#michael swank

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underscoregeoff: 🦄Squaderparks👻 Love these dudes! [march 1, 2016]

[razorroseart]

Go on and run away

Stand up and run away

You were the death of me

Follow the enemy

You were the only thing that would never change

No time for recovery

I know that you're on to me

You never told me that it would be this way

Stand up and run away (Run away, run away)

Stand up and run away (Run away, run away)

Just know that you were the death of me

Follow the enemy

You were the only thing that would never change

Go on and run away

[mercenaryg]

Do you feel it? The Gravity is pulling us in, a singularity that none of us will escape alone.

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tagged: Waterparks, Warped Tour, Vans Warped Tour, Houston, TX, Texas, live, band, concert, music, Michael Swank, Awsten Knight, Geoff Wigington, Reliant Park,

[august 4, 2013]

Waterparks on Flickr.

8-4-2013 Vans Warped Tour Houston, TX Like my photo page!

[fantastickkay]

From People, March 2000

[celebritycloset]

Hilary Swank Wore Michael Kors Collection To The Variety Spirituality and Faith in Entertainment Breakfast

[academyawardwinnersii]

Best Acting Academy Awards for 1999. Michael Caine, Angelina Jolie, Hilary Swank and Kevin Spacey.

[mrthemovieman]

The Next Karate Kid (1994) - Miyagi Finishes Dugan Scene (10/10) | Movie...

[parxarchive]

underscoregeoff: The Black Cat tour is over😿. I just want to thank everyone that came out to party with all of us. I've met soooo many amazing people along the way. I'll never forget our first tour thanks so much @lovewayrecords for having us. Much love!❤️❤️❤️ [february 29, 2016]

[thebutcher-5]

The Gift (2000)

Benvenuti o bentornati sul nostro blog. Nello scorso articolo siamo tornati a parlare di animazione e questa volta abbiamo fatto un enorme passo indietro nel tempo, discutendo dei Flesicher Studios, rivali della Disney negli anni ’30, e recensendo il loro primo lungometraggio animato, I viaggi di Gulliver. Gulliver naufraga sull’isola di Lilliput e viene trovato da Gabby, il guardiano notturno.…

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Next Karate Kid (1994)

The first film in the Karate Kid series not to feature Ralph Macchio has convincing performances and enough heart to make it the kind of sequel that’s not quite good but still possibly worth recommending to little girls. They might respond to it better than the original film. Maybe. Ultimately, all of the good in The Next Karate Kid is counterbalanced by its cartoonish villains. Combined with the all-too-familiar elements and you've got a film with limited appeal.

While reconnecting with the widow of an old friend, Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita) is introduced to her granddaughter, Julie (Hillary Swank). To help the high schooler deal with the anger of losing her parents and the bullies at school, Miyagi takes her under his wing.

Let’s start with the pros. This is Hillary Swank’s first theatrical appearance in a starring role and she’s great. She and Miyagi have terrific chemistry - more than enough to make you forget about Danny once the plot gets going. She handles the fight and stunt sequences well. Morita also surprises us in the unusually numerous amount of scenes that call for Mr. Miyagi to fight. Though there are ultimately more missed opportunities than payoffs in this gender-swapped scenario, any scenes with Miyagi and Julie warm your heart. The two take an excursion about halfway through the film to a Buddhist monastery to deal with Julie’s anger and learn about the true ways of karate. I'd call it the best scene but for a different viewer, it might be the one in which Miyagi teaches Julie to dance to get ready for prom.

On the negative side, when the writing gets bad, it's so awful you'll start thinking things you were never supposed to think of. You’d expect a female villain to go up against our female protagonist, but no. The film’s most prominent baddie is Ned Randall (Michael Cavalieri). I wasn’t able to find out when he was born so I’m not sure how old he was during filming but he looks 30. With his gang of dudebros always harassing Julie, waiting for her in the dark and chasing after her during the school after-hours, he looks like a serial killer rapist. Grown men leering at Julie is a bit of a recurring motif throughout the film, which makes it even more uncomfortable. It’s like there are racists and abusive men around every corner: at the gas station, the bowling alley, the school…

Assuming that Ned is supposed to be roughly Julie’s age - and not some creep who’s been held back for the larger part of a decade - he would be placed second in the list of “most heinous characters” in this film. The gold medal goes to Colonel Paul Dugan (Michael Ironside). The man’s a straight-up psychopath; bullying Julie nearly as much as his head crony does and taking any opportunity to strike his students or break them mentally. At one point, Julie has started a bit of a relationship with a boy named Eric (Chris Conrad). While at practice with the Colonel, Eric is called away to speak to his mother (actually, Julie pretending to be his mother) on the office phone. The Colonel tells him if he leaves, he’s off the team. For taking a call from his mom? What? And he proclaims this in front of the school secretary. What sort of Ironside grip does he hold over this establishment that he can go around doing whatever he wants, including setting up late-night Mortal Kombat-style death matches with his students?

As a whole, The Next Karate Kid is unmemorable and unnecessary. There’s so much that could’ve been done with the fact that teenage girls are usually bullied in a very different way than boys, or Miyagi getting to care for a girl after losing his daughter years ago. Instead, there’s a subplot early on about Julie taking care of an injured bird that feels like it was added just to fill time and make this different from the original. Well, this is different alright; The Karate Kid is great. This is mediocre at best. (January 21, 2022)

[gameofthunder66]

Sometimes They Come Back... Again (1996) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

-watched 2/2/2024- 2 [1/4] stars- on Tubi (free)

[parxarchive]

tagged: Waterparks, Awsten Knight, Vans Warped Tour, Warped Tour, 2013, live, band, concert, music, Reliant Park, Houston, TX, Texas,

[august 4, 2013]

Waterparks on Flickr.

8-4-2013 Vans Warped Tour Houston, TX

Like my photo page!  

[astrangetorpedo]

Mick Management Doesn’t Just Represent Artists — It’s in the ‘World-Building’ Business

"We don't like to refer to ourselves as a management company anymore. We're a music company," says partner Jonathan Eshak.

BY FRANK DIGIACOMO 7/22/2024

Jonathan Eshak (left) and Michael McDonald photographed on June 3, 2024 in Los Angeles. Michael Buckner

Given the multitude of distribution, streaming, promotion and marketing options and expectations, the business of becoming an established artist has turned into a seriously heavy lift for music acts and their managers. It’s one reason that Mick Management partner Jonathan Eshak says, “We don’t like to refer to ourselves as a management company anymore. We’re a music company. What we do more than anything else is brand development, artist development — world-building … We’re not just trying to keep the train on the tracks.”

Eshak and his partner, Michael McDonald, the company’s founder, got into management after immersing themselves in other sectors of the business. McDonald served as Dave Matthews Band’s tour manager before co-founding ATO Records in 2000 with Matthews; his manager, Red Light founder Coran Capshaw; and Chris Tetzeli, who went on to start 7S Management. He opened Mick the following year with John Mayer as one of his first clients and, in 2004, brought on data savant Eshak, who worked at Universal Music Publishing Group (and is the twin brother of Island Records co-CEO Justin Eshak). Jonathan became a partner in 2015.

With a staff of approximately 20 in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, the duo has built a boutique firm — with its own record label, Mick Music, distributed by Believe — that represents Maggie Rogers, who released the critically praised Don’t Forget Me in April; Leon Bridges and Ray LaMontagne, who will both release albums later this year; The Walkmen and the solo career of their frontman, Hamilton Leithauser; Sharon Van Etten; Brett Dennen; Mandy Moore; My Morning Jacket; and The Marias.

In a fragmented culture where “it’s very hard to find water-cooler moments,” according to Eshak, Mick’s team excels in building committed fan bases for a roster of individualistic artists who punch above their weight. “Artists all define success differently, and we understand that,” he adds. “We understand that there’s no one way of doing it anymore.” Their bespoke approach has resulted in some notable recent successes. In August, Rogers will embark on an international arena tour — including two shows at Madison Square Garden — though she has yet to achieve platinum sales with an album. In 2018, Leithauser began a five-night residency at the swank, 100-capacity Café Carlyle in New York, playing to “a few die-hard Walkmen fans and some fairly confused business travelers,” as Eshak puts it. This year, Leithauser sold out 12 nights, and the concept will be expanded with potential notable guests in 2025. And in June, The Marias celebrated the release of their new album, Submarine, with a secret pop-up show in downtown Los Angeles for approximately 5,000 fans. Eshak says 38,000 RSVP’d.

“What each of those things speak to is us finding interesting ways that the artists appreciate and superserve fan bases,” McDonald says.

What are the challenges of running an artist management company today versus 25 years ago?

Jonathan Eshak: When I first started with Michael, the sky had started to fall on the recorded-music business. This was the dawn of file-sharing companies like Napster and Kazaa. It was attractive to join Michael for that very reason. He was coming from building a world that was unique, not just to the ebbs and flows of the success of recorded music but also, how do you do things well in touring, merchandising, etc. He understood the creation of cultures, having worked with Dave Matthews and Coran.

Like the Grateful Dead, Matthews built a culture around his music.

Eshak: The Dead were the godfathers of that, and Mick’s ethos effectively starts there. While the challenges of the industry have evolved, the code of building an artist’s career remains the same. Which is, how do you focus on building a meaningful, long-lasting relationship with your fan base? We always say, “How do we make the artist the hit and not just the songs?” Music is just part of the cocktail. It’s also, how are we creating a dynamic of connectivity between the artist and the fan? How are we merchandising with them? How are we creating live shows that are meaningful, that evolve? There’s been a lot of lip service about artist development throughout the history of recorded music.

Michael McDonald: There were fewer breakthrough moments then, whereas today, because of the way technology and culture has evolved, it’s been democratized. The upside is that more people can succeed. The downside is there are fewer channels that create that star-turn moment.

Maggie Rogers seems to be a prime example of someone who has grown through connectivity with her fans.

Eshak: Maggie has understood the importance of connectivity from the start. She had this moment of Pharrell-ity, for lack of a better word, and instead of sitting back and working that, she understood the importance of going around the world and connecting with her fans face-to-face. To your point, she’s doing two nights in Madison Square Garden without a platinum record. Now, she obviously wants that and we want that for her, but people who are in are in. Even as she’s grown, the No. 1 thing on the checklist is, what are we doing for that audience?

What’s an example of that?

Eshak: When we were announcing the fall arena tour, we created pop-up shops in all the markets where people could line up to buy exclusive merchandise and, most importantly, reduced-price tickets. She was hearing from unsettled fans about ticket prices, so we tried to create solves. Fans could walk [into the pop-ups], point at a seat map and get a ticket that was going to cost less than if they paid for it online. Because of that, her fans understand that she sees them.

What questions do you ask before signing an artist?

McDonald: Most importantly, “Do we love the music? Do we feel like we can really grow this career?” And then, “Do they, will they, work hard?” We can’t want it more than they do. Some of this is research you can do before you meet the artist. Much of it we do through conversations, but there’s also data that’s crucial. We’ve had great success following our passion and guts, but to not use the tools at our disposal to help make those decisions would be foolish. Data is a great strength of Jonathan’s and why we’ve evolved in using it to inform decisions but never to unequivocally make decisions. If we did, we never would have signed some of the artists we have.

Why did you partner with Firebird?

McDonald: Firebird brings us resources that a company our size doesn’t have. There’s a data department and an analytics department of 10 to 15 people. There’s a finance department. There are all sorts of things that allow us to double down on the data and free us up to stay focused on our artists.

What’s your pitch to artists you want to sign?

Eshak: It really comes down to having a shared code, so it’s important that we take the time to sit down with artists and say, “What are your life goals in addition to success in recorded music?” This is such a deep relationship that we talk all the time. We talk on weekends. We’re there with them for very big life stages, and it’s really important for us to have at least a common set of goals because it takes a lot out of everybody. Where we do a good job is acting almost as coaches now. It’s our job to be highly informed about how people are having success, distilling that and applying it to the artists that we represent, who are all quite different. In other words, how can we do this with you so that you remain true to yourself? We can’t do that for a thousand artists. It’s not the business model that Michael and I have elected to build.

You have a label.

Eshak: We have a label, and we’re working with some of our artists whose repertoires are returning to them and they need a mechanism to put music out. Some of it is also identifying artists that we like and helping them put music into the world.

Do you encourage your artists to own their masters?

McDonald: One hundred percent, whenever possible. Today, we would be hard pressed to pursue a deal that started with perpetuity music being somewhere else. There’s always a chance that it’s going to happen, and ultimately, it’s an artist’s decision. If they feel like this is their shot and they’re willing to give that up — absolutely. But one of the reasons we created the label was to say, “All right, let’s have an easy mechanism where we can control the deal terms. Let’s put music out and try to build on that. Then, if a great licensing option is not available today, let’s take a year and try to build something.” Ray LaMontagne’s album Trouble reverted to him in May after 20 years. So it’s not always a three-year or five-year reversion. But 20 years ago, we were able to take a long view and say, “Let’s take whatever percentage less today so at least there’s the option to sell those recordings X number of years later.”

Are your agreements with artists traditional percentage deals or partnerships?

McDonald: It varies. We have a lot of traditional deals, but any time we’re in true partnership, where we’re sharing [intellectual property] with an artist, it’s fully above board and clear with everyone’s legal teams. There is an evolving way that artists are going to get into business with different companies. We welcome that as things evolve.

(x)

[fnvminorcharacterpoll]

Round 2 is over! Let's recap:

A Bracket, Day One: Easy Pete crushed Santiago's post-presidential assassination aspirations in a landslide; Red Lucy avenged Maj. Elizabeth Kieran's incredibly close Round 1 loss by similarly crushing the poll's most pathetic man, Beagle, in a victory for feminism; Old Ben climbed further in the ranks with a close win over Manny Vargas*; and Ranger Ghost sailed into Round 3 over Tommy Torini.

A Bracket, Day Two: Heartthrob Harland desecrated Pvt. Kowalski in the round's first of several dramatic upsets; the #TRASHSWEEP continued well apace by laying waste to Pacer; Swank and his big ol' eyes saw a win over old Ranger Andy; and the love for 10 of Spades carried him to victory over his fellow NCR soldier Maj. Knight*.

A Bracket, Day Three: The Hadrian Gang unfortunately could not survive against the high-seed monster, Fantastic; Rotface gave Boxcars a tip: get eliminated from the tournament; the Garret Twins made a smear on the sidewalk out of bubbly Brotherhood initiate Melissa Watkins; and Ignacio Rivas's* good nature wasn't enough to take down Trudy from Goodsprings.

A Bracket, Day Four: Fan-favorite Keely utterly crucified houndmaster Antony, which has knocked every member of Caesar's Legion who isn't a slave from the tournament completely; Mr. RADical successfully just laid there while Jimmy* from Casa Madrid couldn't impress; Regis from the Great Khans just barely eked out the W to make Cliff Briscoe extinct; and Mick & Ralph pulled an overnight upset against Old Lady Gibson to punch their ticket.

B Bracket, Day One: Daisy Whitman blew up Raquel; Ringo wrecked Ramos; preliminary fave Angela Williams pulled off an astonishing upset against number two seed Oliver Swanick; and Allen Marks' victory over Crandon & Jules goes to show that the corpses keep winning.

B Bracket, Day Two: Beatrix Russell ate Chomps Lewis; Emily Ortal left Pvt. Kyle Edwards in the radioactive dust; The Lonesome Drifter drifted easily into Round 3 over Michael Angelo & Kate; and Siri beat Malcolm Holmes but not without a surprising amount of turnout for the cap-collecting good samaritan.

B Bracket, Day Three: No-Bark Noonan opened up the all-Khans bracket by kicking Oscar Velasco out of the tournament; Jessup & McMurphy successfully defeated a frail and sickly child; Melissa Lewis succeeded where her father had failed the day before with a victory over Cannibal Johnson; Doctor Usanagi proves that STEM is more valuable than an English degree by giving Jerry the Punk another beating.

B Bracket, Day Four: Big Beard & Little Beard trounce the Gundersons, probably because Heck was the only one with a beard; Chris Haversam throws Meyers back in the clink; Mister Holdout couldn't hold out against Sarah Weintraub; and finally, in the single most massive (624 votes) and close (tied as late midnight with 500 votes) and polarizing (just check the notes) match-up in the entire tournament so far, Calamity the ghoul pulled an upset over Cpl. Betsy*, who's probably dealing with her loss in therapy. Hopefully Dr. Usanagi doesn't bring up her own win.

*Happy Pride Month, losers! The first round of June and literally every canonically queer character (except for Red Lucy, bisexual [edit: and Sarah Weintraub, also bisexual!]) got voted out, and that's hilarious. Funniest possible thing that could have happened on here, the gay and transgender website, during the gay and transgender month, in a tournament for the gay and transgender video game. (Beatrix Russell and Old Ben might also be exceptions, but it's minor; I only can't remember if you can sleep with them as the same sex or not when they're working at the Atomic Wrangler, but even then they may just be gay4pay. Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

You can see all of the Round 2 polls here, and the tournament bracket has been updated so that you can get a preview of the matches yet to come in Round 3. Voting will pause for a bit while I prepare graphics and bracket posts, so use this downtime to mourn the fallen, celebrate the risen, and submit designated cheerleader endorsements for your favorite remaining characters in their upcoming rounds. It's only going to get more tense from here!