Artist Pre-shoot Info
Welcome!
We are excited you are joining our Artist Roster at JazzHeaven.com and look forward to producing a seriously kick-butt instructional video with you.
You shall be in good company:
Lee Konitz, Kenny Werner, Jerry Bergonzi, Oz Noy, Vincent Herring, Eric Harland, David Kikoski, Geoffrey Keezer, Lage Lund, Lincoln Goines, Portinho, Jean-Michel Pilc, Ari Hoenig, Ralph Peterson, and many more.
Please CAREFULLY READ all the info on this page! It REALLY matters for a smooth shoot.
It includes:
* Studio Address/Shoot Length/Contact Info
* Our Video Shoot Calendar/Picking a Shooting Date (if you haven't yet)
* A Questionnaire for You to Fill out and EMAIL BACK to us (if you haven't yet)
* Where/How to share Outline/Structure of Your Video with us
* Video Length
* Thoughts on the Content
* Additional Content Ideas
* Please do NOT play STANDARDS (why and how)
* Copy of the Contract for Your Review & IRS Form W-9 download link
* Getting paid – You need a (free) PAYPAL account & email address!
3 ACTION ITEMS for you on this page:
1) Pick a POSSIBLE DATE in our Video Shoot Calendar below for your shoot (if you haven’t yet); and
2) Fill out this QUESTIONNAIRE (if you haven’t yet).
NOTE: If you bring sidemen or student(s), we need this (different) questionnaire from them! (Email them the link to it…).
3) Get a free Paypal account and email us the email address you associated with it, so we can PAY YOU! 😉
Then kindly email all that back to us (via artistresponse AT gmail DOT com)
All of the below REALLY matters for a best-possible shoot!
===> Please take a moment and go through all of it:
STUDIO ADDRESS, SHOOT LENGTH & CONTACT INFO:
95 St. Nicholas Av (Cross street = Hart St)
Brooklyn, NY 11237
It’s in Bushwick/Brooklyn; 1 block from the DE KALB AV stop on the L train.
Easy street parking (no meters!)
We typically shoot from 10am to 10pm (Monday-Friday; no weekend shoots!)
Frankly, be prepared to stay longer than that. Just in case…
Falk’s cell: 917-559-6081 Falk's email: falkwillis AT gmail DOT com
Videographers' phone #s: Greg Harriott (484) 264-6993, Mike Doyle (732) 567-1445
Please bring 3 DIFFERENT SHIRTS (from bright to dark), so we have a choice.
PICKING A SHOOTING DATE (if you haven't yet):
Click on THIS LINK and take a look at our ‘video shoot calendar’ (or see calendar at the very BOTTOM of this page!)
We can shoot Monday-Friday, 10am-10pm.
If we haven’t agreed on a date yet, give us some options please.
Pick some available dates from that calendar and email them to us (via artistresponse AT gmail DOT com).
A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR YOU TO FILL OUT and email back to us (if you haven't yet):
Please CLICK HERE to see a list of questions we need answered from you, so we can prepare the shoot correctly.
[NOTE: if you bring OTHER MUSICIANS/STUDENTS to your shoot: we need this (different) questionnaire from them!]
Please simply COPY the whole doc into an email, fill in your answers, and email it back to us (via Artistresponse AT gmail DOT com).
WHERE TO SHARE THE OUTLINE/STRUCTURE FOR YOUR VIDEO WITH US:
We will share a ‘Google Doc’ with you (just like a Word Doc, but stored on-line; so we can both access/edit it).
Much easier than back-and-forth emails…; this way it’s in ONE central place!
Hint, hint: the more you walk in with a clear plan, the smoother the shoot will go! ^_^
VIDEO LENGTH:
– LESSON: 90 minutes minimum (2h 20 min maximum! Can't fit more on a DVD (Lesson + 60-min. Interview))
– INTERVIEW: 60 minutes (conversational, ‘Charlie Rose style’; 2 people talking on a couch)
NOTE: Falk will be happy to do the interview with you.
HOWEVER: if you have a suggestion for a person that could do a kick-a** 60-min interview with you (and is more intimately familiar with you & your work), we are happy to let THEM interview you. Let us know!
(Interview is at the end of the session; so the interviewer would have to be at the studio after 6pm or so; and until 9pm, to be safe…)
THOUGHTS ON THE CONTENT:
For the 90-minute (minimum) lesson part:
This basically gives you the choice of doing A) an ‘overview' type of video or B) isolate a very specific topic and go deep.
(If this goes well, we could always shoot another video later on; especially if we later on get feedback like ‘… I wish he/she had talked more about [topic X]!')
NOTE: 90 minutes may seem long to you now, but go by quicker than one thinks.
Especially, if you don't rush from one point to the next but take your time to elaborate on each one, which is useful for the consumer anyway.
As mentioned in the THIRD video on the other web page we shared with you:
You could also bring in fellow musicians to accompany you (for part of the shoot).
Or…, you could also bring in a STUDENT to demonstrate things.
We have a Steinway Grand piano, a Slingerland jazz drum kit & a new Fender guitar amp, if you want to put any of that to use.
NOTE: There is NO MONITOR system at the studio, in case you want to bring in other musicians = Treat it as an acoustic gig!
If you are a very experienced teacher and are interested in doing a bigger project beyond 90 minutes of content (or have ideas for multiples videos), please let us know. We are definitely open to discussing that.
Other food for thought: consider that your video doesn't necessarily HAVE to be for the advanced musician.
If you are a great teacher of beginners, there is certainly a demand for that out there. All the more, if it comes from a well-known musician like yourself.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT IDEAS FOR YOUR VIDEO:
Including some or all of the following items in your video will most definitely increase the perceived (and actual) value of your video:
– a PDF doc with transcriptions of SOME of what you played on the video
(You could ask a student of yours to transcribe it 😉 They will love it!)
– bringing in one or more musicians for part of the shoot to accompany you
(Not a must, but: they will love it, if you put this into actual ‘music making practice' besides showing things on your own.
SET-UP NOTE: band stuff should be recorded FIRST THING in the day = band arrives @ 10am.)
– alternative: play along a track you brought to the shoot (for part of the video)
– offering some MUSIC-MINUS-ONE SECTIONS (plus sheet music) with a few songs of yours; in versions with and WITHOUT your part
(People LOVE that! Plus…, they will videotape themselves, upload it to YouTube & all of a sudden 10 guys did that and each have 5,000
views on YouTube. => THAT'S 50,000 FREE ADVERTISEMENTS FOR YOUR VIDEO! You dig?!)
NOTE: You could potentially also create those ‘Play-Alongs' as part of the video… (not just MP3s), which encourages the viewer to take out their instrument WHILE WATCHING the video, which hence causes more interactivity!
NO STANDARDS, PLEASE!
One other issue I didn’t mention before: could you make this work WITHOUT playing any jazz standards on the Video?
WORK-AROUND for using standard chord changes: write a simple melody over ‘Standard XYZ’ and go ‘And now I am gonna play a song of mine based on the chord changes of ‘Standard XYZ’.
(Or use the song, but without playing the original melody.)
We hate to restrict you this way, but come to find out…: for the DVD version there is no such thing as ‘getting a blanket license’, and we would have to find the publisher of each individual standard and negotiate a deal for each song individually.
That is
1) a huge time-suck, that is much better spent promoting your video…, and
2) an extra expense that we would advance, but we would both share, before you or we make a profit (as explained in the Video).
Could you kindly make that work?
LINK TO CONTRACT:
Please CLICK HERE to download a copy of the contract for your review. (Right-click & ‘save as')
Yes, this is written in ‘legalese’ by an attorney.
But: it is EXACTLY the deal I outlined in the SECOND video on the www.CheckThisOutRightNow.com page.
Feel free to contact us with any questions about the contract!
IRS FORM W-9:
You do want to get paid, right? 😉
So, please download IRS Form W-9 HERE, then print, fill it out & sign it.
Please fax back to 800-709-0908 or scan & email it to artistresponse AT gmail dot COM.
Everybody we pay over $600/year needs to sign this form and hence will get a 1099 at the end of January of the following year from us.
No signed W-9 from you, no can pay you. Please knock it out the sooner the better. Thanks!
PAYPAL ACCOUNT AND HOW YOU GET PAID
We pay you quarterly via Paypal.
IMPORTANT: You need a (free) PayPal account and associated email in order to get paid from us!
Go to www.PayPal.com, set up a (free) account and then email us the EMAIL ADDRESS of yours you associated with your PayPal account.
Again, this is IMPORTANT. We need to know your email address used with your PayPal account – otherwise we can not pay you!
Please send a simple email to artistresponse AT gmail DOT com with ‘The email address of mine associated with my PayPal account is myname@jazzmail.com…'
Once we pay you, you will get an email notification from PayPal.
Then, from within your PayPal account, you can simply transfer the money to your bank account!
NOTE: unlike the typical PayPal transaction you probably already were familiar with, in our case, there will be NO PayPal transaction fees taken out of YOUR payment. We eat those fees.
PS: Here is the calendar with all currently available dates to schedule a Video Shoot with you – please take your pick and email us some options, if we haven't set a date yet!