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It all started in Florida, when fitness
veteran Arthur Jones (founder of Nautilus corporation) hired
a young and energetic David Liskin to oversee the creation
of a massive new television complex. This gigantic, 5-stage
facility was truly of historic proportions. It was home to
the largest number of video tape recorders in a single facility,
in the world. Cameras, switchers, audio equipment, all of it
was first class. There were well over 100 employees, and such
an installation could accommodate any conceivable television
project.
Nautilus Studios indeed boasted a formidable
heyday of achievement, but its success did not last forever.
The influx of television business that was expected in Florida
did not materialize at a rapid enough rate to support such
a grand operation. Ultimately, its high overhead was too much
to support on the basis of Florida’s TV industry of the
day, and Nautilus had to close its doors. “I never wanted
to own equipment again”, remembers Liskin, vowing instead
to use his production skills in the future to create television
without the need to support his own facility.
From 1983 - 1986, he lead a small team
of dedicated professionals as they participated in creating
the then-new industry of consumer video programming for end
users. People were starting to get VCRs, as they were the first “video
on demand” medium in existence. The industry was still
relatively new, and the potential for consumers and professionals
to receive training, information and entertainment seemed endless.
The exacting skills he honed at Nautilus were just what his
clients needed to take full advantage of this new art, in contrast
to the sea of “cheap video” startups who had not
yet mastered it.
1986 saw the relocation of the company
to the San Francisco Bay area. For years we had been favoring
west coast production facilities for our projects, and the
move out of Florida seemed natural. We prospered through the
80’s
and into the turn of the decade.
By 1990, our business model had a very
clear direction. We were becoming a “darling” producer
for the high tech industry, particularly the many medical device
companies, sports medicine and those in the pharmaceutical
industry. There were many reasons they relied so heavily on
us.
These companies were trailblazers. Often,
their product (or even their company) was little more than
an idea. Our ability to harness the new world of 3D computer
animation to explain how these companies’ devices and
concepts would actually work, was the stuff of magic. We had
the innate ability explain very complex processes in the most
comprehensive manner possible. Our video productions gave
industry a new way to sell a product, raise capital, or even
take their company to Wallstreet. At the same time, the knew
their secrets were safe with LMA.
The proprietary nature of so many of our
projects made us begin to think about the wisdom of continuing
to operate in the less secure atmosphere of outside production
facilities. We were always cautious about the security of intellectual
property and had built our reputation on strict confidentiality.
We had to admit to ourselves that it would therefore be best
to build our own studio, reducing the likelihood of project
interruptions and creating the safest possible environment.
This new initiative came to fruition in
1991, when parallel efforts were coincidentally underway by
another television professional. The legendary football coach
and sports announcer John Madden was considering building a
video stage to serve as a location for fulfilling his ever
growing duties as a broadcaster and corporate sponsor. His “team” for
this new entity was not yet complete. He already had Doug Mann,
his engineer from Livermore CA for his “Ace Sports Quiz” and ”John
Madden’s Sports Calendar” syndicated radio shows.
Both of them were seeking an existing video company to make
the new studio complete, in order to avoid putting together
the whole video department from scratch. Fate was satisfied
when Madden found David Liskin, searching for roughly the same
thing. On November 1 1991, the Liskin Madden Associates stage
was finally open for business in Pleasanton.
The following months were a period heavy
of activity. The 3,000 square foot shooting stage, the largest
in the east bay, was outfitted with 80 feet of cyclorama and
a 16.5 foot lighting grid. A state of the art television control
room was installed to accommodate the full breadth of needs
from live TV, to advanced component video editing, audio sweetening,
graphics, and anything else that a full service production
facility would be required to provide. Plenty of whisper quiet
air conditioning was added to complement the famous coach’s
affinity for cold weather. LMA with Goalline, (the production
company for the "All Madden Team") began a new
era of technology and sports television production on solid
footing.
LMA and Goal Line both resided here as
independent but cooperative production entities. LMA and David
Liskin brought our years of experience in sports medicine,
music, medical and pharmaceutical video production capabilities,
along with a cherry-picked team of tradesmen. Joe Madden (John’s
son) managed Goal Line, and leveraged the “All Madden
Team” and the stage’s new capabilities to expand
into new territories.
Some people ask us whatever happened to
Jumbo Studios. The stage itself was emblazoned with a fancy
sign in front that said “Jumbo Studios”, in part
to convey the size of the facility but also as a testament
to the size of our optimistic goals. It also happened to be
the name of Joe’s dog at the time, a rather large bull
mastiff. There was really never an operational Jumbo company,
and today we simply call the stage what it is - LMA.
Today, LMA continues as one of the Bay
Area's top tier stages, and the largest video studio in Silicon
Valley and the East Bay with an integrated control room. Some
things have changed, but the most important thing stays the
same. We thank our customers for every opportunity we have
had to engage in quality work, well intended, and well executed.
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