The Entertainment Engine Christmas Podcast special!
A celebratory episode with the launch of the podcast series with our guest interviews of 2020…
It's been a tough year for everyone, so I think 2020 is going to be remembered for not the right reasons, for so many!
Back in March of this year, we started to look at ways to promote our business, and then of course the pandemic struck, so you could say it derailed everything we wanted to do.
But we had that light bulb moment!
We started to think of ways, forward, and decided to look at the podcast route, so we took to the task and began to see if we can build a show!
What transpired over the several weeks, was the idea to produce our own podcast show, to build awareness and visibility.
I believe not many people really take a website seriously or even believe what the website actually says.
BUT with a podcast, you can’t hide, it's you and the world so you better talk about something you know about!
We then began to develop our show over the coming weeks and months — The Entertainment Engine podcast for Film, TV & Music
Is a weekly podcast series created by Seamless Entertainment to provide helpful tips on navigating the entertainment industry across Music, Film, and TV for bands, artists, actors, songwriters, producers, and the creative industry.
We have informal chats, providing in-depth knowledge, advice, and professional experience. We’re joined by special guests on the show and keep our listeners updated with current industry news, fun facts, and trends.
The show started to look like a podcast show, with the release of our first episodes back in July 2020, from this point we started to develop the guest’s we would like to bring onto our show.
Our first guest of the season;
Special guest Layra Harmony ‘Women in the creative industries’
BeX introduces ‘Women working in the Creative industries’’ with our first special guest Layra Harmony, who is an internationally published Creative Director and Fashion Stylist based in London.
Layra’s work is featured in various glossy magazines including Marie Claire, L’Officiel Hollywood.
Layra’s styled the likes of Anthony Joshua, David Gandy, and Victoria’s Secret model Alicia Rountree for front covers and editorial features and has well-established partnerships with high-end designer brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Paul Smith, Hugo Boss.
Our next guest on the podcast;
Alan Glass legendary songwriter and producer for Aretha Franklin, Earth Wind & Fire.
Pete then chats with our next guest Mr. Alan Glass. Alan was born in New Orleans, Alan absorbed a rainbow of musical styles from that amazing city.
That exotic mix informs his love of all genres of music and his hit songwriting credits totally reflect this, from ‘Soul’ to ‘Country’ to ‘Rock’ to ‘Dance.’ and even ‘Opera’! Alan was mentored in production by Philadelphian legend Thom Bell as well as Maurice White (Earth Wind and Fire).
Alan discusses his creative approach to writing hit songs, crafting killer productions, and discusses the real ‘business’ of music in today’s environment.
Alan’s credits include songs for Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Kenny G, Earth Wind and Fire, Shena Easton, Lighthouse Family, Maxi Priest, George Benson, Aswad, Liberty X, Mis-Teeq, including writing for X Factor winners all over Europe.
The next guest we spoke to was;
A chat with Tracey Webb, Music Executive and Owner of Power Promotions.
Music executive Tracey Webb, director & owner of Power Promotions the UK’s leading dance music promotions company.
The company’s worked with the like’s of Craig David, Elle Goulding, Anne-Marie, Faithless, Jonas Blue, David Guetta, Becky Hill, Paloma Faith, Armand Van Helden to name a few.
Power was formed in 1989 and has been established since dance music’s inception and Tracey and her team have promoted the world’s biggest and best club tracks.
Our next podcast chat was with;
Charlotte Armitage — The Media Psychologist® & Owner of YAFTA — (Yorkshire Academy of Film & Television Acting).
Charlotte is The Media Psychologist® specializing in the Film & TV Industry, particularly, the psychological duty of care processes in production.
She is a registered psychotherapist with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), an accredited business psychologist holding principal practitioner status with the Association of Business Psychologists (PPABP), and is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology.
Charlotte is also the Managing Director of the Yorkshire Academy of Film & Television Acting (YAFTA) with over ten years of experience in the industry.
Promoting Diversity On Screen.
In 2014, we were very proud that YAFTA Actor, Liam Bairstow, became the first actor with down syndrome to secure a lead role in Coronation Street.
Then in 2019, another YAFTA actor, James Moore, made television history by becoming the first actor with a disability to win a National Television Award for his role as Ryan Stocks in Emmerdale.
Moving on to our next guest;
Jesse Kinch — US Singer-Songwriter and Winner of ABC’s Rising Star.
We then chat with Jesse Kinch. Jesse is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Long Island, New York, United States.
He was the winner of the American Series of Rising Star which was broadcast on ABC.
The show was hosted by Josh Groban, and the panel of judges was Brad Paisley, Kesha, and Ludacris. Jesse went on to sign with Capitol Records Los Angeles.
After winning Rising Star in 2014, Jesse began performing sold-out shows in New York and Nashville. In 2015, Jesse performed two songs on ABC’s ‘’Dancing With The Stars’’.
Our next special guest was;
In conversation with Hollywood film producer, screenwriter, and author — Ken Atchity.
Hollywood film producer, screenwriter, and author Ken Atchity. With more than fifty years’ experience in the publishing world and over thirty years in entertainment, Dr. Ken Atchity (Ph.D. Yale) has been called a “story merchant” — writer, professor, editor, producer, and literary manager.
He’s launched hundreds of books and films, including New York Times bestsellers and Emmy-nominated documentaries, making over 200 films and television deals-with every broadcaster and every studio in Hollywood, including; HBO, Universal, CBS, Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, NBC, Discovery, Regency, and Fox 2000 Pictures.
His more than thirty films include The Meg (Jason Statham), The Lost Valentine (Betty White), Angels in the Snow (Kristy Swanson), The Madams Family (Ellen Burstyn), Hysteria (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Life or Something Like It (Angelina Jolie), Erased (Aaron Eckhart), Gospel Hill (Danny Glover and Angela Bassett, plus much more.
Moving on to our next podcast guest;
A Chat with ZMNY — US Rapper and Actor starring in Shameless-USA, Swagger, and Little Fires Everywhere.
ZMNY (AKA Ozie Nzeribe) is one of the newest fresh-faced artists hitting the scene and is dominating this area as a “World Peace Youth Ambassador” bringing new energetic sounds to music all over the world.
2020 has been a HUGE year for Ozie (ZMNY), starring as “Royale”, a series regular with the highly anticipated Apple TV / CBS production of “SWAGGER” Produced by NBA star Kevin Durant.
Ozie (ZMNY) is also the Recurring Role of “Todd” in the Comedy-drama series on Showtime “SHAMELESS” starring William H. Macy, going into its 11th successful season.
Plus ZMNY has just had a NEW role with Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington’s ABC TV mini-series “ Little Fires Everywhere” they welcomed Ozie on the show this past September as a Guest Star.
Ozie (ZMNY) then appears in a National Adidas commercial with Childish Gambino, and Louis Vuitton’s spring campaign!
Moving to our next guest on The Entertainment Engine;
Tony McHale — BAFTA Winning Writer, Producer, Actor, and Director — known for Holby City, EastEnders & more.
Tony Mchale has spent over 40 years as a screenwriter, working on some of the most well-known UK dramas, many that still appear on our screens today including; EastEnders, Holby City, which he co-created and for which he also won a BAFTA, The Bill, Casualty, Silent Witness, Trial and Retribution, Dalziel and Pascoe, Waking the Dead and many more, as well as his own thrillers Resort To Murder and Headless.
Tony’s career started in theatre and recently he has returned to that world to direct various plays and musicals including his own satirical look at fame — Bloodbath The Musical and more recently All Or Nothing which transferred to the West End.
However Tony was not satisfied with all his wonderful achievements, his years of experience both writing and in life kept on pushing him towards writing his own book — so that is what he’s done.
He’s used his imaginative story-telling to create a captivating novel that can only be described as a ‘page-turner’.
If you like drama, then Beck le Street is the book for you, and Tony McHale will be the new author everybody’s talking about!
We were then in conversation with;
Laura Hanke — Music Supervisor at Universal Production Music.
This week on The Entertainment Engine podcast we welcome Laura Hanke, Music Supervisor & Repertoire Assistant at Universal Music productions.
We take a look at her role as a music supervisor and why she decided to work in the music industry and for that matter for one of the biggest record companies in the World.
“From a classical songbird and vocal teacher to Electronic Pop Producer and now 3 years’ experience as a Music Supervisor, Laura believes hidden gems are underrated.”
It’s an art.
We don’t just pick music; we work with you to pick a vibe, a feeling, and an emotion that helps you to connect your audience with the message or story you want to tell.
Our team’s experience and lifelong commitment to music allow us to really understand the needs of Directors, Editors, and Script Writers.
We live out our own reaction and emotional connection to music in every brief we do and strive to find the right music to complement and enhance each individual project.
Our next guest on the show was;
In conversation with X Factor UK Finalist Kevin Davy White.
We welcome X Factor UK finalist Kevin Davy White. Kevin has a very distinctive voice and style. Combining combines musical elements of soul and rock with blues and funk.
He was Mentored by Nicole Scherzinger, on X Factor UK 2017 with judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne, and Nicole Scherzinger.
Kevin was to win through each week to be the final competitor in the ‘Overs’ category and stormed on to finish with an incredible 3rd place in the Finals.
His performance with Tokio Myers was truly superb, it brought the house down.
Kevin won the hearts of the nation, from his heart-wrenching rendition of Whitney Houston’s, ‘I Will Always Love You’, to his passionate performance of Jimi Hendrix’s, ‘Voodoo Child’ (where he really got to show off his guitar skills.) Kevin also performed one of his own songs, ‘Puzzle of Love’, which won him a place in the live tv shows.
We speak with another of our guest’s on the podcast;
In conversation with American music producer and composer Victor Merritt.
This week on The Entertainment Engine podcast we welcome American music producer and composer Victor Merritt. We discuss his time working with Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and being mentored by Charlie Wilson and BabyFace.
Victor Merritt was born in Tulsa Okla in 1967, he has always been intrigued by music as a young boy
Throughout Victor’s career he has had the opportunity to do a remix for, The Greatest Band On The Planet, (“U2”): [If God Will Send His Angels] {The Grand Jury Mix}, on ‘Island Records’.
Victor then went on to work with the legend himself Michael Jackson where he produced and played keyboards from the trio “Brownstone,” (MJJ Records)/Michael Joe Jackson’s label.
We then spoke with our last guest of season 1t;
In Conversation with American Entertainment Lawyer Melanie Rodriguez.
US Lawyer Melanie Rodriguez. Austin, Texas native with a passion for live music and anything entertainment.
Melanie is a trusted advisor who provides expertise to creative entrepreneurs, entertainment entities, and music artists across all aspects of the industry and licensed to practice law in California.
With a broad range of legal experience in the legal field spanning more than 8 years.
After many years working as a paralegal, she then realized her calling was to make the transition to entertainment where she could combine her passion with her hobby.
During law school, Rodriguez interned at Music Sales Corporation (now Wise Music), an indie music publisher, gaining experience in a breadth of transactional matters and intellectual property at New York City-based boutique law firm, The Fried Firm, where she worked with artists, producers, entrepreneurs, and movie production companies.
To listen to the Christmas podcast special, click on the link below, and enjoy;
This was a very rewarding first season for the podcast, providing depth and breadth of experience from our entertainment professionals, with engaging and knowledgeable conversations throughout the season.
We look forward to bringing you more great guests for 2021, with more insightfull knowledge and information from the entertainment industry.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas & Happy New year from Seamless Entertainment & The Entertainment Engine podcast team. Speak with you all again from January 2021…
By Peter Moore
