Wow, it’s hard to get a hold on where the economy is, for entertainment companies both big and small. The L.A. Times has a story on how the toy industry is looking to large blockbuster films like Transformers to drive more and more toy sales, especially in the off-peak summer months. A story about the success of the movie industry? But a day earlier, the Times looked at how smaller production and support companies were being squeezed by runaway production — filming moving to cheaper locations out-of-state — and how it’s going to be hard for the SoCal economy to absorb the loss of work.
And is NBC-Universal for sale or not? Who knows. They have been having a hard time, both on television (Knight Rider) and at the moviess (Land of the Lost). But what happens to the big affects even us small companies.
But look at total box office figures for the last few years. We’re on track this year to at least keep up with last year, if not surpass it. People are still spending money on entertainment.
With all of the bad things that are going on in the economy, it’s good to look at a few bright spots. When an economic shakeout happens, the competition in the market becomes fiercer, allowing strong companies to strengthen their position and weaker ones to be weeded out. Interestingly, it’s not always those that stay out of bankruptcy protection that are the safest. And sometimes, especially in the entertainment industry, it becomes hard to capitalize on a successful business — like British films.
A few quick links:
- My new friend Petrea from Pasadena Daily Photo did a series of pieces on our building in Old Town Pasadena last week. Interesting stuff, if you are into the history of old neighborhoods and buildings. Here are the three posts: 1, 2, 3, & 4.
- Homage or plagiarism? Lots of designers are up in arms about this website for a Republican candidate for governor, including Print‘s Daily Heller blog. Is it plagiarism? I don’t know. But the similarities to Obama’s well-designed site for his candidacy are striking…
- Copyblogger has a great little article about my favorite ad guy, Lloyd Ogilvie. Even though he wrote Ogilvie on Advertising decades ago, it still rings true for me as a marketer and graphic designer.
Happy Monday to you, wherever you are!
I’ve been so busy over the past week that I haven’t posted much of anything here, electing instead to do quick tweets of links that I have found interesting or helpful. So here’s my accumulated updates for this week:
- Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett, Ed McMahon. All gone this week. Pasadena Star News has an article here. I can’t tell you how many MJ songs I have memorized; Thriller came out when I was just getting started in Chamber Singers/Musical Theater. Quincy Jones and Greg Phillinganes were my idols for creating such a magical mishmash of R&B, pop, jazz, and rock on MJ’s albums. And who from Southern California can forget Disneyland’s Captain EO?
- Fame is coming back — remember that awesome film? It shaped many of us young performers’ hopes and dreams way back when; now it’s updated for a new generation. Why do I point this out? Well, much of the interior filming (especially the dance studio) was filmed at my kids’ school last fall; it was a nightmare for the school, but hey, that’s show business in L.A., right? Here’s the trailer.
- I have completed two movies with Burning Heart Productions, and we are starting preproduction on the third. The Fair Trade movie was accepted to the Iowa Independent Film Festival, held in mid-July. That makes it seven film festivals for that little no-budget movie. Congratulations to the entire production team! Both The Fair Trade and 2004′s Laundry and Tosca are in negotiations for broadcast and/or theatrical releases in Australia right now, which is an exciting prospect for movies that were built on credit cards and love and providence…
- WebVideoUniversity had a review of the HF-S10, a new camera from Canon. They really like it, and I like that I would be able to salvage much of my old 58mm lens stuff from the Canon GL2 (that I still own and use on occasion). But I’m also looking at the other end of the product lines, and really liking what I’m hearing about the new Panasonic VariCam 3700 [see quick reviews here and here]. So I don’t know what I’ll pick up next…
- Finally, a note about the economy. The Pasadena Star News ran a tiny article about a study detailing how “most Californians failed to benefit from the economic expansion that predated last year’s meltdown…gains from the growth in the economy between 2000 and 2007 went to corporate profits and the wealthiest 20 percent of California taxpayers.” And to that I say…no duh. As fun as this business has been for me, the years between 1996 and 2000 were much easier — financially — than the last ten years. Not that I’m going anywhere: we have some new announcements over the next few weeks, and some great new projects in the works.
Well, I’ve done this over the years for friends, but I think I should stop underselling myself. This weekend I mixed sound at the Global Day of Prayer/Love Pasadena event on the steps of the Rose Bowl. 500 people, 5 bands, several hours, and lots of running around and soundchecking. And the event went off without a hitch. I’m really proud of Advantage Productions in Santa Clarita for finding me a sound system on short notice, and the pastors of the churches who helped put the event together.
Running live sound is a lot different than recording in the studio. In the studio, you can move mics around until you get it right, you can punch-in to fix a bad line, you can EQ and compress to your heart’s delight on your own time. But live sound needs to sound great — NOW. So I was really happy that, with no soundcheck for any of the bands, we were able to walk in and make everything sound awesome the first time. Having great equipment can make or break a show, and that’s why I’m s0 pleased with Brett and Ron from Advantage Productions, and how easy it was to work with them.
So, I’m hanging my shingle out for running live sound for events. And next time I’ll wear sunscreen.
The Pasadena Star News today reported that the inclusion of plans for a parking structure and access road in the mostly-unimproved Hahamongna Watershed Park was simply an error:
After more protests at a meeting last week, city staff Tuesday night told residents at a meeting of the city’s Environmental Advisory Committee that the inclusion of the garage and road in the new plan was an oversight and would be fixed. “The roadway will be removed from the plan’s addendum,” said Theresa Fuentes, of the City Attorney’s Office. “The plan will be edited for removal of the parking garage.”
Well, I’m glad to hear it. Hahmongna is a city treasure, and, even more, a local gem. Can you think of many other locations within a few minutes’ drive where you can get completely lost in nature? There aren’t many in Southern California.
Next time I’m up there, maybe I’ll take the video camera and post some video. It’s truly that beautiful.
Flickr Photos
