Shelly Palmer
| Shelly Palmer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shelton Leigh Palmer |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Website | Shelly Palmer |
Shelton Leigh "Shelly'" Palmer is an advertising, marketing and technology consultant and business adviser who is well known as an author/speaker/composer/producer/writer/director. He hosts Fox Television’s Shelly Palmer Digital Living. He is the previous host of Comcast/NBC Universal’s Live Digital with Shelly Palmer, United Stations Radio Network’s MediaBytes and Mevio.com’s Shelly Palmer Digital Living Daily.
Background
At the age of 12, encouraged by his father’s clients and colleagues, Shelton Leigh Palmer (known to his friends as “Shelly”) started his career as a professional musician. He began by working as a sideman (Saxophone, Clarinet & Flute) for various society orchestras around the New York metropolitan area.
Palmer’s lifelong quest to combine art and technology began after being introduced to Robert Moog and Mr. Moog’s Electronic Music Synthesizer at a meeting of the National Association of Music Merchants show in Chicago.
By the time he was a teenager, Palmer had taught himself enough electronics to build several computer-controlled musical instruments of his own, converting his parents’ music room and den into an 8-track recording studio in the process.
Early career
After graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1979 with a B.A. in direction and production of film and television, Palmer’s first full-time job was as a staff composer and producer for Don Elliot Productions.
By 1982, Palmer had raised enough money to build a digital recording studio, one of the first in the world. He opened Shelton Leigh Palmer & Co., which had principle offices and studios located on East 57th Street in New York City. His company primarily serviced the top 25 AAAA advertising agencies. Palmer also started a small electronic mail and BBS company called Musicom to enable touring musicians, tour operators and concert promoters to communicate using portable computers and modems over telephone lines.
Shelton Leigh Palmer & Co. (soon to become known as SLP&Co.) quickly became busy, composing music for companies like Burger King, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, AT&T and Meow Mix, among others. By 1986, the company built Creative Audio Recording Services, the world’s first commercial tapeless digital audio studios in Midtown Manhattan. That year SLP&Co. started creating and producing music videos and television commercials as well.
In the late 1980s, SLP&Co. branched out again, this time to full service advertising. Palmer became creative director and agency of record for Seagram’s Soft Drinks, No Excuses Jeans and Candie’s Shoes, among others.
Radio work
Palmer's first "full service" radio production client was The ABC Television Network. SLP&Co. scripted, cast, produced, composed and trafficked over 150 radio spots per year to ABC's 213 affiliated television stations. The company's work with ABC set SLP&Co. on the path toward much more radio work in the future. During the early 1990s, SLP&Co. expanded its staff and production facilities to include more work with music as well as programming and production for CD-ROM, the World Wide Web, Interactive Television and other digital media.
Interactive television
Palmer's first solo technology patent was for an interactive television system that allowed users to click a button on their remote to perform near-real-time transactions over broadcast television. Palmer also invented and patented the methodology that enabled viewers to watch television and interact with server-based information in relative sync, known as two-screen interactive television. Major network broadcasts soon adopted this technology, including ABC’s Monday Night Football, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Academy Awards and more.
As The Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries licensed Palmer’s Enhanced Television technology, the company soon hired Palmer as a consultant to their Enhanced Television division. In 2004, ABC’s Celebrity Mole Yucatán received an Emmy Award in the category of Enhancement of Original Television Content, a project team of advanced media professionals spearheaded by Palmer.
SLP Productions, Inc.
SLP&Co. soon expanded to become SLP Productions, Inc. In order to handle the ever-growing production work, the company was divided into six operating divisions: Full Service Advertising, Film/Television Production, Music Production, Radio Production, Broadcast Services and Palmer Intermedia, an Internet division. The company operated complete, in-house, digital audio, video and graphic arts production that serviced the advertising, television, radio and film industries worldwide.
In the early part of 2001, SLP Productions closed their studios in New York City and Los Angeles in order to concentrate on an evolving business model in advertising, production and technology consulting. The company thereafter restructured, with a new-found primary focus on television production and advertising.
Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC
In 2005, Palmer teamed up with Lydia Loizides to form Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC, a venture capital firm concentrating on technology, media and entertainment properties. Advanced Media Ventures Group still works with a wide range of television and music production clients, with three main areas of business: Consulting/Business Advisory, Corporate Training and its portfolio of investments.
Work as a composer
Beginning in the mid-1990s, having hundreds of radio and television commercials under his belt, Palmer began composing many familiar themes, including those for Live with Regis and Kelly, Spin City and MSNBC. In addition, he has composed several television news music packages, the most prolific being the Palmer News Package which was originally composed for WCBS-TV. He was the music director for the 2005 New York Emmy Awards. His news and station image music could be heard on over 250 television and radio stations nationwide.
Palmer won the award for Most Performed Television Themes at the 12th & 13th Annual ASCAP Film & Television Awards. One of his most noted compositions was “Anthem,” which was commissioned by the Parsons Dance Company. He has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra and was a guest conductor of the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Moscow during the 1988 Goodwill Games. In 1986, Palmer composed "Let's Go Mets", a song aimed at promoting the eventual World Series-winning team. He also supervised the production of an accompanying music video, as shown in a home video release of the video and a making-of documentary. Palmer's music also can be heard on the NYC Media Group's Inside the Archives which airs on NYCTV and WNYE-TV.
Work as a producer
Palmer produced HotPop, which aired on Starz/Encore's Wam! Network. He also produced NBC Universal's Digital Life with Shelly Palmer, and Live Digital with Shelly Palmer.
Books
- Palmer, Shelly (2006). Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV. Elsevier, Inc. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-240-80864-2.
- Palmer, Shelly (2008). Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV 2nd Edition. York House Press. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-9791956-3-1.
- Palmer, Shelly (2011). Overcoming the Digital Divide: How to use Social Media and Digital Tools to reinvent yourself and your career. York House Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-979-19567-9.
- Palmer, Shelly (2012). Digital Wisdom: Thought Leadership for a Connected World. York House Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-985-55082-0.
- Palmer, Shelly (2016). Data-Driven Thinking: A collection of essays about data-driven decision making. Digital Living Press. p. 65. ASIN B01AUF0IAG.