Company name: Century Productions, Inc.
Type of business: Television production and support services
Location: 10 Delta Drive, Pawtucket finishing
Principal: Ken Botelho, president
Number of employees: 11
1998 revenues : Approx. $2.5 million
Year founded: 1991
Ken Botelho gets a kick out of imagining people’s reactions upon learning that a rock concert, comedy special or pre-sporting event seen on HBO, VH-1 or any number of television outlets was produced by his company. ”God, that’s coming out of that company in Paw, Pawwhat?” Botelho said, mimicking what he’s sure would be disbelief.
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”We’re a small big company,” Botelho explained. “But on the outside, clients think we’re huge.”
Century’s success stems from a combination of creativity, technical expertise and changes within the broadcast industry.
A drummer by avocation and electrical engineer by vocation, Botelho spent his early years in the broadcast business acquiring hands-on experience. Upon graduating from the University of Rhode Island, the Warren native went to work for WCVB-TV in Boston.
Eventually, that path led Botelho back to his home state where he became a director for WJAR-TV, the NBC affiliate. While there, he won an Emmy for best sports directing.
During much of the 1980s, Botelho was director of advertising and studio operations for Heritage Communications, then Rhode Island’s second largest cable television operation. In that position, he managed production and satellite uplink operations for such clients at NBC, ABC and ESPN. He received two ACE awards for programming excellence.
With the takeover of Heritage by Tele-Communications Inc. in 1987, Botelho landed softly with what he called “a very nice golden parachute.”
In 1991, while vice president of Taurus Communications, a satellite communications company in Framingham, Mass., Botelho launched a video production studio in Pawtucket. He took three employees from Heritage with him.
Century started small, with only a few clients and minimal resources. But inside and outside forces were heavily in its favor. Botelho’s reputation for creativity and technical savvy attracted international clients. The work was fueled by the growth of cable, pay-per-view and satellite television.
In 1995, Century purchased the first of two mobile production vehicles outfitted with cameras and state-of-the-art editing equipment for clients with remote programming and production needs.
”That’s the business I always wanted to capitalize on,” Botelho said. Even the major broadcasting companies “no longer have fleets of trucks” and prefer to outsource non-studio jobs, he said.
Botelho believes it’s the extent to which Century is able to meet clients’ pre- through post-production needs that gives it an edge on competitors.
”We’re not an AVIS,” he said, noting that conceptualizing, directing and producing are all part of the package. “Other companies of our type think of themselves as rental agencies.”
Some customers have hired Century on a piecemeal basis, mixing its personnel and resources with some of their own. But about 80 percent of all Century’s jobs fall in the soup-to-nuts category, Botelho said.
Today, Century has satellite offices in Washington, D.C., and Orlando, Florida, and is able to provide remote production, transmission and programming services anywhere in the world. Projects range from live broadcasts for Comcast Communications, owner of E! Entertainment and the Comedy Channel, to big-name concerts and major sporting events.
Last March, Botelho directed the presentation of the AFI Star Award to the creators of Seinfeld at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen.
Musical productions have become the mainstay of Century’s business. The company has produced concerts featuring original band members of live acts such as Iron Butterfly, REO Speedwagon, Eddie Money, The Doobie Brothers, Christopher Cross, and many more.
The work had Botelho on the road 157 days last year. In May, he travels to Greenwich, England to survey the site of the Comcast’s millennium New Year’s Eve Party.
Projecting ten years, Botelho hopes the company will have tripled in terms of facilities and personnel and become a leader in digital video disc, or DVD, services – what he called “the most up-and-coming piece of media.” For now, Botelho is content to be the small fish reeling in big clients. That status “has allowed us to grow at a conservative pace,” he said.
