I’m busy.  You might have noticed this already because I haven’t been able to blog very often these past couple of days.  Buffalo State is to blame but it’s a good thing, a great thing actually.  Friends, classes, food, hanging out, side projects, and work keeps me always on the go.  My passion for life or hustle hasn’t changed, only its form.  Instead of being online and showing my hustle on my blogs and other sites, I’m displaying myself to the college and community around here.  This change in medium makes me appreciate connecting with people one on one, face to face, instead of one to many, computer screen to computer screen.  I’m not saying that blogging and social networking isn’t good but it is a good idea to be multi-functional when it comes to building your brand.  As long as it’s still about the people and how you can help them, it’s all good.

Anyway, here’s just some quick notes about what I’ve been up to and thoughts for my upcoming plans.

-Playing Racquetball and staying fit

-Meeting new people

-Making a short film with intentions to submit it into the Suny Wide Film Festival

-Keeping up with homework, 18 credit hours worth

-Working on starting a video-making club

-Working on building/improving the Honors Program at Buffalo State

-Applying and joining the soccer team

-Working with Jamie Ferguson on my photo-shoot, and editing photos

Keeping busy and hustling is the best way to get things done and still stay happy.  Feeling accomplished and knowing that you’re working hard to succeed and to help others do the same thing is a great thing.  Crush it!

In my own words I detailed how I was being “scrappy” in my approach to Crushing it but it was John Exley that made me realize it.  Being scrappy means being resourceful.  John put my process best in his own words…

1.  ”Don’t have the money to pay some web designer thousands of dollars for a cool site? No problem – use the free tools that are out there and your natural knack for design and start your own site and your own blog within one week.  That, my friend is how you do it.”

2. Don’t have the money to buy a bunch of business cards online? No problem, your solution – use the resources at your school and get ones made for free. Once again my man, well done.

3. Don’t have the money to buy a bunch of expensive equipment to make use in your passion for film, photography, etc.? No problem, your solution – take advantage of the great equipment provided by your school. Great thinking, again, you’re beyond your years kidd.

4. Don’t have the money to pay for an expensive photoshoot to help with some professional branding for you, your site, and your blog? No problem, your solution – be SCRAPPY and ask your friend who’s a talented photographer to hook you up and in the meantime you’re helping out his portfolio. Awesome stuff!

Being resourceful is really helping me expand my efforts while minimizing how much money I spend.  All this takes is being connected and hustling.  Another great reason to NETWORK your butt off and to work hard.  Buffalo has put a lot on my plate with work, and enjoying college but I’m not gonna slow down with building my brand.  Keep at it.  Crush it!

Craigslist is an advertisement website that is famous for being controlled by anyone and everyone.  Thousands of people in almost every city post ads from events, resumes, special gigs to simple jobs.  It is free and allows for you to be checked out by a bunch of people.  I use Craigslist for these reasons.  Checking out local wedding ads and people who ask for videography work, I get to know what jobs are available in my local area.  I also post my own ads asking interested people to check out my website and email any information to me.  This is an excellent way to bring traffic to your website and get business.  I’ve found that the best way to get the best results is to respond professionally to all of the posts that could possibly relate or work for you.  By having a broad area of people looking for me to work for them I can hand pick what clients I want to possibly work for.  ALWAYS respond back and in a positive and respectful way.  At all points of your interaction with anyone, you are building your brand and making a name for yourself.  Act professional and they’ll treat you as one.  Always try to help others before yourself and you’ll see results.  Crush it!

1. I’m going to college soon, where I’ll have some time to focus on video production.  I’ll have access to equipment, and the initiative to shoot some video blogs.  I need to start showing people checking out my blogs that I’m a film major.  Using this talent to my advantage is the best move I can make right now I believe.  I’ve got new ideas on how to conduct my video blogs, content for them and how to get people talking about them.  Gary Vaynerchuk is only helping me out with my plans.  Crush It!

2. My website works best when select people that I pick, get a chance to check it out.  Yes, I’d love to have hundreds of random views see it but I want people interested in my video/film work and initiative to see my brand online.  Business cards are the best way to do this.  Where I work at Buffalo State College, the press services branch of the USG (United Student Government) is a perfect place for me to get some “free” cards made.  I’ll design them and have them to hand out as soon as possible.

3. A picture is worth a thousand words, and can make a website, blog header or icon look more professional and appealing.  I could have my friend Jamie F. “JamieFergusonPhotography” give me a photo-shoot at college.  This is the best option and if you check out his website/blog you can see that he’s a talented guy.  Some professional business photos like the ones my friend John Exley has and others that I’ve seen people having would help out on the aesthetics of my websites.

The last thing I read in my “Crush It!” book was that having a Facebook fan page is an important thing.  I only adds to the connectivity of the people who talk to you and think what you’re doing is cool and worth subscribing to.  It keeps information about view, member, activity amount, which is all useful but like Gary V. says, don’t get caught up in the numbers and stats.  ”Your success is measured by how happy you are.” Well anyway here is a link to my “Kadams Media Production Fan Page”. Crush It!.

Kadams Media Production Facebook Fan Page Link

My man, John Exley made this awesome video blog taking about…well just check out the video.

It’s a couple of days until spring semester of 2010 and I’m at an interesting point in my life.  With 18 credit hours, side video projects, homework, friends and oh yeah, a life, I need to use my time wisely.  I’ve decided to approach my blog with a plan.  This plan is being designed as I type this blog but the importance of this well, important.  My next blog post will outline how I will build my blog through content.  Gary V will help me though his book, which I’m about to read.

Just finished making my blog website with word press.  Seems cool so far.

welcome to my blog, hello to 2010, and thanks for reading. before i begin, i must say that i will be using my proposed stage name, ana melanie, as the name i was given is preposterous to pronounce. on this blog, i will do my absolute best to bring the most relevant movie news to these pages, and keep willing readers updated with my status as a film student. you might see the occasional drawing or photo urge, as i am an artist after all.

as of now, i am not a film student, but an aspiring one. it is my absolute dream to make films. no, i am not cliche, as i have not wanted to be a filmmaker since i was a child. my wish was to be a vet. then an artist. then a comic book artist, and then a japanese manga artist, and finally a psychologist! i did get into suny buffalo/albany for psych, but due to financial obligations, i turned down the offers. luckily i did, because i now know that listening to people’s life story is the most redundant, boring, and draining thing ever. i want to help people, but also in a way that can make me happy and stay in a place where i can utilize my talents. i discovered film was the route for me.

my interest in screenwriting developed near my last year of high school, and i must say i became absolutely fascinated with hollywood. right now i attend a community college, and i’m majoring in grab bag credits really. english was my original major, but my school is ridiculous, and that’s another blog entry! (i’m fuming as i think about it.) i must say though, i have been an avid fan of celebrities and able to identify any such person on a whim since i was a kid. it’s my ultimate dream now to be both a screenwriter and a director so i can have the ultimate control over my projects.

i write of powerful women, fixing social injustice, humanity (struggle of the human spirit), and of sci-fi and the supernatural because all of the above absolutely fascinate me. i’ll tell you outright that i’m a feminist! megan fox is my idol, no joke.

my film idols are: steven spielberg, james cameron, quentin tarantino, diablo cody, francis lawrence, the nolans, clint eastwood. why? because they fit the mold and impact of what i’m trying to achieve in my films.

my favorite films are: jennifer’s body, kill bill volume 1 and 2, harry potter and the half-blood prince, and disney’s alice in wonderland. why? because they’re beautifully crafted visually, and fit the style and direction i’m going for. they’re full of imagination and originality–i don’t care how “childish” some of them may seem. i’m not going to sit and lie that i like films from 1942 or by alfred hitchcock, because i don’t. i draw inspiration from current films in front of me, music, television, interaction with people, and books.

as i type this, i am fully ready to delve into the unknown this year. i just got back from applying to the famed school of film and television at ucla, AGAIN, after the united states postal service lost my first package routed there a week ago. (or maybe my writing was that good of a read they had to “lose” my package? haha.) i have also applied to lmu, ringling and ut austin in hopes of being able to make films.

this year, i’m ready to accept whatever is thrown my way, and overcome all obstacles set before me. no longer will anyone hold me back; i just had to get rid of a best friend of 10 years. she was extremely negative, needy, condescending and toxic. she’s gone from my life–and i say to you as a reader, make your life a little bit easier in the year of the tiger:

giving your dreams a chance.

letting go.

getting messy.

and making mistakes.

until next time.

Starting with tube walls being covered in flashy ads to eye-catching shop windows, in our local town centres or in the West End. Today, image is everything but people like to think that we express more than just good looks through visuals.

Ryan Vernava, 22, who graduated from University of Westminster’s Film & TV Production earlier this year, is one of these people. His works are bearings of every young artist’s message to the audience, that is entertaining as well as enlighting.“The director is like a filter. You get to make important decisions and involve the right people in a complex, highly-coordinated game that will result in a product exposing what you have imaginatively planning,” he explains his creative ways.

The emerging director won two distinctions at some of the most important young film festivals in the UK in addition to several screenings and competition entries at other events of such kind with Prick, his final graduation project. The 17-minute long drama is “a depiction of the British young culture”, according to Ryan,  telling the story of a photography student who through his blurred photographs discovers the grim truth about last night’s party.

London Young Film Festival, one of Europe’s leading film festivals for filmmakers under 26, granted him with the honourable Best Shortfilm Award. The festival went independent this year, after a two-year running as a sub-section of the London Independent Film Festival, at which Prick has also obtained entry for its April 2010 celebration.

Ryan felt truly grateful for the award: “LYFF is one of those rarities that gives us young people a real chance to get our voice heard. I’m very happy with the victory and the exposure LYFF has given me as a young director.”

The short film also won Best Live Action Award at Exposures, the UK’s largest festival of student moving image work, which takes place every year in Manchester. The November 2009 event brought together young film makers in a three-day event.

Exposures festival celebrates film with screenings, workshops, panel talks and networking. It is a good opportunity for new talents to showcast their work and connect with well-established individuals in the industry.

Prick is not the only award-winning project of the young Wolverhampton-born artist now living in Dollis Hill. Ryan’s first moving image work, Axe: Be Careful Who You Turn On, won Best Overall, Best In Brief and Best Casting at the Kodak Student Film Awards 2009.

This far he has mainly worked on realistic envisages, getting his inspiration from big names such as Gus Van Sant and the day-to-day social life in his Dollis Hill neighbourhood.

Ryan now shows new interest in targeting more bohemian elements: ” I am fascinated by the mix between the real and surreal, rendering fringe stories with peculiar incidents and twists. I like the idea of exposing weird characters in odd situations”.

Despite thinking of the director as “the god of the world that he creates”, the filmmaker is also extremely audience-conscious. “I used to be into more artsy-pretentious things, but the secret lays in getting the audience to like what you are doing in a natural way. It’s all about them, the viewers; I love to make people laugh and engage with my films.”

Ryan is currently working on developing new script ideas and applying to other film festivals across the ocean to reach new audiences. There are new competitions that he has in mind to keep himself artistically active. Those including the DG Shorts contest in March 2010 and the local “Film London in 90 seconds”, for which he plans to film scenes around Brent.

In addition to applying to the very prestigious NFTS Film School, and being in touch with important figures of the film industry, Ryan has also taken on a project called ‘BrainWash’, as a collaboration with Liam Achaibou, another Westminster graduate. It is an alternative film night that takes place once every two months at Westbury Bar in Kilburn.

He is also negotiating with Willesden Green Library to put out an exhibition of photography, painting and other contemporary art displays of young talents from London and beyond.

Ryan Vernava’s creation is definitely something to keep an eye on in the future, even just for the peculiar fact that he almost made a career in science.

“In college I was very passionate with Maths and Physics, but I suddenly changed my mind. With creative subjects you are continuously exploring new paradigms, whereas in the case of the objective ones there is less flexibility and more restrictive intensity. I like it intense, but I want to be on the move too.”

By Andreea Magdalina

Short Film USA, 3m46
Directed by : Miguel Arteta
With : John C Reily, Miranda July, Mike White.

John C Reily ask this simple question to random people on the street : ” Are you anybody’s favorite person ?”

Just watch it !

Animated Short Film, USA. 5m53
Directed by Tim Burton & Narrated by Vincent Price (1982)

“ Vincent Malloy is seven years old,He’s always polite and does what he’s told.For a boy his age he’s considerate and nice,But he wants to be just like Vincent Price (…) “

We are getting ready to shoot instructional videos for our website and need some help.  Are you a student in a theater/acting program looking to get a small gig to add to your resume? We may be able to help each other. We are looking for an attractive woman aged 25 – 65 years old needed for a series of instructional web videos.
www.linentablecloth.com – educating and instructing customers how to purchase our table linens. We do need someone with some on camera experience who can capture and hold an audience. You also need to be able to memorize lines and/or read cue cards effectively.  If you would like to apply for this position please send your resume, head shot  and a link to your work reel on youtube to ron@linentablecloth.com for consideration. Please put “Instructional Video Applicant” in the subject line.

Scientists have announced that a large crater in Latvia that was claimed to be the results of a meteorite crashing to earth is, in fact, a hoax.

Crash and burn: the hoax meteorite crater in the Mazsalaca region of Latvia

Experts had rushed to the site after reports that a meteorite had landed late on Sunday in Latvia’s Mazsalaca region, near the Estonian border, and footage of the flames caused by its landing were widely shown after being posted on YouTube.

Unfortunately, it turned out it was just a hole someone had dug in the ground. The video (see below) was shot by a group of film-making students, which might be seen as something of a gievaway.

// ‘This is not a real crater. It is artificial,’ Uldis Nulle, a scientist at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Center, said after inspecting the site on Monday.

Uldis and other experts who examined the hole in daylight said it was too tidy to have been caused by a meteorite.

‘It’s artificial, dug by shovel,’ said Girts Stinkulis, a geologist at the University of Latvia.

Earlier Uldis had said his first impression of the 27 foot wide and nine foot deep crater was that it had indeed been caused by a meteorite. He said there was smoke coming out of the hole when he arrived.

Dainis Ozols, a nature conservationist, said he thinks the perpetrators tried to make their freshly-dug hole look like a meteorite crater by burning some kind of pyrotechnic compound at the bottom. He added he would analyze some samples taken from the site.

Inga Vetere of the Fire and Rescue Service said they received a call about the alleged meteorite on Sunday evening from an eyewitness. She said a military unit was dispatched to the site and found that radiation levels were normal.

Experts outside Latvia said it would be unusual for such a large meteorite to hit the Earth. The planet is constantly bombarded with objects from outer space, but most burn up in the atmosphere and never reach the surface.

Asta Pellinen-Wannberg, a meteorite expert at the Swedish Institute of Space Research, said she didn’t know the details of the Latvian incident, but that a rock would have to be at least three feet in diameter to create a hole that size.

Henning Haack, a lecturer at Copenhagen University’s Geological Museum, said when it comes to alleged meteorite crashes, ‘there always is a pretty large margin of error.

4m animated short film. Australia.
Directed by Luke Randall

A tiny robot is given the gift of life with only one limitation, the length of his power cable.

You just have to watch this.

10 minutes short film. USA.
By Adam Davidson.

Academy Award Winning Short Film.

A woman believes a homeless stole her salad.

Really Fantastic.

7 minutes short film. France.
By Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv

Two guys who aren’t supposed to get along …

Brilliant.

8 minutes Music Short Film. USA.
By Jamin Winans.

Won over 35 film festivals.

God is a Dj !

Awesome !

Ha, obviously!

I’m so proud of my little sissy-face!  Here are 2 of her films from her first quarter at the Art Institute in L.A.!

THE TYRANT

HOME SWEET…

Recently there was an article in the LA TIMES that confirmed what we all know. There are damn near no movies being made in town and studios continue to slash jobs.  Yet,  there are so many ads  for internships floating around. Hey kids, if they don’t put the name of their “prestigious agency”  in the job post it’s probably bullshit.  No mention of course credit?  Bullshit.  Not even an offer to buy you lunch? Say it with me… “Bullshit.”   

A wise young man said to me the other day. ”I’ve never known anyone to get a job from an  internship in this town.  In fact, the closest I’ve heard of that in “The industry” is the story of a young man who allegedly met Stephen Speilberg at a college graduation function.  At their chance meeting he told the A-List director. “One day I am gonna work for you!” Many years later in the copy room under a pile of shitty scripts and hole punched paper, that young man spotted Stephen Spielberg. He said “Mr. Spielberg you probably don’t remember me but…” Allegedly, Stephen said “Oh yeah I remember… looks like you made it!” And with that he scooped up his coffee and headed towards the door.  Choose your ”internships” wisely!  

Newly formed TV division of Feature Production and Distribution Company seeks ambitious, intelligent, hard working interns to start immediately. Great opportunity to learn in a fast-paced, intimate environment and be a part of something from the ground level.  We’re in active development on numerous scripted and non scripted projects. Applicants must be personable and be able to commit to two days a week minimum.  Email resumes to tvjob08@gmail.com  8/18

I have a large backlog of questions in my in box, but this comment from a few days ago is just desperately crying out to be answered.

Hi,

currently I’m in my senior year of college, and I will be graduating with a B.A. in Cinema and Television arts.My goal is to be a television director and producer. My first question what do you think the further of television will be ? In television who gets more recognition the director or the producer. Lastly, how do you think I should approach Hollwood.
Thanks,
Eric

Okay, first off, I know this is the Internet and all, but proofreading is your friend. I’ve seen manifestoes written in crayon on toilet paper that were more coherent than this. Download Firefox, at a minimum. It comes with a spell checker, which should help you avoid writing “Hollwood” on an industry blog.

All that being said, I guarantee there will be at least three speling and grammar mistake’s in this post. Mote in your eye, plank in my own, I know.

Anyway.

You asked a lot of questions, so settle in for a long post.

What do you think the further of television will be ?

I’m not really sure what the further of television will be. It’s kind of a… strange question. Do you think television is moving? Getting larger? I’m just not prepared to answer that.

If you’re curious about the future of television, I’ve got a long post about that coming soon, so stay tuned.  (Or RSSed, or whatever.)

In television who gets more recognition the director or the producer.

My opinion of TV directors is rather low. In all honesty, the director is the only person on set who could call in sick, and the end product would be exactly the same. Still, directors get paid a lot for doing very little, and the crew does, generally, try to do what they ask. So, in that sense, the director gets “recognition,” I suppose.

The real power lies with the producers, or, more specifically, the writer-producers. Unlike films, directors come and go, but the writers remain. The creative course of a series is controlled by the writers. Nothing gets done without their approval, from casting to set construction to editing.

In general, a director’s job on set is to get enough coverage for the writer-producer to work with in post-production. If a director spends his whole day shooting eight-minute steadicam shots without getting inserts and cut-aways, that director will not be invited back for another episode.

On the commentary for an old Buffy episode (season 2, episode 14, if you’re as nerdy as me), Joss Whedon explains that, when he directs his own scripts, he feels free to shoot oners because he can decide which scenes will play in their entirety and which might have to be cut down to time. A regular director does not have that authority.

- – -

I wanna stop here because the tone of your comment gives me some misgivings.

First, it is redolent of a peculiar western mythology, that of the Lone Artist Creating His Art Alone. (A man, a plan, a canal – Panama!)

Anyway.

We have this idea that creation is a solitary pursuit, and genius can’t be arrived at by committee. One great artwork, be it a painting, a song, or a movie, must have only one great artist (painter, songwriter, director).

But the moving picture has no such artist. A writer must write the scene, an actor must perform it, the art department must give the actors a space in which to perform, and the grips and electrics must light that space for the camera department to put the scene on film. And on and on and on.

My second misgiving is that, even if there were such a “televisual artist,” it sounds like you want to be that guy. It’s like a business student asking, “Do I want to be the CEO or the chairman of the board? Oh, heck, I’ll just be the president.”

Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t your fault. All film students feel this way. I did.

Nearing graduation, I asked my professor, “What if I get agents competing over me? How do I choose which one is best?”

“You’ll be lucky to get one. Take the first agent who says yes.”

I didn’t even get one. Which is not to say there aren’t people who get lucky early in their careers, but don’t count on yourself being one of them.

/aside

- – -

How do you think I should approach Hollwood.

The way to approach Hollywood is to understand that what you do is determined by three things: what you’re good at, what you like doing, and what someone will hire you to do. At some point in your career, you’ll hope all three align. But when you’re fresh out of film school (and for most of your life, probably), the third item is the operative factor.