Silverado Happenings

We've got some really cool things going on at Silverado right now - unfortunately, I can't give specifics on most of them but will do the best I can.  On January 2nd, we increased our staff by over 30%!  This brought our staff total from 3 to 4   =)  Erik Espera joined the team to take over the Studio division of the company.  Erik is easily one of the top 5 editors in the Sacramento Region and a HUGE addition to the team.  He brings over 14yrs experience to table and as done some amazing work.  We're thrilled to have him.

Speaking of Post and editing, here's a shot of our editing suite:

Right now it's mainly used for color correction due to the fact that we have a Mortgage Company on one side and a Financial Planner on the other.  They tend not to appreciate wall shaking sound like we do . . .  It's a great suite though - eCenima Display, Tangent CP100 Panel, couple of decks (HDCAM, HDV, DVC Pro) and a 42" Panasonic Plasma on the wall.  Final Cut Studio 2 for our NLE running on an 8-Core Mac Pro.  We've recently added an LTO-3 deck for archiving and will be getting a Scratch system from Assimilate any day now for support of a full range of RED formats and resolutions to full 4k.

We're growing like crazy and are continuously looking for a location that will allow us to expand. I'm absolutely ecstatic about what lies ahead for Silverado - I'll post more details about current projects as they become available.

TB

Happy New Year

What better time to start a blog than the first day of a new year.  After years of good intentions, I'm finally becoming a "blogger."  I think I may be one of the last people on earth to not have my own Blog - just like I was the last person to get a MySpace page (which I had for all of about two weeks before realizing how much I hate MySpace).  Anyhow, this Blog is going to be dedicated to two of my passions in life: Snow & Technology.  Yes I'm passionate about my family but my wife has had a Blog about the Berry Family for about two years now and she's doing a far better job than I could ever do.  You can check it out at HERE. 

 2007 was an interesting year for the us.  Full of all kinds of highs and lows.  I started the year in the Mortgage Business.  I became a licensed loan office back in late 2003 where I worked for a company called Fidelity Capital Lending.  It was a great place and I have lots of good friends over there.  Things started out well and I went from making a small income while going to school to making a great income working full time.  Things happened fast then, we had our first child, Hailee, and bought our first house in Folsom all in the same month!  Things were good in 04 & 05.  In early 2006 the market began to change ever so slightly and I began to see a decline in business.  

By mid 2006 I was still doing pretty good but had a sinking feeling that things were about to change . . .  In December one of my favorite banks closed there doors which marked the beginning of the end for me.  I was waiting for loan docs for some clients of mine purchasing their first home.  We were a good 30 days into the transaction and all that was left was to sign loan docs which were guaranteed to me by 12pm that day.  We had a 6pm signing scheduled to close the deal.  Noon came along . . . no docs.  Called the bank and was told they were in a meeting and that I would have my docs by 3pm - still enough time for me to review and get them signed at 6pm.  3pm came and went . . . still no docs.  I called again but this time no answer.  Try again at 3:30 . . . no answer.  Try at 4pm . . . no answer.  Try again at 5:00, 5:15, 5:30 . . . Panic!  Finaly at 5:45 my inside account rep called me from her cell phone and said, "I'm not supposed to be calling anyone but wanted to let you know - we're closing our doors and NOT honoring our pipeline.  You'll have to find a loan somewhere else . . . "  Wha?  800 people lost their jobs that day with less than 4 hours notice.  I found another loan for my clients but that was the writing on the wall.

From there the banks dropped like flies . . . New Century, BNC, First Magnus, Greenpoint . . . These were some big name banks that no one thought in a million years would be gone so quickly.  Messages like this were a dime a dozen . . .

New Century went from having almost 2 billion in assets to closing their doors and filing BK in less than a year.  They are the poster child for poor decision making in the subprime arena.  HERE's a great timeline of their demise.

In March of '07 I left Fidelity and went to work for Masters Team Mortgage.  I can't say enough good things about these people!  Love them all!  I was a loan officer there for about 3 months before becoming Broker of Record due to some unforeseen circumstances.  Even though I was with great people at a great new company, my business was still floundering.  I began to realize I was never really passionate about the business but more so the checks that came in early on.  I decided it was time for a change and in July I decided to go back to doing something I really loved . . . working with Macs.

Through a few random events I met Torrey Loomis, President of Silverado Systems, Inc.  I can't describe what a perfect match this company is for me.  So far, in the 6 short months I've been there, I've had the opportunity to work on projects for clients like NBC and NASA, work with ground-breaking technology like the RED cameras, dine with the most sought after action director in Hollywood and most of all, work with Macs on a daily basis.  What a breath of fresh air!

So, there's a not so brief look at where I'm coming from.  The rest of this blog will be dedicated to current goings-on at Silverado and Snowboard adventures with me and my buddies.  OR this will be the only post I'll do and my blog will end up like my MySpace page . . . . I guess we'll see!

TB