July is Over

So it is official July is over and done with. It is now August and every so often I like to look back at a month and reflect on how things went. July was interesting as I feel it is every year, it was the month of my birthday and also I think it was the first true transitional month for me. It was the first time I feel like myself and To Tony Productions really stepped things up and started asking for a bit more from our clients, to run a business and provide quality products we had to start asking for decent pay. While at the beginning of July I had a lot of work opportunities and chances to make videos a lot of it just wasn't for the right price. I was getting kinda lowballed and no matter how much I tried to make it work at the end of the day there was really nothing in it for me as an artist or business man. Those that just weren't ready to pay for the quality were I guess left to their own devices, I am just not going to operate like that. It is hard and gigs get passed by a lot but I will take quality over quantity any day of the week. Yes July was a month for me to grow and I think I finally have a great foundation for the future.

Random Movie Fact: The 1994 film Clerks was filmed at the same store in which director Kevin Smith was working at the time. As he was only allowed to film outside of business hours, and because bright enough lights couldn't be afforded, the plot included an explanation for the shutters being always down.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Ending...

So today was the end of my car photography stint that lasted about three days. The company I worked for was just simply asking too much out of me for not enough pay. While it would have been a nice way to earn extra cash, in the end it just really wasn't worth it. Not only considering that but also the drive to the place was quite the haul so all in all just not up to the level I needed it to be. In other news I am also stepping back from a local record label I have been working with for a few years now. I am not naming names or pointing fingers, I just think creatively we are seeking two separate things. It was fun, I learned a lot, I still love all the guys to death I just wanna go my own way for right now. Maybe sometime in the near future, some level of collabaration will be feasible but for now not really.

I think right now is just a time for me to carve my own path with To Tony Productions, I am getting into a little bit of everything just to try it and gain experience. As time goes on I know we will be able to gain a niche but for now it is a lot of experimentation with what works and what doesn't work. Well I will keep trucking forward and hopefully you guys will stay informed on what is soon to come.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, at the end of the sequence in which Dorothy and the Scarecrow first meet the Tin Man, as the three march off singing "We're Off to See the Wizard", there is a disturbance in the trees off to the right. This was long rumored to be one of the crew (or, by some accounts, one of the dwarf actors) committing suicide by hanging himself, but it is in fact a large bird stretching its wings.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Changing Things Up

So today I am going to be changing my entire room layout, which is something I have been wanting to do for a very long time. I am just tired of my old set up and wanna make my room not only a bedroom, but a home office and also a space for people to come and enjoy themselves. What I am hoping to do is to move my bed to the other side of my room and my computer suite to the opposite side of where it is at too. I also want to get rid of two pieces of furniture completely, one being an old broken record recorder which used to be my grandmothers and the other being a big old dresser of mine which basically turned into a random storage spot for just plain old junk. Getting rid of that will free up a lot of space which in the long run I am hoping to add a flat screen LED tv and also a couch to the side with my computer so I can actually watch movies on something other than my bed. It will be nice to have some changes around my room and hopefully before the end of the year I will be moving out and also in a union!

In addition to that I feel as though I have a solid beginning for the Hello music video and that is always my biggest hurdle. I am going to let my girlfriend watch it and if I get her approval I will go on, she is a much harder critic than I am...plus I get clouded by my own edits so I can't really approve my own cuts, I like to get second or even third opinions before moving forward.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess