One of Australia’s leading video production companies Media Services Australia is toasting to 30 years of experience in the industry, a significant achievement in a fast-paced and ever-changing media landscape.
Bill Zographos, founder of the multi-award-winning Melbourne video production company, shot his first professional event in 1987 and in the three decades since has captured rare and exclusive footage of everyone from Queen Elizabeth to sports stars like Shaquille O’Neal.
“Back then video cameras weighed up 10kg and the equipment to record video and audio was separate. You needed two people to just to film something properly, if not three,” said Mr Zographos.
“Today smartphones do what you used to require tens of thousands of dollars to do – but what hasn’t changed is the need for high-quality professional skills and the know-how to best communicate stories in video which comes from years of experience.”
Despite having documented thousands of events over the course of his career, Mr Zographos still remembers his first job at a wedding in Springvale, in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.
“The first wedding I filmed was upstairs at a Greek tavern in Springvale. It’s not there anymore but I still remember everything about it, from the kitchen tiles to the main menu. Video was just starting to become available to everyday people in Australia to capture moments they’d never been able to film before,” Mr Zographos said.
From that humble beginning, Mr Zographos started an award-winning career in media that saw him film major events – from airplane crashes to rock shows – for TV broadcasters such as ABC, Channel 7, Channel 9 and SBS, and organisations including ANZ, Australia Post and the federal government.
As well as filming consecutive Australian prime ministers, visiting presidents and royalty, Mr Zographos has captured rare moments with some of the biggest names in pop culture. Take, for example, the night of 31 August 1997, the grand opening of Planet Hollywood in Melbourne – and coincidentally the same night as Princess Diana’s tragic death.
“Everyone was there – Silvester Stallone, Will Smith, Jean Claude Van Damme, Sugar Ray Leonard, Shaquille O’Neal. Eddie McGuire was the MC and he announced it live when Princess Diana died.
“It was one of the most memorable things I ever filmed – a major event, the same time as a world tragedy. I had a job to do, which was to capture this major event in Melbourne and I was very focused, but I had that in my mind and it was a really significant job. I still remember it clearly and the emotion that followed the announcement.”
Media Services Australia’s areas of expertise include corporate videos, TV commercials, social media marketing, digital transfer and archiving, major live events and TV documentaries. The company, based in the heart of the city, also provides one of the only fully-equipped, mobile green room studios in the Melbourne CBD, available for hire for professionals and executives requiring the best resources and expert know-how.
Media Services Australia has recently joined forces with renowned Australian broadcaster and former Channel 10 newsreader George Donikian to offer a range of advanced media training services for executives and public figures in addition to its video production capabilities.
