The Super Bowl is now over, but now we get to dissect everything that happened around the big event (I’m not a Monday Morning Quarterback, so I won’t get into analyzing the game, even though it had its exciting moments).

On Crazytown this week, I look at the music that shaped key moments during the broadcast — from commercials, to halftime, to the incredible National Anthem. Go check it out.

But back to the musical, Jasper in Deadland. I filmed a bunch of the shows and rehearsals, and mixed the live sound off-the-board for this recording. It gives a good glimpse of what the students got to experience over the summer: originating roles in a fantastic new musical, and getting to work with musical theatre professionals — directors, choreographers, lighting and sound and costume and set designers, etc.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We had a great time. Check out Tribute for more information. Maybe you want to book us for your next event!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nice.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : October 2011

Planetary Society Headquarters, Pasadena, CA

Hearken Creative (www.hearkencreative.com) of Pasadena, CA is proud to announce a historic magazine redesign — the first in the magazine’s 31-year history. The Planetary Report is a highly-regarded quarterly member magazine, bringing space research and advocacy news to 50,000 readers worldwide and commissioned by the Planetary Society of Pasadena, CA. The first two redesigned issues were released in June 2011 and October 2011.

The Planetary Report was introduced soon after the Planetary Society was launched in 1980 by scientist/author Carl Sagan, JPL/Caltech professor Bruce Murray, and JPL scientist Louis Friedman. The desire for a new look and focus prompted incoming executive director Bill Nye to turn to Loren A. Roberts of Hearken Creative for a complete re-design of the magazine, including adding a brand new kids’ section that capitalizes on the Bill Nye the Science Guy™ brand.

“Loren gave our 31-year-old magazine a beautiful new look,” said Bill Nye, executive director of the Planetary Society. “Beautiful pictures just jump out at you, and the text is mysteriously easier than before to read. We are delighted with his work.”

“It’s an honor for us to assume the creative mantle for a magazine seen around the world,” said Loren A. Roberts, principal of Hearken Creative. “We are proud of the Planetary Society’s mission, and our partnership with them over fourteen years; and we look forward to this new chapter in our history together.”

The relationship between the Society and Hearken Creative began in 1997 when Roberts designed all of the graphics for Planetfest’97, a convention where tens of thousands of people watched Mars Pathfinder land on Mars using a real-time link from JPL at the Pasadena Convention Center. All printed graphics, banners, signage, advertising, and online graphics were designed by Hearken Creative. Since then the partnership has grown, with Hearken Creative designing t-shirts, logos, posters, websites, brochures and more for the Society.

ABOUT THE MAGAZINE :

The Planetary Report is the internationally-recognized flagship magazine of the Planetary Society, featuring insightful articles and gorgeous photos to provide comprehensive coverage of discoveries on Earth and other planets. The quarterly magazine reaches members of the Society all over the world, with news about planetary missions, spacefaring nations, intrepid explorers, planetary science controversies and the latest findings in humankind’s exploration of the solar system. The magazine is an exclusive benefit for Planetary Society members.

ABOUT HEARKEN CREATIVE :

Hearken Creative was founded by Loren A. Roberts in 1993 to service the marketing and design needs of Southern California’s nonprofit organizations — social services agencies, colleges, and museums. Hearken Creative has designed award-winning logos, magazines, brochures, direct-mail campaigns, and websites for both nonprofit and corporate clients from New York to Los Angeles to Tokyo. As advertising and marketing needs have changed, Hearken Creative diversified to offer consulting and services for various media including live/production/post-production sound, film and video producing, audio and video online broadcasting solutions, and fine arts and performing arts marketing consulting. He is a film/documentary director, editor, sound designer, and producer [IMDB credits]. Roberts has a bachelor’s degree from Occidental College and experience in the entertainment industry as an advertising and packaging designer prior to starting Hearken Creative.

PRESS CONTACT :

Loren A. Roberts, Owner, Hearken Creative Services
626-396-1500 | loren@hearkencreative.com
261 East Colorado Boulevard, Suite 208, Pasadena CA 91101
Link to press release : http://bit.ly/HCSpress2011 and http://bit.ly/HCSpress2011email
Larger images are available for print. Please call or e-mail for information.

Images of the The Planetary Report by Hearken Creative are copyright ©2011 The Planetary Society. Contact the Planetary Society for reproduction permission, for news/non-commercial purposes only.

Although he’s created light shows at some of the world’s most glamorous events, LD Todd Roberts maintains a distinctively low profile and simple lifestyle.  The veteran designer still enjoys unloading rigs at his events, and would prefer to relax with his family on the beach than anything more glamorous. Todd’s work is intricate and often edgy, but his personal life is unpretentious and rooted in basic values. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Read the rest of the article (plus interview) on Elation Lighting’s E-news.

Wow, I’m so excited. We will issue a press release sometime in the next few hours.

I like to promote things. I’m a producer — a promoter — a big-picture kinda guy. And so when I become friends with an incredible artist, like Buddy Zapata or Lauralee Farrer, I can’t help but want to promote their art in any way I can. And I have skillz. I can take press photographs (see my post on T-Lou). I can shoot video (see the stuff I did of Buddy Zapata). I’m now producing (check out Not That Funny on Facebook). And now I can record live concerts. Laurie Niles is a fellow parent at McKinley School, where my kids go. Laurie is a violinist, a music teacher and educator, and a friend. She runs the crazy-cool website violinist.com, and this past Spring, she agreed to do a concert of violin music in the school auditorium. It was simply amazing. And I got to record it.

I think the live recording sounds pretty good, no, it sounds great. But live was even better. I wish you all could have been there. If you ever get the chance to see her in concert, it’s a treat. And every piece of music was unexpected — none of the “standard” classical fare. Here’s the trio that started the concert (the audio on this video is simply from the Flip camera — sometime I’ll marry up my audio with their video, but it’s not a priority right now):

Click here to view the embedded video.

And it was all that good. The “Meditation from ‘Thaïs’” that you heard at the top of this post was her encore, and it was a beautiful, peaceful way to end a magnificent evening of violin music.

I feel so privileged to be around such awesome talent. It’s fun. It’s challenging to me as an artist. And these people become great friends too, friends that I hope to be promoting and hanging out with and enjoying each others’ company 20 years from now.

So enjoy the music, and enjoy life, and enjoy the friends and family that you get to experience life with.