The New Orleans Film Festival

This Wednesday, I took my students on their first field trip of the year. We went to the New Orleans Film Festival to watch 3 educational screenings. The students then had a chance to meet the director and the actors involved with the film. The most inspirational documentary was “Sparkle”, directed by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar. This movie was about Sheri “Sparkle” Williams, who has been a star dancer with the legendary Dayton Contemporary Dance Company for nearly 40 years – a record virtually unheard of in the professional dance community. (NOFS.org) Sheri suffered from an injury that stopped her from dancing for over 8 months. This documentary was a story of personal and professional failures and triumph.

            I actually got a chance to talk with Sheri Williams, and director, Julia after the screening. Julia is sending me a copy of the film and I am so excited to share with my classes to write a summary of the short documentary as an assignment. She could tell that I had a passion for filmmaking and was more than happy to offer assistance in my journey as a budding independent filmmaker. I love having the opportunity to meet influential people in this industry. The advice and expertise I have gained from my experiences have been priceless.

            The New Orleans Film Festival was filled with over 200 movies from directors all over the World. This is the 24^th Annual New Orleans Film Festival, and Moviemaker magazine named the NOFF “Top 25 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee.” (NOFS.org)

            I gave my students an assignment to document the entire trip and take pictures and video of the experience. They will then import the footage in iMovie and create a video montage of their footage. The students were so excited to take a field trip and get a day off from school. Mentorship Academy is located in Baton Rouge, LA, about an hour from New Orleans.  We wanted to stay longer but we had to get back to the school. Other notable movies include 12 Years a Slave, and The Whole Gritty City. Ms. Skye MacDonald from the NOSF said that she would come out to Baton Rouge to show our school the movie “The Whole Gritty City.” This is a documentary about New Orleans high school marching bands. From watching the trailer, it seems to be a very good movie.

            I will create a post about the student project coming soon. Have you ever been to a film festival? If so which film festivals have you been to?

-O. Griffin

           

References: http://thewholegrittycity.com http://neworleansfilmsociety.org/pages/detail/31/film-festival

PAM Week 2 Video (Eric Thomas in New Orleans)

Do you NEED a Manager?

Do You NEED a Manager?

In today’s music industry there are so many options that an independent artist has when it comes to management. If you are just starting out in the business, you are probably the artist, the manager and CEO of your own company. So how do you decide when to hire a manager as an independent artist? This question is difficult to answer if you don’t have a plan, and are not actively working on your career daily.  I also believe that an artist must know and understand what they are looking for in a manager. Some artists just need a booking agent, while others need someone to basically become a personal attendant. You will find that the latter is more often the case when it comes to managing artists. Management is definitely not a 9-5 job. Troy Carter, the manager of Lady GaGa states, ”You really have to be passionate about the business so you will stick with it when it’s hard“ (Renman 2013.)

The artist manager is more often looked to as the extra member of the band or group. The relationship between a manager and artist are more like a marriage than any other business partnership that exists. The manager’s goal should be to take all of the business pressure off of the artist so he can just focus on being an artist. The roles of a manager are clear:

o   Handle all business transactions on behalf of the artist.

o   Maintain working relationships with other “team members” that are all working toward the same goal of pushing the artist’s career forward.

o   Create plan for future career moves and always keep artist on track.

I think as an independent artist, you must decide if you are ready to take your career to the next level. There is a lot of work that has to be done before you reap even the first inkling of success in this business. This industry is truly about having heart and faith in yourself as a viable brand. You have to be the CEO of YOU.  Once you believe in yourself enough, then others will take you seriously. Soon enough you will have people asking you “Why don’t you have a manager?” Once this happens, you are probably ready to find the manager that is right for you.

I have the opportunity to wear the artist manager hat once again in my career. I am currently representing Inspirational Jazz artist Terrell Griffin. He is the newest client of Power Move Management LLC; a startup business founded by my sister, Letrece Griffin. Yes Terrell is related to me. He is my first cousin; but more importantly, he is a prolific singer and Bass guitarist. He has traveled the World spreading his message of God’s love and peace. He came to me because even though he has a strong local fan base, he hasn’t taken advantage of the online resources that can help advance his career, such as iTunes, YouTube, and Twitter. My plan is to get all of his previously released music online, and use the buzz to promote his new album that he is currently recording. This is a video of Terrell Griffin called “New Release” from his last album entitled Free.  

Reference: http://www.renmanmb.com/videos/tips-to-succeed-as-a-manager-with-troy-carter