PAT SCANLON is no stranger to the camera. His TV career dates back to 1978 when he started as a news and sports reporter for an NBC affiliate in South Bend, Indiana. He went on to work for New Jersey Network, guided the launch of the Comcast Network and The Racing Network, while also snagging two Emmy Awards and nine New Jersey Sportscaster of the Year awards.

Today, Scanlon is putting his quarter century of broadcast success to work as president of Shamrock Communications in Atlantic Highlands. The company, which Scanlon founded in 1996, assists corporate clients and advertising agencies in delivering messages through video, particularly in the production of television shows, commercials and corporate videos. Shamrock also produces preseason telecasts for the NFL New York Giants football team.

This year the business moved into a 6,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art production facility. This affords Shamrock access to its own television studio and multiple editing suites, including an all-digital online room, as well as non-linear capability with AVID, Final Cut Pro and MEDIA 100 programs. Graphic design and animation equipment combined with multiple tape formats for editing and duplication make Shamrock a full-service production company with a full-time staff of seven.

“Our new facility is an ideal and affordable location for production work for New Jersey businesses,” says Scanlon. “There’s no need to go into New York City for top-rate production facilities or talent,” he says.“With our new location in Atlantic Highlands, we offer all of those services, from production to editing to duplication. We’re also conveniently located down the street from ferry service to New York City.”

Scanlon’s track record in television gives him a strong sense of the client’s point of view, which he uses to find the right solution for everything from commercials to training videos. Clients include Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp., The Daily Racing Form, The Jeep Store and Press Broadcasting’s GRock Radio. “Having been on deadline for 16 years, I know how to come into a situation, assess the story, know what it will take to capture it on television and successfully produce the segment,” Scanlon says.

As can be expected of an industry where technology reigns, change is a constant for Shamrock. The biggest trend is a shift to high-definition television, or HDTV, which gives a higher-quality picture and fits a wider screen, Scanlon says. Shamrock used HDTV when it produced four Giants’ NFL preseason games this fall. The games, the team’s first in the new format, aired on WNBC-TV and the NFL network.

Given its appeal, the technology won’t long be confined to the screens in dens and living rooms. “As high definition becomes more prevalent in consumer households, more and more people are looking to have commercials and corporate videos produced in that format,” Scanlon says.

Shamrock is also bringing another new Web technology, The Digital Presenter, to its clients. The company can take a video project to the Internet and align it so that, when it plays, it synchronizes with audio, graphics, PowerPoint presentations, transcripts and even foreign language translations.

Currently, Shamrock is helping one of its clients launch a national broadband Web channel—handling all of the video content production. Scanlon sees his company producing videos for cell phones and PDAs, too. Yet he plans to always maintain a focus on his core video production expertise. “I love the creative process,”he says.“And our Shamrock staff has the ability to work with clients, understand their needs and exceed their expectations.”