Five Minutes with...

Paul Jackson
Vice President, MediaComplete LLC

TFWM: Can you tell us a bit about why MediaShout was first created?

Paul Jackson: I was producing the national Right From Wrong Tour for Josh McDowell and he wanted to push the technical limits of video and interactive media. Keep in mind this was 1995 and there was not much available compared to what we now take for granted. Todd Temple (who was consulting on the program content) and I looked at 3 or 4 automated systems for single types of media and decided we could create an application that would combine multiple forms of media presentation. Once we were using the technology in the live events youth leaders asked if they could do the same kind of presentation in their youth groups. We decided to expand and adapt the application for individual churches. The idea of MediaShout had been born.

TFWM: What are the most significant changes that have been integrated into the most recent version of the software?

PJ: From the beginning, MediaShout was about access and spontaneity, easy access to lots of information and changing the selections quickly as the presenter/leader responded to the Spirit’s prompting. We made great strides in Version 4 with access to web content and reconfiguring our user interface for quicker access to all resident media content. We also created Background mode to instantly replace background media with on-the-fly inserting of background content. Finally we introduced the first distinct stage display for displaying lyric, scripture and other text elements in customizable formats for easy viewing by platform personnel.

TFWM: What are the most common questions or requests for information you get from your house of worship clients?

PJ: Ha! When will MediaShout be available for Mac OS? And we are working as hard and fast as possible to accomplish that. But, we will not release an inferior product for the Mac just to say we’re in that arena. There are too many people expecting us to produce a reliable, feature rich application to rush the results to market.

TFWM: Where do you see presentation software headed in the future for houses of worship?

PJ: I think it’s pretty obvious that ministry leaders are demanding a higher level of interactivity. We have to find ways to present audience involvement in the visual media arena in meaningful, not simply gimmicky ways. Also, the visual media will become even more of an extension of the presenter/leader.