Michael Grodner has created a really great series for music lovers. Indie rock greats air our their Dirty Laundry for fans.
Grodner and Malia James host acts like the Slits (pictured on homepage), Mike Watt, Marnie Stern, Crystal Antlers, Cursive, Vivian Girls, Division Day and many others at the laundromat.
Check out the webisodes, they are really worth the time:
There are a blog and facebook page too:
http://dirtylaundrywebseries.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110291766688
Liz Hinlein has created compelling and poetic spots for brands such as Revlon, Nivea, Almay, Clairol and Maybelline. She is an honored and respected director of branded films and broadcast commercials as well as TV shows and music videos.
Her edgy, music-videoesque and style-oriented film, HAUTE VOLTAGE for MAC was screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival as part of “New York Women in Film”. In the music world, Liz has worked with artists like Lil Kim, Britney Spears and Mary J. Blige on interesting documentary and TV pieces.CLICK HERE to view Liz’s work
Hinlein’s reel is just fun to watch. It includes work for the Beijing Olympics, MAC, Revlon and Maggie Kim’s music video, “Gimme One”:CLICK HERE to view Liz’s work
Vitamin M
]]>read Jack Healey’s article in the Huffington Post ]]>
We’ve had the pleasure of working With Rob Graydon on some PSA’s associated with his project called What Better Looks Like. It is an amazing effort and we encourage people to find out what he and his wife Liz and their team are up to:
]]>
I was invited to a Dr. Martin Luther King commemorative program Monday and we were all touched by the fact that, this year, the day was different. It had added meaning. 40 years after Dr. King died fighting for equal rights, our nation’s first black president was actually taking office.
Hope filled the theater. But this must have been the case for each of these past many years. What was really moving on this day was that hope can be fulfilled. Hope can move America forward.
The presentation included a video of King era footage; marches, speeches and even the reaction of his staff upon his assassination.
A poignant and touching excerpt from King’s speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial resonated:
“We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: ‘For Whites Only.’ We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.”
Throughout time, so many people have either had no vote, or have felt that whatever their vote, it wouldn’t help them any. And in our own country, so many have certainly felt stripped of their self-hood. Our nation has the greatest amount of freedom anywhere. It is the bold pioneer of all modern democratic republics. But it is also huge – physically and philosophically. It grows in uneven, imperfect spurts. The dream can seem hypocritically exclusive at times. Our new president has gone so far as to call the US Constitution a “stained document” because it has not always truly covered all people.
In my own personal life, I have heard many stories of Italian immigrants harassed and dehumanized right outside the Statue of Liberty. Their self-hood was ripped away as some were arbitrarily given new names, some separated from their families, all turned loose onto hard streets that awarded scant ease, safety or well-being.
My grandfather was born to these people. As a child, trying to play baseball in public parks, he and his friends would be chased and beaten by the NY City Police who were there to protect him. The dream of America didn’t yet include him, but still, he shared it.
That child grew up believing in America despite his exclusion. To the hopeful, the believers, the day-to-day failures of our country don’t seem to stop them. It didn’t stop him from voluntarily enlisting to defend this country. My grandfather left two children in Queens to go fight in the pacific for years. So, however many the societal failures that could have spoiled his feeling for his country, the stain did not reach as far as the image he had in his mind. He returned home to build a life and yes, build parts of America, literally, as the owner of a large construction company.
So, there are moments that people won’t forget. Pearl Harbor, the loss of JFK, the moon landing. For me, being trapped in New York City on 9/11, enraptured with disgust, will be one. Another will be finishing my shift as a waiter in college one night and glancing up at the bar TV to see the first broadcast from the planet Mars when our rover finally made it.
This era right now will be something most of us will never forget. A man who called our constitution a “stained document”, a man who took it upon himself to represent the plight of those Americans who are mistreated and excluded, is now our president. Through that kind of hope and resolve, is the “stain” fading?
Whatever the answer, as a growth spurt, this is a huge one. Once again, we can claim that there is nothing like the dream of America. Not in arrogance, but as a beacon, we can remain a model for the rest of the world. A people can march on our capital in disapproval, speak out against the government that excludes them, and finally, rise to lead that same government, occupy that same capital.
This post is not any political statement. These are hard times. All presidents disappoint someone. Some, their detractors, some their supporters. Leaders with great potential have been dragged down, assassinated, overwhelmed by their times. Some are as surprising in their successes. Rather, I am talking about experiencing a moment in history. And about revitalizing confidence in the concept of America.
Ex Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker has said that the money in your wallet is only as good as the confidence we all collectively have in it. It is only paper. Our constitution, as well, is only paper. It is a concept kept alive by those who believe in it.
No president is our one great hope. The collective America that democratically votes him into office is that hope. No single man is truly big enough for the job of guiding and growing this country. Rather, we as a people are. We proved that much this week, and over the past 40 years, as we the believers grew that collective confidence, always letting hope drive America forward.
]]>
Vitamin M
]]>
The Secret History are proud to present the second edition of Modern Problems party at the famed Williamsburg art space know as Galapagos Thursday July 24th. This edition is co-curated by friend and film maker Jacob Hensberry and will also include the debut NYC screening of his short film ‘21′, fresh off its appearance at The Seattle International Film Festival.
The evenings Modern Problems include…
*Revel Hotel’s second ever performance (featuring singer/actor Johnny Q. who also appears in ‘21′) This experimental neo-goth cabaret combines electronics and experimentation with the booming croon of Johnny Q. First rate post-modern song & spectacle…
*The screening of ‘21.’ A taught combination of hipster verite, uneasy surreality and pulp, ‘21′ walks you halfway across and tightrope and then lets go. A moody and jolting trek across the murk of the urban psyche.
*The Purse Snatchers. The brand new project featuring Doug Marvin of Dirty on Purpose, with able assistance, advice and Melodica-tooting by his wife Annie Hart (Au Revoir Simone.) Shimmering indie pop in the storytelling tradition of Belle & Sebastian and others, but with the ear for texture and juxtaposition that Marvin is so great at.
*The Secret History. Fresh off our appearance at NYC Popfest, and our amazing support slot with the otherworldly good Band of Holy Joy, TSH close the party with the songs, and sentiments only a concept art project about a melancholy skinhead in Palermo who gets beaten up for listening to Roxy Music in 1975 could…
Then it’s special guest djs all night!
Doors open at 8:30, entertainment begins at 9:00 sharp! Short-ish sets by interesting bands, great djs promote subversive and seditious bar chatter. A great short film. These are amongst the reasons you must attend!
Modern Problems #2
$7
8:30 Thursday July 24 at Galapagos
North 6th St. Williamsburg Brooklyn
www.galapagosartspace.com
www.myspace.com/friendsofthesecrethistory
Vitamin M
]]>
Rob Graydon and Vitamin M shot the pilot episode of a new series we are developing. We have partnered with Race for Tomorrow and The United Nations to promote the UN’s 2015 Development Goals!United Nations 2015 Goals
]]>
Click Here to view the videos and the whole Deep Focus created micro-site.
Rob Graydon and the Vitamin M team got a chance to work with some wonderful people at brilliant young interactive agency, Deep Focus.
To promote Johnson’s new Melt Away Stress products, Deep Focus devised a micro-site with Glam Magazine. Female favorite celebrities were selected to give advice on how to deal with stress. Readers were invited to share their stories too.
It was great to participate in the branded content arena.
]]>