It’s officially that time of year again! This year Thanksgiving is as late in the calendar as it can possibly be yet it still seems to have snuck up on me. As I began my vacation yesterday, I still didn’t feel it, even though I’m about to drive 400 miles northward. Maybe it's because the weather has not begun to really feel like fall? I don't know. But something happened on the way home between the happy hour margaritas and Trader Joe’s – it began to rain. All of a sudden it felt like Holiday. Even the red cups at Starbucks didn’t seem annoying. Having grown up on the east coast, I have had many a gray and/or wet Turkey Day. A few of them even had snow. I know I won’t get snow here in California, even when I’m in San Francisco – but I am thankful to hear some thunder, see some lightning and get wet like the old days. It makes me feel like a little kid.
To start off the Holiday season properly I’m embedding a video from the 1968 Tony Awards from the musical Promises Promises. It takes place at an office holiday party and hilarity ensues. It features fantastic choreography by the amazing Michael Bennett. Nothing else in the world is as amazing and ridiculous at the same time. It’s the way I start off the Holidays! Enjoy it with a Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha – you won’t be disappointed. [watch for the signature head popping – only try it at home after a real warmup.]
UPDATE : Everybody's Stupid is off this week for the holiday. Wpisode three will premiere next Thursday, December Fourth.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Soccerboy in LA and MD TOTAL! Though these times may be tough, there is still a lot to be thankful for.
[© MMVIII MD TOTAL all rights reserved]
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The Round Up : November 23, 2008
Here’s this weekend’s Box-Office Estimates:
1. Twilight $70.6 million
2. Quantum of Solace $27.4 million
3. Bolt $27.0 million
4. Madagascar 2 $16 million
5. Role models $7.2 million
As everyone imagined, Twilight ruled the box office this weekend doing so well it’s already made back it’s budget. Twice. Now that’s a business model! It also shows the weird phenomenon of genre movies and their box-office totals. Late Friday night when we knew what the movie was doing, traditional box-office math would have put this movie in the $90 million plus range for the weekend. But the audience for a movie like Twilight is interested in seeing it on the first day, which changes things. Not that anyone over at Summit Entertainment is complaining. Twilight’s first weekend gross is already double the total gross of their next highest grossing movie. Way to go!
Not to be outdone, Quantum of Solace held it’s own in it’s second weekend of release. Yes, it’s gross fell almost 60% from the previous weekend, but damn - when you make $70 million in three days there’s nowhere to go but down. Bolt also held it’s own against the hugely popular Madagascar 2. This movie was a smart move for Miley Cyrus – she gets to be in a hit movie and she can give her image a break.
Role Models is still hanging in there on the strength of its two stars, who are out doing everything they can to stay visible. You might be able to get Paul Rudd to give a speech at your son’s Bar Mitzvah right now and Seann William Scott would perform a dance number at the party – just keep the kids away from the bar. Laugh all you want, but press like that would get people into the theaters.
This would be a good time to mention Fireproof, the Christian movie starring Kirk Cameron. Now this movie was produced by Kirk’s church group. Really. They’ve done a few movies before that were in tune with his spiritual beliefs and the group distributed the pictures themselves. They had a good model – make a movie for cheap, know your target audience and you’ll make your money back. This time, they paid for the production and used Samuel Goldwyn for distribution. It cost them $500,000 and they’ve made almost $32 million so far! Best yet, this is Samuel Goldwyn’s highest grossing picture ever – even beating the Care Bears Movie! Now that’s a business model!
And that’s the weekend!
[© MMVIII MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
1. Twilight $70.6 million
2. Quantum of Solace $27.4 million
3. Bolt $27.0 million
4. Madagascar 2 $16 million
5. Role models $7.2 million
As everyone imagined, Twilight ruled the box office this weekend doing so well it’s already made back it’s budget. Twice. Now that’s a business model! It also shows the weird phenomenon of genre movies and their box-office totals. Late Friday night when we knew what the movie was doing, traditional box-office math would have put this movie in the $90 million plus range for the weekend. But the audience for a movie like Twilight is interested in seeing it on the first day, which changes things. Not that anyone over at Summit Entertainment is complaining. Twilight’s first weekend gross is already double the total gross of their next highest grossing movie. Way to go!
Not to be outdone, Quantum of Solace held it’s own in it’s second weekend of release. Yes, it’s gross fell almost 60% from the previous weekend, but damn - when you make $70 million in three days there’s nowhere to go but down. Bolt also held it’s own against the hugely popular Madagascar 2. This movie was a smart move for Miley Cyrus – she gets to be in a hit movie and she can give her image a break.
Role Models is still hanging in there on the strength of its two stars, who are out doing everything they can to stay visible. You might be able to get Paul Rudd to give a speech at your son’s Bar Mitzvah right now and Seann William Scott would perform a dance number at the party – just keep the kids away from the bar. Laugh all you want, but press like that would get people into the theaters.
This would be a good time to mention Fireproof, the Christian movie starring Kirk Cameron. Now this movie was produced by Kirk’s church group. Really. They’ve done a few movies before that were in tune with his spiritual beliefs and the group distributed the pictures themselves. They had a good model – make a movie for cheap, know your target audience and you’ll make your money back. This time, they paid for the production and used Samuel Goldwyn for distribution. It cost them $500,000 and they’ve made almost $32 million so far! Best yet, this is Samuel Goldwyn’s highest grossing picture ever – even beating the Care Bears Movie! Now that’s a business model!
And that’s the weekend!
[© MMVIII MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Friday, November 21, 2008
Round Up Weekend!
As you could tell, I’ve been out of town for a few days, and the weirdest part was that I was away from the internet. I actually had to get my news from the USA Today! Yikes! Though I will admit that it sure has some pretty pictures…
So, I am doing a miniature version of the Dup from last weekend to keep from doing a double edition. I will say one thing – Twilight’s receipts are already looking pretty good and it’s still dinnertime on the East Coast.
And here’s LAST weekend’s box office totals:
1. Quantum of Solace $67.5 million
2. Madagascar 2 $35 million
3. Role Models $11.1 million
4. HSM III $5.7 million
5. Changeling $4.3 million
We all knew that Quantum would blow everything out of the water, especially with the way it’s been tearing up Europe. I do have to congratulate Madagascar 2 for bringing in $35 mil of business on its second weekend! It’s nice to see the top two movies’ combined receipts break $100 million. HSM III is still hanging in there, but is admittedly not moving towards the $100 million mark as fast as people expected. I think it’ll make it, barely. Not that it’s hurting for profits AT ALL – even with inflated salaries, this picture was deceptively inexpensive to make.
Though I was forced to read USA Today while I was out of town, I did get a chance to see Changeling. In my opinion, it is nothing short of amazing. Angelina Jolie is probably Meryl Streep’s biggest competition for the Oscar. You heard it here. I loved this movie immediately and thought about it for the few days after I saw it. The more I thought about it, the more I was blown away. Movies like this make me excited to make movies!
And that was the weekend!
[© MMVIII MD TOTAL]
So, I am doing a miniature version of the Dup from last weekend to keep from doing a double edition. I will say one thing – Twilight’s receipts are already looking pretty good and it’s still dinnertime on the East Coast.
And here’s LAST weekend’s box office totals:
1. Quantum of Solace $67.5 million
2. Madagascar 2 $35 million
3. Role Models $11.1 million
4. HSM III $5.7 million
5. Changeling $4.3 million
We all knew that Quantum would blow everything out of the water, especially with the way it’s been tearing up Europe. I do have to congratulate Madagascar 2 for bringing in $35 mil of business on its second weekend! It’s nice to see the top two movies’ combined receipts break $100 million. HSM III is still hanging in there, but is admittedly not moving towards the $100 million mark as fast as people expected. I think it’ll make it, barely. Not that it’s hurting for profits AT ALL – even with inflated salaries, this picture was deceptively inexpensive to make.
Though I was forced to read USA Today while I was out of town, I did get a chance to see Changeling. In my opinion, it is nothing short of amazing. Angelina Jolie is probably Meryl Streep’s biggest competition for the Oscar. You heard it here. I loved this movie immediately and thought about it for the few days after I saw it. The more I thought about it, the more I was blown away. Movies like this make me excited to make movies!
And that was the weekend!
[© MMVIII MD TOTAL]
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Everyone is Stupid
Irreverence is back by popular demand! The first episode of Everybody's Stupid was such a hit that we could hardly deny you any more! We've decided that we'll be premiering a new episode just about every two weeks for the next twenty weeks! That's a lot of irreverence!
Anyway, pour yourself a drink, microwave some popcorn (just don't burn it if you're in the office) and rejoice because Episode Two of Everybody's Stupid is here!
Gotta Dance!
[© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
Anyway, pour yourself a drink, microwave some popcorn (just don't burn it if you're in the office) and rejoice because Episode Two of Everybody's Stupid is here!
Gotta Dance!
[© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Bachelor’s Paradise : After the Club
You know when you’ve had a real night out, the kind that includes going to da club? You know those nights: Let have dinner together! Then as you leave the restaurant, your group stops into a bar for a drink. Drinks lead to dancing, which leads to someone suggesting that you go dancing for real at the club around the corner. Did you know tonight was 80s night? You get there, have a couple of the $1 jello shots, and the next thing you know you’re sweaty as hell dancing in a cage with some go-go dancer who’s dressed as an indeterminable jungle animal. Then you get back home and are hungry as hell because the last thing you ate was that salad at dinner seven hours ago, and you just got some serious exercise on the dancefloor. This sandwich is perfect for a late night snack. It is satisfying, and light enough that it won’t cause you any problems if you pass out on the couch as soon as you finish it. It pairs perfectly with a decaf earl grey tea or the final beer of the night. Put on a DVD and by the time you get past the trailers and to the main menu, this tasty little sando will be done! It also works just as well if you brought someone home with you from the club are both hungry after some exercise of your own…
What? I’m just keeping it real!
Grilled Cheese with Strawberries
• 2 slices of whole wheat bread [I use Milton’s Whole Wheat]
• two cold strawberries, sliced thick
• a good white cheddar [I happen to prefer English White Cheddars]
• a pat of butter
• one cold beer
Heat a pan on top of the stove on low. On a slice of bread make a layer of grated white cheddar cheese. On top of that, make a layer of strawberries then another layer of white cheddar. Top with second slice of bread.
Put the pat of butter in the pan and let melt. As soon as it’s melted put sandwich in the pan, being careful to keep it all together. Cook on low until crispy, then flip with a spatula and repeat. As soon as cheese is melted [sando should be pretty golden brown and crispy] take off heat and cool on a paper towel. A wire rack would be best. HINT: let this sandwich cool considerably, it will be extremely hot. Trust me on this, the juice from the berries mixes with the cheese, and somehow becomes the hottest part of the sandwich.
I know that this may sound like a crazy combination, and truthfully it is. But there is something about the buttery crispiness of wheat bread that balances with the sharpness of the white cheddar and the sweetness of the strawberries. Late at night when you’re thinking of making a run for the border, try this instead, your stomach will be much happier with this clean, healthy choice.
What? I’m just keeping it real!
Grilled Cheese with Strawberries
• 2 slices of whole wheat bread [I use Milton’s Whole Wheat]
• two cold strawberries, sliced thick
• a good white cheddar [I happen to prefer English White Cheddars]
• a pat of butter
• one cold beer
Heat a pan on top of the stove on low. On a slice of bread make a layer of grated white cheddar cheese. On top of that, make a layer of strawberries then another layer of white cheddar. Top with second slice of bread.
Put the pat of butter in the pan and let melt. As soon as it’s melted put sandwich in the pan, being careful to keep it all together. Cook on low until crispy, then flip with a spatula and repeat. As soon as cheese is melted [sando should be pretty golden brown and crispy] take off heat and cool on a paper towel. A wire rack would be best. HINT: let this sandwich cool considerably, it will be extremely hot. Trust me on this, the juice from the berries mixes with the cheese, and somehow becomes the hottest part of the sandwich.
I know that this may sound like a crazy combination, and truthfully it is. But there is something about the buttery crispiness of wheat bread that balances with the sharpness of the white cheddar and the sweetness of the strawberries. Late at night when you’re thinking of making a run for the border, try this instead, your stomach will be much happier with this clean, healthy choice.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
The DUP : November 9, 2008
Here are this weekend’s box-office estimates:
1. Madasgascar 2 $63.5 million
2. Role Models $19.3 million
3. HSM 3: Senior Year $9.3 million
4. Changeling $7.3 million
5. Zack and Miri $6.5 million
Well, the big surprise of the weekend turned out not to be Madagascar coming in at number one with $63 million, but Role Models coming in with $19 million! It’s an understatement to say that that this surpassed everyone’s expectations – even Universal expected that picture to come in somewhere between $10 and $12 million. Well done, boys! I always thought that Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott would make a great team, they’re both such specific characters actors and they both have impeccable timing. This is well deserved. It also deserves to be said that Madagascar 2 has the highest grossing opening weekend for an animated movie this year, beating out Wall•E and Kung Fu Panda. That is a surprise to me.
High School Musical Three: Senior Year is still hanging on in the top three. Kids are seeing this movie over and over again, to no one’s surprise. Changeling’s gross was down about 5% from the previous weekend even though it added five more screens. Zack and Miri hung on at number five, bringing their total gross close to $21 million.
Finally, Soul Men, which stars Samuel L. Jackson and a posthumous Bernie Mac came in at number six with $5.6 million. This “African-American Comedy” [as Daily Variety called it. How much progress have we actually made during this historic week, I ask] pulled in less than Dimension/MGM were expecting for some reason. I only started to see print ads for this picture a couple of weeks ago, and it felt like they threw this onto the marketplace.
I will leave you with one thing I will admit to loving in the Madagascar 2 trailer. The male Rhino is flirting with the female Rhinos and singing a song about it. You'll have to imagine the sparse pop influenced hip-hop beat yourself. The Lyrics:
Male Rhino: “I like ‘em BIG. I like ‘em JUNKY!”
Female Rhino: “Is that your friend, or is that your butt?”
And that’s the weekend!
[© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
1. Madasgascar 2 $63.5 million
2. Role Models $19.3 million
3. HSM 3: Senior Year $9.3 million
4. Changeling $7.3 million
5. Zack and Miri $6.5 million
Well, the big surprise of the weekend turned out not to be Madagascar coming in at number one with $63 million, but Role Models coming in with $19 million! It’s an understatement to say that that this surpassed everyone’s expectations – even Universal expected that picture to come in somewhere between $10 and $12 million. Well done, boys! I always thought that Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott would make a great team, they’re both such specific characters actors and they both have impeccable timing. This is well deserved. It also deserves to be said that Madagascar 2 has the highest grossing opening weekend for an animated movie this year, beating out Wall•E and Kung Fu Panda. That is a surprise to me.
High School Musical Three: Senior Year is still hanging on in the top three. Kids are seeing this movie over and over again, to no one’s surprise. Changeling’s gross was down about 5% from the previous weekend even though it added five more screens. Zack and Miri hung on at number five, bringing their total gross close to $21 million.
Finally, Soul Men, which stars Samuel L. Jackson and a posthumous Bernie Mac came in at number six with $5.6 million. This “African-American Comedy” [as Daily Variety called it. How much progress have we actually made during this historic week, I ask] pulled in less than Dimension/MGM were expecting for some reason. I only started to see print ads for this picture a couple of weeks ago, and it felt like they threw this onto the marketplace.
I will leave you with one thing I will admit to loving in the Madagascar 2 trailer. The male Rhino is flirting with the female Rhinos and singing a song about it. You'll have to imagine the sparse pop influenced hip-hop beat yourself. The Lyrics:
Male Rhino: “I like ‘em BIG. I like ‘em JUNKY!”
Female Rhino: “Is that your friend, or is that your butt?”
And that’s the weekend!
[© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
James Mormile: Interscope Records A&R
You know you’re in an A&R office at a major record label when there’s not even a desk in the room. Mormile’s office is surprisingly relaxing to be in; there is no desk, there are leather couches, and his computer sits on his coffee table. Then there’s the killer audio system that features JBL Studio Monitor 4412s! There’s also the 50 Cent platinum record that Fitty signed “James, tell the DJ to blow me up or I’ll kill you!” Even I gotta admit, that’s pretty rad.
James Mormile works in A&R at Interscope Records here in Los Angeles. He grew up in South Orange, New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. At Seton Hall, he was a radio DJ back when DJ’s had more control over what they played. He then interned at Universal Music Group [UMG] NY in video promo, which means he took music videos every Monday morning from 57th and Broadway and ran them down to MTV at 42nd and Broadway to make sure they got there by 10AM. In the summer it was so awful he’d have to bring a change of clothes with him to work! He was the person making sure videos were getting played and he’s been with UMG ever since, almost ten years!
I asked James what an A&R person does:
James signs his own projects, but because Interscope has an abundance of projects he also gets projects assigned. Most of his are projects that he has found and has shepherded from the very beginning. He doesn’t have to go to clubs all the time anymore, and he doesn’t get that many demos in the mail. Three years ago he would have had a stack of demos, but now he gets emails from artists asking to look at their myspace page. They’ll have four or five songs up, maybe a video from a gig and a bunch of photos. And with comments, you can see what people are reacting to. It’s more interactive than only getting a piece of paper. Plus, it makes things much more informal when he can just email an artist back.
James is still excited about making career artists, but sees a real problem because there’s no place to go buy CDs anymore. I definitely agree with this, I miss Tower Records. No one gets excited to go to Best Buy to buy music. You go to Best Buy to buy a washing machine and you happen to see a 50 Cent CD. And that does not excite James in the least. He feels that iTunes is great, and also feels that it is not the end-all. People cherry pick songs off the album, but most don’t comprehend the amount of work and effort that goes into making an album.
Jimmy Iovine wakes up every day thinking about distribution - how are they going to change distribution? Because right now, creating and printing CDs is dying and iTunes is creating a singles market where they don’t make enough money to keep going in the way their artists deserve. It’s difficult to break an act, to make something big enough that millions and millions of people will want to buy it. Record companies serve a purpose.
James is someone who clearly loves his job, and is very excited about music. Which is good because he travels all the time. If one of his projects are recording a record, he spends as little time in the office as possible, he likes to be as hands on as his artist wants him to be. Some artists feel like the label guy is breathing down their neck and some are excited that he’s interested.
James is there for support. He might have an idea every once in a while, but he’s not a producer or musician – he’s not someone who toils in what goes on. Most of his day consists of marketing meetings, meeting with artists, producers and managers. He likes to be with his artists doing what they’re doing, whether they’re in the studio or if they’re on promo. Whatever would make them feel excited that the label is there, that the label is excited about them, that’s his job to help them feel that love. So if they go do Good Morning America, he goes for the artist but also to meet the music show’s music supervisor to ask if there’s anything he can do for them and let that person know that he’s this artist’s guy.
He also spends a lot of his day walking the building. He goes to his marketing guy, or the new media people. He wants to know what they're doing for his band. At the end of the day the project is his, out of all the people in the company his name is on it somewhere. Making sure his projects' records sell ultimately comes down to him.
And that’s a good thing, no? Many people pretend that they don’t want to sell records. But if that were true, then they wouldn’t even try to sell their records! If that were true, they really could just write in a journal and play their music in their garage and they would be satisfied. Besides, how else would we ever be able to go see a concert with 40,000 other fans and have that experience without a label laying the groundwork for that possibility?!
I will leave you with his words:
[©MMVIII MD TOTAL all rights reserved]
James Mormile works in A&R at Interscope Records here in Los Angeles. He grew up in South Orange, New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. At Seton Hall, he was a radio DJ back when DJ’s had more control over what they played. He then interned at Universal Music Group [UMG] NY in video promo, which means he took music videos every Monday morning from 57th and Broadway and ran them down to MTV at 42nd and Broadway to make sure they got there by 10AM. In the summer it was so awful he’d have to bring a change of clothes with him to work! He was the person making sure videos were getting played and he’s been with UMG ever since, almost ten years!
I asked James what an A&R person does:
To an artist on a label, I’m the record label. Aside from signing talent, which is a major duty, I’m the liason between the artist and the company. Anything they have to do with the label goes through me. I’m the only person my artists really need to know. There are so many different departments, with hundreds of employees. So for an artist, that’s not their job. It’s their job go make records and go play gigs and do that the best that they can. I make sure that everything happens on time, that everyone gets paid. And it’s my job to champion the project through development. These are my passion projects, so I make sure that the higher ups in the building knows what’s going on - that Jimmy Iovine knows who this new artist is. It’s my job to make it important to him. After artists have made a few records, they’ll get to know a few more people at the label, they’ll know who their marketing director is, the head of sales. But at the beginning, it can be confusing.
James signs his own projects, but because Interscope has an abundance of projects he also gets projects assigned. Most of his are projects that he has found and has shepherded from the very beginning. He doesn’t have to go to clubs all the time anymore, and he doesn’t get that many demos in the mail. Three years ago he would have had a stack of demos, but now he gets emails from artists asking to look at their myspace page. They’ll have four or five songs up, maybe a video from a gig and a bunch of photos. And with comments, you can see what people are reacting to. It’s more interactive than only getting a piece of paper. Plus, it makes things much more informal when he can just email an artist back.
James is still excited about making career artists, but sees a real problem because there’s no place to go buy CDs anymore. I definitely agree with this, I miss Tower Records. No one gets excited to go to Best Buy to buy music. You go to Best Buy to buy a washing machine and you happen to see a 50 Cent CD. And that does not excite James in the least. He feels that iTunes is great, and also feels that it is not the end-all. People cherry pick songs off the album, but most don’t comprehend the amount of work and effort that goes into making an album.
Jimmy Iovine wakes up every day thinking about distribution - how are they going to change distribution? Because right now, creating and printing CDs is dying and iTunes is creating a singles market where they don’t make enough money to keep going in the way their artists deserve. It’s difficult to break an act, to make something big enough that millions and millions of people will want to buy it. Record companies serve a purpose.
To get to that arena level, t just takes time cultivating your audience and to keep giving them something new and giving them a reason to come back. There’s nothing like seeing all that energy in an arena, people really care. Everyone should go to a U2 show at some point in their life and understand that’s what music should do to people and that it’s a sort of a religious experience. There’s nothing more poignant than seeing someone who can command and audience like that. That was the point of their Elevation tour, that all you needed was U2, a stage, some lights, and a couple of video screens so the folks in the back can see too. Just them and an audience.
For a band, in the old sense of being a band, when you want to live on a major label a lot of the groundwork has to be laid by the band already. Like if they’re from Tulsa, Oklahoma; before you get to Interscope you have to be the biggest band in Tulsa. There has to be no question, everyone in Tulsa has to be jumping up and down about your band. If we go to Tulsa to see you play, there better be 1000 people there - there'd better be a line around the block. And if not, there’s nothing wrong with that, you’re just not ready for what it is that Interscope does. I don’t have the time or the staff to make sure that you can play your guitar or make sure your drummer can play in time. A lot of artists have hit records and they’re not ready. You can’t put them out on the road because it’s just that hard. Wherever you’re from, whatever city or state that is, you need to be the Rockstar of your hometown so Interscope can go there and be excited. Don’t just come to LA immediately because you’re gonna play the Roxy and four people are going to show up and two are gonna be your parents. A band needs to be able to get on a local tour. If you’re from New York you need to get on a tour that takes you to NY, NJ, Connecticut, Philly, you know, go up and down the Northeast and have people show up. If you can do that and have people show up then you’ve now taken a step towards being ready for what Interscope can do for you. Otherwise, there’s no real benefit to being here if you don’t already have a fan base.
James is someone who clearly loves his job, and is very excited about music. Which is good because he travels all the time. If one of his projects are recording a record, he spends as little time in the office as possible, he likes to be as hands on as his artist wants him to be. Some artists feel like the label guy is breathing down their neck and some are excited that he’s interested.
You know the kind of people who don’t want you there and if they don’t want you there, it’s not because they don’t like you it’s because they want to work. They don’t want to feel like I'm there to keep them in check.
James is there for support. He might have an idea every once in a while, but he’s not a producer or musician – he’s not someone who toils in what goes on. Most of his day consists of marketing meetings, meeting with artists, producers and managers. He likes to be with his artists doing what they’re doing, whether they’re in the studio or if they’re on promo. Whatever would make them feel excited that the label is there, that the label is excited about them, that’s his job to help them feel that love. So if they go do Good Morning America, he goes for the artist but also to meet the music show’s music supervisor to ask if there’s anything he can do for them and let that person know that he’s this artist’s guy.
He also spends a lot of his day walking the building. He goes to his marketing guy, or the new media people. He wants to know what they're doing for his band. At the end of the day the project is his, out of all the people in the company his name is on it somewhere. Making sure his projects' records sell ultimately comes down to him.
And that’s a good thing, no? Many people pretend that they don’t want to sell records. But if that were true, then they wouldn’t even try to sell their records! If that were true, they really could just write in a journal and play their music in their garage and they would be satisfied. Besides, how else would we ever be able to go see a concert with 40,000 other fans and have that experience without a label laying the groundwork for that possibility?!
I will leave you with his words:
I can only speak for myself, I think I'm someone who is excited about what I do. My artists are my friends and I have to believe in all of them. I want to see every one of them succeed, and not just for the money. I love to be able to put my name on a great body of work and know that I helped make it great. We are all working towards the same goal, we are building this thing together.
[©MMVIII MD TOTAL all rights reserved]
Monday, November 3, 2008
Never. Give. Up.
I promised myself that Soccerboy in LA would not be about politics, and let me tell you that in 2008 that has been difficult. Today, I am breaking that promise because it feels irresponsible not to.
Tomorrow in California, we get to vote for or against a ban on gay marriage. Since gay couples have the right to marry in California, this proposition is not about gay marriage as much as it is about constitutional rights and discrimination. It doesn’t matter what one thinks about gay marriage, it only matters what we think about taking away people’s rights.
This is a time when we have to call upon the best in ourselves to help others, whether their choices affect us or not. You may think that since you aren’t gay, this proposition doesn’t affect you. But what will you say when someone tries to take your rights away? The sad fact is, most people in this country were only “awarded” the right to vote less than 100 years ago! Will people try to take that away? What will be our argument if this dangerous precedent is set?
Most people understandably forget that it’s not only people of color who have been discriminated against in this country. If it has slipped your mind, just go to Boston and ask the Irish what they went through or go to New York City and ask the Italians what they went through just to get off the street, get decent jobs and get their children into good schools.
If we begin to take away people’s rights now, how will we stop it in the future?
You’re probably asking yourself why I waited until the night before the election to try to change people’s minds. I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind about gay marriage, I’m appealing to what people already know to be true. America has fantastic ideals and the potential to be a great country. Our founding fathers came together and decided that this country should above all else be about equality, that every person here should be treated equally. Yes, it takes a long time to get to that idea, but it is up to us in the present to keep marching towards that goal. We owe it to them, we owe it to ourselves and we owe it to our children.
Always vote against discrimination. Equality for EVERYONE.
[© 2008 MD TOTAL. All rights reserved.]
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Tomorrow in California, we get to vote for or against a ban on gay marriage. Since gay couples have the right to marry in California, this proposition is not about gay marriage as much as it is about constitutional rights and discrimination. It doesn’t matter what one thinks about gay marriage, it only matters what we think about taking away people’s rights.
This is a time when we have to call upon the best in ourselves to help others, whether their choices affect us or not. You may think that since you aren’t gay, this proposition doesn’t affect you. But what will you say when someone tries to take your rights away? The sad fact is, most people in this country were only “awarded” the right to vote less than 100 years ago! Will people try to take that away? What will be our argument if this dangerous precedent is set?
Most people understandably forget that it’s not only people of color who have been discriminated against in this country. If it has slipped your mind, just go to Boston and ask the Irish what they went through or go to New York City and ask the Italians what they went through just to get off the street, get decent jobs and get their children into good schools.
If we begin to take away people’s rights now, how will we stop it in the future?
You’re probably asking yourself why I waited until the night before the election to try to change people’s minds. I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind about gay marriage, I’m appealing to what people already know to be true. America has fantastic ideals and the potential to be a great country. Our founding fathers came together and decided that this country should above all else be about equality, that every person here should be treated equally. Yes, it takes a long time to get to that idea, but it is up to us in the present to keep marching towards that goal. We owe it to them, we owe it to ourselves and we owe it to our children.
Always vote against discrimination. Equality for EVERYONE.
[© 2008 MD TOTAL. All rights reserved.]
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Round Up : November 2, 2008
Here’s this weekend’s Box-Office Estimates:
1. HSM III : Senior Year $15 million
2. Zack and Miri $10.7 million
3. Saw V $10.1 million
4. Changeling $9.4 million
5. Haunting/Molly Hartley $5.2 million
The box-office suffered a big drop this weekend, thanks to Halloween being on Friday. In fact, whenever Halloween is on a weekend, the box-office receipts aren’t so swell. On Friday, Saw V was in the lead because all the kids were trick-or-treating, but they came back with a vengeance on Saturday to cast their vote for Zac Efron and the rest of the Wildcat gang, putting High School Musical III back in the lead spot for the second weekend in a row. In fact, HSM III did 400% more business Saturday than it did on Friday. Dang.
Kevin Smith’s movie, Zack and Miri Make a Porno actually outdid Saw V as well, placing at number two. It got some free press because the same theater chain in Utah that wouldn’t show Brokeback Mountain won’t show this either. I wonder if they know that issuing a press release about not showing the movie helps said movie get more money. Something to chew on.
Changeling opened nationwide after a week in a limited run. Its gross may not look like much, but it has the highest per screen average of any movie in the top ten! I also am feeling refreshed and relieved that this movie is playing well across all demographics. Things like that make me think that this movie may have legs. It’s doing the same business that Mystic River did when it went nationwide five years ago which is good news for Universal.
Across the pond, the new Bond movie Quantum Of Solace broke box office records in the UK, France and Sweden! When it opens in the States on November 14th, look for it to do phenomenal business. Its first choice tracking is almost double what it was for Casino Royale, so we’ll see what happens in 12 days.
And that’s the weekend!
[© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
1. HSM III : Senior Year $15 million
2. Zack and Miri $10.7 million
3. Saw V $10.1 million
4. Changeling $9.4 million
5. Haunting/Molly Hartley $5.2 million
The box-office suffered a big drop this weekend, thanks to Halloween being on Friday. In fact, whenever Halloween is on a weekend, the box-office receipts aren’t so swell. On Friday, Saw V was in the lead because all the kids were trick-or-treating, but they came back with a vengeance on Saturday to cast their vote for Zac Efron and the rest of the Wildcat gang, putting High School Musical III back in the lead spot for the second weekend in a row. In fact, HSM III did 400% more business Saturday than it did on Friday. Dang.
Kevin Smith’s movie, Zack and Miri Make a Porno actually outdid Saw V as well, placing at number two. It got some free press because the same theater chain in Utah that wouldn’t show Brokeback Mountain won’t show this either. I wonder if they know that issuing a press release about not showing the movie helps said movie get more money. Something to chew on.
Changeling opened nationwide after a week in a limited run. Its gross may not look like much, but it has the highest per screen average of any movie in the top ten! I also am feeling refreshed and relieved that this movie is playing well across all demographics. Things like that make me think that this movie may have legs. It’s doing the same business that Mystic River did when it went nationwide five years ago which is good news for Universal.
Across the pond, the new Bond movie Quantum Of Solace broke box office records in the UK, France and Sweden! When it opens in the States on November 14th, look for it to do phenomenal business. Its first choice tracking is almost double what it was for Casino Royale, so we’ll see what happens in 12 days.
And that’s the weekend!
[© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos
The Round Up : November 2, 2008
Here’s this weekend’s Box-Office Estimates:
1. HSM III : Senior Year $15 million
2. Zack and Miri $10.7 million
3. Saw V $10.1 million
4. Changeling $9.4 million
5. Haunting/Molly Hartley $5.2 million
The box-office suffered a big drop this weekend, thanks to Halloween being on Friday. In fact, whenever Halloween is on a weekend, the box-office receipts aren’t so swell. On Friday, Saw V was in the lead because all the kids were trick-or-treating, but they came back with a vengeance on Saturday to cast their vote for Zac Efron and the rest of the Wildcat gang, putting High School Musical III back in the lead spot for the second weekend in a row. In fact, HSM III did 400% more business Saturday than it did on Friday. Dang.
Kevin Smith’s movie, Zack and Miri Make a Porno actually outdid Saw V as well, placing at number two. It got some free press because the same theater chain in Utah that wouldn’t show Brokeback Mountain won’t show this either. I wonder if they know that issuing a press release about not showing the movie helps said movie get more money. Something to chew on.
Changeling opened nationwide after a week in a limited run. Its gross may not look like much, but it has the highest per screen average of any movie in the top ten! I also am feeling refreshed and relieved that this movie is playing well across all demographics. Things like that make me think that this movie may have legs. It’s doing the same business that Mystic River did when it went nationwide five years ago which is good news for Universal.
Across the pond, the new Bond movie Quantum Of Solace broke box office records in the UK, France and Sweden! When it opens in the States on November 14th, look for it to do phenomenal business. Its first choice tracking is almost double what it was for Casino Royale, so we’ll see what happens in 12 days.
And that’s the weekend!
[© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
1. HSM III : Senior Year $15 million
2. Zack and Miri $10.7 million
3. Saw V $10.1 million
4. Changeling $9.4 million
5. Haunting/Molly Hartley $5.2 million
The box-office suffered a big drop this weekend, thanks to Halloween being on Friday. In fact, whenever Halloween is on a weekend, the box-office receipts aren’t so swell. On Friday, Saw V was in the lead because all the kids were trick-or-treating, but they came back with a vengeance on Saturday to cast their vote for Zac Efron and the rest of the Wildcat gang, putting High School Musical III back in the lead spot for the second weekend in a row. In fact, HSM III did 400% more business Saturday than it did on Friday. Dang.
Kevin Smith’s movie, Zack and Miri Make a Porno actually outdid Saw V as well, placing at number two. It got some free press because the same theater chain in Utah that wouldn’t show Brokeback Mountain won’t show this either. I wonder if they know that issuing a press release about not showing the movie helps said movie get more money. Something to chew on.
Changeling opened nationwide after a week in a limited run. Its gross may not look like much, but it has the highest per screen average of any movie in the top ten! I also am feeling refreshed and relieved that this movie is playing well across all demographics. Things like that make me think that this movie may have legs. It’s doing the same business that Mystic River did when it went nationwide five years ago which is good news for Universal.
Across the pond, the new Bond movie Quantum Of Solace broke box office records in the UK, France and Sweden! When it opens in the States on November 14th, look for it to do phenomenal business. Its first choice tracking is almost double what it was for Casino Royale, so we’ll see what happens in 12 days.
And that’s the weekend!
[© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.]
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