It’s great when a story grabs your attention. In the case of Palmdale, Kirk Fox‘s fast-paced detective yarn, things start in a fury and never let off the gas. His novel is sharp, exciting, deep, and will surely win a lot of fans. They say that truth is stranger than fiction, so it might be hard to classify this as fiction, per se. Fox’s highly entertaining novel is a fantastic edition to the Meridia Books lineup. Also, the strength of the characters – powered by their uncommon-yet-relatable family dynamic – make this a story you didn’t know you needed in your life. And that’s worth noting because it’s written by…
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Interview…John Paesano Crafts Terrific Terror and Nostalgia For Something Otherworldly in ‘The Boroughs’
From blockbuster cinema to interactive media and award-winning series, John Paesano’s work reflects a rare combination of emotional precision and scale. Though his music is already embedded in some of the most successful franchises of the modern era, his creative journey is still unfolding. What makes John different from other composers is that he comes at his profession as fan, that enthusiasm and reverence comes through in his spectacular compositions. Paesano grew up on the music of John Williams, James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, and Alan Silvestri. Those composers wrote big, bold, thematic scores that were not afraid to be emotional, adventurous, and completely upfront. For The Boroughs,…
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[Tribeca FF Interview]…Rob Arthur’s ‘Frampton’ Is A Crowd-Pleasing Tribute To A Rare Rock Legend
Ahead of its premiere at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival, we had a rocking good time with director Rob Arthur about Frampton. This insightful and crowd-pleasing doc about the one-and-only UK rock legend shows us the fun, fame, friendship, frailty and legacy of being Peter Frampton. The exceptional doc will screen on June 4 next month. It’s fitting that the film comes out in the same year as the 50th anniversary of Rocky. Following Peter’s ascendancy to golden god of rock in 1976 with the unparalleled live album, Peter is less an underdog but he was certainly up against the ropes following the massive success of ‘Frampton Comes Alive‘. The…
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Interview…Christopher Lennertz & Matt Bowen on Themes, Cues and Emotional Resonance of ‘The Boys’
Gene Simmons once said, “if it weren’t for the fans, we’d be nothing.” and it’s something that all musicians and creatives can relate to. Whether a particular property in pop culture takes the world by storm or just one person considers it their Rosebud, when fans grab hold of something you can almost feel the Earth shift from the passion, fervor, and respect for it. After eight years and five seasons, The Boys has come to an end. Fans truly ate it up, and one reason the themes and characters resonated was the great music from Christopher Lennertz and Matt Bowen. We sat with this dynamic duo to talk about…
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Interview…’Metropolis’ Redux Jam Session with Jazzy Jeff Beal
Five-time EMMY winner Jeff Beal’s improvisatory method, sense of timing, and sophistication have made him a favorite of directors including Ed Harris, David Fincher, Oliver Stone, and Rob Reiner, and his contributions to powerful documentaries and dramatic scores for TV shows have shown him to be one of the most distinctive and recognizable composers working today. In addition to his distinguished scoring career, Beal is a prolific composer of concert music. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Beal’s grandmother was a pianist and accompanist for silent movies. An avid jazz fan, she gave him Miles Davis’/Gil Evans’ Sketches of Spain album that would influence his development as…
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Interview…The Life and Times of Gedde Watanabe
Gedde Watanabe (or “Gary” if you know him personally) is cinema’s secret weapon. Having worked with all-time great filmmakers, names like Ron Howard, John Hughes, Michael Bay, and Joe Dante are just the short list of directors who were able to use Watanabe’s brilliance. Comedy is a universal language and Gedde is extraordinarily fluent. It’s important to note that Gedde made it into entertainment on his own steam as a quintessential struggling artist. He also made a name for himself at a time when there was no path, no guideposts, and no precedent for Asian actors. He simply took jobs that brought him joy and, little by little, that led…
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Interview…Kevin Dunn Makes A Big Splash in ‘Mermaid’
There’s something almost mythical about Florida. Whether that ties to the history of the unmistakable peninsula, the myriad of demographics who call it home or, like Huey Lewis says about New York, “Where else can you do a half a million things, all at a quarter to three?” Well, you can probably do a lot more in Florida which is why it has such an odd draw. So, if you’re going to tell a story about a man who finds and falls in love with a mermaid, where better to set this unconventional tail, er, tale? As you might expect from the outrageous premise, Mermaid is weird, wild, funny and…
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Interview…Doug Jones and Derek Maki on the Documentary Celebrating Jones’ Iconic Career
Actor Doug Jones has often been referred to as the Boris Karloff of our time. This in-depth feature length documentary seeks to find how this actor/mime went on to become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors when it comes to creating fantastic creatures in full body make-up/costumes. From his early start in projects like Buffy The Vampire Slayer to major motion pictures like Hellboy and Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer to Oscar winning and nominated films like Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape Of Water. His performances, mannerisms and physicality is so well-known, you could spot Doug a mile away. We’ve taken to calling him Lean Chaney. Directed by William Conlin, the doc gives us a reverent look…
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Interview…Bruce Davison and Madison Lawlor on the Family Ties and Legacy in ‘Casa Grande’
Written and directed by Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz, Casa Grande is a neo-Western with a story that plays out like an intimate chess match. Yet this game is played at high speed with such dangerously high stakes, you can feel the grit right though the screen. Helping convey the emotion, the tough choices, and the heart of the story are the legitimate and well-crafted characters. Sure, they feel like familiar archetypes, but once they are on the board the moves they make will be highly unexpected. That’s where the magic happens. Muñoz offers up juicy complex family dynamics that exist between two ranching families. The back and forth in a…
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Interview…CEO Michael Fisk on Navigating Legal Waters of Sports Intellectual Property
One of the most important aspects of the creation process is ownership of the original idea. The industry term for that is “Intellectual Property” (or IP) and it has been the subject of countless discussions. Determining who owns what is one of the most crucial and hard-fought battles in legal waters. Sometimes just knowing where to start – to avoid any copyright hurdles and land mines – is the smartest and most helpful move for the company/brand and the end user. Some individuals have built beacons to help light the way, and one company helping benefit all participants is Callandor Group. Spearheaded by Michael Fisk (former Executive Vice President of…
