#Tony Yacenda

[impact24pr]

[rickchung]

Players (prod. Dan Perrault & Tony Yacenda).

The American Vandals creators take competitive esports very seriously in dramatizing a fictional League of Legends team told through a classic sports mockumentary style on the material not unlike The Last Dance. It’s impressive how Players recreates every detail of actual sports competition with some clever contemporary twists. Everything feels both real and surreal through its editing and careful touches bringing the inherent drama of real-life sports into the much more isolated world of multiplayer gaming.

[bryanpayton]

DAVE stars Dave Burd and is loosely based on his real life. The show depicts Burd as a white 20-something rapper from the suburbs who aspires to be the greatest rapper of all time. The difficult part is convincing others to take him seriously. Burd’s rapper name is Lil’ Dicky both in show and real life, which is a self-deprecating joke in itself. I can’t help but think about 2 Chainz changing his name from Tity Boi, which only helped his career. 

Strange rapper names aside, Burd’s rap skills are legit. While I’m not a fan of his 2015 album Professional Rapper, his freestyles are some of the most entertaining I’ve heard. DAVE is more indicative of his freestyles and real-life personality - it’s witty, spontaneous, funny, raunchy (sometimes, unnecessarily so), and surprisingly thoughtful and heartfelt at times. Burd’s team consists of co-stars Taylor Misiak who plays his girlfriend, Taco Bennett as his producer, hype man Gata, Andrew Santino, and Christine Ko. The Directors, Greg Mottola (Superbad), Ben Sinclair, Andrew DeYoung, and Tony Yacenda pieced together an opening season worthy of critical acclaim, but it is not void of missteps. 

The show is strongly centered around Burd, sometimes annoyingly so. I found him to be an equally endearing and cringe-worthy character. He’s the guy you invite to the party because he’s funny, but you’re cautious because he has no filter and struggles to read the room. One minute you’re laughing about something funny you saw on Instagram, and the next you’re cringing as he tells a dick joke to a group of your friends. Burd’s stubbornness is laugh-out-loud funny, but also a bit unbelievable at times. This tends to make some of the writing seem forced.

Burd’s team on DAVE are interesting and diverse individually and I’d be willing to watch a show about the five of them together, but his relationship with each of them doesn’t quite hit as hard as I’d like. I’m more interested in how they all plan to navigate the demands of the music business and the drama that comes with that. Burd's personality clashing with the tolerance of his record label along with the potential storylines of his team is enough for me in one opening season.

What stuck with me about DAVE were were the serious moments. It was the way they tackled mental health midseason. Also, the emotion of the moments dealing with love, loss, and insecurity sneak up on you.

At its core, DAVE is about chasing a dream. The story of that dream and how it’s packaged always varies. In this case, it’s a delightfully flawed, silly, and entertaining one that both frustrated me and kept me wanting more.

[my-window-reflection]

American Vandal (2018)

Season 2

[lispenardsstreet]

This is .. so nice and I am crying again Netflix you sick bastards

link

[pzrplesuns]

I just have to say thank you so much Tony, Dan, Tyler, Griffin, and all the cast. I'm glad to say that I'm part of this, and I would never leave this fandom.

Btw, I say again: netflix sucks.

[lucyintheskyalone]

“It kinda sounded like you were paraphrasing?”

“It does, doesn’t it?“

[mellowyknox]

Lil Dicky “Pillow Talking”

Production, Visual Effects: Giant Propeller Director: Tony Yacenda Cinematographer: Alan Gwizdowski Editor: Brian Vannucci Production Designer: Cody Fusina Colorist: Sebastian Perez-Burchard

Year: 2017

[mikeshanlon]

i want to live in the alternate timeline of american vandal season three freshman year of college where ashley hanson needs help bc he got blamed of a crime and peter’s crush on him resurfacing while sam and peter are dealing with having been at different colleges and the angst of jealousy and Feelings and finally adressing peter being rude to sam during s2 and i get to watch noah centineo do shitty thirst trap tik toks because he obviously would and we find out ash and christa are dating like the lesbian activists they are like why don’t i live there. why. 

[skrilladeville]

Lil Dicky - Pillow Talking feat. Brain (Official Music Video) from Giant Propeller on Vimeo.

Lil Dicky Pillow Talking Music Video Created by Giant Propeller - giantpropeller.com

Written and Performed by Lil Dicky/Dave Burd "Pillow Talking" produced by Charlie Handsome and the Digital Rick Flair aka Digi

Directed by Tony Yacenda tonyyacenda.com

Starring Dave Burd, Taylor Misiak and Brain

Director of Photography - Alan Gwizdowski

Edited by Brian Vannucci

Production Design - Cody Fusina

Production and Visual Effects by Giant Propeller giantpropeller.com

Executive Produced by Jordan Freda and Mike Bodkin

Produced by Tom Quinn

VFX and Post Producer - Oscar Velasquez

VFX Supervisor - Marek Jezo

First AD - Lyon Reese Script Supervisor - Sara Geralds

Cast Lil Dicky - Dave Burd Girl - Taylor Misiak Brain - Brain God - John C Reilly Soldiers - Owen Rousu, Derek Pratt, Carlos Lopez, Isaac Lopez, Kiyano La'vin, Nick Coolidge, Sean Carrigan, PJ McCabe

Crew Camera First Assistant - Erin Douglass Camera Second Assistant - Sarah Grenwald MOCO - Simon Wakely MOCO Assistant - Chris Toth DIT (Digital Imaging Technician) - Daniel Woiwode DIT Assistant - Alessia Assissi Art Director - Taylor Frost Set Dresser - Tao Grasham Property Master - Taylor Wolf Gaffer - David Cronin Key Grip - Kevin Keirstead Best Boy Grip - Vassily Grip PA - Jason Kierstead Wardrobe Stylist - Kassey Rich Hair and Make Up Artist - Liza Lash BTS Photographer - Yulia Shcherbinina Office Production Assistant - Eric Cepeda Set Production Assistants - Lars Slind, Alexxa Slind, Vickram Bhoyrul Board Operator - Phil Gailer Playback - Bob Tiwana Choreographer - Ian Eastwood youtube.com/user/DJIcon Casting by Kerry Baker Catering by Diane Timmons Animal Trainers - Barbara Edrington, Chris Edrington, Heather Long

Second Unit First Assistant Director - Boma Pennebaker Second Assistant Director - Colin Weinburg Director of Photography - Steeven Petitteville Camera First Assistant - Melissa Spom DIT (Digital Imaging Technician) - Joe Hedge Art Director - Joel Sappington Gaffer - Ace Underhill Key Grip - David Nunez Best Boy Electric - Ian Crawley Dolly Grip - Mikey Gilmore Armorer - Logan Freda Wardrobe Stylist - Heather Flores Hair and Make Up Artist - Kseniya Durst Still Photographer - Morgan Schmidt VFX Supervisor - Marek Jezo Production Coordinator - Rachael Campbell CG Lead - Lubomir Timko Lead Compositor - Adam Dusa Compositor - Oliver Popellar Matchmove and Roto Artist - Lhbomir Jezo 2D Artist - Rober Hruska 3D Artist - Raphaela Klein Concept Artist - Byzwa Dher FX Artist - Ondrej Polacek, Mikas Saduskas 3D Artist - Rober Spicuk, Tomas Krizan, Dominik Liscak, Oliver Otruba, Martin Kaperak, Lukas Jankovcin, Rudo Herstek, Erik Mascak Animator - Tomas Danay, Andrea Jacevicova, Adam Sadion, Vladimir Krajniak, Lukas Figel, Marian Villaris, Standa Sekela Animation - Samuel Puchovsky, Martin Durmik Storyboard Artists - Mishi McCaig, David Green Pre-Vis Artists - Vlad Streitsov, Omrah Menkes Post Production Company - Giant Propeller Colorist - Sebastian Perez-Burchard Post Producer - Oscar Velasquez Audio Post Services - Voodoo Highway Sound Designer - David Brian Kelly Re-Recording Mixer - Richard Segal

Thank you to MeUndies meundies.com

[presidentclaireunderwood]

Alex’s 2020 Emmy Nominations - Comedy Directing

The Good Place (Episode: “Whenever You're Ready”), Directed by Michael Schur

Dave (Episode: “Jail”), Directed by Tony Yacenda

Insecure (Episode: “Lowkey Happy”), Directed by Ava Berkofsky

The Great (Episode: “The Beaver’s Nose”), Directed by Geeta Patel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Episode: “It’s Comedy or Cabbage”), Directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino

Schitt’s Creek (Episode: “Happy Ending”), Directed by Andrew Cividino & Daniel Levy

Better Things (Episode: “Listen to the Roosters”), Directed by Pamela Adlon

[fushiiguroes]

we have these major elements that are funny, but once that’s set, the approach is completely earnest. let’s tell this real story, let’s tell this really tense documentary.  --  tony yacenda 

[taylorswifthongkong]

Sources estimate Swift's big comeback visual cost seven figures to make.

The hissing snake exploding into butterflies, the dozens of dancers in pastel-colored suits, Brendon Urie floating through the sky with an umbrella -- none of these effects in Taylor Swift's "ME!" video were cheap. Music-industry sources estimated its budget in the seven figures. "I don't think they were penny-pinching on that one," says Bob McLynn, manager of Urie's band Panic! At the Disco, adding that he has no knowledge of Swift's video costs.

Once common in the MTV era, big-budget music videos come out just 10 to 30 times per year, estimates JP Evangelista, svp of content, programming and marketing for Vevo, on which "ME!" streamed more than 100 million times in its first week. In the '80s and '90s, record labels routinely budgeted hundreds of thousands for video production, because an MTV hit meant automatic, lucrative CD sales. Dave Meyers, who co-directed "ME!," once said his typical video budget in the late '90s was $1 million. (Neither he nor Swift's reps was available for comment.)

The math is different in the YouTube era, when online videos generate revenue via advertising. Swift made roughly $90,000 from her 127 million views to date, and Ariana Grande has made $250,000 off 365 million views of "thank u, next," according to estimates based on industry sources. For most artists, music videos are costly promotional tools. "The money you earn on visual content doesn't match up with the money you put into it, by and large," says John Fleckenstein, RCA Records' co-president. "There's a monetization aspect to it, but it isn't like, 'We should make five videos because we're going to make a boatload of money.'"

Music-video costs range from $2,500 (for an indie-label project) to $700,000 or more (for a pop superstar like Swift, Grande or Drake). Vince Staples' 2018 video for "FUN!" cost roughly $200,000, says his manager, Corey Smyth, although it has just 3.7 million YouTube views. "It's worth it," he says. "They're all calling cards. You don't know what's going to hit and what's going to go viral." Country stars spend $30,000 to $250,000 per video, according to Erica Rosa, royalties director for Nashville business-management firm Floyd, Bumstead, McCready and McCarthy. "I saw one in the pop world that was around $850,000," she says. "I almost fell out of my chair."

Labels generally front the money for videos, although artists are frequently charged for the expense until they make enough in royalties to recoup the costs. If artists believe in high-cost projects, they occasionally add their own funds beyond their labels' expense ceiling. "Videos are as important as they've ever been," says McLynn, who manages Sia and Fall Out Boy and has made videos from $10,000 to $200,000. "When you're rolling out a bigger artist, you want to double down -- you want to make sure you have everything you need, so you up the budget."

Music and video execs say the idea is the most important factor in determining whether to green-light a big-budget video. Beggars Group put up funding for FKA twigs' new "Cellophane," depicting the singer floating through the air with a winged dragon and has 3.3 million YouTube views. "That video has to exist in order to fully kick off the project," says Gabe Spierer, the indie label's vp of content and strategy. "It's an example that justifies big spending on a video."

"The artist's vision is usually paramount," Fleckenstein says. "Some artists have extremely specific views they want to get across that can be elaborate and difficult to produce and therefore can become expensive." Adds Lyor Cohen, a top label exec in the MTV era who is now YouTube's global head of music: "When you're void of great ideas, you try to blow up Rolls-Royces for production value. But when an artist and the label work hard to come up with a great concept and execute it, that's the real ingredient of video success."

Labels often calculate potential YouTube revenue when creating video budgets, then work backwards to figure out how much they can spend. "It does allow them to feel more comfortable commissioning higher-cost videos, knowing there'll be some return on their investment," says Vevo's Evangelista. But few videos are hits: "The cost-benefit analysis is about controlling for the likely reality that [the video] is a relative footnote -- unfortunately," Spierer says.

In the old days of MTV and CDs, just about every major artist had to make an expensive video to launch a new single. After Napster and file-sharing forced labels to slash their promotional budgets, according to Smyth, spending dropped to $15,000-20,000 per video; now that streaming has returned growth to the business, he says, "We're in a middle ground."

While MTV-era directors such as Hype Williams and Spike Jonze could focus exclusively on music videos, at least until they broke into feature films, today's directors have to supplement their income with non-music projects. New York duo BRTHR has directed videos for Travis Scott, the Weeknd, Charli XCX and Lil Pump, but, says the team's Kyle Wightman, "To even survive, we have to be doing commercials." Adds Alex Lee, his partner: "The money we make from music videos is honestly nothing. It's about 15 percent of what we make [from commercials]."

Although Specter Berlin recently directed Rammstein's over-the-top "Deutschland" video, which is packed with lasers, period costumes and elaborate, controversial scenes depicting the holocaust, he's frustrated labels won't spend more money in a time of big-budget Netflix and HBO projects. "It's a great time for music videos and there's no reason why the budgets are not going up," he says. "It's convenient for the music industry to say, 'Hey, this is a young artist shooting a music video and we only have $20,000.' If everybody does proper work, nobody's going to make anything." Adds Tony Yacenda, who directs videos for comedian-rapper Lil Dicky, including recent charity single "Earth" and 2017's "Pillow Talking," which reportedly cost $700,000: "Nobody views it as the endgame. [Videos] allow you to create something fun to watch that shows you have style and a voice -- but it's not going to be your payday."

Swift's "ME!" is one of the big-budget exceptions. "I don't think you should spend $500 grand on something you think is going to come and go -- that's for a certain type of artist," says Smyth, Staples' manager. "Taylor Swift was almost in 'Tron.' Her glam is probably my budget."

[dungeonsanddragonsfifthedition]

1 & 2 for the ask game?

If someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?

read:

-ESPECIALLY HEINOUS: 272 VIEWS OF LAW & ORDER SVU / carmen maria machado

-SUPERMUTANT MAGIC ACADEMY / jillian tamaki

-HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY / douglas adams

watch:

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (2014) / dirs. jermaine clement and taika waititi

AMERICAN VANDAL (2017-18) / showrunners dan perrault and tony yacenda

EIGHTH GRADE (2018) / dir. bo burnham

listen:

NO DOGS ALLOWED (2017) / sidney gish

TWIN FANTASY (FACE TO FACE) (2011/2018) / car seat headrest

BAD BRAINS (1982) / BAD BRAINS

Have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? If so, who?

i feel like it's disingenuous and maybe a little self-righteous to assume anyone thinks Just Like Me but the first story i remember speaking to me, in that way that some stories do where they just pull at you and embrace you is WHEN YOU REACH ME by rebecca stead. something about the way stead wrote that book really spoke to me as a kid and really still speaks to me now.