|
|
|
Providing invaluable feedback & commentary on FameCast artists, the FameCast Industry Experts roster is a who's who of leading entertainment writers, A-list talent managers, Grammy & Emmy-winners, producers and A&R reps.
Steve Hochman: Rock, Pop, Singer-Songwriter
Steve Hochman has written the Los Angeles Times for more than 20 years and is the author of its Times' Pop Eye music news column. He currently writes the AOL Spinner.com global music column Around the World and is the pop music critic for radio news magazine the California Report.
Aaron Burgess: Rock
Aaron Burgess is a regular contributor to SPIN, The Onion AV Club, Alternative Press, Revolver and Harp, for which he's written more than 2,000 pieces on everything from indie pop to death metal. Now based in Austin, Texas, he is the former editorial director of Alternative Press and was instrumental in launching the magazine's "AP&R" feature, which has led dozens of unsigned bands to national recognition.
Paul Korzilius: Rock, Singer-Songwriter
Paul Korzilius is a partner in the music, game and film industries. Since 1992, he has managed the career of the super-star rock group Bon Jovi. He has also managed the touring careers of Cher, Queen, Skid Row, The Alarm, Scorpions, Billy Squier, Debbie Gibson and Cheap Trick.
Gary Graff: Rock, Singer-Songwriter
Gary is an award-winning music journalist who contributes regularly to outlets like UPI, the New York Times Features Syndicate, Billboard and Revolver. He is also the series editor of the MusicHound Essential Album Guide books and the author of The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen A to E to Z.
Jana Crandal: Pop
Jana Crandal is an A&R representative for Suretone Records, where she reviews and oversees artist submissions for new up and coming acts.
Erik Stein: Pop, Hip Hop/R&B
Currently a Scoop Marketing Associate, Erik has worked for over a decade at Universal Music Group (MCA and Geffen Records), where he handled pop/rock media and artist relations.
Melinda Newman: Pop, Country
Melinda Newman is a Los Angeles-based freelance entertainment journalist who writes for the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Associated Press. She was previously West Coast Bureau Chief and Deputy Editor for Billboard Magazine.
Soren Baker: Hip Hop/R&B
Soren Baker is an executive editor of The Source magazine and the author of The Music Library: The History of Rap and Hip-Hop. He also writes for the Los Angeles Times, among others, and has had more than 2,000 articles published, the overwhelming majority of them focusing on Hip-Hop Culture.
Nick A. Zaino III: Comedy
Nick writes the ‘Comedy Notes’ column for the Boston Globe, and covers comedy and music as a freelance writer. He has been covering comedy on the local and national scene for five years, and hopes to discover soon the reason why some people still insist that Gallagher is funny.
John Evans: Comedy
As a national headlining comedian, Evans performs at the country’s top clubs 40 weeks a year and has been featured on NBC’s Last Comic Standing and Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham.
Chris "Tweaker" Vrenna: Electronic
Chris is a Grammy Award-winning original member of Nine Inch Nails, touring keyboardist for Marilyn Manson, touring drummer for Gnarls Barkley and solo electronic artist/producer.
JS Clayden: Electronic
Los Angeles-based British ex-pat Jon “JS” Clayden is a core founding member of UK alt-rock band Pitchshifter. Clayden also currently owns and operates PSI Records, and is Manager of Industry Outreach at the Los Angeles Recording School, where he teaches Music Business Communications.
Francis Preve: Electronic
Producer extraordinaire Francis Preve was the producer of six #1 Billboard remixes in 2007.
Ray Seggern: Electronic
Ray Seggern, aka Ray Dog, is host of the electronic show Chillville on Austin's 101X-FM.
Doug Van Pelt: Spiritual
Van Pelt is the founder, editor and publisher of HM Magazine, one of the most widely read and well-known publications covering the Christian Rock scene for the past 15 years.
Trey Bruce: Country
Nashville-based Bruce is a successful musician, songwriter and producer who has had more than 50 of his songs recorded by Randy Travis, Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood, LeAnn Rimes, Reba McEntire and many more of country music’s top stars. Bruce has five #1 singles to his credit, as well as numerous Top 5 and Top 10 singles and a 2001 Emmy.
Mariana Diaz: Latin
Mariana is an on-air personality and creative director at Los Angeles’ Super Estrella 107.1, one of the country’s top Spanish-language radio stations.
Maksim "Maks" Chmerkovskiy: Dance
In addition to being a cast member on the hit series "Dancing with the Stars," Maks is also a world renowned choreographer and dance instructor. Most recently, he teamed up with famed performance and film director Franco Dragone to revamp the immensely popular show "Le Reve" at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Maks owns and operates Dance with Me and Rising Stars Dance Adacemy, and he sits on the board of the non-profit organization DanceTeamUSA.
Romeo Navarro: Dance
Founder of Texas's longest running b-boy event B-Boy City, Romeo has been throwing competitive hip-hop events since 1997, his latest being B-Boy City XIV in May 2007 and the 2nd annual B-Girl City in Nov. 2007. A visionary street dancer in his own right, Romeo was featured in the 2007 documentary film Inside the Circle, and was a Red Bull Beat Rider in 2004.
Lindsay Rodolico: Dance
Lindsay Rodolico is the outgoing captain of the Soulmates, dance team of the Philadelphia Soul (Arena Football League), a “Dream Team” representative for Arena Bowl 2007 and choreographer for the Jr. Soulmates Dance Team.
Andrea Ariel: Dance
Andrea Ariel is the Artistic Director of Ariel Dance Theatre and is the #1 choreographer in Austin.
Mike Henry: Spoken Word
Mike Henry was the artistic director and producer for the 2006 and 2007 National Poetry Slams. He also directed and produced the feature-length documentary film Slam Planet: War of the Words.
David E. Williams: Film & Animation
Veteran journalist David E. Williams is the editor of Digital Video magazine (www.dv.com) and has served tours of duty as an editor at American Cinematographer and Cinefantastique magazines and the daily trade paper The Hollywood Reporter.
John Merriman: Film & Animation
John Merriman is the Film Programmer/Membership Director of the Austin Film Festival.
Anne Walker: Film & Animation
Anne Walker is executive producer for director Richard Linklater.
Alex Smith: Film & Animation
Alex Smith is a screenwriter on films for Fox Searchlight and Disney, and his credits include some of Hollywood’s top films.
|
|
|
