Dave Patten's University of Entertainment

"How Good" on MTV!!

You can now check out Dave Patten's "How Good" ft. Meek Mill on MTV.com!!  Check out some of my other videos in the related section as well.  This is not the first ;)

http://www.mtv.com/videos/dave-patten/624266/how-good.jhtml

Dave Patten - New Music - More Music Videos

Failure Has To Be an Option

Taken from The Lesfetz Letter, James Cameron (yes, the Avatar JC):

"...But what James Cameron said was:

"'Failure has to be an option.'

"Whoa, isn't this what killed the major labels?  They wanted to eliminate all the failure!  You can't trust the act you sign, you've got to hook 'em up with famous songwriters, you've got to use the name producer, you've got to buy insurance.

"'Failure has to be an option, in art and in exploration.  Because it's a leap of faith.  And no important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk.  You have to be willing to take those risks.'

It hurts to fail.

But if you come to bat more than once every two or three years, you're gonna get better, you're gonna learn something, your odds of success increase."

Read the rest of the post here.  I think Lesfetz has said everything I could say.  Cameron doesn't wait around for producers in Hollywood to present him a script and a budget -- he goes out and writes his own (Avatar, for example), invests in his own equipment (3D Cameras, which was like a $70MM+ expense), goes out there and gets it done!  I'm doing that now and will continue to do it until I reach a similar level of success.  It's not always about money, but I do believe it's always about succeeding.

"Failure is an option, but fear is not" -- James Cameron

You can watch James Cameron's video here too (2:45)

Filming "Impossible" in the Hills of LA

@DRicks3 and I had a spare few minutes this weekend in LA, so we got to work!  He knew of a pretty awesome spot in the hills where we could get some filming done.  In LA it's hard to just go out and film because you need permits for EVERYTHING. Last time out we were cited by the cops for filming on the train tracks...

I also wasn't about to fly my guitar out to LA only to have it be destroyed by the TSA and baggage guys.  So the odds were a bit against us.

So we concocted a plan:  Went in to a guitar shop and bought an acoustic guitar.  Went to the hills and snuck to a secluded spot where we figured we'd have at least 30mins before authorities were called in haha.  We filmed, packed up and got the heck out of there.  Stopped back at the guitar shop and returned the guitar.

That's how to do it!! haha

Also, definitely download the song "Impossible" from iTunes -- http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/exposure/id408650311

 

LA Shoot!! Impossible?

I think Ricks and I are going to shoot the performance scene for part of my song "Impossible" (If you want to hear the song, def dl my album reallllll quick from www.DavePatten.com).

There are a few epic lookout spots at the top of the mountain ranges that I think we're going to treck up to and film at.  I have to hit up Guitar Center real quick and buy a guitar for the shoot, and we need a few supplies to bounce light, etc., and then we're good to go.

I'll have to post the music video concept for "Impossible" soon, I mapped it all out on the plane ride out to LA Thursday.  We've also got music videos in the making for "Come On", "Melt" and "Maybe" so getttttt ready!!!  You know I am

Lalalala

LA TODAY!!!!!!!!!!  Sorry I just get super hype whenever I get out of this freezing cold city of Philly to the warm beautiful land of LA.

Making big moves this weekend.  Meeting with Master P, Rick Ross and I believe Meek Mill landed a performance with Diddy so I'm sure I'll have to opportunity to tag along there, maybe shoot a quick vid of it for Meek.

I'm meeting with my producer friend JC out there just to check in, see what's up and talk about the industry some more.  That's like one of my favorite things to do haha.

And during our down time I'll be sure to shoot a few music videos.  I took a break for a bit after the "Believe Me" video dropped -- I was pretty burnt out and really just couldn't stomach thinking about another music video haha.  But alas that phase has passed and I'm ready to shoot!!!  Bringing the equipment out, and the two-man team of Ricks and myself are going to get some crazy stuff done.

Last month we went up to the Hollywood sign but got booted off by security for climbing up the actual mountain that the sign sits on.  This time I'll be sure to do the same exact thing but film before security can get to us.

jajajalalala!!! lol inside joke sorry

Screenplay Idea

I was watching Mystic River again last night and just thinking about the movie-making process in general.  I've been on a half-assed hunt for a script lately.  Let me explain.

If an investor were to come to me and tell me they love my work and my directing and want to support my production company South9 Entertainment by backing a film, I want to have a script that I'm in love with already on the table, budgeted out and ready to go.

All great movies are great because of two reasons:  Story, and actors.  Story comes first.  However, finding a great script is damn near impossible.  I belong to a few "screenwriting networks" or "communities" i guess you could call them, where screenwriters pay to post their scripts (that deters a good 50% of the bad writers not confident enough to pay to post), and where producers have access to the database (after you apply and are accepted as a producer = huge pain, believe me). 

But the bottom line is there aren't many great scripts out there.  Obviously, the great ones get bought up reallllll quick.

As a director, I know what kind of film I want to make and what stories I want to tell.  So instead of trying to find a script that fits me, I'm just going to start mapping out my own.  With the right outline, I can later hire a screenwriter to fill it out.

I dunno, I mean all of this stuff is definitely challenging, but if you just buckle up and get down to it, it's not really that hard.  I think it's just that not many people are confident enough to go through with it.  Get your entrepreneurial mindset on!

Music Video Documentary Project

Starts tomorrow!!  The idea is this:  I have a lot of music videos out.  I also have a lot of cool behind the scenes footage and a lot of fun stories about each shoot.  Soooooo how can I make use of this?

I'm going to put together a little documentary -- a showcase of what it takes to make a music video work, what goes into making it happen and the benefits of having them done and released!

My girl Courtney came up from the south the host the whole thing.  She's prepared a bunch of questions to ask me for an inside look at all of the music videos.  We'll probably walk around my offices, head outside for a minute and maybe hit up a cafe for lunch while the interview goes on.

On the distribution side of things, I'll toss this guy out on the festival circuit when I get it done and let it ride out.  I'm sure it'll get accepted to a bunch of festivals.  Not to be overly confident, but there are a lot of terrible films that get made, especially in the documentary genre, so I'm not too worried about it haha.  After a nice run on the circuit I'll toss it up On Demand on Amazon.com and see if I can land it on Netflix.  That would be huge.  Netflix is like the iTunes of movies.  I have a good friend out in LA who's a major film producer and director -- meeting with him next weekend when I fly out -- I'll be grilling him for some insight on how to run a successful campaign like this.  If anyone knows, he will.  Dude is a boss!!

Filming starts tomorrow morning.  I'm about to head downtown and grab a drink with Courtney and set things up for tomorrow.  Jason the boss is coming out to do sound, and Ricks will be on the steady.  Keeping the crew tight and costs even tighterrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Brainstorming Music Video Ideas

Hangin on the stoop of an ancient ruin in Dominican Republic, grabbing some peace and quiet to brainstorm a music video concept!

 

Mad We Can't Shoot!

Locations like these are so awesome I get upset when I'm not prepared to shoot something haha

 

Sorry for No Posts

I'm down here in the Dominican Republic and there's only one spot in town with internet lol and we're filming a lotttt so I can't really post as much as I'd like.  But the beaches down here are amazing, and my three years of spanish in college definitely didn't do too much for me :( but it's alright my pick up line como te llamas works pretty well I'm finding

On a music note, "Believe Me" (Meek Mill + Dave Patten track) is pretty much going to be the track that changes my life haha I'll tell yall more about the advances that have already been made only 3 days after its release... 100,000 views and tons of calls and emails from record labels.  MTV wants it asap.  It's gametime when I get back I'll tell you that much!!