started working on a subcontracting basis, producing
low end affordable commercials and corporate videos or DVDs.
After finishing a film diploma at SAE Perth, he continued
to spend the majority of his spare time concentrating on production
work. His ambition is to develop a new generation PDV (Post
Production Digital & Visual Effects) company which will
be primarily concerned with the treatment of vision and sound
after it has been filmed; a cornerstone for the Australian
film and television industry.
Alex enjoys all the projects he has been involved with for
different reasons. "Commercials are great because I get
to see them either on plasma screens in corporate meetings
or on TV screens, perhaps one day even on the air and I can
tell people - 'Oh I helped make that….' which can always
be very exciting. But corporate videos are really interesting
because I get to experience different things and it involves
a number of marketing people and other professionals. I get
to do things other people cannot even imagine. I have been
up in the air flying above the coastal area of Perth and Brisbane
while filming, enjoying the fantastic river and city's aerial
and panoramic views. I get to see a lot of things that the
public don't get to see."
Alex began producing in mid-2006 and admits he still has a
lot to learn. "It's extremely beneficial for me to see
how the post-production side of things work. I have the opportunity
to learn from my colleagues and fellow editors in the video
edit studios and ask questions. But whenever I think I have
got a grasp on certain techniques or post-production tricks,
new technologies will be introduced. I end up laying the tracks,
chop it up, apply the cool effects, sound and graphics; and
then end up getting new software or new technology. New glitzy
software and advanced technology or the latest digital equipment
makes producing interesting as there always is something new
to update or to explore. I don't think I will ever know it
all, which is amazing."
In such a dynamic industry, it is necessary to embrace new
software and technologies to remain at the forefront. Alex
endeavors to be up to date with the latest state-of-art technology,
which also aids in planning projects and enables him to provide
a better outcome to his clients.
Dealing with clients and their demands proves to be Alex's
biggest challenge; although, at the same time it creates a
huge desire and ambition to fulfill their dreams and visions.
"If I get a new client who has never made (filmed) a
video promo or infomercial-commercial before, I need to explain
how the whole process works which makes me a little bit anxious
because I want to make it right. However, when I see the excited
look on their faces, I'll relax and begin to enjoy it. Even
better than this is when I show a client the "draft preview"
or the "final" production and they exclaim 'Oh that's
beyond belief. It's fantastic!'. This really blows me away
and sends a shiver down my spine. Days like that make me feel
really good about myself. If I'm dealing with someone who
has been through the experience before, I become edgy. Expectations
are high on their part, which can make the team uncomfortable,
meaning things sometimes go wrong. I find it's like being
analyzed under a microscope; every move is scrutinized."
For the past decade Alex has wanted to be a producer; making
TV promos, musical videos, investigative documentaries, short
movies and series for television, in particular about his
own life. Alex has lived in many socio-political eras; from
his current democratic free lifestyle in Australia through
to two decades spent in the pre-communist era witnessing social
injustices, persecutions, genocide and food shortages. Alex
often had to queue for many long days and nights in sub zero
temperatures for a mere loaf of bread, bottle of milk, eggs,
oil or sugar. Faced with threats and intimidation by the Securitate
(Romanian state security forces), Alex and his family were
forced to learn Marxist ideologies and the Russian language.
Racial discrimination became a part of everyday life due the
fact he spoke his mother's native language (Hungarian) and
because of his Germanic roots.
Although baptized Catholic from birth by his own parents,
Alex witnessed the religious changes and disagreements within
his own estranged family, who were most times at odds with
the "born again" ideology and practices that were
not kept or maintained by the followers within his family.
Despite this, he made some of the toughest decisions of his
life; such as moving away from his only living parent, his
mother, due to the friction caused by this issue. Alex's parents
were divorced when he was three years old. This has had a
massive impact on his life; which he still bears the scares
of these days.
The family tree goes a long way back. Alex is the great-grandson
of a wealthy industrialist (pre-communist era of 1945), whose
great grandfather was appointed by the king himself, Carol
I (a bloodline of the Hohenzollerns - ref: Austrian Hapsburgs
Empire), as the main chief financier of one of the Romanian
railway networks (CFR) near Târgu Lapus, in the northern
district of Maramures. This is the place where he was destined
to build the first railway lines to link the north of the
country with the south; which he ended up, in part, personally
financing for the benefit of the people in this region. The
family used to own a marble mine near Tirgu Lapus, however
their proof of ownership "disappeared" after the
communists came to power. There were speculations that the
papers were burnt by one of his own grandchildren for fear
of facing persecution for being a wealthy aristocrat; but
no-one knows for certain. It is clear, however, that the family's
wealth was later confiscated during the communist era, under
the so-called socialist propaganda of state wealth 'appropriation'.
During this time, Alex's family endured years of humiliation
and hard labour. His grandfather, a reputable surgeon, started
his career in the capital city Bucharest, at a hospital called
"Spitalul Brâncovenesc". Nowadays all that
remains is the remnants of a demolished hospital (since the
60's or 70's) that once existed in the city's capital. Later,
Alex's grandfather moved the city of Arad near the Banat region,
and then moved again to the northern part of Transylvania,
in the Maramures region. It was here that the whole clan settled
after enduring many years of political torment, intimidation
and reprisal, pushing and shoving by the communist government's
policy of "population ethnic blending" as it was
required back then.
Alex's other grandfather, from the mother's side, spent years
in the Russian gulags as a prisoner of war after being taken
away from his land and family in Western Romania. Russian
forces targeted him because he was a 'Magyar Hussar' and sent
him to one of Europe's most arduous hard labour concentration
camps in the Urals Mountains in Siberia where he almost starved
to death, eating just salt and water to try and survive.
Alex's mother Eleonora, also known as Nora, held a range of
white collar jobs ranging from salary/pay clerk through to
working as an interpreter and translator in Brisbane where
she was Commonwealth accredited NAATI. Nowadays Nora is retired
although she still does the occasional job whenever it is
required.
His father, Alexandru-Tiberiu, passed away in 2002 after battling
a long illness. An electrical draftsmen and occasional architect,
Alexandru-Tiberiu guided his son into manhood, teaching him
the many aspects of real life. He served in the army as a
communication officer; therefore was quick to enforce disciplinary
actions even at home. This meant it was a rather strict and
well conformed upbringing for Alex. Alex admits his father
was an intelligent, yet authoritarian person and that he misses
him immensely. "May he rest in peace!"
Back to a happier thoughts…….
"A lot of people who work in production are really passionate
about it. I am not sure exactly why that is; perhaps it's
because of the medium. But producing is just what I have always
wanted to do." Although Alex knew that he wanted to be
a producer, he knew he had to gradually work his way into
the role. "The first step is to take on any job or subcontract
work that may arise related to the big screen or television.
Even if it means that I have to start off with small jobs,
such as designing company logos and text based advertisements,
or even if I am simply in a secondary or assistant role."
Alex's advice for getting into pay TV or cable television
producing is based upon his own experiences from entering
other industries and certain past productions. "You just
can't start off being a producer. You basically start as an
observer and then you move on to become the production assistant,
doing whatever jobs need to be done. In order to succeed it
is necessary to get as much experience as possible, be incredibly
enthusiastic and have no airs and graces. It's all about initiative
and attitude."
The hard work will one day pay off for Alex.
As 'The Producer and Principal', Alex Schiller, is pleased
to announce that as of 1st July 2007, the businesses of Schiller
Production (a subdivision of Indoor Outdoor Promotions &
Services) and ColourTape merged and commenced trading as ColourTape
2 BluRay.
ColourTape 2 BluRay is a specialist
professional and highly experienced digital video production
company with a fully integrated & comprehensive in-house
facilities enabling programmes to be produced on Broadcast
or Non-Broadcast formats. It will remain committed to completing
programmes in the shortest possible time and within an affordable
budget.
For nearly thirty years the business prided itself on quality
control, professionalism and overall excellence. ColourTape
2 BluRay will continue to provide our diverse clientele,
the same quality services, with a wider range of specialist
pre & post production services essential and needed by
our rapidly changing market demands driven by constant technological
changes in the new age digital era that is becoming more and
more appealing to a younger demographic group.
On the production side there are plans to produce a few DVD
titles based around a lower rated cooking show called "Mariana's
Cooking: Austral-Asian Cooking with a touch of Europe".
These DVDs aim to show how Eastern European culinary dishes
can be altered by adding a small touch of Asian style cooking.
Alex then plans to create some documentaries, mockumentaries,
and is contemplating creating a cartoon animation later in
the year with affiliated overseas partners. He also aims to
produce a European-Downunder adventure film, and an action
packed adventure film titled "Holy Grail Downunder",
which is scheduled for pre-production towards the end of 2008.
Keep checking the main web page for future updates.
Alex always maintained that, "One of the key things
to being a successful producer is people skills. You need
to be able to get the best out of people and manage them effectively.
If you get a good team around you then your job is easy. To
be a good team they have to be a happy team, so if I work
on this the rest will almost take care of itself."
Apart from 'big screen' productions, Alex in seeking a video
pre and post production position in the petro-chemical or
mining industry as a visual inspector. As he is already able
to use non-linear editing software packages and due to his
past studies Alex should be able to quickly adapt and learn
the use of bore or fiber scopes, conventional pipes or rail
inspection cameras, submersible cameras, high speed cameras,
submersible remote operated vehicles, working channel cameras,
Roller Cams, Pan & Tilt and tank & vessel cameras.
Alex's qualifications include competency certification in
Robotics (Level I) obtained at Perth's Advanced Training
Manufacturing Centre [ATMC] and also CNC (Level I). He is
also a former holder of the nationally accredited MARCSTA
ticket and Mines Health surveillance, Drug & Alcohol Test,
Senior 1st Aid Certificate and is licensed to operate a 10
ton forklift.
For Trade Resume enquiries please do not hesitate to request
one via email from: alexschiller@hotmail.com.
Alternatively, a power point preview of his certifications
and diplomas can be requested via email.
