Creating an Educational Cooking Show – Lights, Cameras, Set

There was one impediment to getting going on pre-production. I hadn’t told my wife my brilliant idea!

Those of you who have a partner in life – and those of you who don’t will learn very quickly – your bright, can’t miss idea, with high probability, will not be seen by your partner in the same glowing bright light!

More than likely it will be met by your partner with one of the following quandaries vociferously expounded:

“You wanna do what?”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“And how much will that cost us?”

And the ultimate negative statement being: “You’ll be doing that over my dead body!”

At this juncture of one’s pending project it’s best to take a step back. This is best done before presently one’s idea. Perhaps a few moments of planning are needed. Enough planning that is to take your project from the idea stage to the concept stage.

This will involve the use of a pencil and paper. I suggest a pencil because an eraser will most likely be necessary. Employing that old adage here, what one is trying to do is get one’s ducks in order.

This will be a novel idea to most men. This of course is a principle well known by the ladies. It’s genetic.

A further suggestion is not to be doing this planning in front of one’s partner. This will tend to attract attention. I suggest doing this planning behind a closed door, such as in the garage, the tool shed or during one’s pensive time in the bathroom.

Simple as this sounds I found planning quite a challenge. The challenge being on two fold.

1. Who would be my market?
2. What character would I play?

Taking a look at the market first. I figured I’d have to play to a market I knew.

I ruled out kids. I didn’t believe that I would be funny enough to keep their attention. However, ten percent of our viewers are young ladies ages eleven to seventeen.

I thought maybe college-aged individuals. But would they have the time and the interest to do the shopping for ingredients. Or do they survive on spam, grilled cheese sandwiches and Kraft dinner with lots of ketchup? Ten percent of our viewers are in the seventeen to thirty-five age limit.

With much contemplation I finally settled on my market.

I aimed the site and recipes on the foolish forty-something man, who had left his wife and home and half his business for the twenty-something secretary. Now the secretary had left him taking his car, boat, ATV and most of the rest of the business.

Hence he was now living in one room in a boarding house with a two burner hot plate/cooker, a microwave, a counter-top oven and a beer fridge with no beer in it!

Surprisingly . . . that was precisely the market I got in the beginning!