Customer stories


B Productions

Fashion Forward

Glittery, glitzy -- all that and more. That's the world of high fashion - and if you've ever seen those videos on TV you know what we mean. And if you HAVE seen those videos, there's a good chance you've been watching footage shot by B Productions of New York, a production house specializing in work for the fashion and beauty industries, and a company that keeps stylishly well-organized with FileMaker Pro, the award winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.!

Based in always-fashionable New York City, B Productions is a full-service production company -- creating video and film presentations that really catch notice. Documenting the seasonal Fashion Week runway-show spectaculars is the firm's specialty -- capturing every sauntering supermodel's sashay down the runway. With cutting edge trends and split-second timing always so important in the fashion world, it's a surprise to learn that not so long ago, B Productions depended on a data management system that was simply SO out of style. "Up until about four years ago we were using 'R-Base,' an antiquated DOS-based database program for our invoicing," comments production manager Andy Biskin, "but as Y2K approached we worried about whether it was compliant. While it was -- on examining the system we realized that we were becoming very annoyed with its shortcomings, and that it was time for an improvement. We wanted a better system for invoicing -- and also wanted to be able to use it for other functions such as tracking projects, scheduling shoots, storing crew and client information, and so forth. We had been keeping that sort of information in a collection of mangled loose leaf notebooks, and it was time for a change!"

B Productions were already using FileMaker Pro to index the tape library -- and so the company turned to its FSA Developer, Jim English of EnglishComp for advice on how to deploy FileMaker companywide. Jim dispatched programmer Graham Young to work with the B Productions team -- and the result was as up-to-the-minute as next year's fashions. "We came out with something that's very useful for us," Andy declares. "We can do invoicing, we can track shoot info, we can assign crews, we can store information on clients, and all of these FileMaker Pro databases can talk to each other to provide just the information we need."

And when each spring and fall, Fashion Week rolls around, FileMaker Pro is as much a part of the scene as radical hair and unbelievable shoes. "We use FileMaker Pro to create master schedules that show where everything and everyone are supposed to go," Andy explains." We had been doing this in Excel spreadsheets, but decided to integrate the Fashion Week material into our FileMaker Pro system -- and using a Visual Basic application, we're able to export FileMaker data into Excel for printouts. FileMaker Pro saved us a lot of time, made us more efficient, and we're really very happy with that!"

Now, about ten users at B Productions take advantage of the company's ten powerful FileMaker Pro databases -- because being efficient, effective and well-organized is always in fashion!



Contact information

Contact Info for Customer:

Andy Biskin
Production Manager
B Productions
212-489-0721
andy@bproductions.com
http://www.bproductions.com


Jim English
FSA Developer
EnglishComp Data Systems
212-764-1717
info@englishcomp.com
http://www.englishcomp.com


Filemaker Contact:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com


Overview
  • "FileMaker Pro saved us a lot of time, made us more efficient, and we're really very happy with that!" -- Andy Biskin, Production Manager, B Productions
Industry
  • Creative Services
  • Creative Markets
  • Entertainment