MuddyPuddles

On June 12, 2007 I wrote a post called “Dreams”.  It dealt primarily with the dream that my oldest son, Jeff, had been pursuing of having his own hunting show on TV.  I talked about how, thanks to God opening so many doors, he was going to start airing on the Men’s Channel in July of ‘07.  That all did indeed take place but a couple of months later the Men’s channel went off the air.  Thankfully, Jeff was able to make a switch to a smaller, less significant channel, Fox Sports Southwest.  It wasn’t great but at least it was something.  Not many people got to see his show, however, because it was not listed under “NonStop Hunting” as it is named, but was listed under “Paid Programming”.  This was pretty frustrating for him and his hunting buddy, Daryl. It has been hard on him to be spending these thousands and thousands of dollars for travel costs for himself and his camera crew and to pay to have the shows professionally edited and to be on the networks that were not being heavily watched and with having the title “Paid Program”.  But, as in most things, you gotta pay your dues if you are ever going to break through to the “big time”.  Even “paying your dues” doesn’t guarantee that you’ll make the “big time”, but it is almost impossible to break through without it.  We knew that there was going to be a period of time—two to three years—that would be critical for the show to gain enough traction to stand on its own.  It’s extremely difficult to get the kind of sponsorship dollars you need to survive if you are one of hundreds of people who are pitching a new show to these inundated sponsors with limited advertising dollars (which are usually committed a year in advance). 

But, as before, God put Jeff in the right place with the right people at the right time.  Scott, a big whig in one of the sponsorship companies has been watching Jeff for over a year now and has kind of taken him under his wing.  He’s been a great advisor to Jeff and an encourager and has opened some other doors which has begun advancing Jeff’s cause.  Scott told Jeff that if NonStop Hunting could get on the “Versus” channel (goes to 75 million households) that his company would begin with a little money this year but would come in with a full dose of sponsorship in 2009.  Scott also has influence with some other sponsors and has received a commitment from one of those other sponsors that they will do the same thing.  So now the question would be whether or not Jeff could get on the Versus channel.  The odds were not too great for that to happen this year.  Not many slots open up each year and a lot of shows would like to fill those slots.  But without it, there would be no significant sponsorship which would make for some difficult financial choices to be looming ahead in the near future.  It’s getting very close to make or break time. 

At the urging of Scott and other influential individuals, the intermediary company that buys bulk time on the Versus channel told Jeff that he would receive serious consideration to be included in this year’s lineup if any time slots opened up but that they wouldn’t know anything for a couple of weeks.  That was a little over two weeks ago.  On Tuesday, two days ago, Jeff got the call notifying him that he was accepted on the Versus Channel.  It was a good day.  (In fact it was a great week since his sweet and healthy baby, Aubrey Grace, was born on the previous Thursday 2/14/08). Nonstop Hunting should start airing in July 2008.  (You can keep up with the latest details on his blog http://www.nonstophunting.net/.)  This breakthrough, along with Scott’s continued guidance and Jeff & Darryl’s continued efforts should get him over the hump.  When Jeff emailed Scott to let him know that Versus had accepted him, Scott sent Jeff a text message saying “Welcome to the big time.” 

Obviously, there is still very much work to do.  And there are not too many guarantees in this life.  But by any standard this was a huge breakthrough for Jeff and Darryl and the odds of them having long term success in this venture was increased exponentially.  God has truly blessed them.  Now they just need to take this wonderful opportunity and use it to God’s glory (as we all do with our own successes and failures).  God has blessed them bountifully.  I pray that he will continue to do so.  And may God Bless you as well.  Dennis       

I’m really proud of both of my boys for their willingness to take risks and to get out of their comfort zone in pursuit of their dreams.  They both think “outside the box” and they actually pursue what other people only dream about.  Let me give you an example.

On Sunday, July 1, 2007, my oldest son, Jeff, along with his friend, Darryl, will attain a goal and a dream that they have been pursuing for several years.  Their television show, “NONSTOP HUNTING” will begin airing on the Men’s Channel (MOR—Men’s Outdoor Recreation) (Dish Network #218, Direct TV # 604) at 11:30 Sunday morning.  That’s right, he’s going to be a “TV Personality”.  Awesome!!!

It has been a blessing to me to get to watch the dream start developing into a reality and to watch him carry it out.  But we both know that it was a “God” thing.  I just don’t see how so many things fell into place without God having a hand in it.  Let me explain the chain of events that got him to this point.

Jeff and I used to meet at Subway about once a week to have lunch and to talk about ideas and steps to make this show a reality.  He had already been thinking about it for awhile and doing some filming with his brother, Jarod, and others.  We talked about what kind of camera he should use, who he might contact to get a foot in the door, how he could find out what the insider’s know and other similar things.  One day I thought about Jeff’s cousin, Josh, who had worked for a TV station while he was attending Texas A&M.  I suggested that Jeff call him.  So, he did.  Josh didn’t have any information because of his TV work, but he said his former landlord was a man named Bill Skinner who had formerly done a TV fishing show (how many of you had former landlords who had outdoor recreation shows?  It’s a God thing).  So Josh gave Jeff his number.  Bill gave Jeff the cell phone number of Brock Ray.  Brock has a hunting show right now and also conducts a three day “videography basics” school from time to time.  So Jeff called Brock and Brock advised him to come to his videography school which was taking place in a couple of weeks.  Jeff went and they hit it off.  Then Brock suggested that Jeff give his editors a call because they had just broken off from the company they had been working for and they were looking for new business (It’s a God thing).  These guys have been in some major TV events and are highly respected in their field.  So, Jeff called them.  They liked Jeff’s demo that he had done and saw the potential.  But, they said, you really need a professional videographer if you want to make it in this business and they just happened to know the perfect man for the job.  His name is Steve and he was doing the camera work for a hunting show that airs 52 weeks a year.  He agreed to come do a week-end hunt with Jeff and Darryl and he hit it off very well with them.  Between Jeff and the editor, they were able to convince Steve to let go of his other job and go out on his own.  (Steve needed to pray about it for a few days before he would commit.)  Jeff would guarantee him a certain amount of work and he could free lance at other times.  Now, Jeff needed sponsors and a TV network that would air his shows.  Jeff sent demo tapes to several of the TV channels and had three that were interested in his product.  He came to terms with two of them—The Men’s Channel and Wild TV ( Canada ).  To air on the hunting channels (and most others), you have to get your own sponsors.  The network doesn’t pay you to be on their channel, you have to pay them.  If your show is good enough, sponsors will pay you to advertise and that’s how you make it work.   Right now it is difficult to get sponsors because they are pretty much booked up and many of them are cutting back on their advertising budgets.  It’s difficult to get potential sponsor’s to even call you back, much less to put their advertising on your show.  But, Steve the camera man, was a personal friend of Scott, who is the President and CEO of ScentBlocker, a clothing product that restricts your human scent from getting into the wind where the deer might be spooked.  Steve had an opportunity to show Scott a demo show of “NONSTOP HUNTING”.  Scott liked it and agreed to actually go on a hunt with Jeff in south Texas .  Later, a lady that works with Scott told Jeff that she just couldn’t believe that he went on that hunt with Jeff.  She said the odds of that happening were slim to none (God anyone?).  Jeff, as usual, hit it off with Scott and became somewhat of a friend with him.  He could see the potential in Jeff and therefore has agreed to be one of the sponsors.  When you have one well known and highly respected sponsor, it opens the doors to other sponsors (to at least look at what you have to offer).   It gives you some credibility.  Therefore, Jeff has found a few other name-brand sponsors to be a part of his advertising block as well.  And now, with God’s help, Jeff’s dream is becoming a reality—starting July 1, 2007, on the Men’s channel. 

The other day I told a lady that my son has a dream of having a TV hunting show.  She laughed.  Then I told her that his first show airs July 1.  She was taken aback.  “Really”, she said.  “No Way!” “That’s amazing!”  And then we talked about having dreams and pursuing dreams and we often have a tendency to not even start pursuing a dream because it’s “too big” or “that can’t happen to me”.  Now she is inspired to pursue her dreams.  I hope you are inspired as well.  With God’s help, all things are possible.  Start working on your dream today.  What have you got to lose?  What have you got to gain?  God Bless, Dennis

 PS.  To see a 30 second promo of Jeff’s new show, hold down the “control” button on your keyboard and click on the link below: http://www.dhdentertainment.com:80/video/MORPromoLg_Prog001.wmv

Jeff’s website is www.nonstophunting.net  (it is in the process of being updated and improved so check back often.)

Jeff’s hunting blog is www.nonstophunting.blog.com where he talks a little bit about his thoughts on hunting and making this show.