By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
What do you get when you combine elements of such popular programs as "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel and "How It's Made" on the Science Channel with the great outdoors?
An enormous audience of 17 million that appeals to women and children as well as men who watch traditional hunting and fishing programs, Paul Ranft of Niles hopes.
"We don't want to fit in that genre anymore," Ranft said Wednesday afternoon. He's been "on pins and needles for three years" hoping to get the concept on the air before someone fills the niche he sees "Factory to Field" filling.
Tune in tonight at 6:30 for the premiere episode about Fred Bear's archery bows.
He was a Michigan legend long before Ted Nugent set him to music.
Better yet, if you're in the Cass County vicinity, attend the reception at Lunkers in person at 6 p.m. Ranft will be arriving by limousine.
The veteran outdoorsman's own TV show's first 13 episodes launches on The Sportsman Channel, carried by Comcast Cable and Direct TV.
He's heartened at the local reception, with B&J Pub, Joey Armadillo's and Wolf's Prairie promoting "Factory to Field Thursday Nights" through December for viewers who might not have cable so they can watch while enjoying a burger or brew at their favorite watering hole.
"Factory to Field" has taken Ranft to Alabama for a story that transcends sleeping bags and could more accurately be about recapturing American ingenuity. That's coming up the third week. In South Carolina, it was camouflage clothing.
"Michigan has a tone of manufacturers, yet is largely unknown for its outdoor products" – even though hunting caps like Elmer Fudd wore trying to outwit that wascally wabbit Bugs Bunny hail from the Upper Peninsula.
"We need to be more assertive in letting the public know what we do," he said.
Like Mike Rowe, host of "Dirty Jobs," or Dowagiac visitor George Plimpton before him, Ranft mixes it up with locals on their home turf.
"I work when I go to these factories," said Ranft, who gets smoked trying to assemble spinners in the second episode. "They are all women because of the dexterity of their hands, the smallness of their fingers," he said. "We have a little race and by the time I assemble the beads and balance weights for six or seven, she's done 100."
The lifelong Niles resident has devoted his recreation as well as working life to all aspects of hunting and fishing.
His love for the outdoors made him skilled as a fisherman, hunter, guide, outfitter and one of the area's most respected taxidermists.
For the past 10 years, Ranft's interest has grown into a very successful career as a videographer for national TV shows, Scent Lok and Keith Warren's nationally-aired hunting episodes.
"We're targeting a huge, broad audience," said Ranft, who has a degree in business marketing. "Guys all love that stuff, but women and children, too, will love seeing how that stuff is made. With our format, we can go to Discovery or The Learning Channel eventually. Hunting shows are stuck in that format. We don't want to fit in that genre anymore."
"Heddon is on our radar," although he would need access to PRADCO where fishing lures are made in addition to Lyons' National Museum in Dowagiac.
Ranft and his daughter, Alex, who co-stars, host the open reception at Lunkers in Edwardsburg. Besides interacting with the cast and crew, The Sportsman Channel provided hats, sunglasses and mouse pads to promote the show.
The concept for the show is that Paul takes viewers inside the factories where outdoor products are made while Alex goes afield with them.
Former Niles Daily Star sports editor Ericka Pickles is providing camera work.
Ranft said his "phenomenal" young sound editor normally produces Christian music in his parents' Berrien Springs basement. "The local talent is unbelievable," the Lake Michigan fishing guide said.
Ranft recalled his own break into the big time. Even when he rented ground in Iowa for his Timber Ridge Outfitters, he remained based in Niles and used to film everything.
"I took a camera everywhere I went," he said. "The head of the Scent Lok TV department saw a promo I did. Who filmed it? 'I did.' Who edited it? 'I did.' Who produced it? 'I did.' He asked me if I wanted a job," so he hired on as a cameraman.
In angling for his own show, Ranft felt "sick and tired" of all the "terrible junk" he ran across traveling around the dial as he traveled around the country.
He wanted high production values with new high-definition eqipment and a broader interpretation of elements of the outdoors – skiing, rappelling, hang gliding.