Based In Reality.

BLANKI & BODI PRODUCTIONS HAS BLAZED A TRAIL FOR POPULAR AND PROFITABLE TV PROGRAMMING GENRE

IF proximity equals efficiency, than Blanki & Bodi Productions Inc. ought to be the smoothest running production house in town.

To facilitate quick-decision making and ensure that every notion, from the profound to the pedestrian, receives due consideration, principals Susan Winston and Dan Funk are literally attached at the desk.

For nearly 13 years, Winston and Funk have been serving up an eclectic menu of television, cable and syndicated fare out of their Caheunga Pass offices. From late-night TNN teen offering "Rockin' Bowl" and the Miss Universe pageant to Fox Family Channel's animal-themed "World Gone Wild" and that network's "Ultimate Auction," which allowed viewers to participate in a live auction for one-of-a-kind items, Winston and Funk are thriving by doing a little bit of everything.

Although Winston jokingly gives the credit "to Starbucks," the duo's steady success in a notoriously competitive field has to do with their strength as a team, both say. Hence the attached desks.

"This is an odd business, you're dealing with ephemeral stuff, you're dealing with ideas and it's important to bounce them off someone," Funk says.

"If we think of something, we have to say it right away," Winston adds, finishing his thought. "Part of the reason we can juggle 35 balls at once is because of that immediacy."

Happily married as business and creative partners, Winston and Funk go home to their own respective families at night. Blanki & Bodi gets its name from the toddler pronunciations for the word "blanket" made by one of each of their children.

Both are quick to point out that juggling multiple projects does not mean just sitting around and swapping increasingly bizarre subjects for television shows, though that's part of it. The duo, who met while Winston was executive producer of "Good Morning America" in New York and Funk was a West Coast director for the program, bring extensive production backgrounds and a decidedly hands-on approach to their work.

"From the writing to the producing to the hiring to the directing, we're involved in every step. We are really a mom-and-pop organization and Dan and I are mom and pop," Winston says.

Building a name

Blanki & Bodi was born after Winston left her job at "Good Morning America" and a stint at Lorimar Productions to try her hand at independent producing. She signed two shows in one week, a coup that left her both thrilled and terrified.

"I always had a big organization behind me and I was clueless. Dan was in L.A. and he knew the ropes, so I called him up," Winston says.

Both acknowledge that Winston's network connections were crucial to helping the fledgling company get a foot in the door.

One of those first shows was a special called "National Driving Test," in which CBS viewers were challenged to determine the correct course of action in a series of driving emergencies. It was paid for by a corporate sponsor and ended up with the highest rating in its time slot, a double win for the network.

"We basically got paid for smashing up cars," Winston says. "It was successful, so you know how this business is, they're like rabid dogs. If something works, they want to replicate it."

Blanki & Bodi soon had a variety of live and special-event programs under its belt and was developing a reputation as a company with expertise in reality programming before the phrase was even coined.

"We trust them to the difficult and challenging shows. They deliver on time and under budget," said Zig Gauthier, directive of creative affairs for Fox Television Studios. "They're easy to work with and trustworthy. I can't overemphasize how important this is in this business."

Jerry Isenberg, a producer and professor with the USC School of Cinema and Television, said Blanki & Bodi has benefited from fortuitous timing.

"They're in a corner of the business, reality shows, that, good for them, has expanded radically in the last eight years," Isenberg said, adding that it takes more than luck to stay busy. "It's very competitive. There's an immense flow of ideas and properties to the buyers. You have to go out and earn the credibility."

It hasn't all been smooth sailing for Blanki & Bodi and not every production has been a moneymaker. That's OK if the project helps develop a lasting relationship with an important client or the subject is particularly close to their hearts, hut the margin between profit and loss is a constant concern.

Winston and Funk recall one show in which they didn't have a guarantee and, due to problems outside of their control, production stalled.

"It was not a happy time; we learned a hard lesson," Winston says, adding that it led to a new company motto; "Don't go out of pocket."

Although some of their productions can require the services of hundreds, Winston and Funk cling to their smallness. Revenues are up fivefold in little more than a decade, but they have only three full-time employees besides themselves, two more than when they started.

"It's a hard balance to keep growing and not lose touch with the elements that really drive us," Funk says. "As much as we enjoy being successful, we enjoy liking what we do."

Branching out

Coming off a 2000 that was its busiest year yet, Blanki & Bodi still has a full plate. This spring, the company's "Mom Live," featuring live births and other wonders of motherhood, will air on Fox. Later in the year, 'The Other Half," a male answer to "The View" -- in which four men, including Dick Clark and Danny Bonaduce, take "a fresh look at the world of women" -- is being prepared for syndication in the fall by NBC Productions.

Because much of its programming does not depend on the services of actors and writers, Blanki & Bodi does not expect a major impact from the likely strikes by those guilds this year. Still, they haven't been able to do everything they'd like. Winston and Funk say they want Blanki & Bodi to make the transition to drama in 2001, an achievement that would place them in an elite group of television producers.

"It's very difficult to make that transformation to drama," says Gauthier. "You have to have the talent, the instinct and the commitment. They have all three, so they have a shot."

Isenberg predicts a tough road ahead.

"They're moving into a business that's even harder than the business they're in," he said.

Blanki & Bodi Productions

Year Founded: 1988

Care Business: Television production

Revenue in 1988: $1.5 million

Revenue in 2000: $10.8 million

Employees in 1988: 3

Employees in 2001: 5

Goal: To stay busy and expand into drama realm

Driving Force: Demand for original network television and cable programming.