industryLIFE: Veteran vs. Novice

We all start off as "newbies" but HOW you approach coming into an organization or professional situation can tell so much. Believe it or not, seasoned people can often tell a newbie right off the bat. Some of the tattle tale signs are coming in too aggressive, being disrespectful to others and name dropping. In the media, music and entertainment business these are some of the quickest ways to get your name placed on the "do not call them to work again" list. Here are two examples of what I mean...

While on assignment with the City of Atlanta for a relaunch campaign I encountered my first example. The campaign, already somewhat in motion, was not cohesive and basically not engaging enough to capture the eyes of the city. When I came on board I made efforts to get a handle on the media, posters etc that were currently being designed and shocked to find out that they were missing important pieces of information like the seal from the city and the dates and times of events. I immediately went into redesign mode and brought things up to par. The next task was to craft the official release about the relaunch of the city's services. As I was working on that, I got a call from one of the magazines we were working with inquiring about a woman whom had contacted them about the very ad that we had just spent hours revamping. The woman said that she would be the contact for things moving forward but the editor was not having it and called me immediately. She said she didn't believe this woman and to make matters worse her phone etiquette was horrible. I thanked her for the call and went back to my writing.

Just as I regained my focus on the press release, my line rang and it was the women. She was not very pleasant and some what demeaning at the same time. She started by telling me her name and going straight into questions like what so what are you doing on this campaign? Before I answered I asked her to explain her role. She stopped and replied, I will be marketing and media for this campaign. OK I thought, she is new to this. How did I know? She was so excited and she was more concerned with everyone's title vs. the actual work that had been done or not done! It was like she had been sitting home praying someone called her to work. Most seasoned people would start a call a lot different, they want to know where the bodies are buried, all the pertinent info to get this thing up and going without having to be on the no sleep team. Most of us could careless about the title they have, we want to know about the work! I ended that call by saying we can discuss all of that when you come into the office, can we expect you tomorrow? She seemed stunned by my answer but told me she would be there first thing tomorrow morning. Oh Goody, I couldn't wait...

When we finally did meet, she was very different from the phone. I don't know if she was on a sugar high or just excited to be on this assignment but she was different in a good way. That's when I decided she wasn't hopeless just clueless so I decided to share some wisdom. I told her to never ever approach a situation like that again. I informed her that the best way to handle it would be to ask, what is your role instead of asking "did they just ask you to write a release?" Pretty much the same question but a lot more professional. Her question nor tone showed me the professional she turned out to be (thank God!).  She agreed and apologized for the behavior. We worked together for months and actually collaborated on what would become a successful campaign for the city. When the assignment ended, I moved on to my next but got a phone call from the young woman. She said, "I just want to let you know I enjoyed working with you and hoped that we can keep in touch".  I don't hold many grudges so I agreed that we could stay in touch.

Then there was the email encounter I had with someone who limited himself to only doing PR for the hip hop community. I was working with a DJ who wanted to increase his bookings. We came up with a plan to do an email campaign. We combined our lists and sent the blast. Not 30 seconds after the blast hit in boxes, I got a reply from a guy asking..."How do you know DJ XXX?"....no introduction, nothing just how do you know him? First off I'm like why is he so protective of another man? And who the hell is this? Finally I replied is there something I can help you with? He replied, yes, I am a personal friend of his and was not aware that he was working with a PR (that phrase bugs real PR people but I'll save that for a whole other blog!)...I laughed because I knew this DJ was not committed to one PR person and worked with quite a few of us. I waited about an hour then replied...I've known him for 20 years, I drove him to many of his first gigs and even helped him carry crates...how do you know him again?

There was no rely. Then about 2 weeks later, I woke up to find a Facebook friend request from the newbie with a note saying "sorry". Do you think I added him? Ha Ha Ha!

industryLIFE: A Note About Vol. II

Since we began this series, we've had some interesting things happen. From turning down a publishing deal to dealing with life situations, we are still here and not going anywhere!

Since our launch almost 3 years ago, we've had one mission which is to share real experiences from the Media, Music and Entertainment world while giving you information that also helps people thrive in these fields. No it's not all about going to college to learn to work in these professions, there are somethings only experience can teach and that's what we focus on!

Before we began offering these insights, most learned by doing but we wanted to give those who may not have those opportunities to have access to the information too. We have shared stories that some will only whisper about and to be honest we have shed some of our inhibitions by doing so. So be patient, we will have Vol. II ready soon. At this point we have no choice but to continue on the journey we began.

Each One, Teach One!

#iLBS Team

industryLIFE: Can I Get Some Professionalism?

Over the years I have worked with some of the best people in the media and music industry however there seems to be a "thing-y" that happens when successful/famous people come into the picture...most people lose their professionalism, their focus and often their cool. So this is the story of one incidents.

On several assignments where I was working as a #BTS Producer for recording artists, I got to see professionalism lost first hand. Now as I have said before people come into the business from various walks of life so they approach situations from different vantage points and that's where things can go really bad!

On one particular assignment where I was working with a successful female rapper and her superstar music producer, we all witnessed the melt down of professionalism. The assignment was to capture the artist and producer working in the studio, on set and behind the scenes. The artist and producer were well known and their music was global. They were working on the next album for this artist and the project would require hiring several camera people to capture as much of the happenings that we could from Atlanta to Los Angeles. Since the project was “fluid” I was on call. Basically I had to wait for calls from the record label or management to give me the next location for shooting then assemble a crew to get the job done. At one point the artist would be in LA recording tracks for the album. The studio where she was working was pretty popular in the business and many artist had recorded there in the past. On this particular night she would be recording with a long time friend and pop superstar and the label wanted that footage. I was called at about 3am, yes 3am with all the particulars for the next night. Well I spent the next few hours reaching out to secure a camera person for the shoot. A friend at the time suggested using his brother for the shoot. Now I thought this guy had spent enough time around the business to know the drill but boy was I wrong!

I got in contact with the guy and he was willing to do it! I gave him the location and all the information that he needed to make it a successful shoot however I should have given him some lessons in professionalism too. I made sure the camera man arrived before the talent and stayed on the phone with him to make sure all was going well. He assured me that it was so I relaxed as much as I could since I was not physically their to manage the situation. A few hours passed and since I was in Atlanta all I could do was wait to hear how things had gone. Well about 3am my cell phone rang and it was the artist’s manager. She and I had known each other for a few years so there was a comfort level already established. When I answered she greeted me and then said are you sitting down? I was shook but yeah I was sitting and asked her to go on. She asked me if I had spoken to the camera man to which I replied not in a few hours, why? What happened? The manager went on to tell me that the artist was furious! I just sat quietly waiting for the shoe to drop. She told me that when the artist arrived the camera man was there but he had brought a few friends along. (WTF this is work, would you take your friends to your call center job?) Ok, I started taking notes. She went on to say that in addition to the friends tagging along this guy had no professionalism at all. First off when the artist arrived, he did not introduce himself. He simply grabbed his camera turned it on and started shooting her! Now maybe some celebrities are OK with this but she was not. She was known as being a hard core rapper so when she saw some strange guy shooting footage of her and her friends she went over to confront him. When she did, he told her that he had been hired by the label to shoot her session that night. She did not know anything about this and since he had already rubbed her the wrong way, she called her manager to find out what was going on. The manager assured her that he was just a little new and apologized on his behalf. She let it slide for that night but the manager asked me to NEVER use him again. I agreed.

When the artist returned to Atlanta, I made sure to be there for every session so that we could make her feel comfortable and to reassure her that we would not tape anything that she did not want us too. She and I talked about the incident in LA and I apologized again. She was cool so we proceeded with that night's work with a new camera person. Because of what happened in LA I had to stay there as they recorded through the night just to make sure there were no f*ck ups! The shoot went great that night! We got some great footage of them working together, we put the camera man in the booth with her as she recorded her latest song and it looked great on camera. When the recording session was over, I was ready to go home and get some sleep but that money has to always be taken care of. I told the camera man that he was done and that I would take care of invoice being signed off on. He left the studio to load his gear into the car and I went to find the producer to get his signature. Now he was hanging out in the TV room so I knocked on the door and was told to come in. When I got in the room he was there with a young lady that I knew so we said hello. (It was weird to me because I thought she was involved with another producer but there she was sitting with him at 4am!) Anyway, the producer said that he need to talk to me so we went outside to the bar and chopped it up. As we talked he signed the invoices and I began gathering my things to leave. Just as I was headed to the door, the camera man comes back inside speed walking. I had done a sweep of the studio to make sure we left nothing behind so I wondered where was he going. Then I saw that he was holding something in his hand. The producer was headed back into the TV room when the camera man yelled to him. As I'm standing there watching him I get the weirdest feeling but I wait to see just what he is about to say. The producer turns back and that's when the camera man professionalism went out the door. Seems this guy had a nephew who was an aspiring rapper and the camera man had agreed to get his demo into the hands of some people in the music business. This guy runs, yes runs over to the producer and begins to pitch him on listening to this demo. Again it was 4 AM!!!

As I stood there, my blood began to boil. We had just finished the longest days of this assignment and you now want to play A&R? At 4am? The producer looked over at me like, where did this guy come from? He then listened for a quick second and took the CD. I tapped the camera guy on his shoulder and said "let's go" in a way that he knew I was pissed! He turned and walked towards the door while asking me, "did I do something wrong?" I couldn't talk to him! I had to just keep walking. By the time we reached my car, I finally looked at him but for some reason I just couldn't snap on him about what had just happened. See his face was beaming with joy because he was able to put the CD in the producer's hand. I told him we would talk about it the next day but wouldn't you know it, the next day or rather later that morning, I get a call from the label saying don't bring him around anymore.

Now how was I going to fire this dude and keep my working relationship in tack?
 

Pick up Vol. II of Industry Life Book Series to get the rest of this story. (#ILBS)

ILBS: 2015 - The Year Of Vol. II

We went quiet for a few months but we are still here, going behind-the-scenes of the Media, Music and Entertainment world to examine and share how situations and decisions impact business and careers in media, music and entertainment.

We had to take some time to look into our strategy and our brand. With 
2014 was a big year for business so it was necessarty to make some changes to Vol. II to address all that has happened.

So...what do we have planned for this year you ask?

We are currently working to complete Vol. II of the series (yes we know it has been a long time coming but we promise it is well worth the wait!) and we also kicked off our artist spot light section of our FB page with a very deserving artist, Keisha Jackson, so click the link and make sure you check that out (https://www.facebook.com/IndustryLifeBookSeries). We are also planning some other things that will surely be out-side of the box but you'll just have to wait to see those at a later date.

Well back to work we go because Vol. II of this series is coming soon and we still have so much to do!

Cheers to a great 2015!
The Staff of #ILBS

industryLIFE Book Series Vol. I for $3.99

 Go to Amazon.com to Download the Book!

industryLIFE: From Riches to Homeless: The Story of Phil

When I met him he was homeless, living in an abandon car. By the way that he spoke I could tell he hadn't been homeless his whole life. We met when I hired him to do some light chores around my house. A few weeks passed and things were working out. He was an immaculate house keeper! To my surprise one day I walked into the kitchen and he was singing a classic disco song that I loved. When I jokingly asked what he knew about that song he said, "Honey, I mixed that song in the 80s." Wait what did you say? So he repeated it. Of course I was intrigued how did this man who had the voice of a singing saint with music production credits become homeless?

The story goes that he was young and working with another producer whom became his lover. He and his lover were a team who worked with some of the bigger names of that time but wouldn't you know it, love had nothing to do with it. Phil as he was known around 4th Ward Atlanta, told me they guy was well versed in the business of music but he wasn't and that's where the drama came. Seems dude was making millions on the records they were producing and mixing but since Phil was only a hired hand, he was simply paid a flat fee for his work. His name was listed in the production credits of a few records but not knowing about that infamous points system had crippled him. Sure there were times where he would walk into the studio there would be checks waiting for him, some as high as $25,000 but not knowing that he should have received royalties for his work that money went to his lover.

After years of riding high in the music business it wasn't long before the lure of drugs came into play. Since it was the 80s and no one knew just how harmful crack cocaine was, he happily partied and continued to live the high life. Then one day he learned about the amounts of money that his lover was getting and that's when things hit the fan. He and his lover fought about the money but legally there was nothing he could do to regain the money that he had lost. He soon slipped further into the drug culture and found himself without money or a home. Although his life was what people considered rock bottom at this point, he told me had no regrets. He says he lived a good life, made some bad decisions but in order to move on, he had to just let it go.

Sadly a few years later we moved from that house and lost contact with Phil. As of this writing he is believed to still be living as a homeless man while the music he helped to create continues to play on the air waves. (Phil we love you and hope that you are okay where ever you are!)

industryLIFE: The PA Did What?

I got a call to work a three month gig with a veteran female rapper who was releasing her next album. The label was putting a lot of money and effort behind the project as she was the top selling female rapper to date. The project would consist of capturing the behind the scenes adventures of the artist and present "a day in the life" video with the album. I put a team together that consisted of several cameramen and myself as the producer. We started the project by capturing video of her writing and recording in studios in LA and Atlanta, shopping with friends and the finale' would be capturing the making of her first music video from the album. The project ran smoothly and the label seemed to be happy.

The last month of the project I was called to personally accompany her to Miami where she would be shooting the video. It was a much needed get away and when you can get away and make money you go! I got in contact with the video production crew and found out where they were staying and made the hotel and flight arrangements. About a week later I was in Miami. I had spoken to the production coordinator on the video and she informed me that she could send the production van to pick me up from the airport so I gave her my flight info and moved along. The day that my flight arrived, I went outside looking for my ride only to find there was NO ride. I called the production office and was told something had happened to the van and that I would have to get there on my own, so I called a cab. When I arrived at the hotel, it was busy with the production crew, talent and extras all preparing for shooting over the next day. I settled in my room and went to check in with the production crew. When I entered the room I introduced myself. The crew, professional and very accommodating, asked that I wait and they would get me a copy of the shoot schedule, so I did. As I sat the producer asked how I had gotten to the hotel, I told her that I had taken a cab. Then quiet feel over the room so of course I asked what was going on? To my surprise I was told the reason I had to take a cab was because the production van was MISSING! (WTF)

Seems the production crew had arrived in town a few days earlier to hire local crew for the shoot. They had hired a man to work as a PA (Production Assistant) and driver. They had completed all the necessary paperwork, given him unlimited access to the van and his per diem and that was the last time he had been seen. At this point that was 3 days ago. As we worked over the next few days, the inside joke on the set became, Dude, where is the van? We still didn't know.

On the last day of shooting we were tired but the joke was only gaining steam. We still had not heard from the driver and the shoot was done. Since it was the last day and no one knew where this guy or the van was, they filed a police report and we all went back to our respective cities. A few weeks later I ran into the production coordinator back in Atlanta. We talked for a bit and I asked if the van was ever recovered?To my surprise she said, "yes". Apparently the van was found several days after we left (via cabs and another rental van), in a notorious drug area but the driver was never seen again.

Goes to show you just never know whose been hired to work with you!