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| From | "Jaimie Vernon" <bullseyecanada@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Hollywood Vernon Reporter |
| Date | Sat, 20 Nov 2004 01:14:18 -0500 |
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Hi, everybody!
It's time for another edition of the Vermin Report. This week "Walking,
Drinking, and Occasionally Stumbling in LA".
First off I want to apologize to anyone who I had wanted to hook up with.
Having only 2 1/2 actual daze in Hollywood, the 'Hollywood
Reporter/Billboard Music For Television & Movie Conference' only left me
with about 20 minutes of free time between naps.
Bullseye product manager Stacey Washington and I arrived in LA at around 4PM
Pacific Time after an interesting RAIN storm on our stopover in Phoenix.
We rented a Sebring to drive - had it rag topped and proceeded to cruise,
top down, straight up La Brea from LAX. I like to drive into Hollywood
soaking up the local flavour rather than the dull, directionless approach
via I.405.
We checked into the Magic Castle Hotel (next to Houdini's famed Magic Castle
where only Magicians and guests of the Ramada Renaissance and Hibachi Hut
can enter). The hotel is a block north of Hollywood Blvd. directly behind
Graumann's Chinese Theatre, kitty-corner to the Biltmore and directly beside
the Landmark Hotel where Janis Joplin dropped dead. Nice neighbourhood.
I decided to show Stacey the sites as we weren't due to sit in a dank
conference room until the next day. As we strolled down Orange St. to the
Walk Of Fame there was a movie premiere rolling for the new Geoffrey Rush
film "The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers". Rush was outfrong glad handing
the press alongside co-stars Charlize Theron and John Lithgow.
As we stood staring at the oriental tourists photographing the hand and
footprints in front of Mann's (rather than the movie stars themselves) we
were acosted by a key grip/best boy/coffee urn soliciting our presence for
the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live Show' directly across the street at the annexed El
Capitan Theatre (formerly a Freemason Hall and Beef Jerky Emporium).
We were given two free passes and told to line-up....which would only take
20 minutes. We jumped line and headed up wind to Mario's Pizza near Highland
for the largest friggin' slice of 'za in the world. Mario himself was in
fine form and had a combination of three day's oven sweat and pizza dough in
his greasy hair. Kinda like Carmine Diaz in "Something About Mary". Yum.
We want back to the Kimmel Show line-up and were told that Motley Crue
drummer Tommy Lee would be the guest. Hey, should be fun, we thought.
Nothing like a formerly has-been rock star with the DT's caffeined out on
live television to make the visit worth while.
1 hour and 15 minutes later we're ushered up the front stairs of the
building where Bruno The Hollywood Rent A Knob & Security Guard did an
unexpected, but thoroughly enjoyable cavity search before running through
the metal detectors, nitro sniffers and ETF bomb sqaud to enter the
building.
The show was actually quite enjoyable with Tommy Lee proving once again he
really had nothing to say that mattered the least bit to anyone in the
entertainment world, but now he could see it in a new book called
"Tommyland". The other guest was Tony Perkins, weather man from 'Good
Morning America' and Ryan Cabrerra -- a musician who was supposed mean
something to somebody somewhere under the age of 12. Cabrerra's performance
was actually held live, with a decent bunch of diapered band members in the
foyer where we entered. Kimmel, Tommy Lee and Perkins all milled about with
us in a mock-bar set-up (the house fountains were dry....bastards). Then out
walked....Ashlee Simpson. Seems she and Carberundum were dating a while
back. And now ceased to do so....he left the stage after his two songs and
blew her off. As did everyone there who were far more interested in
appearing with Tommy Lee in the closing credits of the show. Which Stacey
and I did.
Our 15 seconds of fame. And we'd only been in town for 3 hours!
Hopped in the rent-a-car and drove Stacey down Sunset to see the sites and
sounds -- UFO at The House of Blues, Billy Duffy of The Cult and The
Whiskey. A detour down to the Santa Monica peer and it was back to the hotel
for a snooze.
Up at 7 Tuesday morning. Greasy bacon and eggs at Shelly's Diner. On to the
conference at the Renaissance on Highland. Key note speaker was movie
director 'McG' -- he of Charlie's Angels Parts 1 & 2 and now producing the
TV show 'The O.C.'
Talked to him about placing material in his projects. Dropped him some CDs
(which he actually auditioned personally and NOT through an intern or an
agent). He's a big fan of Canadian music. So some of our breathren here
might be in a new horror or sci-fi project he's working on.
Next up was Stewart Copeland (ex-Police) and Chris Deraidas (he who produced
the soundtrack for Shrek 2). Very funny gents. The best quote of the week
was from Copeland who was adamant in providing counter point to all the
movie music supervisors out there:
"There are hundreds of great songs that should go in TV & Film that are NOT
by Led Zeppelin."
Then we were entertained by the one and only Alf Clausen -- music supervisor
and composter for The Simpsons -- in a panel discussion with 5 of his staff
members. They ran through the creative process and played us demos of some
songs in many famed Simpsons episodes and then ran the final versions along
with the original animation. Very cool to see and hear. Clausen's quite the
funny old man, too.
Most of the two days ran like this (a panel the following day with 'Passion
Of The Christ' orchestrator John Debney and legendary film producer Garry
Marshall was the highlight of the entire event) with Stacey and I
schmoozing, knoshing and drinking with several heavy hitting publishers,
music supervisor, video game licensing folks and quite a few fellow
Canadians -- 1980's Edmonton pop singer Tim Feehan, Craig Martin from Stony
Plain Records, a member of the band Supergarage, Howard Rosen (former Dan
Hill, Lee Aaron and Prism manager), an ex-staffer from Nettwerk UK who is
now teaming up with ex-Virgin V.P. Ray Cooper for a CanCon slanted
production company in LA (we'll be in touch). We're also buddies with the
Billboard staff now and will be arranging showcases in New York at the
weekly in-house 'Billboard Cafe' in the New Year. We've also got interest
from a publisher in LA, a record label in England and some songwriters in
Nashville.
The process was exhilirating and exhausting with three back-to-back cocktail
parties Wednesday night. I was bagged and went back to the hotel to flop
after the second party.
My lucky compatriate Stacey Washington weathered the fatigue and managed to
rub elbows with the one and only Sandra Bullock at a club off Franklin &
Highland. I hate him now :-)
Heading back to LAX on Thursday we visited a music supervisor who wanted our
material right in downtown LA. In front of this guy's office (6th St. and
Los Angeles St.) two cops where handcuffing some guy who was snorting
cocaine right on the street. The Sebring was in danger of being hijacked
with me in it. Stacey did a mad dash with the package to the office in
question and we high tailed it back to the airport for a 5 hour direct
flight back with a new band called The High Speed Scene who were coming to
Toronto for a gig backing up Jimmy Eats World. We're now buds with them for
our next venture to Lalaland.
Anyway, off to bed....it was my birthday today and the Mrs. just passed her
final level 'G' driver's test so we're celebratin'!!
Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicPopEncycloPages
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