Love this: “Art, whose divine expression flows impartially from the fingertips of a cowboy or dilettante emperor, had chosen for a medium the Boy Artist of the San Saba.”
Source: Clockwork Music, Arthur WJD Ord-Hume, 1973
I love this little plant.
Two very good friends of mine, David and Sissy Hobizal of Firstmates.tv, asked me if I wanted to compose the music to an animation they were developing for Gradifi. Gradifi makes paying back your student loans much more affordable (something this country desperately needs), so it was with pleasure to create the music that worked to support David and Sissy’s incredible animation work:
Not too long ago, I joined a band in Santa Fe, NM. We eventually got into the studio to record a bunch of songs. And now, Miguel (drummer) tells me that the EP has been released!
Also, Miguel told me that this is the #1 album in Santa Fe, NM. Sweet!
You read that correctly... This album is not sugar-coated candy pop. It’s a full expression of the complete sonic spectrum of your listening station. I designed the music to sound excellent at 85db. Enjoy!
$4.99
As I've mentioned many times on this blog, film industry people can't go wrong with attending the Austin Entertainment Business events. I've happily been attending these events for many months, and I just started to volunteer to help get more people there. This past meetup was the third installment of three series of presentations called "Tunnel to Hollywood," all organized by Jennifer Hutchins, a madly-connected and hard-working producer. Her guests were awesome: Neil Landau and Laura Brennan.
Neil Landau
Neil Landau has a Hollywood pedigree to die for! He is not only a producer and award-winning screenwriter whose credits include Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, and Doogie Howser, M.D., but he is also a bestselling author. He had some great stories about how scripts that he was told were "trash" ended up being amazing. The best story was how he was told by an agent that this one script that he co-wrote would end his career if anyone read it. The script ended up underneath some old shoes in his closet until a very well-respected director friend of his asked to read it. That same script ended up netting him about $500,000 in a sale, and launched his career. Moral of the story? Don't believe everything you hear!
Neil's approach to getting his work out there was interesting: He used a golf metaphor (fortunately I wasn't completely lost considering I don't play) to explain that with a script you need to get closer and closer to the hole. It's rare to get a hole in one, so with each successive draft, you get closer and closer. He also mentioned that he has a group of very well-respected writers that he brings his work to. If the work excites his friends, he knows he's onto something. If each of his friends is lukewarm, he has some work to do. If all of them dislike it, likely, he'll not waste time on it anymore. It's a pragmatic, smart approach to the creative work you would do as a screenwriter.
Laura Brennan
Laura Brennan is a pitch consultant in Hollywood, a writer, and her work has appeared in television, film, theater, fiction, and news! I found that she had an excellent sense of humor regarding the relatively dour experience of pitching, and after watching her presentation I figured out how to pitch to other people as a composer in a way that is ridiculously compelling. Here's the secret:
Tell someone what you are currently doing, and never, ever tell them your job title!
So, instead of saying, "I am a screenwriter," you could say, "I am currently writing a script for a science fiction series on Netflix which involves statues in Washington DC coming to life and eating humanity off the face of the planet." A lot more compelling, no?
Here's another example. Instead of saying, "I am a costume designer," you could say, "I am currently designing costumes for a full-length narrative comedy that involves a twisted story of betrayal at the Rennasance fair."
I was really proud of my own: Instead of saying "I'm a film composer," I reworked it to say, "I'm beginning to compose the soundtrack for a full-length felt-animation movie about an animal's journey across the pacific northwest." All of it is true, and it seems so much more compelling
Laura's advice was priceless!
Austin Entertainment Business Wrap-Up
Between the guest speakers, the networking, and Jen Hutchins' fantastic work as a presenter and organizer, I just can't say this enough: You need to come to this event.
Using found footage of an eruption of Capelinhos in 1957, this video presents the terrifying blurriness of an eruption of a volcano, and really, the effects of that on a civilization. The music for this was such a joy to create!
Video: Capelinhos
Author: Alzira Simas
URL: https://archive.org/details/MarleneAn...
Copyright: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 CC
I found a video of a very dilapidated ghost town. It reminded me a lot of some creepy scary movies I've seen lately. This miniature film score is meant to accentuate that feeling of a creepy loneliness.
Original Video: Gerry Fialka Super 8 Movies Cottage Cottage Cheese
Link: https://archive.org/details/GerryFialkaSuper8MoviesCottageCottageCheese
Author: Gerry Fialka
It's August, and in Austin Texas we need everything we can get our hands on to stay cool. What better time than to publish this citrusy miniature film score, eh?
All footage was found on www.videvo.com, and with the exception of the two videos below, all have the same “Royalty Free License.” The two that do not are
https://www.videvo.net/video/fizzy-summer-cocktail/6651/ “Videvo Attribution License”, by author: Videvo
https://www.videvo.net/video/fresh-lemons-on-tree/6027/ “Videvo Attribution License”, by author: Videvo
Who do you want to meet?
Who do you want to meet in the entertainment industry? Who do you need in order to make your vision a reality? If you need to find others, it’s time to get out there and attend the best meetup in town for industry professionals, the Austin Entertainment Business meetup.
What I love most about the AEB events is that I constantly meet new people who are involved in all parts of the entertainment industry. From producers to directors, directors of photography to post audio & sound, from experienced writers to veteran actors, you can really find your people here. As a composer, I find myself most inspired when I get the chance to hang out with other creatives and hear what they are working on. I've stated before that finding work in the entertainment industry is a worthy goal that can only be achieved by taking relationships seriously. Ultimately, having good relationships with others makes me happiest. It’s more about the people, for me at least. Yes, I want cool projects and to pay my bills just like everyone else, but I prefer working with good people as opposed to negative ones. It takes collaborating with good people to make a good and happy career. Fortunately, I keep on meeting the exact types of persons I want to meet at these meetups! That, and I keep on getting incredible information as a result of the wonderful presenters that Jen Hutchins, our organizer, puts together. Last night’s meetup was no different.
Heather Hale
Our first presenter was Heather Hale. She is a film and television director, screenwriter and producer. She is also an expert at pitching ideas, which is what her presentation was all about. She gave an excellent overview of her expertise on the markets, how to pitch your script successfully, and how to get your stuff to the next level. There were many points that Heather covered in her presentation that I found it to be interesting. Now, I’m not a writer, but a lot of the things she said made a lot of sense. To echo what Terence Michael mentioned in the previous meetup, Heather agreed that how you approach potential producers is all about the first subject line of your initial email. Face it: Busy producers get at least 300 emails per day from people who are working to get their script in the right hands. To that end, what sets you apart? You have to make it special, eye-catching, and memorable. One of her big mistakes people make is that their pitches are extremely boring. She says the worst thing you can do is be boring! The second big takeaway that Heather drove home for me was that you need to have clarity about your script. You have to be clear about what it is, what genre, the characters, the scenes, everything. You can’t leave things unsaid. This even goes to the extreme of when you attach a script to an email, you have to name it correctly, like “My-Movie-Title_My-Name.” Even Jen Hutchins chimed in and said she hated it when people sent her scripts but she has to rename the file! These details are all what makes a script get read. This is the final takeaway: If you get an agreement to get the script read, you’ve done your job. You can’t expect people to throw you a ton of dough for a script unless they read it, right? Well, Heather was adamant that if you can get people to agree to read the script, then get out of the office as soon as possible. You’ve done your job. She specifically put it like this: “A good salesman knows when not to push.” I agree.
Barbara Daoust
Our second presenter was Barbara Daoust, a coach to many of Hollywood’s elite. This included the Elizabeth Olson, Shane West, Vanessa Hudgens, Aaron Paul, and she even mentioned working with members of the Spielberg family. I found that this presentation was a little more up my alley simply because it talked about the mindset of success. Barbara’s approach is simple when you look at it from a bird’s eye orientation: If you want to be a success, you have to think like those oscar winning successful people. Of course, the details are always a little more tricky. Barbara knows how to get people there. She saw that the people who had this mindset were constantly working on themselves, constantly tinkering and making themselves better at what they did, how they did it, and they also dealt with failure (which is radically different than most people). For example, if a person fails at something and it’s emotionally a big deal, it takes longer for them to come back from it and then reengage with the world. Barbara pointed out that many of these top successful people in Hollywood and elsewhere feel that failure is just part of the process. When a person has this sort of mindset, that failure is not a big deal, they accept that it’s going to happen, and that they will let go of it quicker. This feels like one of the biggest predictors of success. It’s not about pumping our egos up to never fail, it’s being humble enough to realize that we are human, we will fail, but it’s more about how we pick ourselves up. This is a lesson each and every one of us needs to keep in our minds. It reminds me a lot of what author Brene Brown talks about in her book Daring Greatly, which is all about being courageous enough to engage with the world even if it means you will fall down and fail hard. The people who accept failure as part of the process are quicker to get up from career disappointments. This is crucial, especially in the film industry where failing is inevitable!
Why this meetup is important
As I’ve mentioned many times before in my blog, this meetup is so valuable. It is important and vital to Austin, and we should all take good care to grow it. On a personal note, I have a lot of respect for Jen Hutchins as well as producers in general now that I’ve taken a little time to produce a short video for the AEB. This is what kept me occupied all last night! The amount of care a producer must have for the project, the amount of sweat it takes, is tremendous. I laughingly had a “We’re Not Worthy” moment at the end of the night where I came to realize exactly how hard Jen works. Producing is hard work, so mad props to all the producers out there who make great films happen. I salute you.
Keep in touch for an upcoming video for the Austin Entertainment Business. Also, keep in mind that there are many incredible resources that are already available for you that Jen has put together. The job board where Jen and other members share paid gigs in the industry is a great place to go: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AustinEntertainmentBusiness/
Also, if you haven’t made it to the meetups in general, you need to come. I finally convinced my buddy Jeremy Rashad Brown to come, and he had a blast. He was looking for editors and producers, and he made tons of new contacts just last night. So the question becomes this: Who do you want to meet? You’ll do that here: https://www.meetup.com/AustinEntertainmentBusiness/
The music is written from the point of view of a child who is noticing how cool raindrops really are. This video added music to an already existing video downloaded for free at http://www.beachfrontbroll.com/ - I highly recommend http://www.beachfrontbroll.com/ for any of your b roll needs.
One thing that constantly surprises me about the Austin Entertainment Business Meetups at the Speakeasy, each final Thursday of the month, is the depth and the quality of both the presenters and the attendees.
The presenters are curated by our fearless and awesome organizer Jen Hutchins, and everyone who attends is privvy to inside information about the landscape of the entertainment business. The attendees range from the absolute creative types you would want dedicating their time to making your project better to the absolute business types who can make a film thrive in all parts of the complicated mechanism known as the entertainment industry.
To gather all of these bright minds in one place is incredibly encouraging to the forward movement of the entertainment culture in Austin.
Terence Michael
This month's presenters were both fantastic. The first was Terence Michael, a producer credited with over 20 movies, 30 tv shows, and he even manages to find time to do podcasts! He had some fantastic ideas for writers looking to get into the business. As with most people who are established in the industry, he wasted no time speaking about the importance of having a better game plan than other writers and producers. He mentioned that writing a spec episode for TV and getting that in the right hands is a far better way to get your name out there than simply writing a script and hoping that it gets in a bidding war.
The other thing he talked about that I enjoyed hearing was that he said that he looks for projects as a producer that already have some of his job done for him. Not only that, he wants to see that in the subject line of the email. This is really important. It's long been known that the subject line of the email is the most important section. To take that to the next level, openly communicating what things you have already taken care of as a director, aka the things that a producer would typically have taken care of for a more established director, is a sure-fire way to get the producer's attention and may get you a meeting. In other words, if you beg and plead for your idea without trying to make the producer's job easier before they get involved, you're dead in the water! Terrence mentioned that you could make your email more memorable by mentioning perhaps a famous actor you got to act in the movie, or how much money you have put together and will dedicate to the project. There are tons of ways to get a producer's attention, but creating a compelling subject line will get you there faster, and if you're looking to work with Terence, make sure to make your subject line sing and soar above all the others.
Jerome Courshon
The second presenter was equally fantastic in a different area: Distribution.
I can imagine how difficult it must be for a new filmmaker to have a finished movie and try to get any distribution deal possible. It is this situation where you are most vulnerable, according to Jerome Courshon, a producer who is incredibly knowledgeable about distribution and making good distribution deals. His feeling is that picking the right producer is important because not only are you relying upon this person to make a project happen, you are also relying on this person to find the best possible distribution deal. This, sincerely, requires cunning!
First, you want to be sure that a producer has experience with negotiating distribution deals and knows that part of the business incredibly well. Second, you do not want to sign any contract without having a lawyer who absolutely specializes in distribution deals on your side. I think just these two steps will mitigate 80% of the problems any filmmaker would have in distribution.
The people who offer distribution deals to less experienced producers might not be the most trustworthy (shocker, right?). He specifically mentioned recoupable expenses. To make it really simple, he said that you never want to agree to more than around $15k-$20k in recoupable expenses, and it's best if that number is a a big fat 0. If you agree to a high recoupable expense and you're a firt-time filmmaker, chances are very high that you'll never see a dime! That's a tough thing for a first-time filmmaker to hear, but it's the truth and you can't really argue with it. It's part of the industry. Reality.
Why This Meetup Matters... Why You Need To Come!
Both Terrence and Jerome were fantastic presenters. Even as a composer, I know that understanding all of the sides of the industry is important. In truth, I've not suffered too much for being a bit wiser about difficulties that I might face. At this meetup, I can't possible emphasize how incredible it feels to be around working professionals who make it look easy, who share their knowledge, and who seem like really decent people.
I want to do another quick shout-out for Jen Hutchins again who, on top of organizing a community of incredible thinkers and Texas-based industry folks, has managed to bring together some of the most potent and informative presentations of the media landscape in both Austin and abroad (ha ha ha. I'll do anything for a quick chuckle.) The Austin Entertain Business Meetup is one of the most important meetups in Austin for film industry people. It's both necessary and vital. It's my hope that this humble little blog post can help build this fantastic community of people.
Halloween Horror Nights 2008 by Sean O’SHaughnessy, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
Photograph URL: https://flic.kr/p/5DTF4w
Photographer: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seanosh/
Liscense: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
I've been working to make my existing mixing setup sound good acoustically rather than getting new pieces of gear. So, I decided to take it upon myself and construct my own sound panels for the side walls of my room:
The first thing I wanted to do was absorb the upper mid and high frequencies that reflect off the side walls. Why the side walls? The music I'm listening to from my monitors goes straight to my ears but when the side walls don't have any absorbtion, the direct sound gets combined with the reflections. As you might be able to guess, my monitoring room is a rectangle, which is exactly what you don't want. This reflection can color mixes negatively, so I started treating the side walls with some old Auralex foam panels, some cedar slats, partical board, and some glue.
Here's the general progression of how I put these together
My next project will be to create superchunk bass traps for the corners. I'll have plenty of photos to share.
I've been loving this meetup! The best part of hanging out with people who come to this meetup is talking about their creative projects. It feels awesome to talk to people about what they are most passionate about. The thing that I believe some lose sight of is the idea that connecting with other human beings is actually incredibly satisfying. Go figure!! It begs the question: What message is a person sending when he/she is just asking for something from you, even if they just met you five minutes ago?
I understand how it might be for people with a little too much ambition. Thankfully, this meetup took the issue of building a career head-on, even from scratch. Jen Hutchings, the organizer who is a film/tv producer extraordinare, took the time to invite out two career coaches from the Austin area, Lynn Chang and Jonathan Troen. They both shared some fantastic advice.
Lynn Chang of Career Zen focused on the beliefs that surround us as we march ever forward to build our careers. The idea that we believe we can do something, the idea that we are changed by the energy when we feel we can do something, seems to be a central foundation to Lynn's work. She went beyond this and gave a little bit of a peek into her more practical skills by sharing what she calls Informational Interviews. The jist is this: Instead of meeting someone and asking them for a job within a minute or so, why not get to know them, understand them, and listen to them instead? This was great for me to hear because instictively I have always felt more comfy listening than talking! It's easy for me to connect to people in this way. I was so happy to listen to Lynn's talk because it validated what I naturally knew to be true.
Johnathan Troen of YogaTree was a perfect complement to Lynn. He was very forthright when it came to figuring out exactly what you need to do to build that career you want. Here's a quick overview of his process:
- What do you want?
- Why do you want it? Your "why" should make you tingle, should make you feel amazing to think about and experience.
- What is one thing I can do right now to get me closer to the why? What is the next right action to get me closer to feeling that why?
Of course, I'm just paraphrasing Johnathon, but I found that it was perfectly inline with how a career should go. Know what you want, know why you want to do it, and then find the next right action to get there. Perfectly logical!
Aside from the panel on building a career, I was also able to hang out with tons of great people at the meetup. I don't know how it worked out, but I ended up meeting three people who all went to the same small college I went to in Ohio (Bowling Green State University). We talked for at least a half hour on BGSU and all the things we did there. I got to meet a voiceover artist, an acting coach, and an incredibly interesting colorist who's worked with a huge name in cinema.
If I could sum up everything I learned last night, here it is: I think that happiness in a film career has a rough mix of cool projects, fair wages, and great people. By far, I feel that having awesome people makes me happiest. I was so glad to attend that meeting, and I'm already looking forward to the next one...