Participants Include: Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, and Daniel Brühl
The Alienist: Angel of Darkness premieres Sunday, July 19 at 9:00 pm ET on TNT
The Paley Front Row Series is Part of Paley@Home Presented by Citi
New York, NY, July 14, 2020 – The Paley Center for Media today announced a new selection to its Paley Front RowPresented by Citi series: TNT’s The Alienist: Angel of Darkness: A Conversation with the Stars. The conversation will be available for view on the Paley Center’s YouTube channel starting July 17 at noon EST.
“We’re thrilled to add the highly anticipated sequel to The Alienist to our Paley Front Row Presented by Citi programming schedule,” said Maureen J. Reidy, the Paley Center’s President & CEO. “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness is a compelling story that follows a young woman whose fearlessness and determination is certain to resonate with today’s television audiences.”
The Alienist: Angel of Darkness is the sequel to the 2018 Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated series. Having opened her own private detective agency, Sara (Dakota Fanning) once again partners with Dr. Kreizler (Daniel Brühl), the formidable alienist, and John Moore (Luke Evans), now a New York Times reporter, to find the Spanish Consular’s kidnapped infant daughter. Their investigation leads them down a sinister path of murder and deceit, heading towards a dangerous and elusive killer. The series shines a light on the provocative issues of the era – the corruption of institutions, income inequality, yellow press sensationalism, and the role of women in society. The three main stars will unite for this insiders look at the series.
The Alienist: Angel of Darkness premieres Sunday, July 19 at 9:00 pm ET on TNT.
Paley Front RowPresented by Citi, is a new way to enjoy the behind-the-scenes stories of today’s top shows from the comfort of home.
The Paley Center for Media is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms, drawing upon its curatorial expertise, an international collection, and close relationships with the media community. The general public can participate in Paley programs in both New York and Los Angeles that explore and celebrate the creativity, the innovations, the personalities, and the leaders who are shaping media. They can also access the Paley Center’s permanent media collection, which contains over 160,000 television and radio programs and advertisements. Through the global programs of its Media Council and International Council, the Paley Center also serves as a neutral setting where media professionals can engage in discussion and debate about the evolving media landscape. Previously known as The Museum of Television & Radio, the Paley Center was founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, a pioneering innovator in the industry. For more information, please visit paleycenter.org.
PBS MULTIPLATFORM CONTENT HONORING SUFFRAGISTS, FEMINIST LEADERS AND MODERN-DAY CHANGEMAKERS CURRENTLY STREAMING ON PBS VIDEO APP AND PBS.ORG
This summer, PBS launched a slate of multiplatform content to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote in the United States. In honor of the Women’s Vote Centennial, this slate recognizes suffragists, feminist leaders and modern-day female changemakers.
PBS is also committed to lifting these women up and sharing their stories on social media channels by spearheading a virtual trading card campaign, dubbed “Trailblazers: A Century of Extraordinary Women.”
The virtual trading cards are available via this link, where they can be downloaded and shared on all major social platforms. Links to each TRAILBLAZERS program and the 19 women featured in the campaign are as follows. For more information about the “Trailblazers: A Century of Extraordinary Women” trading card campaign, click here.
PBS LearningMedia, a free resource that includes thousands of contextualized learning materials aligned to state and national standards, is also offering classrooms a host of “Trailblazers” educational offerings. Video clips, activities, discussion questions and interactive lessons fromAMERICAN EXPERIENCE “The Vote,”AMERICAN MASTERS“Unladylike2020,”and others are available throughout the summer. These resources will help social studies, English, language arts and science educators bring important and understudied topics in women’s history to life in their classrooms.
For more information on PBS women’s vote centennial programming in 2020, visit www.pbs.org and the PBS Video App. Viewers are also encouraged to engage in online conversation by tagging @PBS and using #TrailblazersPBS on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
ABOUT PBS STREAMING
PBS programmingis available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video App, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV and Chromecast. PBS station members can view many series, documentaries and specials via PBS Passport. For more information about PBS Passport, visit thePBS Passport FAQ website.
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/14/20- San Pedro Fish Market has partnered with the Local 94 ILWU Foreman’s Union in donating over 2,000 of the market’s World Famous Shrimp Tray meals to local first responders. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market shares why, family and community means everything during these turbulent times.
San Pedro Fish Market began in 1956 and has become a nationally recognized brand in both the restaurant and retail industries. Your motto is “Celebrating Food and Family.” How has your family been affected during these challenging times?
It’s been a very trying time for the entire enterprise not only financially, but also psychologically. Fortunately, we’re like family, and family takes care of one another, so we rallied the team and came up with several strategies to keep as many of our staff working as possible. It’s been more successful than we anticipated but goes to show what you can accomplish when your heart is in the right place.
Tell us about the San Pedro Fish Market. What are the local favorites?
We are known around the country for our World Famous Seafood Trays which draw people in from every state to enjoy…both in-store and by delivery via E-Commerce. The most popular tray consists of sauteed shrimp, fajita veggies, and red potatoes all cooked together in our signature spices with a foot-long loaf of house-made garlic bread!
Mike Ungaro
Your award-winning web series “Kings of Fi$h,” is about a 60-year old journey from a corner store to California’s largest restaurant. How important is the community? What are you most proud of?
My grandfather’s philosophy was to care for our employees like family, make your customers feel like family, and to always treat your community like family…because that’s exactly what they are! What we are most proud of is how many members of our community started their careers working with us in high school and then went on to successful professional careers attributing their work ethic to their time with us. We are bringing this philosophy to all of our new locations with the intention of doing the same.
You’re now lending community support with the Local 94 ILWU Foreman’s Union, by donating over 2,000 of the market’s World Famous Shrimp Tray meals to local first responders. How are you honoring your grandfather’s legacy?
One of my grandfather’s other philosophies was to make the business a place for the family to work if they ever found themselves unemployed so they could feed their families. When the country was shut down, offering work became a challenge so offering to feed people was the best alternative we could come up with. Working with the ILWU to help feed first responders was an honor. It was the very least we could do to show our appreciation for their selflessness.
With over 4,000 meals donated to date, how determined are you in finding ways to continue offering support to those affected by COVID-19?
Our goal now is to look for other organizations we can partner with as our resources to help are becoming more and more strained with the uncertainties associated with re-opening. Regardless, our first responders will continue to be our focus, especially as the hospitals see a spike in new COVID cases. We’re here and we’re ready to lend a hand!
What do you want to say to the first responders?
As a business owner responsible for the well-being of the 400 people we employ, I sometimes forget what the rest of our society is experiencing. When I see the look of exhaustion in the eyes of those who are caring for our health and safety, it makes what I’m dealing with seems like an insignificant distraction. What I want to say is this: Thank you for putting the needs of the sick before your own, thank you for making our health and safety your primary concern!
Born Kelly Kamalelehua Smith in Honolulu, Preston studied acting at the University of Southern California before landing some bit parts on television including “CHiPs” and “Roseanne.”
That led to the role of playing Mary Lee on the short-lived television series “For Love and Honor.”
But Hollywood took notice in 1988 when she starred as Marnie Mason, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character’s love interest in the comedy “Twins,” a film which also co-starred Danny DeVito.
That same year she met Travolta during a screen test for the film “The Experts.”
Kelly Kamalelehua Smith (October 13, 1962 – July 12, 2020), better known by her stage name Kelly Preston, was an American actress and model. She appeared in more than sixty television and film productions, including Mischief (1985), Twins (1988),Jerry Maguire (1996) and For Love of the Game (1999). She was married to John Travolta, with whom she collaborated on comedy film The Experts (1989), science fiction film Battlefield Earth (2000), and the biographical film Gotti (2018). She also starred in the films SpaceCamp (1986), The Cat in the Hat (2003), What a Girl Wants (2003), Broken Bridges (2006) and Old Dogs (2009). Wikipedia
Kelly Preston and John Travolta attend the premiere of “Gotti” at the SVA Theatre on Thursday, June 14, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
The actress had not been photographed publicly at a major event since June 2018 when she walked the red carpet with her husband for the premiere of his film “Gotti” in which he portrayed the late mobster, John Gotti and she played his wife, Victoria Gotti.
John Travolta posted this on his Twitter Account along with a photo of his beautiful wife:
It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer. She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers that have helped, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side. Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered. I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while. But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal.
All my love,
JT
She had previously been married to actor Kevin Gage from 1985 to 1987 and had high profile romances with George Clooney and Charlie Sheen (to whom she was briefly engaged) before she wed Travolta.
Preston also starred in 90’s classics like “Jerry Maguire” and “For Love of the Game.”
In 1992 she and Travolta welcomed their first child, son Jett, who died in 2009 following a seizure, while the family vacationed in the Bahamas.
Daughter Ella followed in 2000 and son Benjamin who was born in 2010.
John Travolta, Kelly Preston and their children Ella Bleu Travolta (right) and Benjamin Travolta in May 2018 for the screening of “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”
Rancho Cucamonga, California (The Hollywood Times) 07/11/2020 – “A few of the things that we did here at KCET during this pandemic is that we went from servicing the needs of educators and students in a partnership with LAUSD and other districts in California, to a partnership with KPCC to be able to give daily reports on Covid-19 news that were going on in our region. We soon realized that the arts and culture sector was going to be hugely impacted by what was going on. We started to see museums, small community theaters and performance venues all close, just like the restaurant businesses. The idea really evolved into ‘how can we become a place where we are showcasing the work that has not been able to be presented to audiences?’ in spite of the conditions that we are in– in terms of the pandemic and also with the racial unrest that we have been experiencing.” Juan Devis, KCET Chief Creative Officer, told The Hollywood Times during a telephone conversation.
The Hollywood Times was honored to be able to watch the first episode. I believe that all the adults reading this article should make sure to watch this informative panel discussion with those involved in the upcoming KCET Southland Sessions Public Television program being shown tomorrow, July 15th at 8pm on KCET (or streaming at http://kcet.org/southlandsessions). I truly enjoyed how this was shot at each of their homes and it was very clear to see and hear them. It was truly an eye opening panel discussion about LA culture and arts and how so very important culture and arts is to us and to our kids. And their kids to come I also really enjoyed the young folk that read poems, so emotional and heartfelt. PLEASE watch this new show with your family to find out about culture and arts.
Interview with Juan Devis, KCET Chief Creative Officer:
THT: Tell us about this new weekly programming starting this Wednesday, July 15th.
Juan Devis: The goal is to create an entire night of arts programming on KCET where we will be able to present everything from orchestral works by large companies such as The Pacific Symphony to actors performing monologues sometimes from their own homes. We will bring the high and low together and find the place that converges all those things together and present them to an audience in the community of Southern California. That’s it in a nutshell!
Interview with Danielle Brazell, General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs:
THT: Tell us about how this new programming came about and the affiliation with KCET?
Danielle Brazell: In March we got the stay at home orders from the mayor and we were able to move our employees safely to teleworking. The Department of Cultural Affairs funds community centers throughout LA and we provide public art for the city. We also make grant awards in partnership with over 350 nonprofit cultural organizations in the city. Many of them operate around $250,000 and $500,000 a year, so they are really important. They are all local and they employ artists and cultural workers as well as provide rich and dynamic programming for the people of our city and the visitors to our city.
We needed to find a partner to figure out how we could develop a new platform, because the creative sector is so innovative that they immediately pivoted and started to put up online panel discussions and cultural programing that was phenomenal. But there wasn’t really any kind of a centralized place where we could really start to help elevate the work that was being done. There was no better partner that KCET to develop this new virtual public square for culture in our region. We are now going to be able to get into the homes of 15.5 million viewers or households throughout the region. This is actually an extraordinary opportunity and I would also say that there would no better person than Juan to spearhead all of this as he has done such extraordinary things with this public television station. ‘Southland Sessions’ is going to help elevate the important role that art, culture and creativity plays in our region during this time of COVID, our current economic crisis and during this time of phenomenal new social awakening. It’s a moment for all of us to learn and to share in the creative expression.”
THT: What can our readers expect to see in this new series Southland Sessions
Juan Devis: “In the first episode, we decided that the best way to set up the series was to have a really serious conversation with some of our cultural leaders in the region and really talk about what we are experiencing right now. We invited our funder, of course, Danielle Brazell from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Michael Govan, president of LACMA and many more. We wanted to do a conversation of where we are, what are the needs of the community, and what is the opportunity for change that we have in front of us and then really follow up with a series that is going to be all about a solution.”
“The second episode is going to be a presentation of Sweet Land, from the regional innovative opera company called The Industry. That production was closed down because of the pandemic and we were able to capture it in its entirety. We will be presenting it for an audience and it’s going to be an exclusive opportunity for us to host the broadcast premiere of this opera.”
“The third episode is going to be a look at how Mariachi culture and music has been affected during this time. Mariachi music is a staple in Southern California and Mexican culture. Many of them are immigrant workers that come to do quinceaneras, birthday parties, weddings and things like that. So hundreds of workers have been impacted and you’d be surprised at how innovative they have been in keeping the tradition alive. So we are going to be looking into what they have been doing which is everything from singing to farm workers in the fields of Oxnard to virtual serenades and backyard sing-alongs.”
“We are really doing our very best to showcase the diversity of LA’s culture during COVID-19, with the presentation of orchestra music in Orange County to, as I mentioned, a backyard sing-alongs in East LA. This is what we have been up to. That is the variety that people are going to be able to see in the new show “Southland Sessions.” But most of all, it’s going to present the resiliency and the innovative spirit of the cultural capital of the world.”
The Hollywood Times thanks Juan Devis and Danielle Brazell for this interview.
With the Los Angeles Art Scene Forever Transformed, New SeriesCelebrates Resiliency of the Creative Community Featuring Diverse Array of Content from the Best of Local Arts and Culture, Ranging from Local Music and Dance to Poetry and Visual Arts
Select programming will also be available for streaming on PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the free PBS Video App, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast.
PBS station members get extended access to select programming via Passport.
Burbank, Calif. – KCET, Southern California’s home for award-winning public media programming, today announced SOUTHLAND SESSIONS, a new weekly series that will allow the Los Angeles community to experience their regional arts and cultural institutions in this unique moment, when attending in-person, cultural events is not an option. As regional artists adapt to an uncertain future due to the current pandemic and the influence of social uprisings across the country, the new broadcast and digital initiative draws together prominent voices from around Southern California for up-close, virtual “sessions.” Every Wednesday, viewers will witness artists inspire audiences with a front-row seat to the creative process, guided by the community’s arts leaders. The new series kicks off with a conversation among key cultural leaders from around the city, working together to discuss how arts and culture are essential to Angelenos. SOUTHLAND SESSIONS premieres on Wednesday, July 15 at 8 p.m. PT on KCET and will run through the end of the year.
SOUTHLAND SESSIONS Hero Art
SOUTHLAND SESSIONSwill engage viewers across Southern California who are staying at home to stop the spread of coronavirus – an order that has changed the lives of everyone, and impacted the futures of auditoriums, concert halls, and art galleries across the region. The serieswill vary in format on a weekly basis showcasing a variety of artistic communities and programs across the city. SOUTHLAND SESSIONS is supported in part by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and the National Endowment for the Arts. Episodes will feature diverse arts and cultural events, including DCA’s City of Los Angeles (COLA) Individual Artist Fellowships, Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival,andthe annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival. The format will be a compilation of artist disciplines including music, dance, theater, spoken word, and poetry, capturing the immediacy of the region’s artists’ responses to COVID-19 and the racial, as well as social, injustices that are happening across the city and the nation.
The premiere episode of SOUTHLAND SESSIONS will explore how integral the arts and culture is to a community’s lifeblood and how it can become part of the solution to larger systemic issues in society. Over ten leaders from civic institutions across the city of Los Angeles participate in a virtual discussion as their organizations are re-evaluating their roles and re-focusing their energies to become an integral part of rebuilding sustainable institutions for the future. The episode will also feature poetry as written by local youth poets from the organization Get Lit. Hosted by KCET Chief Creative Officer Juan Devis, featured guests include General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Danielle Brazell, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission Kristin Sakoda, Executive Director for Armory Center for the Arts Leslie Ito, California Institute of the Arts President Ravi S. Rajan, Self Help Graphics & Art Director Betty Avila and more.
In addition to the conversation with civic arts leaders across Los Angeles,upcoming episodes will feature the tradition of mariachi music in Los Angeles, the diverse dance community of the city, and a personal tour of DCA’s COLA program with local artists exhibiting their work through at-home interviews and virtual studio visits.
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Several of the episodes will be produced in partnership with community cultural leaders including online cultural trendsetting radio station dublab, avant-garde opera company The Industry, artist/designer/writer Rosten Woo, San Fernando Valley’s performing arts center The Soraya on the CSUN campus,Orange County’s Pacific Symphony and many more.Later this year, KCET will put out a call for regional artists to submit their own content for future episodes.
Upcoming episodes of SOUTHLAND SESSIONSwill air as follows (subject to change):
Wed., July 15 and Wed., Aug 5 at 8 p.m.: “Change(makers): The Future of Arts and Culture”
Southland Sessions Episode One “Change(makers): The Future of Arts and Culture” hosted by Chief Creative Officer of KCET Juan Devis
Key cultural leaders from around Los Angeles gather to discuss the role of arts and culture in shaping the world’s future. See how civic institutions are re-evaluating their roles in society and re-focusing their energies to become an integral part of rebuilding sustainable institutions for the future. Hear poetry inspired by the questions of the future written by young poets from Get Lit.
Wed., July 22 at 8 p.m.: “The Industry Presents Sweet Land”
Southland Sessions Episode Two “The Industry Presents Sweet Land.” Mayflower image and conceptual design by Cannupa Hanska Luger Lettering and graphic design by Visual Issues
The Industry, one of Los Angeles’s most innovative opera companies, continues their acclaimed experimental site-specific productions with a performance that disrupts the dominant narrative of American identity. Featuring an interview with The Industry’s Artistic Director Yuval Sharon.
Southland Sessions Episode Two “The Industry Presents Sweet Land.” Photo Credit Casey Kringlen for The Industry.
Wed., July 29 and Wed., Aug 19 at 8 p.m.: “Mariachi: From Romance to Resistance”
Hosted by Mariachi musician Julian Torres, this episode explores the tradition of Mariachi music and its transformation through time and circumstance. See how groups are finding ways to survive and support one another like Las Catrinas‘s driveway serenades and Mariachi Aguilas de Oxnard who took to the fields to celebrate farmers. Featuring special performances by La Marisol and Quetzal.
Wed., Aug. 12 at 8 p.m.: “Dance Break”
Tour L.A.’s wild and diverse dance community in this showcase of the city’s vibrant scene. See uplifting homages to L.A. by aerial dancer Joe Pinzon and a parking lot turned performance space from Jacob Jonas. Explore how the body’s movements can reflect the community’s voice for change with Lula Washington and Infinite Flow. Hosted by Tamica Washington.
photo courtesy of KCET
Wed., Aug. 26 at 8 p.m.: “Musical Expansions in Quarantine”
Witness the creativity of L.A.’s music scene during COVID-19, from drive-in performances and punk rocker exercise videos to musical tributes to the city’s iconic street vendors and food trucks. See how rhythms made from scavenged household items created during quarantine have kept communities inspired and moving to the beat in this episode made in collaboration with dublab.
The vibrancy and dynamism of L.A.’s arts and cultural scene will also be reflected online through a robust digital hub where viewers can find the creative community’s most engaging, uplifting content. Musical performances, dance presentations, poetry readings, art exhibitions, and more will be featured. Alongside these virtual presentations, local culture journalists will keep readers abreast of all things related to arts and culture in the time of pandemic and protest through artist profiles, gallery interviews, feature pieces, and arts news briefs. The SOUTHLAND SESSIONS digital destination will also include resources and how-tos detailing financial support and advice from other artists with ways to connect to gallerists, curators, and more.
Photo Courtesy of KCET
Guided by the various art forms and themes highlighted in the new Wednesday night programming, KCET will also provide virtual audience engagement opportunities including live streaming events, discussions, arts classes/demonstrations, and more.
The new series SOUTHLAND SESSIONS will launch a robust Wednesday night of programming for KCET designed to highlight the resilience of the arts community. Under the theme “Create Wednesday,” the schedule will also feature popular Arts and Culture programs that have previously aired on KCET and PBS that include KCET’s Emmy® award-winning Original arts series ARTBOUND andstudent film showcase FINE CUT as well as America’s preeminent performing arts television series from PBS, GREAT PERFORMANCES. Like the new local series SOUTHLAND SESSIONS, the programming lineup for the night will feature diverse artistic innovation across allmedia and disciplines to celebrate art as an essential service.
The goal of the new programming lineup is to highlight Southern California as home to one of the most important cultural communities in the world. In addition to providing healing and solace to many, Los Angeles’ arts and cultural scene is a major source of income to millions in the local economy. Art and culture in Los Angeles are indelibly interwoven into the fabric of Southern California’s economic landscape and have an undeniably important role in shaping not only the culture of the region but also act as a powerful economic driver for the state and the rest of the nation.
For updates, follow @KCET and #SouthlandSessions and #CreateWednesday on social media.
ABOUT KCET
On-air, online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. Throughout its 54-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and children’s programs, its outreach and community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org. Select original programming from KCET is also available for streaming on Apple TV, YouTube, Amazon and Roku platforms. For more information please visit kcet.org/apps. KCET is a content channel of the Public Media Group of Southern California.
About the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)
As a leading, progressive arts and cultural agency, DCA empowers Los Angeles’s vibrant communities by supporting and providing access to quality visual, design, literary, musical, performing, and educational arts programming; managing vital cultural centers; preserving historic sites; creating public art; and funding services provided by arts organizations and individual artists. Formed in 1925, DCA promotes arts and culture as a way to ignite a powerful dialogue, engage LA’s residents and visitors, and ensure LA’s varied cultures are recognized, acknowledged, and experienced. DCA’s mission is to strengthen the quality of life in Los Angeles by stimulating and supporting arts and cultural activities, ensuring public access to the arts for residents and visitors alike. DCA advances the social and economic impact of arts and culture through grantmaking, public art, community arts, performing arts, and strategic marketing, development, design, and digital research. DCA creates and supports arts programming, maximizing relationships with other city agencies, artists, and arts and cultural nonprofit organizations to provide excellent service in neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles. For more information, please visit culturela.org or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/culturela, Instagram @culture_la, and Twitter @culture_la.
For the Coachella Valley, it is a good thing that Dr. Christopher Foltz was on staff at Desert AIDS Project as the COVID-19 health crisis unfolded.
Already an integral member of the Infectious Disease team since 2017, he conceived the idea for a COVID-19 Triage Clinic at DAP and inspired a team of healthcare professionals to launch it successfully with him. He also managed validation testing for the antibody test, an important step to establish reliability, as clinicians everywhere grapple with unproven testing products.
As the crisis unfolds, he continues to innovate with his team to serve more people with options like drive-up services and asymptomatic testing. Within a few weeks of opening, the COVID-19 Triage Clinic had already saved lives, alleviated pressure on local emergency rooms, and helped calm frazzled nerves among patients.
But the physician credited with spearheading the operation started building his skillset long beforehand in Kansas City, heavily influenced by its community values and its learning institutions. It would require spending five years in L.A. first, but Dr. Foltz has come to find that he sees Kansas City emulated the most here in the Coachella Valley. He’s pleased with that.
Surprisingly similar: the Coachella Valley and Kansas City
For all of their geographical differences, Kansas City and the Coachella Valley are a lot alike if you are living in poverty, cut off from medical and behavioral healthcare, or other life essentials. Much of the populations live farther away from the city centers where services are offered. Issues like poor transportation, inadequate childcare, and problems with phone and internet access create unique barriers to access.
Many of the social determinants affecting both populations also remain the same. Higher instances of substance abuse and mental health issues create areas of need that are not commonly addressed in the traditional healthcare system. And a high population of undocumented and legal immigrants struggle to access services amid language and cultural barriers.
One of the silver linings no matter where he practices, according to Dr. Foltz, is the gratitude that most patients express when they receive competent medical care, some for the first time in their lives.
Feels like Kansas City right here in the Coachella Valley
Another similarity between Kansas City and the Coachella Valley is the feeling of a tight knit community, even though people are spread out.
“One of the things I attribute most to being from the Midwest is the sense of community and caring that was always around,” he said. “This is something I now feel very similarly in Palm Springs.”
After a three-year internal medicine residency at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center and a two-year infectious disease fellowship at UCLA, although thankful, Dr. Foltz felt anonymous in the second largest city in the U.S.
“In L.A., there was a sense of being a small fish in a big pond,” said Dr. Foltz. “In the Midwest it always seemed the opposite.”
“As a resident of Kansas City and a supporter of Desert AIDS Project, I am proud that a young doctor from KUMC is leading Palm Springs’ COVID-19 response at DAP,” said humanitarian and philanthropist Annette Bloch. “Kansas City and the Coachella Valley share a lot in common, most importantly people who care about one another.”
Dr. Foltz was made for this crisis—roots sprouted at JayDoc Free Clinic
Before he would go on to complete his Internal Medicine residency at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, and then an infectious disease fellowship at UCLA, his work ethic and skillset had been melded with the values of Midwest America—hard work, mixed with caring for your community.
Dr. Foltz knew his passion was serving those struggling with poverty, and he was able to hone his skillset at the JayDoc Free Clinic, located at the University of Kansas in Kansas City. Serving about 1,000 patients annually since its launch in 2003, it provides urgent and primary care to the underserved and uninsured populations of Greater Kansas City.
By the time he arrived on the West Coast, Dr. Foltz was already groomed to lead a clinic—not just the nuts-and-bolts operations, but as a strategic leader. He started at JayDoc as Assistant Director of Research and then served as an Executive Director. He went on to serve on its Board of Directors during his time in medical school at the University of Kansas.
According to him, Dr. Foltz gravitated to the field of Microbiology early in his college career, fascinated that such simple things like bacteria, fungi, and viruses could create such havoc on civilizations. As time went on, that fascination shifted to how the study of these simple organisms could lead to antibiotics and vaccines.
“That’s when I knew Infectious disease was going to be my specialty, because I could see in real time how this knowledge could make a difference,” he said.
JayDoc Free Clinic is completely Medical student managed and operated, and that’s no small fete. The leadership team were responsible for everything: grant writing, finances, administration, volunteers, and operations.
“It was truly rewarding, and that experience really cemented my desire to work on behalf of the underserved community.”
Dr. Foltz built his career excelling at direct patient care, but his practical experience at JayDoc gave him the unique skillset to conceive of DAP’s COVID-19 Triage Clinic, and then to oversee its opening and manage its current functioning. Combined with his clinical knowledge as a board-certified Infectious Disease physician, he is making a measurable difference in the lives of his patients, as well as his staff and the community.
And true to his Midwest roots, sharing credit with others comes naturally to him.
“I am just one member of an incredible team of clinical, administrative, and operational staff.”
Dr. Foltz himself is no stranger to gratitude.
“More than ever I am incredibly thankful for that background,” he said. “I am using all these skills in real-time as we study characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 disease, Coronavirus testing, and potential therapeutics and prevention methods.”
A certain humanitarian is also part of that background.
When JayDoc Free Clinic would close down for the day, Dr. Foltz and his colleagues were permitted to see patients in the evenings at a very special community clinic, thanks to the generosity of its founder and lead physician, Dr. Sharon Lee.
“I got to work very close with her the two years I served administrative positions at JayDoc,” Dr. Foltz said. “Her work ethic and passion for her mission and community is something I still to this day try to aspire to.”
Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care was founded in 1989 by Dr. Sharon Lee to help alleviate suffering for people coping with HIV and AIDS. Just as with DAP, the great care provided became a staple in that community for everyone, and the clinic became a Federally Qualified Health Center.
“She was truly remarkable and one of the hardest working women in medicine I have ever met,”
Dr. Foltz said. “She would do anything to help us at the drop of a hat.”
Recently the FQHC was renamed Sharon Lee Family Health Care, in honor of its founder.
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 07/13/20- Movies made most impactful to audiences are the ones that create the most memories. The plot of a film may include morals that teach from right or wrong and the dialogue might prove to be touching to one’s heart. The scoring of the film or even the casting choices made by directors and agents may sway an audience, too. Poignant and heartwarming films also can impact a person based on the genre the film is placed in, such as romance, comedy, or even a history. In 1927, all of these ideas synced together to create the silent masterpiece of famous film director Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
With the film produced by Erich Pommer and the screenplay and book Metropolis (1925) written by Thea von Harbou, the film is two hours and 33 minutes long. The film was originally deemed a lost silent film in time, however, just as recently as 2008, the film was rediscovered in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Only segments of the film survived, and in went the process of restoration to save what was left. Multiple versions of the film existed at one point, such as that the running times would fluctuate as time continued. The original running time, in total, was 153 minutes (2.5 hours), and in 1927, upon release and editing, it decreased to 116 minutes.
In the beginning of his career, Fritz Lang was widely known in German cinema, and was most notable for Metropolis,M (1931) starring the incomparable Peter Lorre, and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922), which starred Rudolf Klein-Rogge, who also plays ‘Rotwang’ in Metropolis. Though it is stated Lang wasn’t moved by the outcome of Metropolis, this film would prove to be one of his best in the early era of cinema. He married Thea von Harbou from 1922-1933.
Maria’s Transformation
In 2010, The Complete Metropolis was released upon its rediscovery in Argentina, after it was announced that a 16 mm reduction negative of the original cut had been discovered in the archives of the Museo del Cine. The version found was a safety reduction, which was intended to safeguard the contents in case the flammable nitrate the film was made up of would become destroyed. The footage would almost match the running time as before, however a tad bit shorter, at an estimated 148 minutes.
German composer Gottfried Huppertz composed the film’s original score for a large orchestra, and became inspired through the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss with their combined classical orchestral styles, that were mixed with modest touches, to portray the city of workers in Metropolis, itself. For the 2010 restoration, his score was performed live and re-recorded by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Frank Strobbel, in which he received an outstanding response from media.
Metropolis, set in the future of the 21st century, is the first feature-length film of the science-fiction genre, and it highlights the class struggle between the wealthy class and working class. Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel) and his son Freder Frederson (Gustav Fröhlich) live wealthily on top of the working class, who run Metropolis City’s power. Under strict orders from his father, Freder curiously investigates his way down below, and sees the harsh conditions his father put the workers through. While snooping around, Freder falls deeper in love with Maria, (Brigitte Helm), who is a part of the working class as a mediator, telling the workers that all the classes will unite as one. Joh investigates the catacombs for his son with the guidance of evil scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), and finds Maria’s ideas are not associated with the working class. Their plan was to gain control over the working class, and Rotwang had the idea to kidnap Maria and create a robot, Maschinenmensch, or Machine Man, in the image of his dead wife, Hel, to ruin Maria’s reputation and prevent rebellion among them. However, Rotwang would prove his evilness through wanting to kill Joh and take over Metropolis himself, against plan. As chaos ensues, the race to save Metropolis lies in the hand of Freder, who later realizes Maria was switched into a wicked and seductive duplicate.
A film revolved around the ideas of Marxism and social divide, Lang does an outstanding job at representing these qualities while also including the sci-fi appeal that would soon impact the world of cinematography. A quote from the film states, “Death to the Machines!” and a theme highlighted is that these machines were taking over the lives of people. Marxism exemplifies the notion of how to work in a capitalistic society and grows to show the divide among classes. In Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936), he is working at a factory in an assembly line, showing how dehumanization took over the people around him. Chaplin is also swallowed by one of the machines he was working with to show how he was stuck working with machines in his class; he couldn’t escape it. Marx described this idea as the theory of Alienation, perfectly fit into Metropolis, as the workers solemnly walk to their workplaces in line, also working on powering the city in sync all together.
The perfect example of a futuristic scene would be when Maria’s body is placed into Machine Man’s body. She is laying flat on a table with probes and wires placed upon her head while inserted into a cathode ray tube machine. As Rotwang flips a switch, lightning bolts exert out of her body and circle around the robot’s body, also hooked up to wires. As liquid boils in beakers and wires shake around the room, the robot begins to fade and fake Maria appears in its place.
Another great example would be the wide shot in the beginning of the film where you see the Metropolis Tower of Babel in the midst of the screen, highways as tall as the skyscrapers, and airplanes at their same height. The shots and angles captured on screen create a glow to the city that is unnatural, yet appealing, leading the audience to know it is futuristic-like.
The special effects artist was Eugen Schüfftan, and two examples of effects he created on screen were the use of miniatures of the city and the Schüfftan Process, which was his process of using mirrors to create the illusion that the actors were occupying those miniature sets. Perfect for a science-fiction film of its time, the process uses scale models, which make gravitational effects appear convincing to an audience. Forced perception is another term for this process in which objects appear either farther or closer than they really are on screen. Another film that uses these techniques is French director George Méliès’s Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) (1902), which used double-exposure, miniatures, and stop-action.
The Metropolis Tower of Babel
Though the film looks beautiful on the big screen, the behind-the-scenes experience wasn’t all that pleasant. Lang was known as a perfectionist in his craft, and if he saw a scene that didn’t look right in his eyes, he would shoot it numerous times to reach perfection. The reels weren’t just damaged, but so were the actors. Brigitte Helm recalls having multiple bruises and loads of exhaustion on set, just as the 25,000 extras had, while playing both Maria and the Machine Man.
“The night shots lasted three weeks, and even if they did lead to the greatest dramatic moments – even if we did follow Fritz Lang’s directions as though in a trance, enthusiastic and enraptured at the same time – I can’t forget the incredible strain that they put us under. The work wasn’t easy, and the authenticity in the portrayal ended up testing our nerves now and then. For instance, it wasn’t fun at all when Grot drags me by the hair, to have me burned at the stake. Once I even fainted: during the transformation scene, Maria, as the android, is clamped in a kind of wooden armament, and because the shot took so long, I didn’t get enough air,” Helm stated in an early interview.
Helm on set in her costume
There was also a scene where Fröhlich would collapse at Helm’s feet. Lang had the scene reshot numerous times to the point of collapse on Fröhlich’s part. The set was also freezing cold all the time, and the on-set conditions made it hard for the crew to maintain their health, especially during the shooting of the water scenes.
Although filming took 17 months to complete, the conditions behind the camera make audiences appreciate the creation of such a film and for what actors go through on set, to perform the idea of a “perfect” role.
Sculptor Walter Schulze-Mittendorff created the Machine Man robot that Helm would be encapsulated in throughout filming. With Helm fainting from the heat numerous times, due to those many re-takes, a whole-body plaster was firstly cast of her body then the costume was constructed around it. Mittendorff discovered a sample of “plastic wood,” or wood putty, a pliable substance designed as wood-filler, and it allowed him to build the costume in a way to look more metallic, and allow Helm some free movement.
Hundreds upon thousands of posters have been made into the likeness of Helm’s robot, being it highlighted the social, political, and disruptive divide between classes, through manipulation and seduction. Believed that there are only four originals in existence for the film, Metropolis posters are a part of the top ten most expensive film posters. California collector Kenneth Schachter purchased the acclaimed crown jewel poster for a record $690,000 in a 2005 private sale. He was sadly forced to sell the poster along with eight other posters he bought, declaring bankruptcy. With The Invisible Man (1933) on the list, an original Metropolis poster was bought at a grand total at auction of, $1.2 million in 2012 from vintage movie memorabilia collector Ralph DeLuca at the LA Bankruptcy sale. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is currently rumored to have one of the four original posters.
In popular and modern culture, the film has inspired and been referenced in numerous films, television shows, and in music videos. One famous example of a music video inspired by the Tower of Babel and city of Metropolis is Rock Band Queen’s 1984 Radio Ga Ga. Their music video commentates on television, overtaking radio’s popularity. Nominated for Best Art Direction in the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Ga Ga is built upon the artwork and visuals of Metropolis. The music video shows multiple clips from the film itself and Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, and John Deacon recreated the scenes themselves. Mercury actually stands in front of a reproduction of the clock that Fröhlich struggled turning for turning on the power to the city. They also pretend to drive a flying car through the city and clap in sync with the “workers” on a similar set, to add to the sci-fi and futuristic genre.
Another exciting impact to cinema would be that the Maschinenmensch inspired George Lucas to create C-3P0 for the Star Wars series. The posters engraved with a golden robot Maria grew to become impactful to Lucas and conceptual designer Ralph McQuarrie’s eyes. With Star Wars also being a science-fiction series, adding that little touch of the creation of C-3P0 shows the importance Metropolis still has on audiences today.
(Insert- Photo #6- Joh (L), Rotwang (M), and Machine Man (R))
Joh (L), Rotwang (M), and Machine Man (R)
“The mediator of the head and the hands must be the heart,” is what Maria quoted in the film, and it couldn’t be any truer as to how to solve class divide. It also defines the purpose of the film. The head (upper classes) and hands (working classes) come together as two pieces of a heart in forming a union together. Metropolis is a sensational film worth watching. Even though it is set for this century, the film does not prevent anyone from imagining the possible.
A frozen earth and 3000 people on a train 1001 cars long.
By Patrick Donovan – Author/Screenwriter
US Navy Disabled Veteran – 1980 – 1991 Seattle, WA (The Hollywood Times) 04/17/2020
“Are you a 1st Class, 2nd Class, 3rd Class or a Tailie? On Snowpiercer it’s a class system and there’s no room and no privacy unless you’re 1st or 2nd Class. Mr. Wilford has eyes on everything and knows that labor is sacred for a train like Snowpiercer to run effectively. Are you up for the challenge? Can you keep doing what is necessary or be replaced by one of the 400 tailies that are dying to come forward?”
– Wilford Industries Hospitality
About Snowpiercer:
Snowpiercer!
Snowpiercer is an American post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller television drama series that premiered on TNT on May 17, 2020. It is based on both the 2013 South Korean-Czech film of the same name, directed by Bong Joon-ho, and the 1982 French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, from which the film was adapted, by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand, and Jean-Marc Rochette.
The eternal engine of Snowpiercer
The series, a reboot of the film’s continuity, follows the passengers of the Snowpiercer, a gigantic, perpetually moving train that circles the globe carrying the remnants of humanity seven years after the world becomes a frozen wasteland. The series questions class warfare, social injustice, and the politics of survival. Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly star alongside Mickey Sumner, Annalise Basso, Sasha Frolova, Alison Wright, Benjamin Haigh, Roberto Urbina, Katie McGuinness, Susan Park, Lena Hall, Sheila Vand, Sam Otto, Iddo Goldberg, and Jaylin Fletcher. Rowan Blanchard, Steven Ogg, and Sean Bean will also join the main cast in the second season.
Melanie Cavill, Breakman, and Andre Layton
While in development at TNT for over three years, the series faced numerous production issues and delays arising from creative differences between the series’ producers and the network. The series remained in development hell until May 2019, when it was announced that the series would instead air on TNT’s sister network TBS for a spring 2020 release, and that it was already renewed for a second season. However, in September 2019, the decision to change networks was reversed.
Ruth Wardell
The Review:
I love trains! I have since I was a child. My father got my brother and I an H.O. gauge train and we built on the board and it was fun. My love of trains grew from there. I remember taking a train in West Virginia called: The Cass Mountain Railroad.
Cass Scenic Railroad – Cass, WV
It’s the State Park’s main attraction, a train ride to the overlook at Bald Knob. Bald Knob is the third highest point in West Virginia, making for a breathtaking views and amazing photos. The Durbin Greenbrier Valley Railroad operates scenic trains from historic downtown, including a 4.5-hour round-trip ride to Bald Knob and a two-hour round-trip excursion to Whittaker Station.
Snowpiercer – flying through our frozen planet
But I digress. This is about Snowpiercer. This train is a technological marvel although its engine is “eternal” it needs humanity as much as humanity needs it. The two are interconnected. From the sleek hi-tech engine to the 1,001st car, Snowpiercer brings you the best and worst in humanity. Director Bong Joon-ho, who I had the pleasure of interviewing at the WGA awards on 1 FEB 2020 for Parasite (Which he won the WGA award for) right before the COVID outbreak, and Oscar winner for Parasite, is a Korean filmmaker with a vision. I love his work.
Director, Bong Joon Ho
Snowpiercer is a conglomeration of Marxism, divisions of economic classes with the haves and have-nots and of course murder, lovemaking, deal making, drugs, and of course, the now banned practice of cannibalism which Daveed assures us the Tailies have stopped. The train never stops after launching 7 years from the start of the series from Chicago. Only those who could “afford” to get on, could but a rush was made hence the Tailies. 400+ souls crammed in the back of the train with no windows and a port where your “arm” is wet down and stuck outside to freeze into a solid piece of ice and then hammered off after 2 minutes. That’s punishment for disobeying, creating trouble or an attempt to get into the forward cars. But, if you’re lucky, you could be put into one of the 1,000’s of cryo-drawers to sleep for, who knows, forever? Why are those drawers there anyway?
Andre Layton and Bess Till
The tensions are between the classes: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the tailies who come forward only to work in the crappy jobs like, sanitation. The wealthiest of society lives in shear comfort in the front of the train and are treated like royalty because they paid for it like royalty. Kind of sounds like those that paid for passage on one of the four Arks in the movie: 2012. Remember that one?
The very lovely and gorgeous Jennifer Connelly
Snowpiercer is one of my most favorite shows along with others on Netflix, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access and Disney+. But TNT has become a force to be reckoned with, with the premiere of Snowpiercer and if Season 1 is this exciting, then I cannot wait for Sean Bean (Game of Thrones and Jupiter Ascending) and Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead) to come back because who knows, Steven Ogg might find a certain Jeffery Dean Morgan standing over his drawer with his most favorite baseball bat with his big smile! Go Negan!
Watch this train and join Snowpiercer every Sunday night at 9PM for the journey of a lifetime.
Here’s the actual audio interview with Steven Ogg:
Steven Ogg Uber Conference Transcript
Steven Ogg: Okay. Hello, sir. I apologize. All of this stuff it’s actually, it was quite simple. I don’t know how I made it complicated. I guess that’s part of my talent is I can take the most simplest fucking thing. We make it seem complicated.
Patrick Donovan: No, you’re good, man. How are you doing?
Steven Ogg: Doing all right. I think I, I like to say it’s kind of a good day. Bad day. Wash. Repeat.
Patrick Donovan: Yeah, it’s great to talk to you by the way. Thank you for taking the time. I’m going to go ahead and count down. We’ll get started and, there’ll be a silence and then we’ll jump right in. How’s that?
Steven Ogg: Alright, sir,
Snowpiercer – photo credit – Justina Mintz – Steven Ogg/PIKE
Patrick Donovan: I’m a DJ. So, have that DJ voice. So anyway. Thank you for joining me today, Steven. It’s a pleasure. Welcome to The Hollywood Times Interview Podcast. How are you and your family doing with this pandemic and are you and your family safe and healthy?
Steven Ogg: [00:01:26] I would say, yes! You know, everyone is everyone is doing, doing well. And I think it’s, you know, when you’re, when you’re vertical, it’s a good day. Right.
Patrick Donovan: I heard that every day, right? Every day you’re looking down at the grass instead of up at the roots is a good day. Right?
Steven Ogg: Yeah. I mean, you gotta just kinda count your blessings many more with, you know, as we know, far less, if nothing at all. So, you just have to kind of. Yeah, count those blessings when you got them and just be like, yeah, everyone’s good, everyone’s safe
Steve Ogg on Snowpiercer
Patrick Donovan: Cool. You were born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and you started out as a motion capture artist for Grand Theft Auto as Trevor Phillips and nominated for that role, including a VGX Award for best voice actor. Tell me about your early beginnings and being on GTA, please?
Steven Ogg: Well, I mean, I had the, you know, I’ve, I’ve acted since I was a kid, so I did see it or in Calgary growing up. And I mean, the GTA thing kind of came along after a bit of a lull when I had, spent some time building a country house and sort of stepped away from the business, of, you know, doing these New York guest star roles that one does and the theater, and the GTA was actually sort of a return to like, do I, you know, am I still do I still give a shit about acting? Do I still like, am I still invested emotionally in that? And that was an opportunity that came up to audition for that project, which again, I didn’t know, video games, it was just, I heard I got to be a cartoon character and I thought that was cool and it sort of reinvigorated my, my desire for acting and also realizing that for better, for worse, this is kind of, this is all I can do. This is my thing. This is what I’m here to do, so that’s what sort of brought me back into getting back on to the, the horse, if you will, of the business.
Steven Ogg – in the Tail of Snowpiercer
Patrick Donovan: That sounds great. My grandson loves playing GTA and all forms and versions of it. So, he really enjoys that. So that’s great. I’ll make sure I let them know that you are Trevor Phillips. How’s that?
Steven Ogg: Yes well, yes, I portrayed Trevor Phillips. Of course, it’s one of those things that has never, you know, people sometimes are like, oh, he gets, people seem to speak for me regarding GTA or that character. It was, you know, it was a motion capture so I’m proud of the performance because it was, you know, it, wasn’t just sitting around. Not that, you know, voice people that do that, just the voice overs in cartoons, not that they’re, I’m not comparing talent or anything, but I was more interested in becoming a cartoon character and that’s what this was.
And it was motion capture and I’m proud of the performance. So I really don’t get tired of people talking about it or saying it. I mean, It’s something I’m proud of. And I think it really captured something, literally.
Patrick Donovan: The motion capture, you wear a suit, don’t you? Is it a black suit with various computer points that pick you up? Is that how that works?
Steven Ogg: Yeah, you basically in a, like a spandex outfit with balls all over the place. And of course, when you have a bunch of, have a bunch of dudes around with balls on, those jokes, never get old.
You know, you tend to sound like a 12-year-old most of the time because the jokes are always the same for the entire time filming. And when you lose your balls and all of that, so you’re just, you know, you’ve got the motion capture and you’ve got the, the face, which is essentially captured with the camera. You have the camera and a microphone.
So your face is being captured as your movement is captured in a volume by the balls that are attached to the spandex.
Patrick Donovan: Wow.
Steven Ogg: It’s quite something.
Patrick Donovan: Yeah, I’m sure it is. After your professional career began with Law and Order, I mean, after GTA and everything, you were in Unforgettable as Larry Yablonsky and Broad City as the creepy locksmith and Better Call Saul, Westworld, Person of Interest and we all know you best, I’m going to say it, as Negan’s right hand in The Walking Dead. Please tell us about your past roles, which ones were significant on your career path.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Steven Ogg – The Walking Dead!
Steven Ogg: You know, they all work as work. So, all work is good. And honestly, when it comes to, you know, I find time and time again with acting, it’s really more about the experiences of the people you meet, the places that you travel to, the opportunity, obviously with The Walking Dead was not only about working on the show with incredibly talented, wonderful people, which I’ve been incredibly blessed. I mean, Snowpiercer, Westworld Walking Dead, Broad City, I mean, all of these shows, have just been incredible experiences for the people.
And that’s honestly what I remember. Couldn’t really reflect upon a certain scene or a certain memory of work because it’s, it’s more the lunch you had or the dinner you had or the laugh you shared, or the story like Westworld I remember going, we were in a van, I think it was a Shannon and I, Shannon Woodward. And we were driving to melody rental or wherever we were shooting that day. And we had just sort of met, but within that 20-minute drive, I think we laughed. I know it sounds cheesy, but like we laughed, we cried.
We had this amazing conversation about life and that’s, what’s amazing about this sort of lifestyle. And these projects is when you work with the talented people, but you also get to experience emotional depth and emotional connection. It’s a really beautiful thing and those are the things that I tend to remember, with the cast and The Walking Dead was of course, an incredible experience and incredible cast where we then also got to travel all around the world and do these appearances, which was amazing, an amazing opportunity.
And, you know, very, very lucky to have experienced that and I was in a great group of people, many of whom, you know, still in touch with which is great.
The Tailies ready for a fight! (Steven Ogg back right)
Patrick Donovan: What this is all about. It’s a, it’s a people business. You know, like I mentioned, the beginning, I told you I’m a disc jockey and when I started doing weddings and stuff for 30 years, I introduced myself to people and I become part of their experience, part of their family, their backstory.
And I was there when they got married, man, and they laugh, they cry just like you said and I got pictures and I got letters and I touched their lives in that way and you’re doing exactly the same thing.
Steven Ogg: Well, and it’s a pretty, like that’s, that’s the one thing, especially when it comes to, you know, obviously with The Walking Dead, there was these Walker Stalker Con, these Comic Cons essentially ,right? Which I’ve obviously been because of Grand Theft Auto and all of that. I’ve been very, I’m fortunate to have those opportunities. And, you know, initially it was certain, I have to admit, I had a bit of a “poo-poo” with them because they are like, I’m an actor doing these things, cheapens my craft, then whatever all these things are, but then you realize…. listen, people go to hockey games, sports, well they did prior, old, old world and the old-world people did that.
Patrick Donovan: Yeah.
Steven Ogg: Yeah, not now, but, so you know, people would do these things spend 150 bucks the ticket. I remember going to a New York Rangers game and I was blown away how expensive it was. And then also, you know, $12 for a shitty beer.
Like people spend a lot of money for, for this, but of course, a lot of them are blue, you know, you see them blue color, like people that are having to get up at 6:00 AM to, you know, to, to work, but it makes them happy. So with these cons, realizing that sort of what your point is, these people really. enjoy themselves and they get great joy out of it.
So, if I’m up, if I’m on the receiving end or if I’m the one that provides that, who am I to judge how they get their experiences or what the, what makes them happy? I’m only here to say thank you. And that’s incredible that you. Find that joy. And I’m going to make sure that you get an experience in a sense that you’ll remember, because I, I feel, you know, they’re always like, Oh, so thankful so I’m like, what are you talking about? You’re the one that’s paying to get into these things. I’d better at least make you feel good and have a connection with you because how fortunate that I’m in that position to make you feel good. That was a complete side tangent. That was a complete side thing on Comic Cons but there you have it.
Patrick Donovan: No, it’s fine. I get it, man, because I did my own Star Trek convention in 1992. I brought thousands of people over in Rockville, Maryland, and had five of the stars there and it was just an incredible experience. I mean, it just, I made their weekend.
Steven Ogg: Yeah!
Patrick Donovan: And I’m so happy. I was able to do that for them, you know.
Steven Ogg: It’s amazing, it’s a gift!
Patrick Donovan: I’m a trumpet player and I do the same thing with music when I’m out there playing horn in a band when I was a Navy band, just an incredible high, man. So, yeah, I get it. And you’re right. You’re on the set of Snowpiercer. I heard they have a grip that shakes the train car set to give it a movement and hardly any green screens. What’s it like working in that set, please.
Steven Ogg: I mean, it’s incredible. No, they have almost like old school filmmaking. You know, the train is literally movement from, yeah. I mean, it’s from, it’s more than one grip. It’s people on the side of the train. With two by fours, essentially moving this thing up and down and the set itself, you know, they’re there, they’re trains, I mean, you’re on a train and it’s just that design, what they have done is incredible. I mean, you just step on to that world and you’re in it. Obviously the tail’s where my character resides is very claustrophobic, dark place, but again, amazing detail. Like you go to the bunks and you see the books and you see the rat skin that they’ve made into items.
And it’s, it’s an incredible, incredible man, a third class market, which is this incredible art installation. I call it. It just has the, what they’ve done for that is, is amazing. So it’s the job they did on that. It is phenomenal. And it was funny cause actually the moving of the train was something they had warned us about.
The train is going to be moving. But of course, the first day when you’re your first time shooting on the set and you know, and then you got your lines and your okay. And action. And as soon as action and that train started to move. Just all the lines went out the window, just like, who am I? What am I had? No, cause you’re having to you’re you’re literally rocking back and forth. I completely forgot all the lines and you’re like, blah, blah, blah, right?
Patrick Donovan: Basically, just let it fly.
Steven Ogg: They, they just, they realized that, Oh, okay. You weren’t ready for that one? We’ll start again. Let’s go for a, take two.
Patrick Donovan: You know, I saw your character was awakened last Sunday, and it seems like Pike, himself, has his own set of dirty little secrets about Andre Layton. And what can you tell us about what’s coming that you probably can’t tell us about or what were you thinking and dreaming about while you’re in that drawer and was that seeing claustrophobic for you?
Steven Ogg: Well, you know, put in briefly, right? And then the, the end of it is you can see light at the end as you slide in. So, I’m not a little claustrophobic myself. So that wasn’t a problem. I wish, you know, I wish Happy Anderson who played the doctor, who I also worked with in the Tick.
I wish we had a little more time to spend, you know, a sponge bath or shaving me or giving me a haircut. I wish we had a little more time together with, I was in the drawers. Well, you know, you’re basically put into a state of sleep. I mean, don’t really. Obviously Strong Boy came out and he was, speaking Mandarin.
So, it’s a, it’s quite a different experience being in there. And then, you know, coming out, I mean, less than Pike is a survivor. And he’s, you know, this, we joined Snowpiercer seven years into this journey. So, when you think of the relationship between Layton and Pike, these two guys have essentially been in prison together, right? For seven years!
It changes people. It, it, you might start out one way and you turn into another, but this is after seven years, a lot has happened that obviously we don’t get to see because we’re not privy. The audience is not privy to that, but a lot happens. And so we pick up the story where it’s surviving and it’s trying different things.
And Pike obviously loved Layton, like a brother. But as we know with families, that was going to be the biggest rivalries of all right? And what happens to family members?
Patrick Donovan: Yeah. And you become a family.
Steven Ogg: Yeah.
Steven Ogg – GTA Movie – Trevor Phillips!
Patrick Donovan: So, it leads me to my next question. About your perspective on Pike, who is he? What’s he all about? Give us a little bit of his backstory. Where does he come from, if you can?
Steven Ogg: I mean, Pike is, you know, pike is a survivor. He, he’s, he’s been on this train for seven years. He’s he fought like everyone else to get on it. He believes in a certain, you know, there needs to be obviously some equality on the train, in, regarding, you know, that he’s. The first class has sushi and they’re eating bug bars.
It just doesn’t seem right. the tail is not comprised of prisoners. it’s comprised of the people that couldn’t afford to get on the train. So, it’s sort of like, you know, I mean, it’s constant comparisons to, you know, you can always compare. Listen, this is, this is history and history just repeats itself.
But you know, if you think of like they were talking, I was reading an article or hearing about a vaccine for COVID and it was the, you know, $3,000 for five days of this pill. Wow, who can afford that? We know who can afford that. The first class can afford that, but then how about everyone else? So no, no one else deserves to survive or live because they can’t afford it.
So, it’s the same thing with Snowpiercer, on the train. And Pike is part of that. Hey, we deserve some equality. We deserve more than we’re getting. Haves and have nots. And, so he just, you know, he wants to survive. I think he can be quite selfish, but by being selfish, it also allows others to survive. Right?
Patrick Donovan: Exactly.
Steven Ogg: He’s doing what he can.
Patrick Donovan: And I’m seeing that well, and the chocolate cake you’re eating, he said, give it a little bit more of that and I’ll tell you whatever you want. You know it’s like, you’re getting something you want and they’re going to get something they want. And now it all culminates this Sunday. And Snowpiercer seems like a smattering of Marxism social classes, military all rolled into one. And you touched on this. How do you believe that we’ll continue to work on the train or not work? And do you think it’s addressing in any of our current events because I know Bong Joon Ho did that with the original movie, with Chris Evans, he addressed these things.
Steven Ogg: Yeah. And I think that’s part of it is like, that’s, I think we, you know, it can be addressed in such a way that again, you don’t have to hammer people over the head.
And I certainly appreciate when I’m not treated like a dummy. So, I think what they have done is, you know, you don’t, you don’t want to pander to the lowest common denominator, but you also want to reflect the times. I mean, but again, it’s, it’s history. Like people could say climate change and. There are all these comparisons to that and honestly, the thing I kind of gravitate towards and I say, it’s about it’s the haves and the have nots! That’s it for me, honestly.
Patrick Donovan: And here we are today about the same thing about the haves and have nots in our own society today. And it touches on that exactly that’s what I’m getting out of this. We got the back of the train and the middle, and you got the “haves!” That people would get the big tax cuts and the people in the back are really struggling.
And the people in the middle are barely making it, the people in the front. Well, they’re just doing all fine and dandy. And here you are, saying, you know what, give me another piece of that cake, let me see what I can do for you and Andre taken the approach of, I want to unite the train, but you have a different agenda and now there’s going to be some massive conflict. I see coming up and I heard Sean Bean, maybe making an appearance.
[pregnant pause]
Sean Bean added to Season II of Snowpiercer as…. ???
Steven Ogg: Ooooooh!
Patrick Donovan: [rolling laughter]
Steven Ogg: That’ll be exciting!
Patrick Donovan: What if he’s in one of those thousand drawers? [belly laughter]
Steven Ogg: Yeah. And there was a lot of space.
Patrick Donovan: Yeah. What’s it like working with Jennifer Connelly?
Steven Ogg: I mean, Jennifer and I never had scenes together. Well, I think, yeah, we’re in a, we’re in some stuff together, but obviously, because I’m. Back in the tail. There was not a lot of time to work together you know, we’re all, it’s, it’s funny because it’s kind of like the, The Walking Dead, you don’t always get to work with everyone because you’re in different…. you know, you’re in different sections. So obviously that, you know, Jennifer’s in the, in a, in a different part of the train. So there’s not a lot of interaction ,with the Jennifer and you know, and my character, but of course, you know, on set, it’s all great when you get to see each other and, you know, she’s an incredible actress that I admired from her, her work has been {ooof!} pretty amazing.
Patrick Donovan: Oh yeah.
Steven Ogg: And it was funny actually, that. The one interaction that I will share with, with Jennifer, which was at the initial table read back in Vancouver, you know, whatever year it was on, I was wearing a, I have a tee shirt that has David Bowie, on it, the mugshot from when he was arrested.
Patrick Donovan: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Steven Ogg: So everyone was, “Cool. T-shirt, Cool. T-shirt,” and so we ended up at one point in the break talking about a Bowie experiences. Like, who’s your, what’s your favorite Bowie song? And I was like, yeah, you know, I saw him in the West yeah. I think it was the West village. I saw him and he’s just had this energy and it was incredible.
And then I think it was generous, you know, any favorite Bowie song. And of course, then she said, “Actually I worked with him,” and then you realize, oh shit, she was in Labyrinth. This is a woman is rather iconic and quite a legend. I mean, she was in Labyrinth with David Bowie when she was 14 or whatever.
David Bowie – Mug Shot T-Shirt
Patrick Donovan: God, I didn’t know that?
Jennifer Connelly starting in Labyrinth with David Bowie
Steven Ogg: Yeah.
Patrick Donovan: I didn’t do my homework on IMDB.
Steven Ogg: Okay. Those are the things, again that you tend to remember, right? These life experiences more so than the work itself, the work, the work is a fart in the room, man. You do it. You do, you know, you walk out, and you just leave behind what it is.
Patrick Donovan: That’s really cool. I’m looking forward to season two if they can get it launched and the way they are. me too, with all this new normal that we’re going to be going through. And, Hollywood’s changing man, it’s going to be difficult, but we’ll make it through like everything else that we’ve done in this world as humanity. And, you know, the first thing I think about because of COVID, is War of the Worlds and how they all die because of a virus that we’ve already been immune to. and eventually
Steven Ogg: It’ll be an interesting time.
Patrick Donovan: It is, and you know, and trying to realize there’s something else coming down the pike. Oh, here we go with season two of the virus. Right?
Steven Ogg: There’s always something else coming.
Patrick Donovan: Exactly. It’s happened before it’ll happen again, and humanity must evolve. So anyway, I would like to move into something that. It’s a homage to the late James Lipton who passed away in the 2nd of March of this year and Inside the Actor’s Studio.
James Lipton – Inside the Actor’s Studio
Steven Ogg: I didn’t realize he had died.
Patrick Donovan: Yeah, he did March, he was 93 and he passed away
Steven Ogg: 93?
Patrick Donovan: Yeah, I loved watching those shows.
Steven Ogg: I used to love that too.
Patrick Donovan: So, we’re going to delve into his world. You ready?
Steven Ogg: Ok. I will, I will. I’ll go for it.
Patrick Donovan: What is your favorite word?
Steven Ogg: Hope!
Patrick Donovan: Good. What is your least favorite word?
Steven Ogg: Pandemic!
Patrick Donovan: I agree. What turns you on?
Steven Ogg: Adventure
Patrick Donovan: What turns you off?
Steven Ogg: Ignorance.
Patrick Donovan: What sound or noise do you love?
Steven Ogg: Uncontrollable Diddy Valley. Laughter.
Patrick Donovan: That’s cool isn’t though? When someone does that, because laughter is the best medicine isn’t it?
Steven Ogg: Well, just that uncontrollable. It’s like, I love watching blooper reels or I love when you just have that moment where you’re just, you can’t stop laughing. You’re just you’re giddy and you’re giggling and you’re snorting and you’re making all sorts of sounds. I love that.
Patrick Donovan: What sound or noise do you hate?
Steven Ogg: Construction. City noise.
Patrick Donovan: You’re the fourth.
Steven Ogg: Really?
Patrick Donovan: Yes.
Steven Ogg: I mean, I lived in the city for 25 years, but I don’t, the city noise drives me nuts.
Patrick Donovan: I grew up in Rochester, New York Upstate.
Steven Ogg: Nice
Patrick Donovan: Yeah. What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt
Steven Ogg: Architect?
Patrick Donovan: I do that. I got a structural design background, civil engineering, and architectural specialty. So yeah, it’s a lot of fun.
Steven Ogg: Wow.
Patrick Donovan: You’d enjoy it now.
Steven Ogg: Architecture, landscape buildings, anything.
Patrick Donovan: You know why? Cause you create just like, as an actor, you create that character. I create something wonderful, you know, that people will remember.
Steven Ogg: Mmm, hmm.
Patrick Donovan: What profession would you not like to attempt
Steven Ogg: Lawyer?
Patrick Donovan: You’re the first person that’s said that. And finally, if heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say, when you arrive, at the Pearly Gates?
Steven Ogg: You can take your mask off in here
Patrick Donovan: …because you’re a real person, aren’t you? There’s nothing to be ashamed of or afraid of.
Steven Ogg: It could be a literal. I mean, in that, in that, in that instance, I literally meant the mask that we wear around to protect ourselves and protect us.
Patrick Donovan: Oh, OH! I get it, I’m stupid, sorry.
Steven Ogg: No, not at all. You went to, you went to the next level on it, which is both. That could be the, the same thing. I mean, take your mask off here. I meant literally your face mask, but then also, yeah, you can. Well, I’m not much to pretend. I don’t wear a mask much.
Patrick Donovan: But don’t, we all have our masks on, even when we’re not wearing one in some respects,
Steven Ogg: Of course.
Patrick Donovan: Because we’re afraid of exposing ourselves, of who we really are.
Steven Ogg: Yeah. Yes
Patrick Donovan: No, go ahead. Go ahead.
Steven Ogg: No, I was going to say, you know, that’s, that’s why it’s, you know, I wear my heart upon my sleeve, the gauze to Peck at, as Jago did. And it’s for better, for worse, but it’s, you also have to take pride in being, I take pride in being truthful about what I am and who I, who I am, and that includes all of the flaws. And that includes the good, the bad and the ugly.
Patrick Donovan: Good movie.
Steven Ogg: Yeah it was. Yeah. I’m not afraid to just be open and raw and honest and truthful, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but then you go drink another cup of tea, man.
Patrick Donovan: Or another good beer, I guess.
Steven Ogg: Yeah.
Patrick Donovan: With the last few minutes we have, I’m going to give you the mic like James used to do, and you can talk to our readers and listeners about anything you would like with the remaining time we have. Here’s your audience?
Steven Ogg: Well, I would say, I mean, this is such a crazy time right now. That one can, you know, there’s a lot of people, reflecting. There’s a lot of people, I don’t know if people are changing, but I think it’s certainly a time for people to take responsibility and understand that it’s a greater good, I mean, especially in our case, like California and Los Angeles right now is.
It seems like there’s going to be an impending lockdown again, because people just can’t do the right thing for the greater good. You have to literally, do what’s best for everyone. Be, you know…be it wear a mask social distance. Like don’t go into these groups because what’s happening is those that are, I think, ignorant and not doing the right thing we’ve seen the repercussions of such. So, it’d just be nice if everyone sort of, if everyone helped each other. And that includes the basic most common thing, which is kindness. you know, I don’t know if anything’s gonna really change.
There’s so much going on, in America right now. so much change needs to happen, but whether it will or not, I just, I don’t know, but I do know that one can be kind and one can be responsible and one can really look out for one another.
And that’s through kindness, that’s through, you know, protecting each other, being responsible, all of these things. So I think that’s no that’s, that’s what I’d say, is…take care of each other. Be kind, you know, you never know what someone else is going through. Right? You don’t know someone else’s story.
Patrick Donovan: No.
Steven Ogg: Be kind and be cool. Man. Life is short. Be kind love. Don’t waste your time doing shitty things.
Patrick Donovan: Well, listen, Steven, it’s been a total pleasure and an honor and privilege to speak to you this evening. I wish you the best in your career and we can’t wait until season two of Snowpiercer. What you have planned is going to be exciting.
Steven Ogg: I got to say season two, I’m super excited about not just because I’m around more, right? It’s a. I don’t know. I thought season two, just, you know, it just got better.
Patrick Donovan: Oh!
Steven Ogg: It’s just everything I saw. Just, it just got tighter.
Patrick Donovan: You guys shot it already or you’re going to be shooting it?
Steven Ogg: Season two. We’re we, we were two episodes from finishing.
Patrick Donovan: Wow.
Steven Ogg: So, we were, you know, obviously shut down, but yeah, we’ve got, we’ve got the majority of it in the can.
Patrick Donovan: As they say. Well you take care have a great evening my friend. It’s been a pleasure, sir.
Steven Ogg: You as well. Thank you so much. Stay safe, be well and take care of yourself.
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/10/20- Actress Lauren Marie is from Hamilton Township, NJ. 2020. This year has been a great year for Lauren. She has appeared on the TV Series Chase Street as well as, The Making of America’s Most Dangerous City as A Domician Drug Lord. She has also played a part in Mare Of Eaton Town with Kate Winslet. With several films in the works 2020, this Star will shine.
You’ve had a successful 2020. What roles have you enjoyed the most?
I enjoy all of the roles that I have played, I am very blessed to be a part of all of them but the one that I took a liking to the most was in Chase Street as the Court Clerk, Learning the by-laws, as well as many other things that pertain to the Judicial system was very informative, so I was acting as well as learning.
What moves you in a character?
Learning about the Character, studying them knowing what they like knowing how they are, what moves them.
Tell us about the TV Series, “Chase Street.”
Chase Street is based on a Political drama series. It is the story of Camden, NJ, a city abandoned- by the state, employers, and its middle-class white residents and suburban neighbors-its people left to fend for themselves and caught in a vortex of drugs and political corruption. It has a little bit of everything in it. From politicians to drug dealers, etc…It’s sure to leave you on the edge of your seat. I appear in Chase Street’s Episode 6. My role is the Court Clerk. My job is to help the judge decide on a sentence for the corrupt cops in Camden that are helping with drugs, gangs, deals, and corrupt Politicians.
Can you share a moment from the set?
My favorite time on set was when I met James Russo.He gave me a lot of great advice and told me a lot about acting what to do and what not to do. His famous line- remember Lauren, less is better, Hollywood will love you!
Tell us about the Making of America’s Most Dangerous City as A Dominican Drug Lord. What did you enjoy most?
It was an amazing experience. I learned how to think like a drug Lord, act like a drug lord and how to maintain/stay alive as being a woman drug Lord. I learned a lot about the past in Camden New Jersey, the corruption that has covered up. What I enjoyed the most was the cast and the crew hearing their stories, and how far they have come today.
You are in “A Date with an Angel.” What intrigued you about this project?
I am honored to have been asked to have been a part of A Date with an Angel. What intrigued me most about this project was that it is a true story. It is a very touching, sad but beautiful story. A dear friend of mine is the producer, so being a part of this project is a blessing and seeing his work/story come to the light is intriguing and absolutely amazing.
Share your upcoming projects.
I’m in the process of completing a date with an angel, Black caesar, And one I cannot state at the moment but will be proud to announce in the upcoming months.
Lauren Marie is represented by Acting Manager, Robert E Johnson.
A new music business coaching program by Incendio co-founders Liza Carbe and JP Durand
By Valerie Milano
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/8/20 – I was afforded the fun opportunity to interview two Hollywood Times writers for their new venture, “Thrive and Survive in the Music Business”, which is a book (available now on Amazon), a website and a music biz coaching service. Disclaimer: I have known Liza and JP for many years as friends, colleagues, and two of the co-founders of the acclaimed Billboard-charting “world guitar” band INCENDIO. I’ve enjoyed their CD’s and live concerts for years, but only recently found out about their new music business endevour, so I was intrigued to find out about the program and why they decided to start it.
“Thrive and Survive in the Music Business” is available July 7 at amazon.com in e-book, kindle and paperback versions.
Liza: Hi Val! We launch our book on Tuesday July 7 on Amazon, so we’ve been gearing up for that.
JP: You know we like to do projects and keep ourselves busy. So there’s been a lot of self-education – we’re getting better as videographers, as content providers, all the hats that are required when you start something like this.
THT: Was there a specific “a-ha” moment that led you to start “Thrive and Survive”
Liza: we were doing a show at the Coffee Gallery in Pasadena and arrived early to set up. A matinee was just ending and a friend was there for that show, someone I had not seen in a while. This person is a pretty well-known musician, and has played on hundreds of pretty well-known albums. He started telling me about a music business situation he was in, and I asked him who his publisher was. His response was ASCAP, which was just wrong – ASCAP is possibly his performing rights organization, but would not be his or anyone’s “publisher”. We had already long been providing information to clients and friends about how to navigate certain music biz situations, as well as educating ourselves. And it was already apparent that folks that knew a lot in one area might not know as much in another vital area – this is particularly true of sidepersons, who are always doing sessions but not always involved in writing or publishing, for example. At that moment, I thought, “well if my friend who has played with everyone doesn’t know this basic info, who else doesn’t know?” Thus we came up with “Thrive and Survive in the Music Business”.
THT: To whom is this program directed?
Liza: I’d say it’s directed to independent-minded musicians who really want to take control of their careers. This book probably won’t be that helpful to someone who wants a conventional pop career, with high-end managers and maximum TV exposure and such, although I believe everyone should have a good understanding of their royalties and how they work. This will help to keep artists from getting ripped off. That can happen to musicians at all stages of their career. This book is about getting in the van and doing it in the real world. It takes a unique kind of person who will ignore the obvious pitfalls of this lifestyle and just go for it, make their own music, put it out, tour behind it, promote it on social media. This book is for those people. Some are young and just starting out. Some have retired but always wanted to give music a shot. Some people, because of the pandemic, are looking to do something else with their lives, something more fulfilling and possibly of an artistic or musical nature. This book would be ideal for them.
THT: There are a lot of coaching and support programs in the music business – what makes yours different?
JP: Most of the ones I see are about growing your Spotify numbers. That’s a good and legitimate area to discuss, but the business encompasses so much more than that. There are so many little details that an artist or band needs to attend to in the current climate – it can be overwhelming. Our idea was simply to say, “here’s our experience” – don’t make the same mistakes, learn as much as you can. I’ve been telling people that most of the book is really our subjective experience. There is a singer/songwriter circuit of venues and festivals – same for world music, same for jazz, same for folk. There’s this whole circuit that doesn’t get a lot of national exposure where some of the best musicians in the world are playing regularly. We figured we could provide some insight into that circuit and how an artist can present themselves and thrive in that situation. And, as Liza said, it’s not strictly young musicians. There are so many folks of all ages that come to the realization that they want to get into the “music game”, see how their presentation and/or their songs are received on that circuit of real players. It’s an old-school meritocracy to work at these festivals or summer concerts or even a circuit like Concerts in Your Home – can you enthrall a small group of folks in someone’s living room? If so, we’re giving you a bunch of information that would take a few years to gather together.
THT: There are some philosophical notes at the end of most chapters. How did that come about?
Liza: I always liked delving a bit into philosophy. It gives a framework to consider the material we just outlined in the chapter. It was really just an opportunity to be mindful while considering the more “how-to-do-it” parts. Sometimes people just need a little push, a reassurance. If you are as a musician a confident go-getter, then great. But that’s not all, or possibly even most, musicians. These philosophical thoughts were more like telling folks “you can do this!” But it also reminds them to enjoy the journey.
THT: As you finished writing this program, the pandemic spread. How are you addressing our new realities?
JP: we felt we needed to get the core information down. We had been working on it on and off for a few years. But the virus has had a huge effect on all industries. The music industry, with the cancellation of tours & stage performances, has taken a huge hit, and that has had a devastating effect on so many individuals, ourselves included. We, like many others, are trying to adjust to these new times. I know I’ll have a blog post soon on the effects and possible responses to the pandemic. But there is a really obvious one – if one can navigate work, family, and financial responsibilities, now is a great time to work on a single, or a few songs, or an album. At the very least, it’s a good time to find out who you are as an artist, what kind of statement do you want to make. Do you want to make something entertaining, or a make a more somber commentary on current events? If you have some music, how do you promote it online? What about streaming concerts? One thing I feel for sure is that video for musicians is more important and more available than ever. Streamed concerts have become more prominent, and a whole generation of musicians who might have felt that it wasn’t their favorite medium have had to rethink that overnight. Some new level of streamed concerts is here to stay.
THT: What is the single piece of advice that you would give to an aspiring musician?
Liza: wow, simply try it. Don’t have any regrets. Try to put some music out there, if for your own soul if nothing else. Do you work better alone, or with a collaborator? What genre of music do you love, and is that the best or only genre for you to express your songwriting talents? You can’t find out if you don’t try. It’s basic and simple and obvious, but extremely important: do it. Remember music and art make the world a better place. If that’s your gift then embrace it in it’s purest form. Don’t worry about all the trappings.
JP: I agree with that. I’d say self-education is a must. So often I see young musicians say “I’m not giving up my publishing ever” because they heard another musician or a music attorney say that. It’s not necessarily wrong, but there’s no education or discernment behind that statement, and often the musician ends up getting burned anyway, one way or another. I think our book is just a beginning push towards self-education.
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San Pedro Fish Market began in 1956 and has become a nationally recognized brand in both the restaurant and retail industries. Your motto is “Celebrating Food and Family.” How has your family been affected during these challenging times? 
With over 4,000 meals donated to date, how determined are you in finding ways to continue offering support to those affected by COVID-19? 
John Travolta posted this on his Twitter Account along with a photo of his beautiful wife:
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What moves you in a character? 
Tell us about the Making of America’s Most Dangerous City as A Dominican Drug Lord. What did you enjoy most?
“Thrive and Survive in the Music Business” is available July 7 at 
Liza: Hi Val! We launch our book on Tuesday July 7 on Amazon, so we’ve been gearing up for that.