Time:
Where:
7 p.m.
The Shakespeare Club
171 S. Grand Avenue, Pasadena CA 91105
The Greenhouse meetings are free of charge to all creative artists, but you must RSVP in order to attend. So if you are interested in attending our next meeting or if you would like more information, contact The Greenhouse at info@greenhouseproductions.com or just go ahead and fill out your RSVP today!
January 10, 2010
Bobette Buster
Studio Story Consultant
Special Venue:
580 Madeline Drive
Pasadena CA 91105
January 17, 2010
Creative Team Meeting
February 7, 2010
No Greenhouse Meeting!
February 21, 2010
Creative Team Meeting
March 14, 2010
Doug Jones
Actor
March 21, 2010
Creative Team Meeting
* subject to change
The artists get to maximize their skills in projects involving film, music, writing, and other creative arts. The Production Program also provides a great environment for artists to try their hands at other types of skills. Always thought you had it in you to act, record music, design sets, write poetry or screenplays, direct films or some other type of creative work? The Production Program is a safe and encouraging place to try it out and to expand your skills.
Because the Production Program has artists at every level of experience – beginners, intermediates, and experts – various teams will be put together so that the projects and productions match the level of expertise of each team. That way, every artist will grow in his or her skills.
The Production Program is intended for those creative artists who are serious about investing in their own skills and careers and who want to work with others having the same desire. To ensure that the program is made up of these types of artists, interested artists must submit an application and, upon acceptance into the program, will help underwrite the projects and productions by paying a modest amount in quarterly fees.
This is a great opportunity for creative artists to honing their craft and skills, developing their demo reels and portfolios, and growing their professional networking community. If you would like to learn more, check out our portfolio of recent works, and then download an application today to join us at The Greenhouse Production Program!
January 1
April 1
July 1
October 1
Payments of the fees for The Greenhouse Production Program can be made in one of two ways:
You can pay the program fees with any major credit card via our online PayPal account. Just click the button below, and you can make your payment in just a few easy and secure steps.
Or you can send your payment via mail by making any checks out to The Greenhouse Arts & Media, Inc. and mailing them to:
The Greenhouse Arts & Media, Inc.
1763 N. Gower Street
Hollywood, CA 90028
The program fees must be paid and an application completed for any given quarter before you may take part in the Production Program for that quarter. An application only needs to be submitted once. Please note that the program fees are non-refundable, and there will be a $25 surcharge for any returned checks.
Feel free to contact us at info@greenhouseproductions.com if you have any questions!
This month, our Guest Artist is professional drummer Matthew Tobias. Matthew lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with his wife of 12 years and their 3 children. He plays drums for several national artists, drumming all over the world. In Omaha, he owns Empty House Studio, where he records artists and drums on records for artists around the country. He can be reached at emptyhousestudio@cox.net.
“What’s the one thing artists need to know?” he asks. Wow, Shun Lee. No pressure, right?
In my case, it is actually pretty easy to not only narrow down to a single concept, but also to remember when and where I came to be aware of it. I have played the drums for over 30 years, professionally for about 15 of those. I left college where I was a Music Performance major to take my first full time gig. I came out of college having spent 4 years learning about the possibilities of my instrument and working hard to eliminate any technical obstacles that might hinder my relationship to any of those possibilities. That first gig was working for a songwriter who traveled the world and gave me a fair amount of responsibility. Great? Not so much. He was interested in songs; I was playing drums. About 6 months in, he gave me 2 choices -- play his songs, or continue simply playing drums. One would keep me hired, the other would not.
That was the very first time I was ever really confronted with what I was “doing to” the music I was involved in. I can honestly say that conversation changed my focus and started me down a path of re-prioritizing, re-thinking and to some degree, re-learning my instrument and its role. Today, my favorite drum related quote is this: “Songs on drums, not drums on songs.” I spent most of my formative years as a drummer much more interested in what the subject (song) would allow from me on the kit when I should have been learning to discern what the subject needed from me in order to really communicate what it needed to. Songs are more important than my involvement with them!
I am NOT saying that technique doesn’t matter, but without a selfless, musical approach to that technique, I am just playing notes, not music. You are just painting strokes that don’t add up to a painting, writing words that don’t communicate a story, framing a shot that doesn’t result in a beautiful scene. Technique allows us to wisely steward our gifts and opportunities and is the vehicle that enables our subjects to come to life, but it can also be the obstacle which never allows our subjects to be seen, heard or read for all their worth.
Go work on your brush strokes. Learn to frame shots better -- or to light those shots well. Perfect the way your body moves. Arrange words well. By all means, please drum well. Then, fall in love with what all of this can communicate beyond the stuff itself! “Songs on drums, not drums on songs.”
God Bless.
The thing that'll make you less and less able to realize your
potential is a room that's empty of argument... You're as good
as the arguments you get... I think, in some ways, it's easier
to realize a vision that singular and in your own head, but
it's harder to keep the vision going without argument.
—Bono, rock musician & activist
Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision
just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.
—Joel A. Barker, author, scholar & futurist
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps,
down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.
—Ayn Rand, novelist, philosopher & playwright
The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
—Henry David Thoreau, author, poet & philosopher
Acting:
Respect for Acting – Uta Hagen
Acting Is Everything – Judy Kerr
Accents: A Manual for Actors – Robert Blumenfeld
How to Get the Part Without Falling Apart – Margie Haber
Agents on Actors – Hettie Lynne Hurtes
Writing:
The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters – Karl Iglesias
Story – Robert McKee
Artistry & Creativity:
The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
Walking On Water: Reflections on Faith and Art – Madeleine L’Engle
The Business of Arts & Entertainment
Dealmaking In the Film & Television Industry – Mark Litwak
Contracts for the Film & Television Industry – Mark Litwak
Movie Money - Bill Daniels, David Leedy & Steven D. Sills
All You Need to Know About the Movie and TV Business – Gail Resnik & Scott Trost
Filmmaking:
My First Movie – Stephen Lowenstein, ed.
The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up – David Rensin
Working Cinema: Learning From the Masters – Roy Paul Madsen
Music:
This Business of Music – M. William Krasilovsky & Sidney Shemel
Miscellaneous:
Now, Discover Your Strengths – Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton
It’s All Your Fault: How To Make It As A Hollywood Assistant – Bill Robinson & Ceridwen Morris
1763 N. Gower Street
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 462-8486 ext. 118