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Issue #101

Weekly Newsletter

by L. Swift and Jeff McQ

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Student Successes

When Jimi and Brian get you learning on the job, it’s amazing how quickly it can turn into actual paid work. Read below about a Film Connection student whose on-the-job apprenticeship has turned into paid opportunities to travel with the camera!

 

Film Connection student Steven Deleonardis is traveling, working camera and getting paid for it!

   
Steven Deleonardis

Steven Deleonardis

You never know where you’re going to find Film Connection student Steven Deleonardis these days. Since starting as an apprentice with Film Connection mentor Hector Ramos at EQ Studios in San Diego, California, Steven has been working on paid assignments through the company, including some that have taken him to lots of interesting places.   “I’ve gone to Hawaii, I’ve gone to Miami, Oregon, and a couple other places,” he says. “It’s been great. I get to travel to different parts of the United States. And it’s interesting—it’s like personal development. That’s stuff I’m interested in, so it’s a win-win. I get to work with cameras and get paid for it.”   Steven’s interest in film was piqued early on. “I had a bunch of kids my age in the neighborhood I moved into, and we just all loved making movies,” says Steven. “We liked Star Wars a lot, so we remade a lot of Star Wars scenes…We just shot with my parents’ camcorder. Then we just had this older kid in the neighborhood that knew how to edit, and then he did it for us…That’s where it all started.”   Steven stopped working on films for a while to focus on sports in high school, but eventually his interest was revived, and he started scoping out film schools. “I found Film Connection online,” he says. “It really made a lot of sense to me, and it sparked that again for me that I could see that I could actually work at a production studio, and do something I really didn’t know how I would get into in the first place.”   As Steven started his apprenticeship at EQ Studios, he says his mentors really helped him understand both the business and technical sides of production. “[Hector has] taught me a lot about…he’s more the business aspect,” he says. “We work together on a lot of stuff. We talk about a lot of business things. So he’s helped me a lot in that, just to deal with clients and all that. And then the main guy, Andrew, is one of my other mentors there. He’s taught me a lot, everything, from shooting and editing. So he’s been a big help there, too.”   Steven also loves the fact that the studio has given him room to grow. “It’s really laid back, everyone there,” he says. “All the guys there are really helpful. They know a lot about lighting, and sound, and all that stuff, so I get a lot of knowledge from them…I can be really creative in that space, which is really nice.”   As Steven went through the various aspects of the program, it also helped refine for him what roles he really enjoys in the film business. “Coming into it, I wasn’t really sure,” he says. “I was maybe like, ‘A director?’ But everyone wants to do that. I wanted to figure out what that really meant, and what I found is that I enjoy cinematography the most. I’m really into the technical aspects of camera and lighting. It really interests me.”   As it turned out, learning on the job quickly turned into paid work through the studio as Steven excelled and made himself available—including the travel opportunities mentioned earlier. “Just always being open to taking opportunities, taking everything I could get, it led to that,” he says. “I met the right people that were able to allow me to do that.”   Meanwhile, Steven has been working on his on projects on the side with one of his old film buddies from childhood, making several short films, including one called Hypochondriac that landed a cash prize of $1000 at a student festival. Steven says they have plans to turn their collaboration into a production company with an eye toward the future. “I’m really interested in the future of filming and where it’s going, how it’s going to progress,” he says. “And I see myself working on traditional films with my own production company, and getting into virtual reality films as well, really just in that technology. I’m really passionate about where virtual reality is going.”   In the meantime, Steven is happy to be getting paid for doing what he loves, and even getting to see some new places along the way. “It’s been awesome,” he says. “I’ve done so many cool things in the studio I’ve been working with. I’ve had a great experience with Film Connection, opportunities it gave me.”   
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Mentor News

MENTOR NEWS

 

RRFC INTERVIEW: Grammy-winning producer/engineer Tre Nagella

    Working out of Luminous Sound Studios in Dallas, Texas, Recording Connection mentor Tre Nagella is a top-shelf producer engineer who has worked with major artists like Lady Gaga, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera and many others. He’s also a two-time Grammy-winner who is up for a possible third Grammy next month for his work on the latest Kirk Franklin project—namely, the song “Wanna Be Happy?” which is nominated for Best Gospel Performance/Song. Thankfully for our students, Tre also enjoys passing his knowledge and experience on to Recording Connection apprentices, encouraging his students to spend as much time in the studio with him as possible.   In the following interview with RRFC, Tre talks about winning his first Grammy, weighs in on embracing the imperfections that keep the “humanity” in the music, and offers key advice for students about how to make the most of their experiences in the studio.   
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Recording Connection mentor Tre Nagella

Recording Connection mentor Tre Nagella

RRFC: You’re a two-time Grammy Award winner at this point. When you got that news the first time around, how did that change your relationship with the industry? How did you work from that point on, and how did people approach you?   Tre Nagella: I guess, the first time around…it’s a funny story. I didn’t even know that I would win, honestly, the first time. I always thought that that was something intended for the artist. So the album was nominated, and I knew the album was up, but I had no idea that the engineers and the people associated with the product could win. So it was a pretty big surprise. I actually didn’t find out until about three weeks after the Grammys. That’s when I got a call from the Recording Academy—they wanted to send me paper work to sign for my trophy…I probably sounded like an idiot, asking them, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Then they said, “You are Tre Nagella, right? You did do this album, right? You do know that it won a Grammy, right?”…But as far as how it changed my relationship in the business…I probably thought at the time that all of a sudden, the floodgates would open and my career was going to skyrocket or something magical would happen. And the truth is, it really didn’t. I’m still doing pretty much the same thing I’ve always done. I think the only difference is when people find that out, there is a little bit of instant respect there, a little bit of instant credibility, so people take you a little more seriously…As soon as they see the Grammy winner, all of a sudden people go, “Well, it’s not immature anymore. He’s not messing around, this guy’s serious, he’s for real.” Really, that’s the only big difference.   RRFC: Who have been some of your favorite artists to work with, or your favorite sessions?   Tre: The client that I’m closest with, and have spent the most time with, is a gospel artist named Kirk Franklin. He and I are very good, close personal friends. And at this point, I’ve done five different projects with him, so I’ve probably logged upwards to 5,000 hours in a room with that guy. So I would say that he’s definitely one of my favorites just because we’re very close and we have a lot of fun working together. I’ve worked with Blake [Shelton] on a number of occasions, and he’s a really funny guy. Obviously, he’s a superstar and everyone sees him on The Voice and late night talk shows. And if you’ve ever seen him on television, his personality really comes through, and that personality that you see on television is very much just him…We got the opportunity to spend about four days with Lady Gaga and…it was a few years ago, but she really impressed me with how focused she was and what a clear vision she has for everything.   RRFC: What makes Luminous Sound a great place to record and to learn?   Tre: It’s a world-class studio. We’re in Dallas, Texas but I would put this place on par with anywhere in L.A., New York, Miami and any other world-class type facility, as far as equipment, acoustics, and the people, most importantly. I think that’s probably what makes any facility a top-notch place to record.   RRFC: How do you go about showing people that you are available and you are willing to work with their budget?   Tre: Just talking to people and trying to be personable and humble. It’s not necessarily about me being perceived as high-end—you get what you pay for, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I would rather be perceived as high-end and expensive than cheap and whatever…But I have to make sure to tell people, “Hey, I’m open, I’m open to working on your stuff,” and I make sure to tell people that it’s not all about the money for me. I just still want to work on great projects, I want to work with people that I really like working with.   RRFC: You’re passing along that knowledge to a budding generation of engineers as well.   Tre: Yes. I had a number of mentors when I was young, coming up, in my early teens, early 20s. I did the typical rounds of entering the studios and assisting other engineers that were more experienced than I was and had some really good guys who were open to share their knowledge, teach me or let me watch, just sit in with them. And they kind of…it helped me learn, and it motivated me to do this. So now is my opportunity to do the same thing for someone else…I can’t take everyone, but if I can…if I get a good student, I get to share the knowledge and I still have the passion for doing this. So it’s fun for me to explain it to someone else and see them light up.   RRFC: It seems like we’ve become addicted to screens in the studio, with the DAW and tracking on the grid. Do you think working on a grid has taken away the pocket over time?   Tre: Everyone loves the visual, and that’s fine, it’s certainly helpful, but…we didn’t always have the screen to look at. The most important thing is using your ears. You have to learn to tune the visual out and use your ears sometimes…Cutting things to a click track is important. I’ve done some projects, where we do what I call “freewheeling it” where it’s not done to a click…  
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