CharlesPapert
Director of Photography
Very sad day this week to lose Adam Schlesinger, genius songwriter known for Fountains of Wayne, the theme from That Thing You Do, and countless others. I've shot in and around his work for years--several of the music videos I shot for Crazy Ex Girlfriend, the theme song from Crank Yankers--but I only met him this one time.
Three years ago the small label Mondo re-released the soundtrack to the 2001 film "Josie and the Pussycats" on vinyl and threw a record release party that included a live performance by the musicians who recorded the original cuts. While the film wasn't notably successful at the time, it's grown in popularity over the years partially via nostalgia for the late-90's music culture that propelled it. I shot a series for the writer/directors Deb Kaplan and Harry Elfont a few years back and was also friends with lead singer Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo), so when this concert was announced, I felt it was going to be a one-of-a-kind night to capture.
I pitched the organizers but they had no budget allotted for such a shoot. Mere days out from the event I tried again and we were able to agree on a token amount to cover expenses. I cobbled together a group of colleagues to help out, with donated gear. Our own Bill Totolo was instrumental in helping put it together. He masterminded the build of this ridiculous object I dreamed up, an A7 with 45-250 zoom for the back of house camera.
Two F5's, two C300's and another A7 behind the drummer rounded it all out. I'm not going to say it was an easy show to color...
Three of the songs had been posted by the label, this was one of the two that hadn't, but they gave me permission to do so in Adam's honor. RIP sir, you kept a lot of feet tapping over the years.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1245577105347203074.html
Three years ago the small label Mondo re-released the soundtrack to the 2001 film "Josie and the Pussycats" on vinyl and threw a record release party that included a live performance by the musicians who recorded the original cuts. While the film wasn't notably successful at the time, it's grown in popularity over the years partially via nostalgia for the late-90's music culture that propelled it. I shot a series for the writer/directors Deb Kaplan and Harry Elfont a few years back and was also friends with lead singer Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo), so when this concert was announced, I felt it was going to be a one-of-a-kind night to capture.
I pitched the organizers but they had no budget allotted for such a shoot. Mere days out from the event I tried again and we were able to agree on a token amount to cover expenses. I cobbled together a group of colleagues to help out, with donated gear. Our own Bill Totolo was instrumental in helping put it together. He masterminded the build of this ridiculous object I dreamed up, an A7 with 45-250 zoom for the back of house camera.
Two F5's, two C300's and another A7 behind the drummer rounded it all out. I'm not going to say it was an easy show to color...
Three of the songs had been posted by the label, this was one of the two that hadn't, but they gave me permission to do so in Adam's honor. RIP sir, you kept a lot of feet tapping over the years.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1245577105347203074.html
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