ADB Creative Consulting

Service:Producer

While I’ve branched out into many other areas of the communications industry in recent years, the vast majority of my career has been spent as a television producer. I have been very fortunate to be associated with some of sport’s most prestigious live events, including six editions of the World Cup of Soccer, the UEFA Champions League and the first ever multilingual telecast of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

For close to three decades, I supervised daily, weekly and occasional special event news and sports productions for national television networks such as TLN TV and OMNI TV.

But I have also been involved in the development of a number of other productions, including television promotions, commercials, interstitials and miniseries, as well as corporate videos and podcasts.

Earlier this year, I was recruited to oversee a segment for the YeeHong Foundation’s annual Dragon Ball live streamed across multiple online platforms and recently broadcast nationally on Rogers’ OMNI TV.

As segment producer for the live stream’s cooking demo, I was excited to work with established Toronto chef Ken Yau who prepared a typical Asian dish of fish balls with curry sauce, a popular street food in Hong Kong, especially during Lunar New Year festivities. Working with a small but talented crew, under the supervision of YeeHong Foundation representatives, we captured the essence of the dish with its complex flavours and how it brought generations of families together.

After selecting the key scenes in post-production, and some final packaging, the end result was the four-minute video that appeared during the second half of the live stream. I’m very proud to have contributed to this prestigious event that has been viewed by thousands.

As an experienced, award-winning producer, I bring a wealth of knowledge, creativity and versatility to any production, and I have taken on many roles from scriptwriting to talent recruitment to post production editing and packaging. I have worked with teams of two to two dozen and have collaborated with many talented and accomplished colleagues who are highly successful and respected in the industry.

If your organization is looking for an experienced, detailed and creative producer for any size production, reach out to me by email at: alfdeblasis@gmail.com.

Here’s a link to the 2022 YeeHong Foundation Dragon Ball livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phzF5YRxX6o.
To sample some of my other work, visit my YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvwajn4LX3Sc-JhL_gRBhcQ/videos for my library of visual productions and, for my catalogue of audio productions, see my podcast page here: http://italian.itoc.ca/podcastfilter/alf-de-blasis-podcast/

Communications Strategies & Solutions for your Small Business

Are you a small business owner looking to grow your customer base? Are you planning to introduce a new product or service to market? Do you want to establish your brand in your community?

I can help you with any and all of these initiatives.

I’m a multi media content creator with 30+ years’ specialization in corporate, commercial and promotional productions. As a creative services business owner, I provide content creation and communications consulting services to a cross section of businesses, from mainstream and digital media to cultural, institutional, sport and non-profit organizations. I have a wealth of experience that I can draw on to help your organization with all your communications needs.

Through my knowledge of and access to multi media resources, I can help you develop customized communications strategies best suited for your organization. As an experienced event planner and facilitator, I can assist you in the planning and execution of virtual or on site events. I also have the expertise to help you create engaging digital productions for your social media or web-based platforms.

In the next couple of months, I’ll be writing a weekly post, outlining my experiences and the specific communications services I can offer your organization.

If you’re looking to take your business to the next level, book a free consultation with me to learn about how I can help you attract new customers and accelerate your growth!

Visit my website, alfdeblasis.ca, to see examples of my work, the various creative services I offer and a compilation of notable clients I have assisted.

Canadian Premier League Play by Play

For the second consecutive week, I had the good fortune of calling an Atlético Ottawa home match that resulted in a 1-0 victory on a late goal, this time over a very competitive HFX Wanderers FC side. Atleti is off and running in their third season with full points from two games. If you haven’t yet, you need to check out the Canadian Premier League on OneSoccer/Mediapro Canada. Each weekend offers a slate of four CPL games live from coast to coast. My next game is Saturday night from Langford, BC on Vancouver Island for Pacific Football Club vs HFX Wanderers FC. #CanPL #domestic #soccer #canada #playbyplay #coasttocoast

Let’s Create Together in 2022!

I started off the New Year helping a former colleague with an annual project for the YeeHong Foundation which, under normal circumstances, stages the prestigious Dragon Ball gala event in Toronto each year. As was the case in 2021, this year’s edition was an entirely virtual event and was livestreamed the evening of February 5 across multiple online platforms and, just recently, broadcast nationally on Rogers’ multilingual service, OMNI TV.

As segment producer for the livestream’s cooking demo, I was excited to work with established Toronto chef Ken Yau who, along with his mother, prepared a typical Asian dish of fish balls with curry sauce, a popular street food in Hong Kong, especially during Lunar New Year festivities. Working with a small but talented crew, under the supervision of YeeHong Foundation representatives, we captured the essence of the dish with its complex flavours and how it brought generations of families together.

After selecting the key scenes in post-production, and some final packaging, the end result was the four-minute video that appeared during the second half of the livestream. I’m very proud to have contributed to this prestigious event that has been watched by over 1,500 viewers so far.

This is just the latest production I’ve been fortunate enough to have been associated with and I’m open to taking on exciting new projects this year, as Covid restrictions continue to be eased across the province.

As an experienced television broadcast and commercial producer, particularly in the multilingual space, I bring creativity, versatility, and sensitivity to every project. I’m equally at ease working with a small crew or as part of a major production with a large cast and crew.

If you have a new project you’d like to discuss, please reach out to me. I’d be happy to help.

Here’s a link to the cooking segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phzF5YRxX6o.

Canadian Soccer in 2021: Our Time Has Come. Finally!

2021 has been an unprecedented year for Canadian soccer. The Canadian National Women’s Team won Olympic gold in Tokyo and the Canadian National Men’s Team not only reached the final Concacaf FIFA World Cup qualifying phase (the “Octagon”), but currently lead the group after two extraordinary victories in Edmonton this month.

This past weekend, CF Montreal defeated Toronto FC to win the Voyageurs Cup and advance to the 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League, along with Canadian Premier League club Forge FC, who are preparing for a two-legged Concacaf League semifinal with Motagua of Honduras this week.

But the last significant Canadian soccer event of this calendar year will take place on December 5 as Forge FC faces Pacific FC in the CPL Championship Final, looking to claim a third consecutive North Star Shield.

I’ve been fortunate to call 35 CPL games for national broadcaster One Soccer this season and it has been an absolute delight to witness the growth of the league in just three short years, two of which have been severely impacted by the pandemic.

The technical brilliance of some of the players and the overall quality of the league has impressed me to no end. Natural rivalries are developing across the country and the competitive balance among the eight teams is high. And there was more positive news earlier this month when a 9th franchise, to be situated in Vancouver, was announced.

I’ve been around the game a long time and I’ve seen my share of sketchy operators and failed ventures, but my hat’s off to the CPL and Canada Soccer Business for delivering a first rate product with so many dedicated and professional people involved, from all of the club front office staffs to the exciting, young players on the field.

And Mediapro Canada/OneSoccer also deserve credit for committing to unprecedented coverage of the game in this country, providing the resources and the personnel to deliver the memorable moments we’ve all witnessed the past few months.

For decades, Canada has lacked an identity as a soccer nation primarily because it has lacked a stable, properly-funded professional soccer league but the CPL has now achieved that and, as it continues to grow & thrive, the hope is that it will begin to supply our National Teams with many prospects who have cut their teeth at the pro level in the CPL and have gone on to greater achievements.

This has truly been a remarkable year for Canadian soccer but imagine what 2022 could bring! A return to a FIFA World Cup for the first time in 36 years for our #CanMNT, qualification to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup for our #CanWNT, the development of a national professional women’s soccer league? All of these scenarios are possible because the efforts of many dedicated individuals and corporate representatives are converging to drive Canadian soccer to the forefront of the sporting landscape in this country.

As a long time promoter of and advocate for Canadian soccer, I applaud each and every one of you. Let us celebrate our successes. Our time has come! Finally!

Back to the Future:Play by Play

This past summer, I was given the opportunity to return to something I have been passionate about and enjoyed doing through most of my career – play by play. Even before beginning my professional broadcast career, I dabbled in play by play for a local cable access outlet. Those early experiences allowed me to hone my announcing skills and helped establish my style. I have been fortunate to provide play by play for a number of Canadian networks, including OMNI-TV, TLN-TV, Rogers TV and TSN Radio.

In June of this year, I joined a very talented group of play by play announcers and analysts at OneSoccer, the streaming service that now carries all Canadian National Men’s & Women’s Team matches as well as the Canadian Premier League. It’s such a pleasure to be back in a broadcast booth describing live CPL soccer action from various cities across the country.

I am fortunate to be working alongside a respected play by play crew headed by an established voice in Gareth Wheeler, as well as Adam Jenkins, Matt Cullen and Nigel Reed. I’m joined in the booth frequently by colour analysts Terry Dunfield and Iain Hume, both former Canadian international players and men I hold in very high esteem. The on-air crew is augmented by the talents of host Andi Petrillo, as well as Oliver Platt and Kristian Jack, who provide studio analysis.

Plus, under the banner of MediaPro Canada, we have one of the hardest-working production crews in the industry, led by Director of Content Kurt Larson and Producer/Director Lucas Sheffield.

I have a busy Thanksgiving weekend ahead as I’ll be in the booth Saturday afternoon for the CPL ComeOn Match of the Week, the “Al Clasico” between Cavalry FC and FC Edmonton. Then, on holiday Monday, I’m on the call for both games of a doubleheader on OneSoccer, HFX Wanderers vs Pacific FC and Valour vs Forge.

I’m excited to have returned to one of my favourite aspects of broadcasting and I hope, if you’re a Canadian soccer fan, you’ll take the time to follow OneSoccer through the remainder of 2021 and beyond as we shine a spotlight on the current and future stars of the game in this country.

Panoram Italia

I’m proud to have my article profiling three elite Italian Canadian athletes featured in the Summer Issue of Panoram Italia Magazine. Drawn from the transcripts of my interviews with each of them for my Itoc Italian podcast series “Podium”, the 2000-word essay is part of a sports-themed issue of the popular bilingual lifestyle publication that was just released across Canada this week.

I’d like to thank longtime acquaintance & Associate Editor Pal Di Iulio for encouraging me to write the feature & Managing Editor Gabriel Riel-Salvatore for assisting me in polishing the final copy. But above all, thank you to the three athletes who inspired me to craft the story, Malinka Montanaro, Matteo Dal Cin & Sara Villani. As elite athletes with a common love for Italian family & traditions, they are the representatives of a young generation that values & treasures their shared Italian upbringing.

Single issue subscription required: https://issuu.com/panoramitalia/docs/lrz_vol138_panoram_pages

Happy summer reading everyone!

#article #publication #lifestyle #magazine #bilingual #sport #athletes #italian #canadian

On Tap Next Month

Two special episodes of the Calcio Collective Podcast, available online at Itoc Italian Sports, kick off your audio appointments for the month of June.

In the first of the two new shows, streaming all next week, starting Monday May 31, regular panelist Rocco Fasano and I look back at the just concluded Serie A season, and take a sneak peek at the upcoming Euro 2020 following Italy’s first warm up match with San Marino.

In the second special, which starts streaming June 7, we preview the full Euro 2020 tournament, analyzing Italy’s group stage opponents and some of the contenders for the continental championship, postponed from last year by Covid-19.

These two new shows and more sports talk is coming up in June at Itoc Italian so join me every week, twice daily (11a&5p) on the Itoc Italian web stream, the Itoc Radio app or download them from my on demand podcast page here: http://italian.itoc.ca/podcastfilter/alf-de-blasis-podcast/.

As re-opening gradually takes effect across the country, we’ll have more special announcements throughout the summer months regarding the expansion of the Itoc Italian platform.

For advertising opportunities on any of my sports talk properties at Itoc Italian, reach me by email at: alfdeblasis@gmail.com.

Service: Web Design and Content Development

One area of digital media which I’ve embraced and a space in which I’m continuously learning is in website layout, design and content development. Over the past several years, I have been frequently engaged in designing and developing a web presence for various organizations, including http://nscac.ca, the web home of the National Soccer Coaches Association of Canada.

Writing original content, uploading photography and video files and overseeing the sale and placement of advertising, working within the expansive Wix platform, were among the many tasks I was asked to perform for the NSCAC, a national non-profit organization.

I have also built, entirely on my own, two of my personal websites, sportstrategies.ca and, more recently, this very website on which you’re reading this blog, using the comprehensive WordPress platform. Accessing the extensive catalogue of templates and customizing them to suit your personal tastes allows for a unique, distinct and multi-layered display. I have also had the opportunity to develop content on the DigitalShift platform.

All of these recent experiences have helped me become more digitally literate and confident in the knowledge that I have the capability to create, enhance or fine tune a website for any organization that uses its web presence to attract, engage and inform its client base.

If you are looking for an experienced and creative designer and content developer for your website, reach out to me by email at: alfdeblasis@gmail.com.

Service: Producer

But I have also been involved in the development of a number of other productions, including television and radio promotions, commercials, interstitials and miniseries, as well as corporate videos.

As an award-winning producer, I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to any production, from scriptwriting to talent recruitment to post production editing and packaging. I have worked with teams of two to two dozen and have collaborated with many talented and accomplished colleagues who are highly successful and respected in the industry.

Even today, as a podcast producer, what I enjoy most is using creative tools and methods to craft a compelling story that captures the allure and attention of an engaged audience.

To sample some of my work, visit my YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvwajn4LX3Sc-JhL_gRBhcQ/videos for my library of visual productions and, for my catalogue of audio creations, see my podcast page here: http://italian.itoc.ca/podcastfilter/alf-de-blasis-podcast/ .

If your organization is looking for an experienced, dedicated, and creative producer for any size production, reach out to me by email at: alfdeblasis@gmail.com.