Joshua B. Backer, right, a digital filmmaker, demos a Tango Pix film as Curt Worden, president of the company, looks on.
Marion Davis, PBN Staff Writer
A new production house makes films and video for HDTV, the Internet – even iPods
You could call Tango Pix a TV production shop, but that wouldn’t cover half of it.
It wouldn’t cover the films Curt Worden and his team made for Rhode Island School of Design, for example – project footage and interviews with students packaged for recruiting and fund raising on the RISD Web site.
It wouldn’t cover the content Tango Pix develops and licenses to national broadcasters: Discovery Travel, Discovery Health, ABC’s “Nightline”.
And while it would, technically, cover the “Action Blast” features Tango Pix is producing for Hasbro, you might underestimate the scope of the project. Yes, it’s standard TV, but most of it is shot in HDTV, and then enhanced for even brighter colors and crisper, livelier sound.
More important, the final product isn’t just TV shows: It’s also content for interactive Web sites, in a format that’s meant to be engaging and entertaining while promoting Hasbro brands.
When it’s done right, Worden said, “it can really be powerful.”
Worden and his team believe in TV; it’s “in our blood,” as he put it. He himself has been in the business since 1969, starting at WLNE/Channel 6 and WPRI/Channel 12 in Rhode Island. In 1979, he moved on to the ABC Television Network in New York, and for 10 years, “I traveled all around the world” shooting news and documentary programs.
In 1989, Worden started his own company, The Curt Worden Group. Based in Dartmouth, Mass., with offices in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., it produced everything from commercials, to segments for CBS’ “60 Minutes”.
As TV’s appeal began being eclipsed by new media, Worden shifted his focus, replacing his TV company with Context Media, a software technology firm. But he never completely quit making TV, and last July, he returned to his true love.
He called his new company Tango Pix because tango is a passionate dance, he said, and his is a passionate team.
Tango Pix is the only HDTV-enabled shop in Rhode Island, he said – high-end HDTV, not the lower-cost HDV format – and its sound capabilities are among the most advanced in New England. In addition, Tango Pix is set up to do graphic design for computer-oriented jobs.
Worden also touts his company’s ability to work in any format, and output to any format – from HDTV, to short downloadable films for iPods.
Christine Heenan, of The Clarendon Group, said Tango Pix’ capabilities and versatility makes it a valuable resource for her public relations clients.
“Tango Pix is a New York production shop with a Providence zip code,” she said. “We’ve recommended them to clients with major media budgets, but have also been able to tap them for smaller projects for nonprofits. They are flexible, and have a great range.”
Clients can hire Tango Pix to handle a project from soup to nuts, Worden said, or they can get just post-production, for example, or creation of a DVD. In fact, other production houses in Rhode Island engage Tango Pix when they need specific high-tech capabilities, Worden said.
The company also offers its clients guidance with all the new technologies, and helps them determine how best to accomplish their goals.
“That’s what Tango Pix is here for,” Worden said. “I think Rhode Island companies, historically, have not had the opportunity to engage technology at this level.”
Along with Hasbro, Tango Pix clients include Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, the Lifespan hospital network, Lifetime Television, and PBS. Worden competes directly with the Boston and New York production houses, investing “millions” in technology.
Worden said he expects his first year’s revenues to reach $2.5 million. The big money, however, comes from creating original content. The company has two films out now, on teenage drug use and on grandparents raising children.
There’s major demand in the market for nonfiction video, for TV and other media, Worden said, and that’s Tango Pix’ forte.
“It’s all about mixing media,” he said, “and being able to capture people’s imagination.”
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