THE SHADOW OF AN EMPIRE

FIONN REGAN

This a great album... but it can't be Fionn Regan! The pop and twang of these riffs echo like the garage blues of The Black Keys or the rhythmic bobbing of Dr. Dog, which are obviously all great vibes to dig. Still, it was anything but what I expected to follow-up the soothing chants ofThe End of History.

Listen to the album on Grooveshark

WHERE ARE MY KIDS?

PARENTS, YOUR KIDS ARE ASKING

THE SAME THINGS ABOUT YOU

Today there was an article in the New York Times about the new risks being considered when it comes to how plugged in the world is with texting, social media, blogging, etc. It's been a few years now since people were asking themselves what effect these things would have on young people (currently between their early teens and mid 20's), but that's because we're the generation that's developing these things. We're used to it!

It isn't until now that researchers are considering what impact will be made on the generation that's born into this connected (or rather disconnected) world. Parents were infamous for their questioning of these social media tools when they first came on the board with their children, but now WE are the parents, and the PARENTS are the ones in question. The generation who developed the concept of tweeting is having kids and starting families. But can they disconnect (or rather connect) enough to raise their kids the way they were raised, or is the concept of parenting changed forever?

There can really only be two outcomes...

(1) Kids born after the social media craze blew up (let's say, after the late-90s) will grow up to be a product of their parents invention. They will be tweeting from the crib and Facebook will have gone from a forum for college students to a forum for preschoolers on up. Foriegn language courses will be taught internationally on Skype, forests will flourish because print will be completely dead, and sidewalks all over the world will be reformatted so that you never have to look up from your iPhone, Droid, or... whatever the hell the next new phone is.

or...

(2) The same kids will grow up without the nurturing feeling that is human nature to desire as a child ever being satisfied. They will eventually skip school not to stay home and blog, but rather to venture into the woods where they will have formed communes - bartering and trading goods, and making their own toys from the trees around them (which, remember are flourishing now) - simply for the sake of real human contact. You might call is a reversion of 1984.

Either way, the issue is real. Kids in the emerging generation are going to grow up in a way that is more dissimilar than any other generation of parenting in history. Whether it's good or bad, who knows? But we have to ask ourselves, what makes us human? And are we sacrificing that, one status update at a time?

THE ARTIST OF OUR GENERATION

JÓNSI

Jón Þór Birgisson has been a collaborator with and frontman for the Icelandic ambient/transcendental rock band Sigur Rós since the group first formed in 1994. The raw energy and naturalistic inspiration that Sigur Rós achieves with their music has been unmatched by any other band in the world. Groups like The Album Leaf and The Books have also ventured to the idea that an abstractly rhythmic core can be layered with sheets eclectic harmonies and tones, but their songs can only tap into so many emotions at a time... Sigur Rós has shown no limitations. From Von (1997) to Með suð í eyrum (2008), this band has remained one of the most cohesive musical collaborations in modern rock... until now.

In the hiatus since their last release in 2008, most members of Sigur Rós have used the time to start families and settle down. Jón, however, has spent the better half of 2009 preparing for what is turning out to be an incredible solo venture under his nickname "Jónsi".

Listen to "Grow Till Tall" by Jónsi on Grooveshark

Jónsi makes being an artist seem effortless. In the official promo video for his new album Go Do you can see the sheer brilliance that he emits through not only his music, but the visual representations he creates for it (both in recording and in performance). And Jónsi knows this, which is why he didn't just stop at the the album and an incredible performances to match - he has created an experimental film that narrates the story of Go Do. The film is called Go Quiet, and it looks as though it will be as much of an experience to watch as Heima was for Sigur Rós.

Watch the promotional video for Go Quiet featuring "Around Us" by Jónsi

FFMP

Randy Finch is an associate professor of film at the University of Central Florida. A few years ago he had a thought: what if college students interested in making films for a living had the opportunity to work hands-on with people who are already doing it? At the same time, Randy took over a class in the UCF film program called The Film Producer. The course was initially designed to focus on the role of a producer as it pertains to the usual raising funds, pulling together the creative team, keeping things organized... blah blah blah.

Randy turned the class inside out with his new idea: the Film Fest Marketing Project.

What the FFMP does is outline a course that works in partnership with a film festival in the same community as the college. Over the last few years the students at UCF in Orlando have worked with the staff, volunteers, and most importantly the filmmakers at the Florida Film Festival. My own experience with this project at the 2010 FFF was one of pure enjoyment and satisfaction. So much so that I've since joined Randy's team to evolve the project for future classes and develop the website so that other universities and film festivals can utilize the FFMP.

The FFMP wears many different hats: it acts as a tool for filmmakers to get their films recognized by a community that they otherwise have no connection to in the weeks (or even months) before the festival. It help the film festival gain more recognition within their community. And most importantly it gives college students an opportunity to display their passion, work ethic, and street smarts to industry professionals, which can lead to connections that are worth a lot more than the cost tuition for three credit hours.

FLORIDA FIM FESTIVAL 2010

Wow, I'm getting really excited for the Florida Film Festival this year. The films look great, the food delicious, the stars, well, shiny! And it's all less than three weeks away!

I feel a particular sense of intimacy with the festival this year. After spending all of this time over the last few weeks marketing Obselidia (one of the competition films) there will be a good balance of pleasure and productivity during festival week. Working closely with the producer Chris Byrne and director Diane Bell, as well as all of the fine folks at the Enzian has been nothing but a wonderful learning experience for me. I can only hope to have this kind of involvement with the festival circuit more frequently, in more places, and in more ways in the years to come!

It's a little upsetting, however, given all of the time I have to commit to the FFF that I won't be able to attend ANY of the Sarasota Film Festival this year. Not that I've ever had any close bonds with that particular festival or its administration. Despite growing up in Sarasota, I never was as interested in films during the years I would have been able to attended. Regardless, it would have been nice to enjoy some of the lavish banquets they have at the Ringling Museum.

At any rate, days are flying by, the FFF will soon be another one in the books and who knows what I'll have to look forward to next!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BLOG I CREATED FOR OBSELIDIA AT THE FFF. FOLLOW IT, SHARE IT, ENJOY IT!

GREAT NEW.TO.ME BAND

I came across this great experimental-folk band from Portland, Oregon called Blitzen Trapper earlier today. They're style really brought me back to the roots of great folk rock, but didn't pull me away from where the genre is today. They have a sort of indie-tech underscore that speaks to the alternative ear, but doesn't take away from the gritty simplicity that they are really playing. And their lyrics are no exception. A true hometown feel, no matter where they're playing.

Check out this video of them performing at the Metro Theater in Sydney in mid November, 2009.

click here for MoshCam.com

Also find them online, on myspace, and on facebook. Enjoy!

MARKETING PROJECT

A class that I'm in at UCF called The Film Producer has a project partnering us with the Florida Film Festival. The class was divided into teams and each team received one of twenty competition films. After screening the films, we prepared a marketing plan, contacted the filmmakers, and now we are off on a professional experience of attracting people to films in the festival circuit.

My group received a film by Diane Bell called Obselidia. While it's a very low key, slow paced and considerably "artsy" film, it offers a buffet on concepts - from nostalgia and love to environment concerns.

Here is the official trailer for Obselidia

Please feel free to follow the blog I have created for this project here and spread the word!

THE WEATHERMAN

The Weatherman is a character created by Bruce Fehl in late 2007. We shot this footage in the Spring of 2008. Bruce played Dave Steele (the weatherman), performing mostly improv. Nothing more really came out of this idea until late 2009 when I found the footage and put this video together as a character sketch for Dave Steele.

After this video was extremely well received by an audience of college students, I called Bruce and we decided to continue writing the project. We tossed around the idea of using Dave Steele as a feature film character, but it limited his possibilities and wasn't as interesting. A pilot episode is currently, however slowly in the works between us and we hope to have a solid ground to start shooting on by Summer 2010.