A landmark album from 1966 (pictured) pairing the singer and bandleader is revisited as part of a Sinatra tribute at the Hollywood Bowl; YouTube is betting that audiences will pay for a commercial-free service; Camp Reel Stories is a summer camp designed to introduce teenaged girls to filmmaking.
Camp Reel Stories puts teenage girls behind the camera
Hollywood has a way to go before it closes the gender gap, a fact not lost on the people behind Camp Reel Stories. In an attempt to level the playing field, the nonprofit teaches girls between the ages of 12-18 all aspects of filmmaking in week-long programs every summer at the Oakland School for the Arts.
In just five days, the teenage participants write, shoot and edit a film under the guidance of industry veterans. The girls also learn how to look more critically at what they see onscreen.
Esther Pearl founded Camp Reel Stories in 2013, informed by her own experiences working in the industry. At Pixar, she says she was often one of only a few women in the room.
“I wasn’t aware what a problem it was until I got older and my position started to change and my opinions were being asked in a different way and I had no one to confer with," Pearl says. "I was being asked what all women thought. And I was like, Our product is seen all over the world, so a data point of one or two doesn’t seem the best way to get information.
"And then it was lonely – there were times when you wanted some people to hang out with that got what you were going through. My career was great – I didn’t understand why there weren’t more women doing what I was doing.”
It’s an eye-opening week for the girls, who are exposed to career options in the film industry they may not have known existed. It has sparked creative interest for many campers previously uninterested in the field.
"I was very into YouTube and that was my thing," says a 16-year-old participant named Jenna. "I really loved watching YouTube videos, but I wasn't super into film. Then I was introduced to the camp by one of the original campers and I think it probably even got me more inspired to get out there. To not just watch YouTube videos, but to watch more movies, more TV shows, really learn more about the process and really think about it as a potential career for myself."
But even if they choose another path, Pearl says the skills they learn in camp will translate.
“Having some basic filmmaking skills will be useful, also being able to tell a story no matter what you do," Pearl says. "We’ve all been to presentations where someone can’t get to their point or you don’t know where they’re going. So getting the girls to understand beginning, middle and end, or pacing, working together in a group, and collaborative, creative processes – those are skills they’ll continue to use whatever they do.”
The other faces behind the program, such as freelance filmmaker and photographer Christie Goshe, are also excited about training and inspiring the next generation of women in film.
"It was really great to be asked and also give these girls a role model like, Hey! I'm a young woman doing this and making it happen," Goshe says. "The girls for the most part are such go-getters. I think that they're a generation that will hopefully be able to continue to push the envelope on a lot of things. I think they're geared with a lot of technology, social media and being connected that I think it could go a lot of places."
YouTube hopes homegrown stars, original content will lure paying subscribers
If you’re under the age of 35, you might not recognize this guy:
PewDiePie is the online persona of Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, a 25-year-old Swede with one of the most popular channels on YouTube. His silly videos and video game walkthroughs rake in millions of views and he currently has more than 30 million subscribers.
But PewDiePie and other YouTube celebrities will have to sign on to the company's new subscription service to continue their popular public channels. YouTube's new "freemium" service will be similar to Spotify, where free content will be accompanied by ads and paid subscriptions will be ad-free.
But YouTube may have an uphill battle, as most users are already accustomed to watching videos with ads for free on the site.
Can YouTube leverage its massively popular stars like PewDiePie and original content for a subscription service, and get users to start paying for videos just to skip the ads?
For more on what YouTube is planning with this new subscription model we called up Lucas Shaw, an entertainment reporter with Bloomberg Business.
Interview Highlights:
What convinced YouTube that it could make a go of a subscription service?
YouTube operated without competition for almost a decade, then in the last couple of years you have a lot of people trying to steal part of its business, either by another free ad-supported platform like Facebook, which has tried to make deals with a bunch of creators and media companies, or a subscription service like Spotify, which is starting to get into premium, short-form video. So part of it on YouTube’s hand is defensive, not where it feels it can succeed, [but] where it feels it needs to succeed.
Subscribers would pay for a commercial free service but then everyone else would still have access to YouTube content with commercials, is that right?
Right. It’s a "freemium" model, similar to Spotify with its music, where there are just additional features and perhaps additional programming you get if it’s paid. There are certainly some doubts about it because why would someone pay when the YouTube free [service] is already pretty great.
Content providers who account for over 90 percent of YouTube viewing have signed onto the paid service. But YouTube doesn’t have TV deals with networks like Fox and NBC and CBS. Are those deals essential for making this work? What are the hurdles for getting the TV networks onboard?
YouTube certainly doesn’t think they’re essential. They have more than 90 percent of what people watch signed up. So from YouTube’s position, [if] you have that much of what people care about on your site, you don’t really need the rest of it — it’s just good to have. There is still time for them to lock in deals with NBC and a lot of these other companies. Jimmy Fallon, for one, is extremely popular on YouTube. It’s a difficult negotiation because the TV networks don’t rely on YouTube for any money, they mostly use it to market their shows. And YouTube doesn’t rely on TV networks for the bulk of their viewing. So it’s a deal that both would like to see happen, but there isn’t necessarily a compelling reason for either one of them to do it.
Original series like “House of Cards” and “Transparent” have put streaming outlets like Netflix and Amazon on the map, so how is YouTube gearing up to compete in that space?
It’s funding a bunch of shows, primarily with talent that is familiar to the young people that watch these YouTube stars. They’re people like the Fine Brothers, who aren’t on-camera personalities but operate a bunch of channels. The main one is one of the 10 largest on all of YouTube...It’s a bunch of these online stars who have anything from 2 to 10 to 20 million fans online, but are sort of anonymous to anyone over the age of 35.
A lot of YouTube traffic comes from some of the so-called “home-grown" celebrities. Recent reports claim that a top YouTube star named PewDiePie made about $7 million in 2014. What does PewDiePie do on YouTube that is so compelling?
PewDiePie plays video games. He’s a huge subculture for gaming online. People go to his channel to hear him make funny asides and comments on different video games. And while people can dismiss it, there are over 30 million people who subscribe and that $7 million figure that you mentioned is just in advertising revenue. It doesn’t even account for anything he can do with sponsors of touring or anything like that. He is an extreme example, a channel with the most subscribers of any individual personality and I think he has 10-15 million more subscribers than anyone else.
Does YouTube have any bargaining over that, in other words do people with popular channels have any choice than to switch to subscription service?
They have “informed” partners that if they don’t opt in to this pay service, their existing channels would become private channels, where you have to approve anyone who can watch it. It’s no longer a public channel that you can search for. There is some danger for YouTube. I suppose that these people could go off to another platform via Facebook or Spotify, but when you’re someone like PewDiePie, who derives so much of your success and popularity from YouTube, it’s hard to imagine a world where you’re not regularly uploading videos [onto] there.
How are music videos going to be affected by this change with YouTube? What are their plans for handling music going forward?
What's crazy about Google and YouTube right now is that they have three different subscription services in the works, Google has Google Play Music, which is a music service much like Apple or Spotify or Tidal. YouTube has this thing called Music Key that is a music-only subscription service that has been in beta [mode] for several months, but has never been a public facing product. And then YouTube is working on this broader subscription [service].
That’s complicated because for any music based service, the service has to pay the record labels a very large percentage. So how does YouTube expect to pay the record labels and pay the content creator and pay themselves? So, pricing is an issue, rights are an issue. I would guess that eventually the two will be folded into one another because it makes no sense to have two different services with YouTube in the name, but time will tell.
Scotty Barnhart carries on the 80-year legacy of the Count Basie Orchestra
Since its establishment in 1935, the Count Basie Orchestra has maintained its reputation as being one of the most important jazz groups of all time. William "Count" Basie founded the group after a career as a pianist in Kansas City. Aside from a brief hiatus between 1948-1952, Basie himself remained leader of the group until his death in 1984.
One of the most recognized albums from the group was its live performance with Frank Sinatra in 1966. "Sinatra At The Sands" was recorded in Las Vegas and was the first live studio album by the iconic crooner. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Sinatra's birth and the Count Basie Orchestra pays tribute to the singer with a performance at the Hollywood Bowl on July 22.
Scotty Barnhart is the sixth leader of the orchestra since Basie's death. Barnhart started off as a trumpet player in the band in 1993 and took the position as its director in 2013.
The Frame's John Horn spoke with Barnhart about conducting a band that's been in existence for 80 years, the style of the Count Basie Orchestra, and his love for the late bandleader.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
How did you join the Count Basie Orchestra?
I just got a phone call out of the blue. We don't have auditions — the orchestra has never had auditions and we still don't. What happens is, when someone is leaving he recommends somebody for the spot. You have to come in and be able to play on the first night because that first concert could be Carnegie Hall, it could be a recording session, or it could be anywhere. So we don't have time to bring guys in and say, Well, let's see how it goes for a week or so.
So I got a call partly because the guy who recommended me, I think he was told that I was a huge Basie fan. Basie was always my favorite orchestra from the time I was a kid. I had the right temperament, I understood the music, and I had all of their albums. It was just really a matter of playing whatever part I had to play. I never looked back.
At the Hollywood Bowl you'll be performing songs from "Sinatra at the Sands," a live album recorded in 1966 at the Las Vegas hotel. The Basie Orchestra was Sinatra's backing band that night. What was the special nature of the collaboration between Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie Orchestra? Why does that recording give you chills?
Well, first of all Sinatra was one of the most swinging-est vocalists that ever walked this planet. The Count Basie Orchestra, as we all know, is the most swinging-est big band to ever play. If you put those two things together it's unbelievable.
I remember I was reading the liner notes to one of the recordings called, "It Might As Well Be Swing." Freddie Greene, who was the guitarist in the orchestra for 50 years, in the liner notes they were mentioning how he, Sinatra and all of the guys in the band were in the control room and were listening back to a playback. Freddie said something that just stunned me when I read it. He said, "Working with Sinatra, he is one of the few vocalists that swings." That is a big deal. It's all about how Sinatra breathes, when he breathes and when he doesn't breathe. He doesn't let the singing get in the way of the story.
The person conducting the orchestra that night, at the Sands Hotel, was a young musician and arranger named...
Quincy Jones.
Have you ever spoken with Quincy about his time with the Basie orchestra and that night in particular?
Well, not that night in particular, but I've spoken with Quincy. The first time I met him was in '97. We were talking about how the band sounded and he was saying, "Yeah man, you guys were smoking." This was 1997 when we were conducted by Frank Foster. He just was telling me that the things that the band has always been known for, we were still doing. Like the saxophone section on a particular arrangement called, "In a Mellow Tone." He said, "I can still hear you guys are playing that the right way, doing this the right way, and doing that the right way." I just remembered that, so it's my job to make sure we keep doing those things that made the orchestra what it is.
A lot of people, I have to point out, when they talk about the Basie Orchestra and sometimes when I'm interviewed, they just want to focus on one particular facet of the band — from like 1938 to 1951-2. The band — this is 2015 — we're still recording. Basie died in 1984 and he was still recording. There is this huge 80-year span of the orchestra that I have to be responsible for all of. I have to remind people sometimes that you have to check out everything. Don't discount the '60s, don't discount the '70s, not even the '80s or the '90s either. There is so much stuff out there. When you really really look at it and you hear us play ... from the first second you'll know, Oh, that is the Count Basie Orchestra. That is a big deal.
What does that mean? Because you're talking about both being a contemporary band and somebody who respects the tradition of the band itself. Is there a certain style of playing? Is there an approach to music? Is there orchestration that is important to you?
Everything you just mentioned. It's all of those things that happen to make the whole of it. Before I became director, I could hear each individual facet of what made up the band — from the tempo to the arrangements, to how the trumpets were playing together, and to how the saxophones played together. I could also put myself outside of it in the audience and hear how that was sounding.
If something is not right I'll know exactly what we need to do to fix it. I can tell somebody, You need to listen to this recording from 1971. This is what they were doing. You need to listen to what they did in '83. This is what they were doing. So it's actually more difficult now. I have a difficult job, more so than the guys ever before me. Because time keeps passing and we keep playing, we keep recording and we keep adding all these things to the music. But there are still basic fundamental things that we have to pay attention to that Basie did better than any other band.
When you become the President of the United States, the people in charge hand you a suitcase and it has the nuclear launch codes. When you take over the Basie Orchestra, is there an equivalent? Is there a Bible or a 10 commandments you have to follow?
Yes. The entire recorded history of the orchestra, number one. Number two, all of the guys that are still alive that played in the band. If you can have a relationship with those particular facets of the orchestra ... you know, I played in the orchestra for 20 years before I became director so I played with guys, talked with guys and traveled with guys who knew [Basie], who were in the orchestra for 40-50 years. I used to ask them questions about that.
One of the main things that I learned was that Basie was a master psychologist. He never really said a whole lot. He wouldn't have to fire somebody. Somebody else would have to do that. He just had a way of knowing what to do, and in the first and foremost he treated the musicians like men first.
Frank Sinatra at the Hollywood Bowl 1943. The Music Center Archives/Otto Rothschild Collection
Count Basie died more than 30 years ago and yet I believe there are still a few members of the orchestra who were hired by Basie himself. Do they play a special role in keeping the sound of the band alive?
Yes, they do. Clarence Banks, for example, is one of our trombonists. He was the last musician actually hired by Basie. But when we're talking about different music, different things to play, sometimes when I'm putting a set list together he'll remember something that they did. Some of the stuff that they played still isn't written down. So every once in a while we'll have something like that and he'll say, No, it needs to be this way, or It needs to be that way. In fact, he just gave me a recording a few weeks ago of Basie's last gig. The one at the Palladium here in Los Angeles like two days before he died.
When I listened to it I could hear how the band had arrived to a certain amount of weight and to a certain amount of depth — we're talking April, 1984 — how he had figured out how to let each section just progress, get deeper and more in the beat and more laid back at the same time. When I heard that I was like, Wow! There are a few things on there that they were doing that we need to make sure we are doing. It is a task that consumes me 24/7. I'm thinking about it all the time. You know, 50 years from now I should be able — whenever my days are up conducting — to pass this thing along to the next generation and have it be in great hands and in good shape, you know? I was given an orchestra that was in great shape. It's easy to mess it up, actually.
The Count Basie Orchestra will perform at the Hollywood Bowl on July 22 for Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday celebration.