If you enjoy films, TV shows and stories, then starting your own independent movie business could be an ideal venture for you. There are plenty of things that you can do with an independent movie business, whether it’s making movies for individuals or groups who’ve got a great story but lack the know-how and equipment to turn it into a film, or making your own films and selling them online or pitching them to Netflix. Or, you could even take a more business-centric route and provide video marketing and brand storytelling to companies. The opportunities are endless when you’ve got camera operating and editing skills, but before you get started, make sure you’ve got the right insurance to keep you covered if anything doesn’t go to plan.
Public Liability Insurance
First of all, you’ll need to ensure that you’re covered with public liability insurance. This is especially important if you are going to be filming in public places or enlisting other people to come and help you with your work. If you’re working as a video production contractor for businesses, you’ll need this insurance as a very basic requirement. No matter how careful you are, there’s always the risk of equipment falling over and hurting somebody or wires causing a trip hazard, and the last thing that you need is to end up in court with a personal injury claim that you can’t afford to pay out for.
Business Car Insurance
If you’re going to be using your car for running your business, even if it’s just transporting yourself, your actors and your equipment from set to set, you’re likely going to need insurance that covers you. This is not always covered on a general social and commuting policy, so make sure that you read the fine print and if in doubt, get in touch with your insurer to clear up the facts about what you need. If you provide your crew with cars for work, fleet insurance will be a necessity. You can compare quotes at Quotezone to find the best option for your business needs, just fill in a form here to get your quote.
Film Production Equipment Insurance
Filmmakers often have a lot of expensive equipment that they need to get the job done. From your video cameras to tripods, drones, gimbals, fly cams, lighting and sound equipment, none of it comes cheap if you want to ensure a quality finish for the films that you make either for yourself or your clients. And, if a key piece of equipment like your camera is damaged, it could be thousands of pounds to replace it which could spell huge trouble for your business, especially if you’re just starting out. You really don’t want to end up in a position where you need to postpone filming while you save up for a new camera. So, make sure that all your equipment is covered with a generous insurance policy that will provide a like-for-like replacement or the funds to have equipment repaired if needed.
Starting an independent movie business is a fun and exciting way to make a living, but don’t forget to make sure you’re protected with these essential insurance policies.
Fans have always been wary of their favourite indie band going pop, and understandably so – too often, slick, glossy production and big hooks come at the expense of the endearing qualities that made their music worth checking out in the first place. But there was less reason to worry with Hinds, the Spanish garage rock group that started earning a prominent fanbase with their breakout debut album Leave Me Alone in 2016, followed by their confident sophomore outing, I Don’t Run, two years later. Even if the band was never too shy about wearing their influences on their sleeves, their music was always infused with a sense of exuberant personality that separated them from run-of-the-mill indie acts who utilized the same formula. And it didn’t look like they were gonna give up that youthful spark any time soon.
Thankfully, that doesn’t happen with their latest album either – instead, The Prettiest Curse is a welcome change of pace that enhances those qualities rather than diluting them. After all, despite admitting to being “afraid of pop” for many years, Hinds’ approach naturally lends itself to big choruses and sweeping arrangements thanks to the sheer infectiousness of the songwriting itself. Besides, tracks like ‘Just Like Kids (Miau)’ exhibit a sense of playfulness that more than assures the listener none of the band’s personality is gone, while also providing wry insight into what it’s like to be a girl in a band, even in 2020 (“You’re too pink to be admired/And too punk to be desired”). This also marks the first time in the outfit’s career that they’ve ever sung in their mother tongue, most notably on tracks like the bouncy opener ‘Good Times Bad Times’ and the flirtatious ‘Come Back and Love Me <3’, the latter of which also incorporates a classic Spanish guitar progression that further pays homage to their home country’s culture.
There’s no denying the band is being anything less than themselves here, which of course also means being upfront about not knowing what that exactly entails. “’Cause all I do is question which is the real version of me,” Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote duet on the defiant chorus of highlight ‘The Play’, before a wave of soaring guitars kicks in to catapult the track to breath-taking heights. The album’s oxymoronic title is no coincidence – the album largely navigates the contradicting feelings that come when a relationship is at the edge of falling apart or just after it’s been terminated, vacillating between a newfound sense of empowerment and an all-consuming surge of desperation. The jangly yet oddly shoegaze-inspired ‘Riding Solo’ details sleepless nights spent apart from the singer’s lover (“All day feels kind of useless if I don’t give you my night/ Like instinct of survival, you’ve been engraved in my mind”), while tracks like the effortlessly catchy ‘Waiting for You’ are more confrontational in their approach. The dreamy ‘Boy’, on the other hand, is a nice contrast to those conflicted moments, evoking the simple, uncomplicated rush of falling in love all over again.
There are certainly grand, almost arena-sized arrangements here, but there is also quite a bit of bite to the production, courtesy of Jenn Decilveo (Albert Hammond Jr., Bat for Lashes’ Natasha Khan). Though it sometimes has the unfortunate effect of drowning out the engaging interplay between Cosials and Perrote, the dynamic and colourful mixes amplify the feelings of restlessness that permeate throughout the record without being too overbearing. With so many larger-than-life, invigorating moments, the spacious but emotionally piercing closer ‘This Moment Forever’ serves as a pleasant surprise, an opportunity to take a step back and reflect on what Cosials breathily describes as “joy down my throat”, unintentionally providing the perfect metaphor for the album itself. Hinds may always be an unapologetically of-the-moment, no-frills rock band at heart, but The Prettiest Curse proves they’re not afraid to grow and take their sound a step forward. And they’re not afraid of going a bit pop, either.
The Flaming Lips performed their 1999 song ‘Race for the Prize’ on last night’s remote episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. But unlike most performances taking place during the coronavirus pandemic, where band members appear in multiple screens, The Flaming Lips broke the mould, performing inside giant bubbles – to a live audience, also housed inside bubbles, all in the same room. The band members, apart from frontman and singer, Wayne Coyne, also wore masks and gloves. Check out a clip from the show below.
Bubbles have been an iconic live staple of the band for years, with Coyne often crowd-surfing inside one. Last month, the band released a new single titled ‘Flowers of Neptune 6’, featuring vocals from Kacey Musgraves, whose video also saw Coyne wandering around a burning prairie in a bubble.
No new album announcement has been made, but the band recently changed their Facebook profile picture to one where they are all wearing masks. Their last album was 2019’s King’s Mouth.
After being postponed from its usual April dates to October due to concerns over coronavirus, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2020 has been officially cancelled following orders by public health officials. This marks the first time the festival has been cancelled in 20 years.
Riverside County’s public health officer, Dr. Cameron Kaiser, signed the order on Wednesday (June 10). “Events like Coachella and Stagecoach would fall under [California] Governor [Gavin] Newsom’s Stage 4, which he has previously stated would require treatments or a vaccine to enter. Given the projected circumstances and potential, I would not be comfortable moving forward,” he said. “These decisions are not taken lightly with the knowledge that many people will be impacted. My first priority is the health of the community.”
This year’s line-up was set to include performances by Frank Ocean, Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott, Lana Del Rey, Lil Uzi Vert, Thom Yorke, Run the Jewels, FKA twigs, and more.
Goldenvoice, the festival’s organizers, have not yet provided any comments. According to NME, they are reportedly looking into the possibility of a smaller Coachella event in 2021 and a full festival in October next year, given that restrictions have eased. AEG Presents, the live events company that owns Goldenvoice, is also instigating a number of layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts across all areas of the organization starting July 1, Variety reported on Monday.
Many of us are staying at home more often than we would have normally done, and if that means working from or just enjoying it and taking the time to relax, it can be a time we will never have again. However, there are so many things we could be doing with the time that we have now. With that in mind, here are some suggestions that will help you to keep it real in lockdown and how you can enjoy it.
Read more
One of the first things that you can consider doing is reading more. Many people will say that they don’t have the time to enjoy a good book anymore, but now we have more time than ever. It could be worth looking online and seeing what others are reading and reviewing. You may find that you start to enjoy new genres and pick up on things you love that you never thought you would do.
Redecorate your home
Being at home more means that you may have taken a long hard look at your home and decided now is the time to make some changes. Maybe you have repainted the walls or looked online to find a famous Australian artist with some unique and contemporary artwork to jazz up the walls. It might be you have the time to sort through photographs, frame them and display them. Maybe decluttering is on the cards or looking for new storage options to consider.
Learn a language
It could be that you take the time to think about learning a language. This could open up many different options for you, perhaps travelling or working abroad or even things like new job prospects. You could take the time to really pick things up and make a difference and it could be a great thing to occupy your time.
Improve your skills and gain qualifications
Maybe you have noticed that you now have the time to focus on your career a little more. It might not be the job that you want to do, so it might be time to think about how you can improve upon your skills and gain some new qualifications. Online learning can be a great thing to take advantage of at the moment, and it could help you to finally progress in the workplace and make some great changes to your working lifestyle moving forward. A successful career requires consistent learning and training. If you are involved in healthcare, you can find valuable online courses such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and attend completely online. This way you can get certified while working.
Take better care of yourself
Finally, you could take this time to take better care of yourself. It might be that you look at improving and buying on your skincare routine. Focusing on moisturising and cleansing on a daily basis. Maybe it is exercising more frequently and eating well. Perhaps now having the time to cook meals from scratch and enjoy better quality of food and meals. There are many ways you can take better care of yourself and you will start to benefit from it in the long term.
Let’s hope these tips help you to keep it real in lockdown and enjoy it more.
The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, has announced a number of changes to their rules and guidelines, including name changes for several categories. Most notably, “Best Urban Contemporary Album” has been renamed “Best Progressive R&B Album”, seemingly in response to increasing criticisms of the term “Urban” since the category was introduced in 2012. However, the term has been kept for the category of “Latin Pop”, which has now been renamed “Latin Pop and Urban”.
According to a statement by the Recording Academy’s interim president and CEO Harvey Mason Jr., the change was decided last month. “We’re constantly evaluating our Awards process and evolving it to ensure the Grammy Awards are inclusive and reflect the current state of the music industry,” he said.
“Each year, we receive a number of rule change proposals from artists, producers and songwriters asking us to reevaluate our process,” Chief Awards Officer Bill Freimuth added.
The Best Progressive R&B Category is described as “intended to highlight albums that include the more progressive elements of R&B and may include samples and elements of hip-hop, rap, dance, and electronic music” and may incorporate “production elements found in pop, euro-pop, country, rock, folk, and alternative.”
“Best Latin Pop or Urban”, on the other hand, is “intended to recognize excellence in Latin pop or urban music recordings that utilize a stylistic intention, song structure, lyrical content, and/or musical presentation to create a sensibility that reflects the broad spectrum of Latin pop music style and culture.”
Moreover, “Best Rap/Sung Performance” has been renamed “Best Melodic Rap Performance”, representing “solo and collaborative performances containing…. a strong and clear presence of melody combined with rap cadence.”
With regards to the “Best New Artist” category, there is no longer a limit on the number of prior releases for an act to be eligible for the award. Instead, “screening committees will determine whether the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence prior to the eligibility year,” according to the new rules. Previously, artists with more than 30 singles/tracks (or three albums) were not eligible for the prize. This change is likely in response the controversy following Lizzo’s nomination last year, which was allowed despite her surpassing the maximum amount of tracks.
The Recording Academy also made changes within its Nominations Review Committees, the group responsible for taking the most popular Grammy submissions, who are now required to fill out conflict of interest forms.
You can check out the entire 66-page rule book here.
Gorillaz have recruited London rapper Octavian for a new single titled ‘Friday 13th’. The track marks the fourth installment of the group’s Song Machine series. Listen to it below.
After teasing the collaboration online, the cartoon band also shared an official music video featuring Octavian as well as a host of Gorillaz members in their animated form. At the end of the video, we’re shown a quote by US activist James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
Speaking of the track, drummer Russel Hobbs said: “Every day starts in the dark, and ends in the dark, but in the middle there is light.”
The Song Machine series kicked off in January with a track titled ‘Momentary Bliss’ featuring slowthai and Slaves. Since then, the group has unveiled ‘Désolé’, ‘Aries’, and ‘How Far?’, a collaboration with the late Tony Allen and Skepta.
Last month, Gorillaz announced the Gorillaz Almanac, to be published by Z2 Comics, in celebration of their 20-year history.
Lollapalooza, an annual four-day music festival taking place in Chicago, has been cancelled due to COVID-19. The city’s mayor, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, announced the decision yesterday (June 9) at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). The festival will instead host “a weekend-long livestream event” from July 30 to August 2 in “honour its annual summer tradition”, according to the announcement. The livestream will also live music as well as never-before-seen archival footage.
Lollapalooza organizers also released a statement on their website and social media pages, writing: “We wish we could bring Lollapalooza again to Grant Park this year, but we understand why things can’t move forward as planned. The health and safety of our fans, artists, partners, staff, and community is always our highest priority.”
They added: “Rest assured, we will be working hard behind the scenes to deliver Chicago a spectacular celebration of Lollapalooza’s 30th anniversary in the summer of 2021, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you.”
Lollapalooza South America has been postponed from March to late November/early December, with The Strokes, Guns N’ Roses and Travis Scott set to headline.
Denim clothing is mass-produced and seen in most if not all of the retail stores; in fact, 70 million pairs of jeans are sold in the UK, every year. Yet, much as we love to wear denim, we don’t realise how harmful it can be for the environment and the people who deal with producing denim. The purpose of this article is solely to inform how denim affects the environment and the workers. Hopefully, this may encourage you to try out different types of clothes and seemingly will give you a reason to talk to the brands that abuse this system.
Denim production takes a lot of water and creates heaps of pollution. Growing cotton consumes at least 68% of water alone, while to produce one pair of jeans it takes 998.8 gallons of water. Moreover, different looks on jeans such as the distressed style cause the manufacturers to use chemicals and intensive washing, further adding to water consumption and pollution. In Xintang, China, cases of unsafe amounts of mercury, lead and copper were all found in the river near the place which produces around the third of the world’s jeans. The same river which residents use for bathing and drinking water. This pollution has caused some serious health issues for the residents.
Denim waste can also be toxic to both land animals, and aquatic life, when the wastewater is washed down the stream and flown into the rivers. It has been also found that the dangerous Manganese, a hard metal, has been found in rivers. Mangese can cause lung and liver disturbances, possible declines in blood pressure, and even brain damage. Many animals with even a small exposure to Mangese can have a very small chance of survival.
Manganese Production based on the numbers of USGS Comodity report 2007
Alternatives
It’s great to point out problems, but there is no point doing so if we bring no solutions. While a lot of old, unfriendly methods used from years ago are still present, some reliable alternatives are available. For example, companies such as Jeanologia bring highly advanced eco-technologies for fabric and garment finishing. Their methods eliminate the painful process which impacts the health of the environment and the worker.
We can also reduce our spending on denim by using ethical and sustainable alternatives. For example, denim brands like Agolde use regenerative and recyclable cotton for their clothing line, helping reduce the overall stability. If you want to check them out, you can explore Agolde jeans at Maplestore. Before shopping, make sure that the brand you are buying is transparent on the process and check if they re-invest into the working conditions of their workers and the farmers from which they get the cotton.
To conclude, our environment must not suffer from something that we can change. We must stand up and show to brands that denim can be produced more ethically and sustainably. By being smart with our shopping and letting brands know that they can be more sustainable, we can help shift the movement one step forward.
‘Thieves! (Screamed the Ghost)’, a mid-album highlight from 2016’s RTJ3, closes off with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘The Other America’ speech that has recently been making rounds on social media: “A riot is the language of unheard.” The track itself imagines a dystopian sci-fi future that serves as an allegory of racism in America, confronting of the harsh realities of police brutality and systemic violence that have plagued the country for decades. The incomparable duo of Killer Mike and El-P paint a grimly vivid scene of a riot – “burning, looting, shooting, taking, thieving” – images we’ve become all too familiar with during the last few days. It’s so frighteningly prescient one could easily mistake it for a protest song recorded in direct response to the uprising over the killing of George Floyd.
But of course, that’s exactly the point – much like that track, Run the Jewels’ latest full-length effort, released on June 3rd (two days before its actual release date), doesn’t feel so much like a reflection on the current political moment as much as a pertinent reminder of a long-standing pattern of abuse at the hands of a racist state. Even RTJ4’s most memorable lyric, which arrives once again at the midpoint of the album, isn’t in reference to George Floyd but to Eric Garner, a black man who was killed in horrifically similar circumstances six years ago: “You so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me,” Mike raps, “Until my voice goes from a shriek to whisper—‘I can’t breathe’.” It would have been potent enough if it was written about George Floyd, but showing how it’s also about every black person whose life has unjustly been taken away really drives home the point that Mike and El-P have been making for years, be it through their music or through Mike’s activism.
But despite RTJ2’s success, RTJ3 was itself a musical riot that went largely unheard, though it had less to do with structural inequality than with the fact that it was released at the tail end of the year – even if it was the year that ushered in the era of Trump. The show Mike and El-P put on here isn’t that different – it’s still raucously fun, virulent, and bombastic all at the same time – but the stage has certainly changed, with more people watching than ever. Chances are, if you’ve heard a Run the Jewels album before, you don’t need to be told that RTJ4 is good – not as punchy as RTJ2 or as diverse as RTJ3, but it certainly doesn’t disappoint. The chemistry between the duo is more naturally effortless than ever, the production is blisteringly boisterous, and the lyrics can be both boastful and sobering. Even El-P, who’s often the less politically outspoken of the two, frequently steps out of his comfort zone to take aim at systemic oppression: “Funny fact about a cage, they’re never built for just one group/ So when that cage is done with them and you’re still poor/ It come for you,” he spits out on ‘walking in the snow’.
But there’s more to the album than just that chilling highlight, both in terms of sound and subject matter. RTJ4 is framed as an action comedy set in a world of chaos, with fiery opener ‘yankee and the brave’ introducing the rappers’ comedic alter egos as they run away from a swarm of police offers. There’s a sense of joyful frenetic energy that propels the album forward, from the catchy hooks of the classicist ‘ooh la la’ featuring Greg Nice and DJ Premier to the wildly infectious and enthralling ‘holy calamafuck’, whose thunderous production hints at RTJ4’s heightened dramatic flare. The propulsive synths and haunting backing vocals of ‘never look back’ sound like they’re coming straight from a horror movie, while ‘the ground below’ pulses with rock n’ roll dynamism. The grievous atmosphere of ‘pulling the pin’, featuring Mavis Staples Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, is eerily reminiscent of Nick Cave’s latest work, and there’s nothing quite as evocative as Staples’ chorus as she sings: “It hurts, I’m bein’ torn apart/ There’s a grenade in my heart and the pin is in their palm.”
As is to be expected, RTJ4 is filled with ruthless attacks on capitalism and its relation to various forms of injustice, but none is as biting and witty as ‘JU$T’, co-produced by Pharrell Williams and featuring Zach De La Rocha (who also made a noteworthy appearance on RTJ2), which includes one of the album’s most memorable punchlines: “The Thirteenth Amendment says that slavery’s abolished/ Look at all these slave masters posin’ on yo’ dollar.” But what makes the album stand out from the rest of the duo’s discography is not so much its barbed political commentary as the surprising amount of self-reflection that’s on display here, from ‘never look back’ to the closer ‘a few words for the firing squad (radiation)’. The latter is a 6-minute epic that builds and builds as Mike and El-P deliver knock-out performances; El-P looks inwards to offer some poignant truths about life (“I used to wanna get the chance to show the world I’m smart/ Isn’t that dumb?/ I should’ve focused mostly on the heart/ ‘Cause I seen smarter people trample life like it’s an art”), while Mike ruminates on his own image and legacy (“Friends tell her, ‘He could be another Malcolm, he could be another Martin’/ She told her partner, ‘I need a husband more than the world need another martyr’”).
The album’s tongue-in-cheek outro serves as a reminder that this is all just a work of fiction, and a darkly comedic one at that – but it’s a framing device that actually amplifies the truths that have been laid out throughout its tense 40-minute runtime. RTJ4 is as consistently rapturous as it is fierce, managing to stay true to its playful spirit without minimising the impact of its powerful message. That MLK quote is not the only sample from that RTJ3 track that has now taken on a new resonance – a snippet from the opening monologue to a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone perfectly distills what’s at the core of the album’s thesis: “This is not a new world, it is simply an extension of what began in the old one.”
