Industry sign banking oklahoma presentation myself
(bright upbeat music) - Hello, everyone. My name is Yousef Kazemi, and I'm the outreach
and production manager for the Oklahoma Film and Music Office. We're happy to be here today to present the OFMO, "Pivotal
Work, Early Access Series." This video series is a preview of our 2021 Oklahoma Film
and Music Conference, which we hope to host
physically next year. We're here at Castle
Row Studios is Del City. We've got Visual Brain
helping us behind the camera and I'm very excited to
welcome our guests today for our panel "Making
Music Videos in Oklahoma." So if you would, can I get each of you to
please introduce yourselves? - Sure. Thank you so much for having us. I'm Maggie McClure, I
am a singer, songwriter and more recently, have gotten into acting and I'm also the president
of Searchlight Music Group. And grew up in Norman, Oklahoma and proud to be back here
in Oklahoma right now. - [Yousef] Awesome. Thank you Maggie. - I'm Shane Henry, singer, songwriter, guitar player in the other half of the Imaginaries which is our band together, and grew up here in Oklahoma
and happy to be here today. - So awesome. - And I'm Reagan Elkins, owner and founder of Intellego Media and I'm just looking
all the drums right now as a drummer, I'm just drooling staring and all these
little drums and stuff. This is such a cool,
- Impressive studio, right? - This is awesome. It's very cool.
- That's very exciting. Well, it's gonna get cozy. We have a lot to impact here for "Making Music Videos in Oklahoma." So I wanna start with each of you and maybe we'll start
here and go this way. How did you get started as a filmmaker also now making music? - Sure. Okay. Well, we have to go back, let's think. I mean, it really started at a young age being interested in video
with my dad's 8 mm camcorder and making stupid videos with my brothers. And what's interesting is we kind of lean more
towards music videos, so we'd record rap songs
and dance and stuff, and ended up submitting to like a, American Bankers Association
put on this whole competition, won the regional and the
national with this stupid video. And we were like, maybe
we could do this (laughs). So I actually enrolled at OCCC and got my film production
degree and all that stuff and started into Intellego Media. And I remember my first, like real start was with a local company in
Chickasha where I'm from, I grew up born and raised there, fourth generation Chickasha. And I was so nervous. They asked for a commercial and I had never done anything professional like that to that degree and I just did my best
and tried really hard. And I remember the owner
watching it in front of me. We were all there
gathered around the screen and she ended up loving it. And at that point I was like,
I think this could work out. - That's awesome. So with that first film experience, how did you prepare going into that? - Oh my gosh, man! It was really just like,
be on top of your game, do as good as you can (laughs)
and let's see what happens. You know what I mean? So, as far as just getting started in it, I mean, there was a
lot of trial and error, there really was. But it's taken a long time to get to where we are right now and making music videos
and having lots of fun. - Yeah, you've clearly done well, you built a whole company for yourself, a diverse portfolio of lots
of different project types and lots of collaboration
with these guys now. Maggie, tell us how you got
started in the music industry. - Oh goodness! Well, I started writing
songs when I was very young and recorded my first original
solo album when I was 17. And I mean, it all has
just grown from there. I've recorded and
released five solo albums. Shane and I have collaborated
on multiple Christmas projects and now the Imaginaries, which
is our new band together. And I went to OCU,
Oklahoma City University and studied music business there that definitely was very
pivotal in my career. I didn't really know what
I was getting myself into when I signed up to be a music major. I was in the practice room
about four hours a day for four years and I really got whipped
into shape musically. And then also had a good dose
of business classes as well, which has really helped me just be a well-rounded business person which we have to be
these days as musicians. So, that's the short story and have just been doing
this and been pursuing music and doing music full time
in one way or another which usually consists of at
least a dozen things (laughs) and has just, I'm very fortunate
to be able to do what we do born and raised in Norman, and after Shane and I got married we moved to Los Angeles and
lived there for about six years. Very happy to be home now. - We're happy to have you back for sure. - Thank you. - Yeah, and what about you Shane? So, I grew up in a little
small town Verden, Oklahoma and, there's basically
two options in school. It was sports or sports (laughs). You know what I mean,
baseball or basketball, is it? And around seventh grade, I started getting really
interested in music. I was always interested growing up. My dad played guitar and
there was always great music playing throughout the house but I'll never forget
probably the summer of '96. He took me to see BB King. And so I went to the
BB King blues festival and saw Bonnie Raitt,
Buddy Guy and BB King, and was instantly just, I knew that I wanted to be a
musician from that experience. And so, I got a guitar and soon after started just
going home after school and locking myself in my
bedroom and practicing. And, at that time, I mean, we didn't even
have internet growing up. It was like we grew up in the country and there was no music in school. So I learned to play
by listening to records and stuff like that. And so fast forward, I made
my first record when I was 16, recorded in the studio in Oklahoma and then started playing gigs while I was still in high school and cut the interest of a
management company in Minneapolis called Blue Sky Artist Management. And I moved there right
out of high school at 18 and I was in the Twin
Cities for about four years. Through that time, I made a
record with a Double Trouble, Stevie Ray Vaughan's backing band. And I did a national
tour opening for BB King which was a 30 day national tour. And pretty much that set me
on the road to pursuing this and being a musician. I've made five records since and now we're doing the
Imaginaries together and, yeah. - Awesome. And I've had the pleasure
of seeing you guys alive a few times as solo artists. But what influenced your
decision to pair together as the Imaginaries? - I mean, it was a, you wanna, do you want me to go out and take this? - Yeah. - Yeah, so, the Imaginaries was something that just kind of happened over the course of years
of us collaborating. Back in 2012, we started
doing some college touring and we were solo artists at the time. Maggie scored a college booking agent and was playing like 80
shows a year at colleges. And at the time we were still dating and we basically loaded up in the van and started driving across the country and I'd play guitar for her. And so we started collaborating
in that sort of way. Early on just, she
would play piano with me when I had a solo gig, vice versa. And then as, when we moved to Los Angeles we started having
opportunities to write for, with different artists,
different collaborations. We started writing songs together more and we found a way to do
that in a collaborative way. And then this new sound
kind of started to emerge. And then fast forward in 2015 we kind of did our first project together, which was, we released a Christmas single. And that was kind of the first
thing we did with our song. First thing on my Christmas list, which Reagan did a video for. And anyways, through this
collaborating together on the Christmas music and writing with other artists... - And just playing together as a duo. - Yeah. - For so long. - It just all sort of, was like, hey, this is
kind of a next step. It was kind of obvious thing. And then we had this opportunity
to go to Muscle Shoals in two years ago and do the single called
the OneMic Series. Where we were recording
with the band in a studio all around one microphone, one
take, all live, one camera. And our, it was our friend, John Canavari, who was putting this series on. And so he was finding artists
to go to different studios all over the country and do this. - And I'll interject, we submitted my project
and we submitted Shane's. And John came back to us and
said, I really love you both but I only have one slot. - [Shane] Can you guys do it together? - We'd love for you to try that. - So, I mean, really John is kind of, he was one of the, I mean, he kind of pushed us
in this direction a little bit. And then we got this opportunity. We went to Muscle Shoals,
we did the OneMic. We had this amazing experience of, man, this was really cool. We got to do something brand new and fresh and we decided to go back
there and record debut albums and so that's kinda how it all came to me. - [Maggie] Yeah.
- That's awesome. And you referenced a few minutes
ago, wearing multiple hats. And I know on the film
side, that is very true. So can, maybe you talk
about on the music side and everyone has a
different path to music too. You had music school and
the business side of things but maybe how you, how
musicians have to be able to wear those hats to promote
themselves, to get gigs. Like how important is that? - It's extremely important. I think today, you can't
not do all these things because, we don't have a manager, we don't have a booking agent. We are essentially everything. And so I am our manager,
we do our own booking. We do our marketing, we
do our own social media. It's a lot and a lot, it's a
lot of not glamorous stuff. Honestly, it's a lot of computer work. And you have to consciously make time to work on your craft as well, which can easily get pushed aside when you're working so hard
on the business aspect. But I think in today's climate, musicians, no matter what you're doing, if you're an artist, if you're a band, if you're a session player whatever you're doing, if
you're working strictly in film, if you're doing music for film, I think you just have to hustle these days and you have to find opportunities and you have to create opportunities. And we've really learned that
throughout the decade or more that we've been doing this. And that, it's really
important to just think about what you want and figure
out a way to make it work. And yeah, I just think all of those hats are very very important and
you have to tend to each thing. And a lot of people don't
have the luxury anymore these days, unless you're
like a major label artist. And even then, I'm sure
you're still working in these other areas to a certain degree. - Sure, yeah. I mean, there's only so
many of the John Mayors or the people who, in the
early 2000s or whatever was signed and became a mega star. Now they can sit and make records but artists that are coming up today they've got to figure out
other things that they can do. Like, one thing that Maggie and I do that probably a lot of
people don't know about is we have a library of music that we create queues for film and TV. We have a friend in LA that we work with, our friend Devin Powers. And, there's all kinds of different ways. It's not just our pure artistry which is where our real true passion is. But hey, if you can make
money with a guitar in hands or doing what you love, that's still winning, that's
still what we're trying to do. - [Yousef] Absolutely. And what about you Reagan? - First, I'd like to say
how proud I am of these two. Because, outside looking in
as we develop a relationship I've got to see how much work
they put into their craft. I mean, they're passionate
about what they do. And so Maggie and Shane, they don't stop. They just don't stop. They're always working,
always making connections. That's really what it's about too. - Absolutely. - You never know what connection
is gonna lead to what. - Yeah. - So you have to always be
developing your craft one and also making connections, especially if you're doing
your own social media managing yourself, whatever it may be. There's so much work and people don't realize
how much work goes into it. And I didn't either. I mean, I'm a musician but I am not a professional
musician in that way. And so to see that happen, to
see it actually functioning, I have so much respect for
people in the music industry and especially people
like Shane and Maggie who are doing it themselves. - Absolutely. And what you, how did you all, you mentioned a video in 2015, how did you all get connected? - Well, actually we
met, we officially met, he said that he saw me perform earlier when I don't even remember it, but we officially met in
2016 at Drovers Sock , right? So I met Reagan's band,
GenCon Valley, opened for us. - Yep. - And then Reagan, being
the networker he is, sent me a message on Facebook and said, hey man I love your stuff I'd love to do a music video with you. And little did he know... - And your wife, Maddie
also sent messages? - Yeah. - Little did he know that I was gonna take him up on his offer and then it was gonna set us
on this road of collaboration. But, that's how we met. - Yeah, that was... - Making connections,
networking, whatever it may be. You never know what will happen. So yeah, and it's been awesome. It's really cool too, what I've seen with making professional
connections like that it's turned into friendship,
which is really cool. We have the artistic minds and we both, we collaborate well together. But no, it started out really, yeah, I reached out to
Shane and he reached out, I don't know how much
longer, it was probably... - It was a little, I mean,
I think a little bit of time went by but it wasn't much, maybe a few weeks or so maybe a month. - Well, there's only certain
times in the artists cycle when you need videos. - Right. And I was coming up on an album release so it worked out really well. But, yeah. - So that brings up an interesting
point, the artists cycle. Certain times you're needing music videos. When is that time? - Yeah. Well, for us, I mean,
everyone works differently, but for us it's been when we
have the song completely done and we have a vision for
the release of that song. So one thing that we've really focused on with the Imaginaries album is releasing one single
at a time with a video leading up to the album
release, multiple singles. Whereas before with our solo projects, we didn't really do that many singles. - No, we would do like maybe
one single with the video and release it. But I think with the Imaginaries, Maggie and I both felt like we were kind of starting over again, after having 10, 15 year discussions, 15 year, we're dating ourselves. - I know. - 15 plus years of doing solo
music and making records, starting a new band, it's
kind of a new endeavor. And it's like getting
everybody to kind of see what that's all about. And we wanted to just really
bring these songs to life, just like in the songwriting realm. You're creating stories and we wanna be able to
visually create that too. And that's what's so great
about working with Reagan is we could come to him
with all of these songs and say this is our vision for this and then we were able to
collaborate and put that on screen. And I feel like for us
starting off with a new band and a new project, it's a little bit more
captivating to people and it pulls people in. It makes them listen a little bit more. - First impression.
- I think that we're, maybe there's still people
that can put a record on and still connect but I think we've become
such a visual society now. Like everybody is seeing content,
it's everywhere we go now with contents thrown down our face. - Yeah. - So having those videos
are very key for us. - And I think doing the
videos with plenty of time so you can have them before they come out. And as we've learned, submitting to different
film festivals now, they, a lot of the time don't
want to feature a music video that's already been released. So, it might even be good to have it done six months to a year before you actually want it to come out. And thankfully for us, we
had quite a few music videos in the can before the pandemic. And so we were able to
continue to roll those out and even create more in a safe way. But the timing of it
can change for everyone. But when you have the song done and you have a plan for the release and allowing plenty of time
to really develop that idea, because each song dictates
what that video is going to be and we've learned they're so different. Each song and each video
is its own piece of art. And you have to allow enough time to really flush out all the ideas and really come up with a great plan and then to execute that
plan also takes time. And then the editing process, obviously. - Yeah, and tagging onto that too, is like as a director, each
band has their own brand. I mean, I've had the pleasure of working with all
kinds of different bands for different genres and stuff too. But this band is not
gonna be the same style as the Imaginaries. And so you really have
to pick each band's brain and say, okay, what would
you characterize your band? So for the Imaginaries,
it was earthy tones, one and wide open landscapes. - [Maggie] And venture. - And venture, exactly. This adventurous vibe. And so the story oriented, I lean more towards story oriented films, rather commercial corporate
or whatever it may be anyway. And so the music videos
led into this narrative. I mean, they just worked out. We needed to tell a story, I think is what we came
to the conclusion on. In each of these films if you'll watch, we're telling stories. And it's not always easy
to do in three minutes. And a lot of filmmakers
will look at music videos kind of looked down on
it like, oh, that's easy. No, no, no. You narrative films, yes, it, everyone, I respect all different types of films, but you got to think about
telling a compelling story in a short amount of time. That takes a lot of work, a lot of research, a lot of planning. And so the collaboration process is key. So it's really cool to see the melding of different art forms
so you have the music and they had so much passion and there's always a
story behind the song. Where were you in your life
whenever you wrote this? What were your struggles? What were your joy or whatever it may be? And how can we make what we
hear come to life visually? And that's really what
music videos are about. And you have to remember too as, and I have to calm myself down
a lot of times as a director it's not about what I want,
it's about what the band wants. And so you find a happy
place in the middle and there's a lot of bands. And thankfully, the
Imaginaries are like this where they want to hear my side. Here's what I'm saying, and then they'll say,
here's what we're saying and then we find a happy place. And that's really where
the story comes from. - Well, that's what I wanted to hit on the collaboration process. So you as the director, what, I feel like you as the
artists have a vision, who comes to who first? And maybe each band is different too. Have you ever approached a band, like, this is your song,
I have an idea for this, or is it vice versa, like,
how does it typically go? - For me it may be different. I would say for someone
starting out at music videos you have to ask one key question. Is, does my style lean
towards music videos? You have to be honest with
yourself as a filmmaker 'cause a lot of times, one filmmaker, we're all
different, we're all different. And so some people don't
lean towards the music style, the music video style films,
there may be more corporate. And so you have to be honest with yourself first and foremost, like, am I going to be
able to do this right? And I think going back to
what we talked about earlier, the first step for any director or anybody trying to get into music videos is to reach out to a friend and say, a musical friend and say, hey,
let me make a video for you. Just approach them and do it for next to nothing or free. And then just see what happens. If it works out, it works out and then you can kind of
start building that resume. But you can't just say, okay, it's gonna be $8,000 for this and you've never done a
music video before, right? So, but what I do typically, it's, it started out where I
would reach out to bands say, hey, I really love this song, really love your style, let's collaborate. And you really like going back to it. You have to make connections. You have to put yourself out there and just see what happens. If they don't respond and they, whatever let's move on to the next person. So, but nowadays it's,
I'm typically contacted and bands will reach out and say, hey, how much will it be for this or what can you do for this? What's your vision for this? And you have to be prepared
to answer those questions. But first and foremost,
ask them questions. What's your budget, is a key question. What do you envision? The, 'cause the budget and the vision, a lot of times collide. - So from a budget standpoint, a lot of musicians don't
have a label behind them. They're self-funded, they're crowd-funded. How do you make a budget whether
it's 50, 500, 5,000 stretch to tell the vision of
the song and the artist? - Yeah. I think for us, we've made
so many different videos and I think it all comes down to the song. Meeting with the director
and figuring out, okay, this is the dream situation let's make, let's go big. Let's flush out all these ideas and not even think about budget. You have to at least
let yourself go there. 'Cause as we've learned, we can pull off a lot of
them without the budget but you have to let yourself go there to come up with these
really cool ideas first. And then figure out, okay, that idea there's just no way that that's gonna work unless we have a ridiculous budget. So what else can we do that's going to communicate
the same message and not break the bank? Or just find different areas. Okay, like we've always
provided our own wardrobe. We've always done our own hair and makeup. Like that's a way to
really cut down on costs. And just think about, okay, what are the really
key things that we need? Who are the really important
people as we've learned? Lighting is huge. And just making sure, and
Reagan will say, well, we can't, we cannot have this
person so this is a must. And it's a lot of back and forth. And it's, I mean, it's
all dictated by the song. So... - Yeah, I think, yeah, go. - I was probably gonna ask, so what are the must on a music video set? Like what are the things
we're not skimping on and what are those positions
to where people can plug in? I know music videos are maybe
different than a commercial, a traditional film. What are those things that go in? The people behind the scenes
that are bringing it to life? - So the key individuals whether, I mean, whether it's a small budget, I mean, okay, I'll tie that in to the budget side of things too, because if a band comes to me and they say, okay, we have $500 then I'm not gonna be
able to pay a day rate for cinematographer or a gaffer or anyone. It's basically me showing up and editing. That really, it's skipping
as well on my side. So what can I do? Well, we have three songs and we have $500 budget for
these three songs or to each. So 1500 bucks. We wanna knock these out and maybe do like a one-shot
no performance space. So let's bundle those together. Do as much as we can, get as
much as we can out of that if that makes sense. But the key individuals you need to have is a cinematographer. You have to have a good cinematographer. Somebody who knows the camera,
knows what they're doing knows lighting and angles, a gaffer who knows how to
light a scene the right way. Lot of, those key
individuals and, or director you can get away with those three. Now, is that ideal situation? Absolutely not. Like we just got done with
the Christmas music video and we had, I think 10 individuals on set. So we had a production designer even some that weren't there. We had a set dresser,
'cause it was Christmas, we had to make October look Christmas. And so we did, we had a lot
of pre-production process that was involved with that, and we had a director of
photography, a gaffer, a genie dude, we had a lot of PAs and someone on set ready and
willing to do makeup as well, who in fact is my sister-in-law and she always was interested. She was doing plays and stuff. Growing up, she would
be involved with plays and really liked that side of things. And she also had a hair
and makeup background. She's very artsy in that way. And so I saw her as a potential individual who might be interested in
film, it turns out she was. And so for the past three or
four music videos we've done, she's been involved. And so, if you're a hair and makeup person or whether, whatever you're, whether you have a degree
in something like this wherever your background may be, if you're interested in film, maybe ask yourself if there's a way that you could help the
film industry out right now. If you're interested in lighting, if you've always had that, maybe go to film school
and see what happens. But I would encourage people, if you're interested in film, if you have some sort of background, reach out to local companies
or the film and music office and find out how you might be
able to help in those areas. I'm always looking for
more people, by the way. - So like, are you, I mean,
sometimes the best school or experience can be volunteering or interning or just jumping in. - Yeah, I've had three
or four interns of late that have wanted to learn. These are younger guys that have, or girls that are trying to get into it. One, and some of them
have reached out to me and others, I've seen potential in them. They've made some videos on
Facebook and they're local. And hey, are you interested in film? And I really, I enjoy kindling
that in young individuals that have an interest in film. So whether it be interning
and just getting experience I mean the best education is just getting onset and learning. So whether it's a corporate
film or music video, whatever, just do your best, try to get on and you'll learn by experience. So there's all kinds of
ways to get involved. You don't necessarily
have to go to film school although it's encouraged,
would just hop in. - Absolutely, and you
referenced the upcoming Christmas music video in Chickasha. I know, we're so proud that
you guys are from Oklahoma and you have a state pride
and a community pride. So, how important is it for you all to be bringing creative
opportunities to Chickasha? 'Cause I know you guys are very involved particularly in that community in terms of live performances and now bringing video production, can you guys speak a little bit to that? - Sure, well, I think it
all started a few years ago when we moved back from LA. We decided that we were going
to try to find creative ways to continue to make a
living in music in Oklahoma. And one avenue that we thought was very untapped into
and also very appealing, was connecting with
different cities in the state and partnering in different ways. And so, the first city
that we collaborated with was the city of Guthrie. A couple of years ago, they wanted to feature
my song, "Coming Home," this was before the Imaginaries. And we did a music video promotional piece with the city of Guthrie. And they used that to promote tourism and economic development, and young professionals coming to Guthrie. And that was such an awesome
experience and opportunity. It's always been on the
forefront of our minds something that we're always aware of something we're talking about. And if there seems to be
an obvious opportunity with any organization or city we're always going to at
least see if it's an option. And so, this past year, we got to know Jim Cowan in Chickasha and he is the new economic
development council director and he's been there what for? - [Reagan] About a year. - About a year. And he has become a huge
fan of the Imaginaries and is such a great guy. He has so much passion and excitement for the city of Chickasha and
he grew up there, correct? And he moved on and then now he's back and he has this really
true heart for the town. And very, he's very
passionate about collaborating with creatives in the community. And so, Reagan had been
working with him for a while and I had in the back of my mind, okay, well the Festival of Light is really big in Chickasha, there's this big Christmas culture there. And the first thing
that we collaborated on was a "Christmas in July"
concert, this past July which was outside, socially distanced and we did an entire Christmas set which Reagan streamed on Facebook. And it was a great experience. And then from that, naturally
led to the next conversation. Okay, well, now that
it's actually coming up on the holidays, is there a way that we could
collaborate in another way? And Jim was very open to the idea. He was very excited with
seeing what I did with Guthrie and wanted to take the same approach and help promote the
holidays in Chickasha. And so that's what we've done and it's been a great experience. They're basically licensing
our song, "Hometown Christmas" to use for promotional
purposes to promote the city especially during Christmas time. And Reagan came in and
directed the music video, we shot entirely in Chickasha. Was it a three-day shoot? - [Reagan] Three-day shoot.
- [Maggie] Three-day shoot. And yeah, it's been really
awesome to collaborate. - [Reagan] Its great seeing
individuals like that who are passionate about film, his sons are actually in the film industry and have just moved back
to Oklahoma by the way. - [Yousef] That's awesome. - [Reagan] I think we need to
have a conversation with them. But Jim Cowan, he understands
the importance of film and music in the community and what it can do to not
only just for the art's sake, but to unify people, to give something people, give something for people
to be excited about. Whether it be a concert or a film that we can have extras in
the community to be a part of it really brings the community together. And I think we've seen
some feature films come in. I've advised, I was
manager on one that came and did a couple, our location manager, they did
a couple scenes in Chickasha and the Chickasha area. And I advised another that came in, just so, showing them, I mean, I'm born, I mean, I was raised in that town so I know the town, but it's virtually, besides those few, it's pretty untapped. And so there's a lot of locations that people don't know about and I hope that we can
kind of develop that more to show films what a local community like Chickasha can offer. And the same thing can be
said for any other small town. Whether, if you think you're too far away you might have the exact thing
that that production needs. And so don't ever think, because you're an hour and a
half out or whatever it may be that you're never, it's an impossibility. Although being closer has its benefit. But, if you're in a small town or a filmmaker or whatever it may be, maybe talk to your economic development and see what you guys can do. - Yeah, absolutely. And the film side of things, we were having this conversation earlier, Oklahoma is the busiest it's ever been. And with that comes needing
to expand the footprint because, for productions
taking over one city well, these other films are
gonna have to go somewhere else and it really does take
artists like yourselves the support of the community, one to open the door, and I think all of this is a good practice and good start for hopefully
bringing more to Chickasha and all of the statewide
communities we have. And Maggie, you referenced licensing through working with Guthrie and Chickasha and different cities, but there's also the film
aspect of licensing your music. Can you speak a little bit about that? - Sure. So in the past, probably 12 years, I have had a lot of my songs
featured in different movies, different TV shows and commercials. And I think my very first placements were like MTV, "Real World." - [Shane] It was always really funny because they always
would license her songs in the most inappropriate scenes. - Yeah, yeah. - [Shane] Oh, those are
what you guys signed with those records. - I know, and you don't really have a say as the artist and musician as to how your song gets
used a lot of the time especially when I was starting out. So, but yeah, it was a
very cool opportunity with my first solo record and I thought, wow, this is awesome. Every single song on my
first solo album got licensed within the first year, - Wow! That's amazing. - And without me really doing a lot. So I had people approaching
me at that time, this is 2007 a lot has changed since then. The licensing world has
become inundated with content and people wanting to get into that because it is one of
the only ways right now especially to make a living from music especially when touring
isn't in full swing. And so it's interesting to
see how things have changed in that way to where
people were approaching me and now I'm approaching them. But it's been an amazing
opportunity to have music showcased in such a way, in such
an international level to where someone can Shazam it and then instantly see
who it is and then support whether it's buying the album or following on social media or whatnot. It's been a huge part of what we do and has just evolved over the years from people using existing songs to creating new songs.
- Creating craft just like the "Approaching the Unknown. I did the in credit for a movie called
"Approaching the Unknown." We met the music
supervisor at a party in LA and she reached out and said, hey, they're looking for
something that's real bluesy, I know that's what you do. Can you write and record a minute and 30 second instrumental piece? And I said, sure. So I did. - Yeah. - Is the connection aspect. - Is the connection aspect. Absolutely. - Yeah, so it's been huge
for us as solo artists and also as the Imaginaries, we've already had a couple of placements and the debut album isn't even out yet. So that's very encouraging and exciting. And with that being said,
just like everything else, all the different hats that we wear, being your own advocate in licensing is really important too. Because yes, we've had over
50 different placements with our songs in film
and television and ads but literally almost every single one came from a different source. And it came from a series of events happening in a different way. - Personal connections. - So it's all very, it's not random, but it's very specific
to each opportunity. It's not like all of them came from the same contact or opportunity. So it's been huge for us and definitely something
that we are focused on more. And I decided to start a
company here in Oklahoma, Searchlight Music Group
that focuses on that, in licensing Oklahoma artists music and movies specifically, the ones that are being
filmed here in Oklahoma. And so that's been a really
great opportunity for us and also to help fellow
Oklahomans and artists and composers as well get
their foot in the door. - And how do you artists, how do local artists
connect with your company for that, those opportunities? - Our website is searchlightmusicgroup.com and we're on social media
as well, very accessible and always welcome to
hear from potential talent and people interested in collaborating. - Awesome. And one of your band
songs, "Walking on a wire," that's one that was featured in Oklahoma rebate film, "Infamous," - [Maggie] Yes. - But you guys also collaborated
on a music video for it. This was also done during time of COVID which we're currently in, correct? So, you referenced these
videos for this band, they're much more cinematic than some of the more
performance-based music videos. What went into that collaboration and for you all as artists, how was it flipping the script going into almost a
different performance style that had a lot of acting and drama and storytelling and stuff? - Yeah. See, that was awesome
experience, first of all. But first of all, you
have to sit down together and determine what we're going
to be doing for this song. - Yeah. - By the way, "Infamous" was cool. 'Cause I was locations
manager on that one. Then I told the director, I was like, hey, you really
need to hear my friends. And I showed him in the car while I'm driving around scouting and I played some of those songs and he was like, holy
crap, these guys are great. - So Reagan was the reason
why we connected with Josh. - So you always, always,
always have to be pitching. - [Maggie] And constantly pitching him. - It always happens. I've had so many bands come
to me through the Imaginaries. And through them presenting
me, and we do the same. We always help each other out. And that's really how the community is. You have to, that, I've
noticed that in Oklahoma. The film community, we're always out, we're out for each other's good. We want to help each other out, give connections wherever we can. I mean, I've had so many
phone calls from people that are looking for locations help or music videos or whatever it may be. And I really love working
in Oklahoma for that reason. I mean, there were so
friendly in that way. The great Fredrickson told me one time, I was taking one of his classes. He said, some of the larger
cities and other states, they say, they may say get off my lawn when you're on a production. Here, you go film in a neighborhood and you're more likely to have someone hand you a glass of sweet tea. You know what I mean? The whole dynamic in Oklahoma
is just absolutely awesome. And helping each other and
collaborating in that way too is a great thing. - Yeah. - So, but as far as "Walking on a Wire," I remember we sat down out at the firm and we just, let's just
chill for a little bit. - Yeah.
- Yeah. - And we sat down, it was at night, it was just a beautiful night. And I remember someone
said the word desert. We're just literally brainstorming. It was Maggie. - Well, I had said guys, I was in a scene for "American Gods" I was at the, in the desert,
yes, there is a desert. And you were like what, is there really? And I'm like, yes, it's amazing. - I've never been there. - And it was miserably hot. And I thought I was gonna
die, but it was epic. And I was like, we
really need to look into the Little Sahara in
Waynoka, it's amazing. And so we brought that up and the important thing to know is that we scheduled the time to do nothing but
brainstorm and collaborate. And it really takes that. - [Reagan] And it was hours. We were there for hours and we had dinner and just
chilled for long afterwards. - [Maggie] Yeah. - [Reagan] But it took that one word, just brainstorming ideas, it took one word to spark
this whole other, this story. And then from that, we
developed A plot, B plot, and you have all these little parts to it, how can we incorporate it in
on the desert, what's going on, developing all of that from that one word. - Yeah. And really, it all comes from the song. And I really think the song is one of the most
obviously important parts of the music video process
because it dictates everything. And so for this, when we
were writing this song, we were experiencing immense
struggle and conflict and that concept of barely hanging on. And so it was really important for us to communicate that
visually to our listeners to show this is what we feel and get across, oh my
gosh, this is serious. - [Yousef] Yeah, the struggle. - And it was all real. I mean, everything that you
saw, I mean, that was us. That's how we feel a lot
of the time as artists. And I think so many
people can relate to that. But really diving into those characters, but it was really us, like in the song. And it was so cool to be able to visually
explore this desert. - [Reagan] And that's the other thing too, as far as the directing
and writing standpoint. If you listen to just the lyrics without getting the backstory of really where the emotion came from, then, I mean, the first
inclination is to say, okay, the lyrics are walking on a wire and the waves are crashing under, okay, when we film in the desert, where here the heck is the wire? Where are the waves, right? But it's not about that. It's deeper than that. It's the metaphor. And so, we looked past that, I mean, the first thing you wanna do is like, okay, we want to, let's make it exactly to the song. That may not be the best thing. Have I done music videos like that? Yeah. 'Cause they're
pretty straight forward. But there's so much, a lot of these bands have way
more meaning in their lyrics and a place of true emotion
where they wrote it from. Now, there are a lot of just
cliche lyrics these days from a lot of different bands you'll hear. But I think the job of the director is to get to the heart of the song and then somehow make it visual. I love that song when they
first showed it to me. And I was like, wow, this
has some really cool vibes, even on a civil war, anything going on and they're no longer a
thing, and here we go. And so there was like a
really really cool vibe to that song. And so when we, when she
said the word desert, it just immediately starts
sparking all kinds of ideas in all of us. And so what if we did this,
this, this, this, this, and of course, like Maggie
said, we went to the extreme and then we had to come back from Walla land back to reality. - [Maggie] But in the end, we got exactly what we really pictured. And I would like to point out
that we did it the right way and got permits and while,
well yeah, thank you. And that's how it should always be. And not only because that's
what you're supposed to do but also because, once you
go through that process, the people at the parks are so much more willing to help you. We got so much more help. And just that made a huge difference. So I wanted to point that out because a lot of people
don't understand the process. And even we, before this hadn't really, I don't know if we needed a permit but we hadn't really
pursued that until now. But now that we have, I can see, okay, this is how it should be. And I would really encourage
other artists and directors filming in the state, to
pursue getting a permit. So, I think permits really for Oklahoma, is it just for state parks? - [Yousef] No, no. There's city. - It's for city. - And there's tons of different permits. And to your point like
putting on that business hat, it's also practice and
important in that sense too, for musicians or if it's directors, whoever's applying for the
permit to navigate that route 'Cause it's important. Especially in a uncontrolled
location, like Little Sahara or other places where
there's still other activity, it protects everyone on so many levels. It's very important. - And there is a process
you have to go through. Was it a hassle? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. You guys made it so easy. You have all the connections,
here's the paperwork, fill this out. - Just allow plenty of time so you're not in a hurry
and skip that part. - I think some people just get, like they don't want to deal with that. And I think they kind of overlook it and they try to find ways around things. - Yeah. - That's sketchy. Don't do that. I mean, as, doing music videos or commercial whatever it may be, my hat looks like producer,
director, locations manager, whatever you may have, a
whole list of things to do. So it's more work, filling out permits, it's
really not that big of a deal but you need to have that. So people as they're,
everybody's on board, you're doing it the right way, you're not stepping on anybody's toes and even the park office
at the Little Sahara they were like, okay, so this
may be a good spot for you, here's a hotel over in this area, this may be perfect. So they were helpful because we wanted to go the right route. - Shout out our Oklahoma state parks they're very film friendly and
accommodating on many fronts. So we mentioned, you
guys did this in COVID. What advice starting with you, Shane, what should musicians and filmmakers during this time when there is no touring a lot of live events are now restructured. What should artists be doing either in terms of job opportunities or on behind the scenes
prepping for their next step? - Right, man, there's so
many things you can do. But I think the first thing
is you got to take action. You got to think outside of the box which is something we've always done. I mean, I'm doing a lot of this. Like I was telling you,
queues in production work for film and TV, for
library, I'm doing that. We're doing Facebook live concerts, we're doing stuff like that online. We're doing our best to
continue to engage our audience in safe ways, but it has been a rough year. It's been a tough year for everyone but you just have to
think outside of the box and keep pushing forward. And that's really kind of what we've done. We've put a lot of our energy
into doing our music videos. And one other thing I
wanted to touch on that, Maggie was mentioning earlier with the collaboration with Chickasha, that was a paid opportunity for us that she was able to get. And so that's something
that artists can do. Reach out to try to find
opportunities with different cities because they all have
budgets for outdoor concerts. They have budget, they're
looking for talent. That's a great place to start. So yeah, that's kind of some
of the things that we're doing anything else you wanna add to that? - I mean, I just think,
creating opportunities like we talked about, not just, it would be very easy to go, oh, nothing's happening, I'm so depressed, there's nothing going on,
there's nothing to do, what's happening with my life. Yes, we all have those moments and we have quite a few of them, but you just have to get up
and you have to figure it out. No one is handing us opportunities. Like I said, it's really
changed in the past decade. We, last year decided we wanted to book the opening slot for
the Bryan Setzer tour. So we did, I mean, literally. We had the idea and I emailed them... - [Shane] And you took off with it. - And then they offered us the tour. So, they didn't come and approach us. We went after that. So it's really about,
okay, what do I want, how do I get it. - [Reagan] Stay hungry. - Right, and I'll interject too. Like even before that,
the year prior to that when we were doing Christmas stuff, you were reaching out to
all the different cities across the state, and think of how many
gigs you created for us that weren't gigs that anybody
would have known about. It was Christmas Tree Lightings. It was different,
Christmas and, type events that, hey, we're looking for live music. Oh, this is a great pairing. - That's very smart. When I think of Christmas, I think I'm Mariah
Carey and I love Philly. I'm like, what are they
doing this Christmas? - Well, the thing is, the Christmas thing was a happy accident. We wrote this song first
thing on my Christmas list with our friend, Jeff Silvar. It was a really fun experience. And then we realized right away that there's a lot of opportunities
to do Christmas music. Christmas comes every year and those songs stay fresh every year. And so it's been really
a great opportunity for us financially to
use the holiday season as an opportunity to book
a lot of parties and gigs. Unfortunately, this year it's
gonna be different for us. We can't book all the private events that we typically do or the tour. - I thought we were able
to connect with Chickasha, do this video. And, we're having a different
opportunity this season, which is very exciting - Yeah, you can't stop. You can't stop! I mean, even through
COVID and all that stuff, you take the precautions
that are necessary but you can't just stop. Even with, on the film side too. I mean, we, luckily we have so many, like feature films coming in, but corporate and all that stuff, there's a lot of businesses
that have struck, like suffered. And so finding the businesses, you got to think about on that side too, right now, maybe a perfect opportunity for them to put a commercial together to help market themselves,
to get themselves back up. And so, you always have
to put yourself out there always reach out, always
make connections, don't stop. Don't, and when you fail too,
don't let that define you. We've all gone through so much failure. Even in my company, the first year and a half two years was just like, I can't
even, I can't pay my bills. And suddenly, because of reaching out and because of just this state, it is, it worked out. And businesses coming and
flowing in even through COVID and there's a lot of bands that would like to take
advantage of this downtime where they're not on tour
or whatever it may be to put some visual content
together safely obviously. So don't stop. If you're a musician and
you're looking for something, like you're looking to do music videos or to promote yourself, do it. - [Maggie] Yeah. - Find a way to do it. - [Yousef] Absolutely. - And I would also like to add, people are even more
accessible than ever now. Everyone is open to collaborating
to a certain extent. Reach out to someone that
you wanna collaborate with because they might respond
and they might say, yes. - Well, and I feel like
that's what I've seen too with a lot of artists now being at home. I mean, you've got Blake
Shelton making his music video on his ranch. I mean, because people
are in their home states, they're getting creative, tapping into resources here
and just doing what they can. So I think it's brilliant. So I have two more questions,
I think for you all I'm gonna ask you this one 'cause it might be one
to kind of think about, the name of this is Pivotal Work. So I wanna know what makes
this work pivotal to you. But before we get to that question, can you guys answer like what audiences and what you guys are working on next? - Sure. So for the Imaginaries, as I mentioned, thankfully we have a couple of videos in the queue ready to go. And in 2021, we are looking forward to releasing our next single and then the debut, Imaginaries Album. So, we're very excited about that and we don't know what
touring is gonna look like but we're going to make it
work whatever the situation is. And we're excited to
get this music out there and continue to release new content and keep the momentum going with that. That's our main focus right now. - [Yousef] Exciting and congratulations. - Thank you.
- [Shane] Thank you. - What about you? - More of these music videos that we've already put together, one we were finishing up right now. I'm excited for people to see that. Personally, I've been
working on a passion project for two and a half years. Literally it's been put to the side and it was interesting, it's a short film, but it is 100% music led. So it's a music video edited, I had a timeframe, time signature that actually
edited the project too. And it was scored to that. So it's more of a music video, short film. I'm very very excited to release that. Hopefully, submit to
(indistinct) and all that stuff. But it's not done, that's
a passion project of mine. We'll see what other things, helped me put it to the side, but hopefully that will be released soon but that's what's coming. - Awesome. We're looking
forward to seeing that. So, why is this work pivotal for you? - Oh my gosh. Why don't you guys go for it? - Well, tough question. - Well, I mean, this
work is everything to us. It's our life. I mean, we're so grateful
that we could be here in our home state and be able to do what
we do, and it's not easy. Being in the music industry is probably one of the hardest things you could choose to do, but we didn't choose
to do it, it chose us. And we are responsible
to fulfill our calling and that's what we plan
to do no matter what. And I think if the state could
think about different ways that they could
collaborate with musicians, like we've done with the cities, what an awesome thing it would be if the cities were approaching artists, instead of the artists having
to come up with the idea and approach it and make it happen. Because there is budget for
different things like that. And there are opportunities. We just have to make them happen and help them come to fruition. And I think for us, having
more places to perform that, appreciate and value live original music is something that is
really important to us. And there's a few venues that we really do like
to play at that, do that. But I think, also, we need
to somehow get the culture of Oklahoma to think about, when an artist is performing
their original music, let's listen. - [Reagan] Don't be on your phone. - [Shane] Don't be texting,
don't be talking, I mean... - Being background music is so crushing. - It's so crushing, it is. I mean, and that's the thing
that we need to work on with Oklahoma in general, is that there's so many gigs
that musicians are doing that pay decent, they pay pretty good. They might make 500 bucks a night, to play a duo gig at a restaurant but they're ultimately background music and that's not nurturing
creativity and artistry. But those are two different things. And I mean, for right now, my
heart goes out to musicians friends of mine who are guitar players who aren't in a band, who aren't artists, they make their living playing gigs. What are they doing right now? They're struggling.
They're having a hard time. But we have to just keep trying
to think outside of the box and find ways to keep moving forward. - [Maggie] Yeah. - I think to go back to
what Shane said earlier, it is about, it's about the
collaboration, all that. But you have to remember that, we do live in a visual state. - [Shane] Very much. - We're all on our social
media, YouTube, whatever. - Man, just think about how many movies Netflix is just through the roof right now with the pandemic. People are living their
life through visual media. - So what music videos does for a band is allows them to tap into that. - [Shane] Sure. - By bringing their
music to life visually. And so they can tap into what's going on, we live in this visual media culture. They, if you bring their music to life, people can see them first of all, see who they are, their
personality, their brand, everything about them. It's a marketing tool, but
it's also an artistic thing. And the other thing I'd
like to say is like, as you develop your resume,
the money gets larger. But if it's all about the money for you then I don't know if music
videos is really right. Because a lot of these bands are, they're self-managed, they're independent, and there's not a whole lot
of extra money sometimes as opposed to some who
are, have huge labels or whatever it may be. So, really it's a service
to help these bands get the exposure that they need. And the bands need to know too, and I think that's where Maggie comes in, how, what to do with it afterwards. That's not where I come in. That's not my expertise. My expertise is not
marketing and all that stuff, but she has the connections, the people to put, give the video to, and say, do your thing. But it's pivotal in that area. You have to, it's really
about collaboration. It's helping each other out. I mean, not all, it's good for me too. I'm developing a resume and obviously larger
productions have come to me because of it. But you really have to
think about the artist. It's like, they need to tap into this visual culture that we're in. And so I think that's the
benefit of music videos. - I wanna add one thing too,
we booked the Brian Setzer tour based off of our music videos. I mean, Scott told me
when he saw our videos, that's Brian's manager, that I got to know I got to actually meet him
in person at Nam this year. And he told me, he
said, I was so impressed by your music videos. So I just wanna say that
we landed a national tour based on the work that we've created. - Yes. And whenever we're sending
out emails to people that we would like to collaborate with, I mean, that's in the email,
our most recent music videos it's opened so many doors for us. A lot of people are like, how can you justify, like
spending money on that? And I'm like, because
it opens so many doors that we didn't even know
are gonna be open yet. And it's been huge for us to have those. And then B, the quality and level of that. - The quality is what I was gonna say. You have to have the quality too, because I even tell my
corporate clients too. Like, the quality of your productions reflects you as a company. So if they go to your website and there's this dinky video of you, like waving your hand around,
say, say, whatever it may be, they're not gonna take you seriously. So as for a band, when
they click on your video, and it's a dinky video shot on a Handycam, they're immediately gonna think this, I'm not gonna hire these people. And so, my job as a director is to make them look as
professional as possible, to make the film as
professional as possible with whatever budget it may be. So do your best. And I think that's, I mean, people, we should do that anyway. Do our best in everything we do. And I've noticed that's a
common trait in Oklahomans. We do our best. We work hard. You don't work, you don't eat. That type of stuff. We have that ingrained in us. So do your best to make
it quality content. So, any perspective, any
people that are looking into the music video world, keep that in mind, your goal
is to make the band look good. Obviously, it reflects you as well. So that goes on your resume. It's really cool to see
some of the publications that you guys have been able to achieve, like "American Songwriter,",
"Cowboys & Indians Magazine" all that stuff, all those great places where are, my music videos our music videos were being featured. - Yeah. It is really cool. I mean, there's nothing like
it when our publicist says, hey, you're gonna be on Disney TV tonight. I'm like, that's so cool. Let's turn it on. I'm like, oh, there we are. - It's great. - It's really cool. And it's awesome to be so proud of it too. Not just the fact that we're on there, but yeah, we worked really hard on that. And I'm really really proud
of how that turned out. - And be prepared for comments,
constructive criticism. If you are a filmmaker and you don't take constructive
criticism very well, maybe you should look
for a different platform. 'Cause it really is, once again, it's a collaboration process. So if you give the first edit and they have a thousand notes, be prepared for it, that's
just part of the process. - [Maggie] Like I tend to do. - And that's totally fun
because we're all artists. - Yeah. And we all wanted
to be the best it can be. And that's what it comes down
to at the end of the day. And we're grateful that
Reagan understands that and it turns out to be excellent. And we always strive
for whatever we put out to be better than the last thing we did and to be an excellent product. - Awesome. Well, you guys seem to be
doing it throughout this time, pivoting, finding new ways to collaborate and produce content. So, congratulations. - [Maggie] Thank you. - Thank you all for being here and being a part of our "Making Music Videos in Oklahoma Series." - [Maggie] Thank you.
- Thanks for having us. - I can't wait to see what comes next. - Yeah, its gonna be great. - And thank you all for watching our "Pivotal Work, Early Access" series. (light music)
