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FOLLOWING THE PATHS OF GIANTS AND MAKING YOUR OWN WAY: MALAVIKA

1/21/2018

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​  Malavika has always been listening to the greats of music. Born and raised in Dubai while spending a few years in India (Chennai and Pune) she grew up on a steady diet of Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, A.R. Rahman, Tracy Chapman, Queen, & Janet Jackson. Almost exclusively, she took inspiration for her own singing and music from the “Western” artists. While she had experienced success as an artist in her home, it was always the allure of the States that called to her. With a truly global list of influences, Malavika eventually found herself performing in front of thousands in tributes to many of her influences and working alongside producers and artists associated with the biggest names in the industry. These days she is travelling the world to take her own music to her fans, becoming a link in the cycle that will eventually lead to the next group of young artists who are to follow.
  Malavika is a world traveler who has influences from many different parts of the world. Though she’ll admit that her favorites come mostly from the world of R&B (traditional or contemporary). The singer’s fan base in the US, India, Dubai, and other locations are proof of the international appeal which comes from her talent as well as the varied DNA of her music. All of this has created an original sound for the artist, a sound which has earned her the respect of the professional music community. Though she feels eternally connected to her home in Dubai, the path of a musician is to travel. The experiences which this brings exposes both artist and audience to each other and has given listeners across the world the chance to experience her talent. When legendary Indian film composer and music director A.R. Rahman was honored at the Boston Symphony Hall for an audience of over 2600 people, Malavika was asked to appear as a featured performer.  The singer speaks three Indian languages: Tamil, Hindi, and Malayalam, all of which are used in films which Rahman composes for. Malavika remarks, “My favorite compositions by him include songs from Vinnaithandi Varuvaya, Slumdog Millionaire, Dil Se, Yuva, Allaipayuthey, Iruvar, and Jeans. His music shaped my musical identity. What I love and admire most is his versatility. There is nothing he can’t do musically. He is always experimenting and trying to outdo himself with each and every song. Despite all his success, he is incredibly humble. He said that he wakes up and listens to a song in a new language, new genre, and listens to a new instrument every day for inspiration. I’ve adopted this template to grow and evolve my taste and creativity as well.”
  The concert was covered by news outlets like Buzzfeed, the Huffington Post, Indian Express, Times of India, NDTC, Deccan Chronicle, India Today and the Hindu, as well as streamed live worldwide. The twelve-minute-long “Kun Faya Kun” featured the singer’s versatility and Rahman himself joined her onstage for “Vande Maataram.” The “Kun Faya Kun” performance alone has achieved more than 5.2 million views on YouTube. The nature of modern media insists that this number will undoubtedly increase with the composer’s legions of fans in India as well as Malavika’s admirers.
  The massive exposure Malavika received in India as a result of this performance resulted in a spike in her fame in India. She recently completed a promotional tour in India for her debut single “Jackpot” on India’s English radio stations. Live “on air” performances were conducted on stations like Radio One in Mumbai 94.3 (boasting over 350,000 listeners) & Chennai live 104.8FM (with over 100,000 listeners). LA based pop producer Moritz Braun worked with Malavika on “Jackpot”, an audacious girl power anthem with elements of old school funk & soul and modern pop which includes Indian instruments like the Bhapang. The Usher/R Kelly inspired “Voodoo” witnesses Malavika pushing the boundaries of what a woman from a traditional Indian background might say about her own sensuality. True artists are never derivative but always are composed of their influences. Malavika is insistent that for her, the musical and cultural diversity she has experienced are what creates her unique style and compositions. She reveals, “My original music is a blend of R&B, Hip hop, and rhythmic pop. Being exposed to various contrasting worlds and cultures throughout my childhood largely influenced my musical taste. I listen to Indian music in Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil, Arabic music, and all kinds of western music be it rock, pop, funk or r&b. I want to establish myself first as a rhythmic pop urban artist and then slowly inculcate elements of my own heritage into the music and then my goal is to eventually bring in elements of music from all over the world to into my songs.
I get bored very easily so one of my main goals is to try something new with each song I work on to keep it fresh, authentic, and most importantly interesting.” The world is an increasingly smaller place these days and artists like Malavika are the new breed who display the benevolent aspect of this trend.

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Dominic Kay talks ‘Hollyoaks in the City’ and living his dream

1/20/2018

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PictureDominic Kay, photo by Ian Thraves
With every role Dominic Kay takes on, he tries to find ways to relate to his character. He analyzes the person he will be portraying, and sees what characteristics they share. By doing this, he finds a shared truth between himself and his character, making every performance he does as authentic and instinctive as possible. Kay’s ability to bring a character off the page and mold himself into that character is astounding, and why this in demand actor is recognized across the United Kingdom for his talent.
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Kay has quite the resume. Not only is he starring in the upcoming 20th Century Fox feature Walk Like a Panther, which will hit theatres around the world later this year. His previous work in film includes the World War II drama Allies as well as the suspenseful horror flick White Settlers. Also having vast success in the television industry, Kay has worked on ITV’s celebrated series Coronation Street, BBC’s Shameless, Doctors, and Happy Valley. However, Kay’s first true taste of success came over ten years ago when he first appeared in the spin-off series Hollyoaks in the City back in 2006.

Hollyoaks in the City was a spin-off of the popular Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. It aired on E4 in the UK August 2006 and BBC America the following year. Kay was a fan of the multi-award-winning original series, and knew he wanted to be a part of it. He was also eager to work with the writer and producer of the series, Daran Little, and upon reading the first few scripts, he knew the show was special.

“It had a great cast who all wanted to do well and make the show a success. I just knew that being part of this production would be fun, exciting and rewarding,” he said. “Working on this show was a very humbling experience for me as I was amongst a strong cast with years of experience. They were great and we often worked on scenes together to tweak and get the best out of everyone.”

Kay was initially approached by Little to come and audition for the show after the writer saw Kay perform. At the time, Kay thought it was a nice touch that a successful person in the industry would offer such an opportunity to new actors, and showed up to the audition ready to impress. The role he was auditioning for was quite small, but at the time, Kay was eager to work on an established set. After auditioning, he thought it went well, but did not hear anything for over a month. When he finally received a callback, it was better than he ever could have imagined.  

“Dominic came for an audition and I was so impressed by his acting skills that I created a character especially for him, much bigger than the one he originally auditioned for. He is a natural, instinctive actor,” said Daran Little.

Little wrote the character of Shane specifically for Kay. Shane was a particularly devilish, naughty, and cheeky character full of charm and charisma, but with a seemingly vile and predatory nature. In one scene, he could go from kind and charming to openly manipulative. In every scene, Shane had a lot of drive, but he always had an agenda, never doing anything simply out of the goodness of his heart.

“Playing Shane was a real mixed bag at times, I’d probably go as far as saying one of my toughest tests to date. To get into his mindset I had to literally think right how far can I push myself with this character and what was the best way I can manipulate people,” Kay described.

In one pivotal episode, Shane’s character was front-and-center. In the episode, Shane attended a party and drugged a girl, and proceeded to rape her. The scene was essential to the show’s success, and had to be executed perfectly. Kay was required to show a range of emotions, and harness all of his unique abilities to tap into the elements of this character in order to do justice to this scene and make it a success. The director and producers were thrilled with his performance, but what was most important for the actor was demonstrating the dangers of what can happen to people at parties, which was what the show was trying to put across with that episode.

“This character was what particularly interesting and challenging to play. For example, he was the life and soul of parties and was popular and well-received. Then on the other hand did horrendous acts. That one scene had a lot riding on it and it had to be spot on it had to show a whole range of emotions to make it work. I had to show the audience exactly what could happen at a party and raise awareness of the dangers in society. It was an absolutely shocking and horrific scene to be a part of. I found it a real rollercoaster of emotions in playing him,” said Kay. “I think the story of the episode is hugely important as it gives a very clear and brutal insight into the dangers that come with social gatherings like these. Not just to young people but to people of all ages. I think that this episode hit all viewers very hard and I hope that it was very impactful,” said Kay.

Initially, connecting to his character was a challenge for Kay, as he normally tries to find connections with himself and those he is portraying. With Shane, he could not find many similarities. However, once he figured out a way to play the character, he was captivating. To play such a difficult character, Kay was given a lot of freedom to do whatever he wanted with Shane in order to be able to portray him. He also made sure to open up with his cast mates and not let the character get to him.

“We all became a very close, tight-knit crew. Working on this was very similar to working on other television productions, very fast paced, two cameras on the go at all times, all hustle and bustle. The writing was great so it made the whole process smooth and slick. It was very rare that a line wouldn’t sit right with you, everything just flowed well,” said Kay.

Hollyoaks in the City was, in a way, the beginning of Kay’s burgeoning acting career. Now, over ten years later, he looks back at the experience as a turning point. Not only was he given the opportunity to show what he was capable of, he took it and impressed not only his colleagues, but his audiences. Now, those who saw are true fans.



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THE ENJOYABLE CAVITIES

1/18/2018

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(By Luigi Paglia)
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​  When you hear the word “family” it’s likely that you have an instant visual image of your own. The visual of multiple generations that typically bare some sort of resemblance to each other is common but it’s not the only iteration of this unit. Family is more about those whom we put our trust and faith in than the body type or our political perspectives. This is the idea explored in the film “Cavities” and editor Wanqiu Sun used great subtlety in helping director Michael Chan present it. The concepts of familial connection, software piracy, and (you guessed it) oral hygiene are interconnected to cause the viewer to question their own personal responsibility. The action of the film is shaped in such a way as to keep the audience in a constant state of questioning what direction “Wince”, the young man who is struggling to develop a sense of himself and his place in the world, will choose. Sun’s shading of emotions in the story help to communicate the young man’s state of confusion, contained anger, and hopes. Based on actual events, “Cavities” give multiple definitions of the term “family.”
  Taking place in the early 2000’s, “Cavities” exhibits the life of young Winston “Wince” Chang who has been left to take care of himself after his parents have abandoned him. Wince’s cracked tooth, a gift from his physically abusive father, is both the title of the film and a metaphor for the boy’s decaying life. Wince’s mother chases after the father, leaving Wince to make his own way living in an apartment with other young men. He is resourceful enough to find a way to earn money but this is through illegal software piracy. Wince becomes focused on superficial material and substance proxies for the meaningful parental relationships that he has lost. Throughout the action of the film, his tooth worsens and his mother travels in and out of his life. The constant for Wince is his much more grounded friend Franklin who both yanks out the rotten tooth and points Winston’s compass towards college and establishing his own future.
  The core of the story is the feelings of distrust that Winston has a result of his family situation. The anxiety and separation at such a young age are depicted in the conflict of his personal relationships. It’s much easier for him to have a connection with gadgets than with people or friends, though he tries. Winston is very energetic yet his movements and body language give insight to his inner feelings. Sun focused on displaying shots that exhibited this paying more attention to Wince’s rejection of getting close to people, especially the scenes with his best friend Frankie. Diving even deeper in search of authenticity, Wanqiu went to great extents to communicate the feel of the time period. Recognizing the fact that the story takes place almost two decades in the past, Sun studied music and films of this period in an effort to infuse the energy of the late 90’s/early 2000’s. The interaction between young men in the film reflects the rhythm of the dialogue of those times, which leads to a certain humor and a vibe of that type of tribe.
  It’s a confident and intelligent director that hires an editor who can make suggestions to the betterment of a film. Michael Chen (director of “Cavities”) comments, “Wanqiu has a great sense of story. She understood my creative vision and was always there to help me achieve it, adding her own suggestions and creativity when she felt she could add to the common goal. She’s passionate and that makes her driven…which makes her great at what she does.” Proof of this light-handed work is relevant as Sun describes, “There is a scene in which we see Wince hiding his money inside a hole in the wall. It’s a story point where Wince becomes connected to his mother again and feels a sense of family. He changes the poster covering this hole to one with the Chinese characters for ‘family’ on it. As Wince leaves, the shot pushes in and stays on the poster. During editing, I felt that it would be a nice shot to end the scene but the movement of the shot is not ideal. It pushes in to a close up at a very high speed, which in my opinion doesn’t really work well for the emotional beat. I revised it with some technical skill, cheating an ending frame by changing the speed of the shot. I received confirmation from Mike that it was more effective in delivering what he wanted for the scene. During such trouble shooting, I gradually set up two rules for myself: 1) always respect and trust your team, try to know more about their thoughts, & 2) nowadays, lots of visual effects in editing programs can achieve a lot but make sure no matter what effect I am using that it serves the story.”
  “Cavities” speaks to a much wider demographic than young Asian American men, as evidenced by the film’s awards an inclusion as an official selection at a variety of film festivals such as the: Honolulu Film Awards, Ellensburg Film Festival, Hip Hop Film Festival, and many others. Wanqiu’s work on feature films prohibited her from attending, the golden handcuffs of a successful career, but she considers herself as having the ultimate VIP pass. Her role as editor not only means that she helps to shape a film but that she also is the first person to view this completed production. Literally an audience of one, Sun finds herself often emotionally affected by the films she works on. When she is afforded the chance to witness an audience watching her work, she finds herself taking notes of when they laugh, cry, and react. Always focused on improving her work, Wanqiu Sun is a vital member of the film family.
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YouTuber Ryan ‘Bucks’ Hughes entertains and educates with creativity

1/1/2018

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PictureRyan Hughes videoblogging
When Ryan Hughes was just 20-years-old, he seemingly had it all. At the time, a mere two years ago, he had just landed a full-time dream digital marketing job at a large global agency. In his spare time, he made fun videos on YouTube, showcasing his video gaming and fun daily activities. However, as each month passed into his new and fancy job, his YouTube videos were starting to receive more and more views, going from hundreds, to thousands, to tens of thousands of views with each new video. After nine months, Hughes left his marketing job to pursue making YouTube videos full-time. Now, with over 400,000 subscribers on his main YouTube channel alone, he truly feels like he finally has it all.
 
Hughes runs his channel under the alias “Bucks”, and has been making popular videos since 2012. His highest viewed video has amassed over 1,800,000 hits. He undoubtedly has captivated fans around the world with his sense of humor and creative stylization of videos, and this year he has travelled internationally to meet fans and collaborate with high-profile brands. He is completely committed to his craft, and considers social influencing to be an all-the-time job rather than a full-time one, and that is part of what makes it so enjoyable.
 
“I love the freedom of being an influencer. Being able to work for myself, be in charge of everything I’m doing and be responsible for it. In previous full-time jobs, I was told what to do, even if I had ideas that I thought would be successful. Being an influencer allows you to channel your work ideas through your own personality to connect to an audience. This is so crucial for us as human beings to shine in our talents, for how can our talents ever be expressed if they’re controlled by others? I like having positive impacts on other people’s lives, and being able to make people smile and laugh. Alongside this is a 24/7 mental involvement,” he said.
 
This past September, Hughes collaborated with the company SkinSilo to promote the gaming app. SkinSilo is a platform that allows players of Counter Strike: Global Offensive (otherwise known as CS:GO) who can’t afford in-game purchases to get them for free in exchange for watching videos, downloading games, and filling in surveys. Hughes’ videos playing CS:GO are extremely popular, and the game that is featured in the majority of his content. Collaborating with SkinSilo was a natural match.
 
 “We've worked with Ryan on a couple of sponsored YouTube videos. Working with Ryan has been a very positive experience. We can clearly tell that Ryan takes a sincere interest in whatever it is he's promoting. He makes this clear by keeping communication consistent and working with our team directly to reach a finished video product that everyone is happy with - and that his audience will definitely enjoy watching! In other words, when we decide to work with Ryan, we can be sure that his video will be high in both quality and entertainment value. It's clear that Ryan puts forth a great amount of effort when it comes to his content. This effort is what makes Ryan great at what he does, it allows him to create entertaining content while also successfully helping our brand grow. His charisma definitely shines in most of his videos, it keeps the viewer immersed and entertained," said Arturo, a representative of SkinSilo.
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SkinSilo reached out to Hughes after seeing how he had previously promoted brands. Unlike many influencers, he doesn’t have obvious promotional plugs. Instead, Hughes inserts his brand deals in very creative ways into his videos. In the past, he has turned down potential partnerships if they are not willing to be creative, or offer a service that would be an asset to his many fans. There is nothing Bucks cares more about than his fans.
 
The result of the campaign was a tremendous success for SkinSilo, Hughes, and his viewers. Hughes took SkinSilo’s initial idea and completely tailored it to his fans and his channel, making it both entertaining and informative. He was given total freedom for the promotion, so he took the opportunity to include a skit as well as some destruction. The video begins with a comedic sketch of an injured Bucks, who at the time had actually fallen just beforehand, so he played off of that. He then displays several devices that will work with the newly launched app. These devices include a very low budget phone, a mid-range budget phone and a high budget phone to showcase that the app works on most average phones and you don’t need the latest iPhone or Samsung per say. Afterwards, the destruction part of the promotion came with the comedic approach of using an inexpensive Walkman phone, which Hughes tried to install the app on but did not work properly. Hughes’ then sets the phone on fire.
 
Influencers are often given the opportunity to be imaginative, but Hughes takes it to a next level. His crazy antics are thoroughly entertaining, and in previous videos he even set a firework off with an Xbox controller, and showed many unique ways to destroy fidget spinners. Having so much creative space is one of Hughes’ favorite parts about his job, and says it is everything he could ever want.
 
Hughes is at a point where he is truly living his dreams. Most people imagine such fame and passion for what you do, but very few realize this at only 22-years-of-age. That being said, he has some essential advice for those looking to follow in his footsteps.
 
“Find your creative. Never copy or follow someone else’s footsteps or rely on others. You want to create your own source of entertainment, where you are the soul of your work. It’s you people want to see when making a video on X topic, it’s your creativity that brings people back, it’s your unique personality that stops people from leaving or not wanting to watch another video of yours. Investing back into your career, even out of your own pocket, is something you should consider to continually increase your quality of content. When you find something that works well, take notes and learn from it,” he advised.
 
To watch Buck’s SkinSilo promotional video and be very entertained, click here.

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