The Making of a Film Production Company: Warm Springs Productions

Keep an eye on Warm Springs Productions and the TV series this film production house makes in the coming years. The company swept away three awards at the Golden Moose Awards presented by Outdoor Channel this year. This makes yet another addition to the recognition WSP has received in only its fourth year in business.

Most recently WSP won “Best Overall Series,” for Benelli Presents Duck Commander and “Best Graphics” and “Best Sound Design” for Buck Commander Protected By Under Armour at the 2012 Golden Moose Awards presented at SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first year the company was in business (2008), they took five of the 10 golden moose awards they were nominated for.

I spoke to Warm Springs Productions President Chris Richardson about the Montana company’s exponential growth since its founding in 2008.

“We had visions of success but, growing this quickly has been a unique experience,” said Richardson. WSP started out at a four-person operation in a tiny office that went on to produce 78 episodes for seven television series last year as a full production house that does everything in-house; the pre-production, graphics, sound, post-production, filming, and so on.

Bridger Pierce, the Director of Operations & Senior Producer of Outdoor Programming was also on hand to discuss the company’s successes. He was excited about the talented people at the company that make success possible. “I think Chris and Marc [Pierce, CEO] have done a great job of hiring within the outdoor industry and from outside of it,” Pierce said. “It’s through that bringing together of a great crew that Warm Springs was able to continue raising the ceiling on outdoor television.”

After fifty to sixty days of filming, 700 hours of footage and two to three weeks editing time per episode, WSP finally had 12 episodes of Duck Commander to present to the Outdoor Channel. In that time the crew really bonded with the Robertson family, the stars of the series.

“We spent hundreds of days in Monroe and it’s hard not to just become part of their family,” said Richardson. “They make you feel at home even if you’re manning the swamps with them for 40 days in a row…. I call them my second family when I’m down there.”

Both Richardson and Pierce recall the unruly time schedule of filming – cameramen had to get up before the hunters, around 3 o’clock in the morning, and they couldn’t sleep until filming was over; often times after 11 p.m. But the challenges were worth it.

“We would shoot long hours,” Pierce said, “but the reality is that we’ve got such a great staff who are creative minded and really want to put the best product on TV and so every single one of them isn’t satisfied until we accomplish that.”

And to accomplish that it took 700 hours of footage, most of which ended up on the editing floor, to produce 12 episodes of Benelli Presents Duck Commander. In that time, one camera fell into the swamp and every day the crew faced the challenges of pouring rain, ice-cold waters, humidity, keeping batteries charged and the many Louisiana mosquitos that breed in its swamps.

And while WSP can’t reveal everything they’re working on before its officially announced, look for projects WSP is working on right now with the Discovery Science channel, the History Channel and the shows that are already in production like Buck Commander and Making Monsters set to air soon.

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Sustainability: Wildlife is the Model

“Sustainable” (insert your preferred commodity here) has become the new buzzword for anyone and everyone who wants to make a serious impact to help conserve our planet’s natural resources.

For example, sustainable energy development has become most prevalent in recent times. The energy currently being produced on wind farms and via solar energy has greatly raised the awareness among the general American public for the concept of “sustainable.” More so that the term “green,” “sustainable” reflects both the common-sense utilization of resources with the goals of decreasing human impact on the planet — while still maintaining growth in our U.S. and world economies.

I would like to reflect today on an often overlooked natural resource that offers a sustainability paradigm: our nation’s abundance of wildlife. Please let me explain. Wildlife species, like the North American Whitetail Deer, are currently estimated at all time highs in their population count, with some estimates suggesting there are over 25 million deer in the U.S. alone. By contrast, deer populations at the turn of the 20th century dipped as low as 500,000.

So, how does this relate to sustainability?

Every state’s wildlife resources agency manages wildlife populations to prevent the ravages of overpopulation – and the dangers that come with it, such as vehicular accidents. They generally allot a certain percentage of the state’s deer herd to be harvested by hunters. The state tightly regulates the number of deer harvested so as to not exploit the herd, thus allowing continued growth. Hunters pay substantial fees for hunting licenses in order to pursue deer; this money goes to support habitat conservation to further the management of the species. Sustainable Harvest.

All hunters are expected to utilize the meat and venison from their harvest. Through hunting, individuals are able to provide a high-protein, low fat food sources for their family and friends. Sustainable Locavorism.

Because deer populations are so high, hunters harvest more meat than they and their friends can consume. The venison, however, does NOT go to waste. Programs like Sportsmen Against Hunger and Hunters Feeding the Hungry help individuals donate ground venison to local food banks. Meals made from venison that hunters have provided over the last 10 years to those less fortunate number in the tens of millions. Sustainable Giving.

Sustainable practices have long been a tradition of American culture, however only now has such a definition like “sustainable” being given to it. For wildlife and those that pursue game species, sustainability is the key to providing a true vale on the individual animal. Not only is the hunter gaining a valuable meat from the animal, but others within the community can realize the important role wildlife and hunting play to provide food to those less fortunate. Establishing a value that wildlife, in very real and tangible terms, helps feed others, encourages better and more productive management of these animals in the future.

Hunters have helped increase wildlife populations while putting hundreds of millions of dollars into conservation, and have provided hundreds of millions of healthy, organic meals for their families and the less fortunate in the process. If this is not the definition of sustainable, then I don’t know what is.

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Late Season Oklahoma Bow Hunting

As the sun set on the Western horizon, my wife Beth, cameraman Hunter, and I still had six more hours of driving to do. Traveling through Mississippi, the miles couldn’t move fast enough to the Oklahoma border. We were headed to hunt the Okie state for the first time and couldn’t be more excited for a late season bow hunt.

Arriving after midnight, we quickly found our beds so we could start off first thing in the morning. As daylight came the deer movement began. Since hunting over feeders is legal in the state, and late season food sources are a strong necessity to get a shot, we were going to use these to our advantage. Beth was hunting the top of a ridge and not long after being in the stand she had deer coming in. After the first few came in to feed, a nice buck followed but never offered Beth a clear shot.

Setting up just off a food plot on a hardwood creek bottom, I saw a few deer after first light, none large enough to shoot or close enough. Suddenly I saw a nice buck trotting across the plot. He was heading away and I decided to blow my grunt call. With a few short tending grunts, the buck stopped and headed straight for us! He came in on a string to the call and stopped at 15 yard…right behind a tree! Standing there looking, the buck knew something wasn’t right and trotted back up the ridge and out of bow range. Talk about a great start to the trip!

The afternoon was also slow for me, only seeing a doe with two yearlings, but Beth was wrapped up on a food plot with deer. She saw several bucks that were nice and a couple of shooters. None offered her a shot on the first afternoon though.

When morning two began we awoke to rain, which isn’t a good combination for video gear or bows for the most part. We decided to tough it out in ground blinds, we normally hunt in Ghostblinds but in the rain we needed cover for the video cameras. Sitting in the blind as daylight approached we watched the woods come alive on the top of a hardwoods ridge. With the acorns long gone, the only food available was the feeder setup 15 yards away. Several does and yearlings along with one small-racked buck came in to feed then eased back down the ridge. I thought to myself that the rain was setting in harder and the deer would stop their moving for the morning when I looked to our right and a buck was coming up the ridge. Checking him out with my Hawke binoculars, he was a nice eight with a broken rack. As I looked at him, a giant eight point walked into view. This buck had it all: mass, tine length, width, and height.

Quickly I told Hunter there was a shooter coming in and to get ready with the camera. I clipped my release on my loop and readied myself for the shot. The bigger buck came right in and began feeding. I slowly drew by my bow and anchored for the shot. Gently touching the trigger, my arrow released and I hear a loud thwack and watched the buck hit the ground right there! What happened? The chair I was sitting in was a little low in the blind so after I released the arrow, my fletchings clipped the edge of the blind window just enough to kick my arrow up. Luckily my Muzzy plowed the deer’s spine and dropped him right there. After a follow up shot the buck was done. Was I lucky or the buck just unlucky? I will never know, but I had my Oklahoma tag filled!

Beth was back on the same food plot she hunted the afternoon before and again had encounters with a couple nice bucks with no luck. She was looking for her first deer with a bow and was doing all she could to contain herself. She finally had a nice eight point in range and drew back on him only to have a doe walk in the way and she was never able to get a shot off. Over the next three days she saw plenty of deer but no shooters to get an arrow towards. As dark fell on the last afternoon, I asked her if she wanted to give it one more try the next morning before we had to head home. Her answer, “I didn’t pay all this money for a tag to eat it!” She learned from me many times that tag sandwiches don’t taste good!

The last morning she climbed in the stand well before daylight and was ready. The morning was fairly slow then two bucks came in to feed. One was a real nice eight point, and on the last day she wasn’t giving any a pass! She drew back her Elite bow, anchored and placed her pink Muzzy right behind the buck’s shoulder at 31 yards. Beth had just filled her tag and arrowed her first ever deer with a bow, a nice eight point on top of all that!

There is nothing like spending time in the woods with the ones you love. Getting to share Beth’s first bow kill with her was very special and hopefully the first of many to come. She never hunted before meeting me, I don’t know if I’ve created a monster or not but she straight loves the outdoors and filling her tags as much as I do. I know I’m blessed for sure!

Until next time, God bless and good hunting.

Gear list:

• Bow: Elite Pulse (Michael) Elite GT500 (Beth)
• Rest: QAD Ultrarest HD (Michael and Beth)
• Sight: Spot-Hogg Hogg-It (Michael and Beth)
• Broadhead: Muzzy MX-3 ,100 grain (Michael), Muzzy 100 grain 3 blade Pink (Beth)
• Fletchings: Bohning Blazer vanes (Michael and Beth)
• Optics: Hawke Frontier ED 43mm (Michael and Beth)
• Release: Scott Quick Shot (Michael), Scott Little Goose (Beth)
• Scent Eliminator: Lethal Field Spray (Michael and Beth)
• Attractant: Muzzy Bowhunter Setup (Michael and Beth)
• Camo: Realtree APG by Gamehide (Michael and Beth)
• Safety Vest: Hunter Safety System Pro Series (Michael and Beth)
• Pack: Gameplan Gear Spot N Stalk (Michael and Beth)
• Stablizer: X-Factor Outdoors System (Michael and Beth)
• Boots: Lacrosse Alpha Burly in Realtree APG (Michael and Beth)

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