When asked, loads of todays professional bladers name Louie Zamoras section in VG14 as one of their all time favorite. Louie is a style icon and traveled the world in his professional years. He was involved in several companies later on and recently he started the first live broadcasting company in blading. Louie Zamora is a legend and we are proud to present a two piece feature with him.
Part 1: Louie Zamora about Orion Live
Shot by Keith Wilson
Hey Louie, where are you right now and what did you do today?
I am currently at Work on a Sunday prepping for Monday, getting some Orion Live planning done & thinking about blading. Today has been a lazy Sunday to start, I spent the morning with my beautiful wife Krista, playing with my pups Kaylee & Pixie.
You are involved in a project called Orion Live. What exactly is Orion?
Orion is an effort to provide LIVE Coverage of rollerblading at all major events for bladers that cannot actually be there. Orion is also another way we can share rollerblading with the world on a popular platform, which is currently Ustream. We want people to be able to tell their friends or family who don’t shred (yet) to watch it, and actually enjoy what they are viewing! We are also aiming to provide consistent monthly content highlighting our sports culture and talent. Doing all of these things, we hope Orion can give all people a great outlook on blading through our live coverage and media production. This is really just the beginning brothers….
What events you already covered?
When we started doing Orion Live, we had to create our own events to let others know what we actually do. Since then, we have grown and covered some great events like the Blading Cup & AIL in our first year as a company.
What events are planned in the future?
2013 will be a very eventful year for us, and we are looking to do as many events as possible. We feel like the future of television in on the internet. We also feel that rollerblading has a BIG future on both of these platforms. We are in this for the future of rollerblading.
What technical equipment you need / use for the broadcasts? And is a normal Wi-Fi connection enough to work with?
We have used everything from a normal Wi-Fi to a simple hot spot to get our connection online. In the live streaming world, the faster the connect, the better the quality of the stream. We use something very similar to what major networks use to broadcast live TV events. We are trying to save our money to make that next step and upgrade our equipment. I would LOVE to have a professional broadcast switchboard to do the things I know we are capable of. For now, we are trying to perfect our show with what we have. Soundboard, microphones, cameras, broadcast switchboard, and live streaming software is what makes our show work.
How many people are involved in a broadcast and what is their function? And how many cameras you are using?
We have a small crew of 4 people as our base. Myself, Randy Spizer, Jason Kasid, and Gus Mendoza are essentially Orion Live. I try to do everything I possibly can to make Orion work in a lot of areas. From producing to directing, advertisement, sales and content management, setting up our accessory collaborations and art direction, to simply making the phone call to get the best camera operator I can to help us out. Randy Spizer is a Permanent Co-Host and personality on Orion. He also contributes a lot of Ideas and direction behind the scenes. Jason Kasid is the CEO of our Company, basically making everything happen behind the show and production for us. Without him, none of this would be possible. Gus Mendoza is the final piece of the structure that makes our show and content work. He is the master controls behind the live show. He is the equipment specialist and live stream expert. I have wanted to do something like Orion for a very long time, and if it weren’t for all of these guys coming together to help me, I would still be hoping to make this happen. Though having professional camera operators is very important to our formula, we have to always check on who is available for each event. In our past Live Streams at Blading Cup & AIL, we have gotten amazing camera work from Lonnie Gallegos and Max Manning. Shout outs to anyone else who has helped us along the way as well, everyone around us seems to chip in here and there.
Is there any money from sponsors, or how do you finance it?
We need to make some advertisement money while doing these events to cover our equipment, travel, and expenses. We are very grateful to those companies and individuals that believe in what we are trying to do, and we try to give everyone a chance to be featured on stream with whatever budget they are working with. We are very reasonable, and in the end, we want rollerblading to benefit from all of this so we do what we can to promote companies that support us. just email us [email protected] 🙂
What’s planned for the future? What’s the best possible future for Orion Live?
We have several plans for the future! To name a few, we have to mention that Orion Live will be at BCSD in February! We are extremely happy about this opportunity. Events like this, in my opinion, is why we created Orion. To cover our sports biggest and best contests, hopefully we will be at Winterclash someday! We also have been in minor discussion with Blake who produces the awesome “Pan Handle Pow Wow”, and we look forward to bringing you guys some news about that soon. Our main focus right now is making the best possible show we can at Bittercold Showdown. Those who have attended know how intense it can be, I want our viewers to feel that excitement. We have to give a big shout out to Daniel Kinney for contacting us a LONG time ago and expressing his support for what we are doing.
The best possible future for Orion Live is to continue to cover the biggest events while providing a fun and enjoyable experience that ANYONE can watch.
What are you doing besides blading yourself and Orion right now?
That is all I am trying to do! But, I am also a Real Estate Agent in San Diego and we run a Property Management & Real Estate Sales Company. Zamora Family Business! SD Property Management & Real Estate, Inc. If any of you ever need some help in Southern California in this business, holler!
Is there any chance there will be another full length video section of you at some point?
YES. It is VERY Possible. I am looking forward to dropping a piece of history on film. 100% effort and dedication one last time on these rollerblades sounds epic to me. I want to put it all on the line, things that scare me, things I haven’t had a chance to do, technically challenging myself, everything. I am working on putting the pieces of that project together for next year. This will not be the last of me on blades, but one of the last thug life sections in my Career. I get scared thinking about it, but I also feel the adrenaline building. I also would LOVE to see full sections from everyone in the OG ESCOZOO Crew again. and a full ROADHOUSE section….oh, and another DAP made Blading Video would bring out the best in me.
Check:
Orion Live Facebook Page
www.ustream.tv/orionlivestream
