"Making Peanuts the New Normal"

Welcome back and we hope you and yours celebrated a wonderful and safe holiday season.
If you're a gadget or electronics guru, then you know this was the "week of wonder" at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. All type of new and innovative gadgets were on display, from smart watches to a drone large enough to actually fly one person (up to 275 lbs, I think) on pre-programmed flight! Delivering my Amazon order is one thing, but I'm not sure I want the person who processed my order to arrive with it!

However, the CES also marks another important time. This week is when business in Hollywood will start returning to normal. Though, we'll still have to wait until Monday as everyone is too concerned with Sunday night's "Golden Globes Awards" show to think of mundane business.

The beginning of the new year should be a bright signal to all of us to look to ourselves and what we can and will do to make this new year better than the past one. As I titled this post, "Nothing is the new normal!" Too many people are satisfied with what was, whether it was good, bad or somewhere in between. They postulate, "If it was good enough for me last year, it should be good enough for me now!" Now, where would be at this moment, if everyone held that same thought?

I for one, do not believe it's true. While it's true that there are many factors within our various environments that we cannot control, there are still plenty that we can. And the very first one starts with ourselves. 

We must ask our self, "What can I do, see, learn, experience, etc. that will help me improve my life? Do I need to do it at home? At work? Socially?" My view it is all of the above.

Just because we graduated high school, college, graduate school, accreditation for this or that, it does not mean that we have stopped learning or that we can afford to stop learning. We must strive to learn every day. We must strive to be a better person every day. We must strive to reach out and help someone every day. We must strive to be a better father, mother, spouse, son, daughter, etc. 

If we do not do this we become stagnant and stale like moldy old bread and what good is moldy old bread? 

So, take a look in the mirror and ask the person you see what he/she suggests as a starting point to improving you and your life and the lives of those around you. And remember one very important fact - the person in the mirror never lies!

Now, back to show business - What I've written above applies to show business as well. If you read any sort of decent TV magazine, i.e. "TVGuide," you'll see a roster of many of the new shows that are coming on, during what's called, "mid-season." That's right about now, where they plug in new shows to replace the ones from this past Fall that failed in ratings. You will be amazed at the crap that networks are planning to out on the air. And that is why we at Dalmatian Productions, Inc. and Cause and Origin Productions, LLC, are working so hard to bring our show to television. But it is a very hard row to hoe! It's not about what you know, rather it's about who you know. You can have the greatest idea for a new TV show, but if you don't have a connection to get it in front of the right person, it will remain just that, an idea.

With Hollywood getting back to business this week, so are we. We are pulling out all the stops, favors, etc. to get "Cause & Origin" in front of the right people. We are very fortunate to see our Twitter accounts soaring, with almost 1,200 followers @DalmatProd and over 300 @CAUSE_ORIGIN. But that doesn't mean we have enough. We don't! As a matter of fact, we're not even close!

We need to generate thousands, even tens of thousands of followers on Twitter. Hollywood is all about numbers. For example, advertisers' prime interest in TV viewers are men and women, ages 18-49, in general. Networks want to have an idea that a new show will attract millions of viewers before they have ever created a pilot! Here's an example:

Several years ago there was an excellent TV show called, "Jericho." It did very well in the ratings for about three years and then the network decided to cancel it. The millions of fans didn't like that idea. So they (and yes, I was one too!) started an online campaign to convince the network to keep the show on, at least long enough to tie up the loose ends of story lines. In one script, the concept of peanuts came up to signify displeasure. With that, fans of the show purchased and shipped to the networks head office in New York City, thousands upon thousands of pounds of peanuts! Each day, multiple shipments of peanuts arrived via the Post Office, UPS, FedEx, couriers, etc. Finally, the network caved and produced an additional seven episodes to close the show.

That's what we need!! NO...NO...Not peanuts! We need that type of support to help us get this show in front of a network, any network from NBC to Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. And that will be generated by increasing our Twitter numbers. We are so blessed that so many fire and rescue departments have followed us. We are also blessed that so many of our career brothers and sisters who belong to a local IAFF lodge, support us. So what's the problem? Each lodge or each department only counts as ONE follower. What we need is every member of the lodge, every member of the department who uses social media, needs to add their voice to support our show. So please, pass the word around. Tell your co-workers about the show. Tell your friends about the show. Ask them to follow us on Twitter, or find us on Facebook (Dalmatian Productions, Inc) and leave a comment. They can also send us an email to info@causeandorigin.tv.

We want to be inundated with Followers the way that network was flooded with peanuts! 

Finally, we close with a solemn salute to our 85 brothers and sisters who answered their final alarm in 2015. They paid the ultimate price to serve their friends, neighbors and communities. We pray that the souls will be bound up in the Bond of Life and that the memories of the love for their families and their dedication to their department will serve as a blessing to all who knew and loved them. May they rest in Peace.

The Strength That Comes From Remembering....Plus More on the Show!

This evening, my mind is still stuck on, "yesterday.." I just landed in Philadelphia. I'm here for a dual purpose. Our older daughter lives here, where she works for the Philadelphia Zoo. She also works at a synagogue in Bucks County several times a month. Several weeks ago she called with a predicament. The man who normally chants the service (cantor) had been ill and had undergone surgery. In and of itself, that isn't critical. However, they did not think he would be well enough to assist in leading the prayers for the Jewish High Holidays that begin tomorrow evening and would she be willing to lead them.

The predicament? While she can lead prayers on any Sabbath or one of the three major festivals, she did not know the melodies required for the very special holidays. "But," she explained to the Rabbi, "My father has been doing it for over forty years!" After a little negotiating, etc. I agreed and now, not only am I chanting the services, but I am doing with with my daughter! And... even better is that our younger daughter is coming in from NYC as well. We will be blessed as we celebrate together and pray that we are written and inscribed in the Book of Life for a good, healthy and prosperous year in the new Jewish year that begins this weekend, 5776.

So, yesterday was an extremely important day for many families. However, there we not looking at a joyous reunion as we are, for their reunions would only be those of them with the memories, photos, and videos of their loved ones who were lost in the attacks of 9-11. And we, we the links for those families to their loved ones. For every flag hoisted, every step climbed. every salute, we all helped to build a bridge for each of those families; a bridge that linked one generation to the next. To that end, I spent several hours, hitting, "Favorite," and "Retweet" to every tweet posted relating to 9-11. There were hundreds and eventually, I lost count. But they were there, as were we.and as we will be for every year that marks this tragedy, as long as the good Lord gives us the breath to do so! We vow as one, "Never Forget!"

 Now, a little more on the show. The other reason that I am in Philly is to attend our first meeting on Tuesday the good people from the Greater Philadelphia Office for Film and Television. We worked briefly with this office back in 1999-2000, when we were shooting the two original pilots for "America's Heroes: The Men & Women if Fire Rescue." Now, all these years later, the office is instrumental in putting us together with the Fire Commissioner Sawyer of the Philadelphia Fire Department, the Philadelphia Police Department and other city departments that will have to be pulled together to allow us to shoot a great pilot episode.

I wrote a few tweets earlier today, as people have been volunteering their assistance, and expertise, to help us with the show. I promise you, there will be a time in the not too distant future when we will call upon all of you and many, many more to help us. 

As I've mentioned earlier, we will be using a crowdfunding platform to raise funds to allow us to produce this pilot. But that is still several weeks down the road. Right now, the best help you can offer is to start talking us up to your family, friends and coworkers. Tell them about our struggle for over twenty years to bring a show to television, that tells the real stories of the men and women of fire-rescue. Ask these people to log into our Twitter account and look for @DalmatProd.Tell them about this blog at bit.ly/DalmatProd and our website at bit.ly/Cause-Origin.

Is that it? Nope...not by a long shot. Here comes a very crucial area. We have been very, very lucky over the past few weeks, as we've watched the number of our Twitter followers to rise and rise. Not only that, but in those new followers are some of the best and brightest names in the fire service today; chiefs and officers, lecturers and instructors, and many more. 

Even though we will launch a crowdfunding campaign, we believe that the money needs to come from more than just Mr. & Mrs. John Smith. There are many, many commercial companies who manufacture and sell important products to the fire service. From apparatus to nozzle tips; from steel-toed rubber boots to AFFF. We wish to offer these companies the 

opportunity to become commercial supporters of the pilot, for which they will receive promotional consideration of various types. We do not have the entire program locked down yet, but we will soon. What is important that those of you who work wit these companies or have an excellent purchasing program with them educate them about our show and get them interest in playing an active part in its development.

Yes, there's still a lot of work for us to do. However, we are in the best position we ever have been to make something happen that will shed a new, bright, "shining" light on the brave men and women of the fire-rescue services in the U.S. and Canada.

Again, many thanks for all of the support. It is deeply appreciated.

Steve Greene

President