Oz Magazine March / April 2022 by Oz Publishing, Inc

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March / April 2022

MARCH / APRIL 2022

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NOAH WASHINGTON Cover Story: Paige Simpson, p.22 Noah Washington was born in Richmond, VA. He is a Media Entrepreneur major at Georgia State University. He has written for multiple publications exploring culture in the entertainment industry and is currently a writer for the “National Newspaper Publishing Association” under the ”Blerd Binder” label and has been published in multiple states such as the “L.A Watts’’ times and the “Charleston Chronicle”.

Michael R. Eilers

Production and Design Christopher Winley Michael R. Eilers

KEVON PRYCE

Contributing Editors Adrena Walton Winston Andrews

Feature Story: Billy Johnson Never Left the Service Industry, p.26

Cover:

Image Courtesy of Noah Washington and the RGB Creative Team

Kevon Pryce is a writer and filmmaker based in Atlanta, Georgia. He writes film news, short stories, poems, and screenplays. His films have screened at festivals across the Southeast, such as Atlanta Film Festival, Rome International Film Festival, and Sidewalk Film Festival to name a few.

ALEXA RACHELLE JENNINGS Feature Story: Hospitality In the Time of COVID, p.34

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Alexa Rachelle Jennings was born and raised in Atlanta. She received her Bachelor’s of English, concentrating in Creative Writing from Georgia State University. She is an actor and can be seen in such shows as “Bigger” (BET +), “Dynasty” (CW), and “Greenleaf” (OWN). She has also appeared in national commercials for brands such as Sherwin Williams, AT&T, and Walmart, to name a few. She enjoys the arts and wants to be creative whenever she gets the chance.

ozmagazine.com /ozmagazine /ozpublishing /ozmagazine Oz Magazine is published bi-monthly by Oz Publishing, Inc. 2566 Shallowford Road Suite 104, #302 Atlanta, GA 30345 Copyright © 2022 Oz Publishing Incorporated, all rights reserved. Reproductions in whole or in part without express written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. This magazine is printed on recyclable paper.

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LISA FERRELL Feature Story: Someone Call A Medic, p.40 Lisa Ferrell has worked in series and tele-film development for such companies as CBS, Lifetime Television/Hearst Entertainment, NBC and TBS. She has served as Executive Producer for several of Atlanta’s foremost post production, motion capture and VFX facilities. After starting Lisa Ferrell Productions in 2016, Lisa worked on numerous projects for such clients as J Walter Thompson Inside New York, Hartsfield Jackson Airport and music videos. Currently, Lisa works as a Producer / PM in emerging technology, i.e., Motion Capture, Volumetric Capture, AR / VR for GSU’s Creative Media Industries Institute.

MARCH / APRIL 2022

CONTENTS

OZCETERA

FEATURE STORY

A compilation of recent news and hot projects from and about the Georgia entertainment industry

Public Relations Influencers: Mitch Leff & Melissa Simpson of GEPRA

COVER STORY

FEATURE STORY

Paige Simpson Celebrates Success

Hospitality in the Time of COVID

22 26

FEATURE STORY

Billy Johnson Never Left the Service Industry

Someone Call A Medic Veteran On-Set Medic, Stan Swofford

March / April 2022

OzCetera Lakeith Stanfield, Donald Glover and Bryan Tyree Henry of "Atlanta"

TV Series “Atlanta” Set to Make LongAwaited Debut This Spring

early four years since the conclusion of its second season, FX’s “Atlanta” is making its highly anticipated return. The Emmy award-winning show that originated from the mind of Donald Glover, an Atlanta native, received a quick renewal for a third season and was expected to return in 2019, but plans have since changed and FX has recently announced a release date of March 24, 2022. In the show, Glover plays Earnest “Earn” Marks, an ivy-league dropout and music manager trying to make it in the rap scene with his rapper cousin Paper Boi. From the start, he is mostly broke and struggling to raise a son with his 4

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ex-girlfriend, but when Paper Boi lands a hit single, Earn starts chasing down opportunities. Along their journey, they encounter various socio-economic issues revolving around race, poverty, status, and parenthood. Critics loved the creative combination of comedy, drama, and surrealism, and the show won an astounding two Emmys, a Golden Globe, and a Peabody Award in its first couple seasons. Glover also won many individual accolades and was praised for his fantastic work as both star actor and creator. The unfor tunate delay bet ween seasons was originally the result of

Glover’s mass popularity. His projects range from directing and starring in his own movie with Rihanna to touring the world with a ‘Number One’ song under his rap alias Childish Gambino. His schedule kept him too busy to return to “Atlanta” until 2020, in which filming was then pushed back another year due to COVID. Fortunately for fans, season 4 was filmed subsequently after season 3 filming wrapped, so viewers can expect a much shorter break between seasons as the fourth season is set to release later this year or early 2023!

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Atlanta-Based Gray Television Acquires Major Broadcasting Networks

ray Television, based in Atlanta, continues to expand their reach through the purchase of Capital Media Group. The deal features the sale of WKTB-CD, which broadcasts Telemundo Atlanta as well as Korean networks, and Surge Digital, a full-service digital marketing agency. This acquisition goes along with a flurry of recent moves including a deal with Meredith Corps to acquire television stations CBS46 and Peachtree TV. The television broadcasting company is now one of the largest broadcasters in the United States with over 180 stations in 113 markets. Plans are also in the works to acquire the land in Doraville formerly occupied by a General Motors plant in order to build their own film studio. Gray Television CEO Hilton Howell said in a press release: “Together, our Atlanta media properties will be better able to grow their local audiences, serve local community groups, and provide unparalleled opportunities for local businesses to reach consumers.” Telemundo Atlanta, the largest Telemundo affiliate on the East Coast and Capital Media Group’s primary operation, was started in 2009 by Susan Sim Oh and her brother Coline Sim. The station broadcasts live news in Spanish three times a day and has had wild success, earning 61 Southeastern Emmy Awards. Fortunately for Gray, the siblings will continue their work with the television broadcasting company and assist them in their nationwide expansion, given that Gray owns several other Telemundo networks in 12 markets across the United States. “We know that Gray shares our deep commitment of moving the community forward and we are excited for the opportunities that Gray will bring to our employees and audiences,” said Susan Sim Oh in a press release.

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March / April 2022

OzCetera Jasmine Alexander

Sandbox VR Ready To Launch First Georgia Location

ith ten locations in the United States and 16 worldwide, Sandbox VR is thriving in the virtual reality entertainment world. Now, their sights are set on Georgia, and they have recently announced plans to turn a 5,500 square-foot space at The Interlock in West Midtown into their seventeenth venue. A trip to Sandbox features a truly unique blend of full-body motion capture and VR technology to create a socially immersive gaming experience. Equipped with a VR headset, haptic vest, backpack, and motion sensors on their wrists and ankles, players can be anyone and anywhere they choose in a state-of-the-art virtual world. They can free-roam various realms alongside friends and complete

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missions such as a family expedition in the Star Trek universe or hunting zombies in a haunted mansion. “We've been getting a lot of requests to open a store in Atlanta. We focused on West Midtown due to the popularity of the restaurants, nightclubs, and destination fashion/home furnishings. We also work to be located in close proximity to office and tech companies for corporate events,” said the global vice president of real

estate for Sandbox VR, David Friedman. As Sandbox continues to experience exponential growth in the industry, they have created tremendous in - house experiences such as Deadwood Mansion and Curse of Davy Jones to go along with their licensed centerpiece, Star Trek Discovery. They have no intentions of slowing down either, since the gaming and entertainment space revolves around constant innovation.

March / April 2022

OzCetera

Tyler Perry Studios Partners With NonProfit Vets2Sets

yler Perry Studios is ready to join efforts with the non-profit Vets2Sets to give army veterans more opportunities in the Georgia film industry. The main objective of the non-profit’s program is to provide entry-level positions for veterans looking to climb their way up the ladder, and the future is looking bright with the addition of a big-time studio like Tyler Perry! Perry’s studio company, has operated out of the old Fort McPherson army base in Atlanta since 2015, and is one of the brightest stars in Georgia’s film industry. Vets2Sets is optimistic that Atlanta is ready for a focused recruiting push. “Cooperation with this powerful studio at the center of Atlanta’s burgeoning place in motion picture, television, and

commercial produc t ion is huge for Vets2Set,” said president and co-founder of Vets2Sets, David Cohen. The program has found great success in their skill-matching process between veterans and the needs of the production companies within their databases.The veterans are often proficient within a range of abilities such as drone flight, truck driving, electronics, construction, and security, which makes them great candidates.

Currently, most of the veterans on the roster are based out of New York and California, but thanks to the partnership with Tyler Perry and other businesses like Vetlanta, Vets2Sets is primed for a big push in the South. Perry’s studio comprises 330 acres, twelve sound stages, and a huge backlot which will provide opportunities abound for veterans looking to develop their careers.

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Jenny Slate and Charlie Day on set of I Want You Back

Rom-Com Uses Atlanta As The Perfect Backdrop Atlanta gets a lot of love in the film industry for its ability to recreate cities like Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco for a fraction of the cost that it takes to actually film at those locations. However, a certain romantic comedy, I Want You Back, that just dropped on Amazon Prime chose Atlanta for its location and personality. “I didn’t want to shoot in Atlanta and pass it off as Los Angeles,” explained director Jason Orley in a recent interview with Atlanta Magazine. “I said, Let’s embrace this place and romanticize it. In any good romantic comedy, the city is kind of a character. I wanted to take these really contemporary characters and put them in a world that felt real.”

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment. SINCE 1990

The new movie starring Charlie Day of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and Jenny Slate of “Obvious Child” and “Parks and Recreation” follows two recently dumped 30-something year olds as they help each other hatch elaborate plans to win back their exes from their new lovers. Filming took place in the spring of 2021, and the crew was able to film in many iconic Atlanta spots, which were less populous at the time due to COVID. The movie follows the two main characters around the city as they work downtown at the Peachtree Center, have lunch at the Silver Skillet, hit up the Plaza Theatre to see Con Air, take a walk at Piedmont Park, have some drinks at Atkins Park and Halo

Lounge, and support the Braves at Turner Field, which is not technically where the team plays anymore, but still provides a great backdrop as an iconic Atlanta location and a deep part of Atlantan history. “Everything feels so confusing with the pandemic, and there’s something comforting about rom-coms. You know what to expect. You know how things are going to play out,” said director Orley. “With I Want You Back, hopefully, you get to go on a fun ride, get thrown a few curve balls, and live with some very fun characters. That’s why I wanted to make this right now.

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OzCetera Revery VR Bar

Georgia Opens Its First Virtual Reality Bar

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A new form of entertainment has come to Atlanta! Revery VR Bar in Midtown is the first of its kind and offers a mindblowing virtual reality experience where adventure-seekers can have a drink while enjoying out of this world technology. The bar is open Monday-Wednesday from 2 P.M. to 12 A.M. and Thursday-Saturday from 2 P.M. to 2:30 A.M. Once there, gamers have the chance to rent a semi-private room for 30 minutes to an hour. Each room comes with a personal bar and a wide range of virtual reality games where players can journey through hundreds of different adventure scenarios. For anyone hesitant to jump right into the immersive world, the games are live streamed on LED screens in the room. Along with a DJ every Wednesday and Thursday to keep the crowd lively. The menu features sparkling draft cocktails, stirred and shaken drinks, boilermakers, various beers, and wine/sake to go along with a short list of snack options. Additionally, Friday and Saturday feature $6 daiquiri nights from 6-8 P.M. Revery was founded with the goal of creating a unique and unforgettable group experience where friends or colleagues can connect with each other in a profound and meaningful way in a brand new setting, which they are certainly accomplishing!

March / April 2022

OzCetera Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey To Produce Film Adaptation Of The Color Purple

arlier t his mont h, O prah W infrey revealed additions to the already starstudded cast of the upcoming remake of Alice Walker’s iconic novel The Color Purple, w hich has prev iousl y b een adapted into both a film and musical. Filming for the remake will begin in Atlanta this March! Oprah, who made her acting debut starring in the 1985 film version, surprised actress Danielle Brooks of “Orange is the New Black” with the role of Sofia in an ABC News special. Brooks played the same role in the Broadway adaptation and was even nominated for a Tony award in 2016. She will also be joined by another member of that Broadway cast in the new

film: super-star singer Fantasia Taylor, who will again play the role of Celie. “It has been a vehicle for magic and purpose in my life,” explained Oprah in a recent interview with Vanity Fair. “I don’t know anybody who’s ever been associated with it whose life didn’t get enhanced. Everything comes from the original words of Alice Walker, which were grounded in love, really…and that just gets passed on and passed on and passed on.” With Blitz Bazawule directing and an impressive list of producers including Oprah and Steven Spielberg, who directed the 1985 film adaptable, the new film is set for a revamped score and a magical cinematography experience.

Upon the original novel’s release in 1983, The Color Purple took the nation by storm with a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Walker became the first woman of color to win such an award and set the stage for the book’s first movie adaptation, Broadway musical, and BBC Radio series. The story follows Celie, a poor black woman fighting to survive in the American south in the early 20th century, and the trauma she endures being separated from her sister and struggling to overcome racism, abuse, and poverty.

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OzCetera Chris Pratt of Guardians of the Galaxy

The End of an Era for Guardians Of The Galaxy

nfortunately for Marvel fans, writerdirector of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise James Gunn has recently announced that he will be ending the franchise with its third volume. The good news is that Vol.3 will be released worldwide in theaters on May 5th, 2023, and is expected to send the franchise off on a tender note. Gunn aims to break the well-known curse of the final films of trilogies being dissatisfactory. "For Guardians 3, the script has basically been written for a long time," explained Gunn. "I've been playing with it in little ways over the years, but

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment. SINCE 1990

it's basically stayed the same since three years ago. It's pretty heavy actually. It's a heavier story, so it's an emotional process to go through." Vol.3 is currently filming in Atlanta and will return with the regular cast of the famous Guardians of the Galaxy, starring Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Bradley Cooper voicing Rocket, and Vin Diesel voicing Groot. The film also plans to welcome a couple new characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Will Poulter will play Adam Warlock and Chukwudi

Iwuji has an undisclosed role af ter receiving high praise from Gunn as one of the best actors he has ever directed. To b u i l d u p m o m e n t u m f o r t h e franchise, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will premiere on Disney+ sometime around Christmas. The special will run just under 40 minutes and include important canon knowledge related to the plot of Vol.3. The highly-anticipated franchise finale joins two other Marvel Cinematic Universe films releasing in early 2023 AntMan: Quantumania and The Marvels!

March / April 2022

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Check Out The Amazing Spots “Sweet Magnolias” Filmed

he Netflix Original Series “Sweet Magnolias” is based on the popular romance book series written by Sheryll Woods that takes place in a charming South Carolina town called Serenity. Starring JoAnna Garcia Swisher as Maddie, Brooke Elliot as Dana Sue, and Heather Headley as Helen, the pleasant small town vibes further cultivate a feel-good series that draws viewers in. Sadly, Serenity is not a real place, so the film crew had to look outside of the fictional world for a location to capture the magic expressed in the books. The scouting process began, and many major southern cities were considered including Baton Rouge and Charleston, but none of them compared to Covington. Home to about 14,000 people, the small Georgia city is the perfect match for the sweet southern feel of Serenity. This is not the first time a big production has come to Covington either. The city is the backdrop to popular shows like “The Vampire Diaries” and “Sweet home Alabama,” and IMDb lists about 300 more projects having filmed there. Covington has the ideal aesthetic to film a show, but it is really the welcoming attitude of the town that attracts filming. These citizens know what it is like to have a film crew in the area and are able to facilitate the process smoothly for everyone involved. "The police force, the various store owners, they welcomed us," said producer Daniel Paulson to The Covington News. "Some places may not be as welcoming and friendly." Locals will recognize many Covington landmarks if they watch the show. Dana Sue’s restaurant Sullivan’s is really Mystic Grill, which was also used for filming in “Vampire Diaries.” Exterior shots for the show featured downtown Covington spots like the Law Offices of Tommy Craig and the Lee-Porter House. Occasionally, the crew would venture out to nearby towns to film. A common trip is the 30 minute drive to Henry County Middle School in McDonough to shoot scenes for Serenity High School. Another location is closer to Atlanta at Oakhurst Presbyterian in Decatur, where all the interior and exterior shots for Serenity’s Prince of Peace Lutheran Church were filmed. Through the magic of Georgia’s cities, Serenity has come to life literally and figuratively.

Tammy Williams: First Black Woman To Own MultiMillion Dollar Film Studio In Atlanta

ammy Williams is ascending to Tyler Perry levels as a high-powered film producer in Atlanta. Williams, a veteran of the film and entertainment industry, has experience with many forms of content creation ranging from documentaries to network news. Her incredible portfolio aside, Williams is breaking records; she is now the first black woman to be majority owner of a $135 million film and postproduction studio, as per the Atlanta Journal Constitution! Along with her business partner Gary Guidry, an investor and CEO of Black Promoters Collec tive and G -Square Events, Williams founded Cinema South Studios after a successful career in the

industry. She began her career working fo r l o c a l te l ev i sio n s t a t io n s i n t h e southeast and eventually opened her own production company, Tammy’Dele Films, in 2016. We’ve been patient,” she said. “This has not been an overnight thing, this vision for us.” Cinema South Studios will be located just north of Fayette County, and construction is set to begin in March. The facility will include eleven soundstages, a back-lot, a prop house, a wardrobe rental facility, a lighting grip rental house, a transportation company, and an office building with theater and post-production capabilities. The project will take at least

a few years to complete, but Williams hopes for two of the sound stages to be operational by the first quarter of 2023. “The demand for soundstages is happening globally, and the ownership rarely looks like us, let alone an African American woman,” said Guidry. “When I choose to invest, I evaluate the need of the business and the ownership. Investing in Tammy Williams and her team of professionals convinced me that buying the land in Fayetteville, GA was a sound decision with the talents of her at the helm.”

March / April 2022

OzCetera

Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming Set Their Sights On Lindbergh

killshot Media and Ghost Gaming are combining forces to create a premiere Esports destination. Todd Harris, CEO of Skillshot Media, recently started up a new gaming platform called Resurgens Gaming which will operate as the parent company of Skillshot Media, an Esports production company, and Ghost Gaming, an Esports brand with a team of professional players. The Resurgens Gaming headquarters will be located along Piedmont Road in the promising Lindbergh area of Uptown Atlanta. The facility will provide office spaces for both of its subsidiaries who plan to continue operating under their respective brand names. As a part of the new deal, Todd Harris is now the CEO of Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming, along with Nabil Ismail,

co-founder of Skillshot, assuming the role of President. The managing partner of Phoenix Capital Ventures, Andrew Steinberg, will then serve as chair of the Resurgens Gaming board. The headquarters will feature a 35,000 square -foot atrium with live Espor ts events, and there will also be space for a studio, gaming rooms, and a classroom where the Georgia Film Academy will teach courses on Esports. Similar to the case of Georgia’s film industry, tax benefits have made the state a lucrative place for Esports production co m p a n i e s . T h e s e i n ce n t i ve s h ave motivated many recent moves like Cox Enterprises investing in Atlanta Esports Ventures, and the Atlanta Hawks starting their own gaming club.

A s per a 2020 E spor t s indus t r y report from the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, Atlanta now ranks as the No 1. city for gaming environment and the No 5. city for augmented reality and virtual reality gaming. “The same city infrastructure that supports Atlanta’s sports teams benefits this industry as well,” said Harris. “The international airpor t and hospitalit y industry are robust enough to support live events. Atlanta competes with Dallas, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles for the title as top Esports city.” Resurgens Gaming plans to star t hosting live Esports events as soon as this spring!

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Georgia Film Industry Continues To Soar We Make Concepts A Reality Georgia’s film production infrastructure undergoes another big expansion as OPTIK Studios opens their second extended reality stage. The Norcross studio is 25 miles north of Atlanta and has all the desired cutting-edge technology to create immersive digital environments for high-level content creation. OPTIK is not the only Georgia location to add extended reality stages. SCAD recently built one at their Savannah campus and are currently in the process of building a full film studio around that stage. Trick 3D Studio and Music Matters Productions operate another extended reality stage in Peachtree Corners. Trillith Studios is in the process of building a similar type of stage as well. Set to be finished in April, theirs will include the same virtual production technology but will be much larger at 18,000 square-feet, which will establish itself as one of the world’s largest virtual production facilities. The purpose of the extended reality stage is to create a 360 degree virtual background using wrapped LED screens to immerse the film and crew in a world of their own design. This cuts down on the time and money spent for on-site shooting at specific locations because the stage can recreate any digital environment. This innovative technology first took off when “The Mandalorian'' premiered on Disney+ after filming at a Los Angeles extended reality stage. Virtual production got started with simpler designs like projectors and green screens and has quickly evolved into extended reality stages that constantly reach new heights of innovation. The jump in construction of these filming locations is only further contributing to Georgia’s ever-growing film industry, which surpassed the record for direct spending in 2021 with a total of $4 billion. “In terms of engineering, we’re at the tip of the iceberg with this technology,” said Nick Rivero, co-founder of OPTIK Studios.

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BY: NOAH WASHINGTON The Entertainment Industry can be a dangerous minefield. Very few have been able to walk through it, let alone know the direction to step in. But Paige Simpson walked through it, built a cottage, and put the Hollywood sign on the hill; her name being whispered in the winds of Hollywood. Due to the anti-hero era of television, we have been programmed to think that all entertainment executives are tall, intimidating, white men with amazing hair. This may very well be accurate for certain companies, but the inspiring thing is that more and more people of color are breaking the door down and entering these key decision-making roles. One of these gamechangers is Paige Simpson. Simpson started her foray into the great unknown freshly coming out of Spelman College in 2009. Continued on next page...

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

March / April 2022

Cover Story

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

me was that as a producer, you need to know your weaknesses and who can best cover those weaknesses. Amy came from the film world so she had an in-depth knowledge of both TV and Film and she was more than willing to share that. I appreciated her hiring me without prior experience. Most of my colleagues had come from management or agency desks. I jumped into the big leagues with a power player and I was so blessed to have a few great colleagues, Dave Binegar, Jessie Dickvotsky, and Jake Perlman. Those 3 amazing humans were able to teach me how to run a very busy desk. For 2 years, I was almost always the first one in and the last one out. I wanted to actively show how dedicated I was to not only the company and Amy but to the projects we were working on. As an Executive Assistant, I was able to sit in on pitch meetings, meet with writers and producers and give feedback on cuts. I attributed those things to my hard work and not being afraid to ask," Simpson said. But Paige's elevator ride to the top didn't stop there. She began working for Will Packer Media (WPM) as the Manager of Scripted Television. While there, she worked on "Ambitions," a T.V. series for OWN that starred Essence Atkins, Robin Givens, Brely Evans, Brian White, and Kendrick Cross as well as "Bigger" for BET+ that was showrun by Devon Shepard. "Will Packer is the ultimate salesperson. He also has a way of inspiring people that I've never seen before. ‘Ambitions’ was my first time being in an on-set supervising producer role and he would just say ‘Follow your gut, you got this.’ Did I fail? Sometimes. But most of the time, I succeeded and I will attribute that success to the amazingly thoughtful cast and crew. Our Line Producer, Dianne Ashford, works a lot in Atlanta. She literally knows everyone. When I had questions or needed support on a decision I made, she was right there. When I needed to cry, pray, and laugh I would go into the Hair and Makeup Trailer to find Wankaya (Head of Hair Department), Essence Atkins, Brely Evans, and Robin Givens. After we wrapped, a few of us went to Cuba together to relax and Brely and I took our moms to Hawaii. I may have cried our entire last day of filming.” "I learned a lot on how to physically produce while on set in Atlanta. Working

at WPM was the first time I worked with an Atlanta-based crew. It was good to be able to hire several diverse department heads. It's also important we all had the same goal, which was to make something good, something we would be proud of.” "I was raised to respect everyone and treat them with kindness. Every position in every department is important. I want everybody to feel seen, and you can't have that with people who are treating you with anything less than respect.” Simpson even spilled the beans on working with members of the crew, "As a producer, members of the crew could have possibly arrived two hours before me. When I leave, members of the crew are often still there. They are dealing with heavy and potentially dangerous equipment, and it is my job to make sure they get home safely to their loved ones. During late nights members of the crew would often make sure I got back to my car safely after we wrapped. It truly felt like a family.” Simpson's time at WPM would come to an end as her elevator continued to go up. She would land the coveted position back in L.A. as Head of Development and Production at Scrap Paper Pictures. A production company with a first-look television deal at Amazon Studios and founded by "The Marvelous Ms. Maisel" star, Rachel Brosnahan. One of Simpson's goals while at Scrap Paper was to develop material that highlighted marginalized and underrepresented groups, an ethos that she and Brosnahan shared. She would describe working with Brosnahan as: "A truly fulfilling experience. It was great to have a partner that saw you and understood where you were coming from and we shared similar ideals. Rachel has one of the biggest hearts in the world, she knows how to hold space for others. She listens with a caring ear and is willing to trust you. We both love not being the smartest in the room so we would constantly try to work with people who we would learn from.” While at Scrap Paper, she would go on to develop and produce the all-female comedy special, "Yearly Departed," the synopsis reading: “Women comics say goodbye and good riddance to 2020, closing the book on a year that saw a pandemic, protests and a divisive election, Tiffany Haddish, Sarah “

"Out of college, after studying for the GRE and getting a few jobs, I thought that I would try acting. I got headshots and took acting classes at Aaron Speiser’s Acting Studio with Anthony Gilardi. I then went on my dream audition, ‘The T.L.C. Project’. People were always telling me that I looked like Chili. I was very excited to go on that journey, but sadly I didn't get the part. But I knew that I still wanted to be a part of the industry. The only two things that I knew were acting and casting, so I went to work for Casting Directors Tracy ‘Twinkie’ Byrd and Michelle Adams. While there, we worked on a few projects, such as ‘Being Mary Jane’ and The Start Up with Diggy Simmons, but one that was critical to my journey was Fruitvale Station. I had the opportunity to work with the amazing creatives, Nina Yang, Ryan Coogler, Forest Whittaker, and Michael B. Jordan. I remember Nina, Forest, and Ryan being huddled in a corner throwing out words like Plot and Character Arc. I heard those words before, but never in this context. Nina was sharp and collaborative, Forest and Ryan seemed to really respect her opinions. Unsure of her job, I pulled Nina aside and asked what she did and when she told me that she was a Producer, I knew that was something that I wanted to do. Being a Biology major, I always had my notebook and pen with me. I was rapidly scribbling down every word she said. Nina gave me valuable advice, such as: watch ‘good’ and ‘bad’ projects, read a lot, believe in yourself, have an opinion, and most importantly, being humble yourself because you will have to work from the bottom up. Funny thing is, I didn't believe her, though, when she said ‘you will work from the bottom up.’ I had a college degree. I went to Spelman. I knew I would probably be the C.E.O. in the next two years." Simpson would be wrong about her upward climb. She would find herself the executive assistant to Amy Israel, the Senior Vice President of Original Programming at Showtime. Amy covered shows like "Master Of Sex," "SMILF," "Black Friday," "The Affair," and "Billions." "Amy taught me so much in terms of development. She is a beast. I appreciate everything she taught me over the years. At Showtime, you get exposed to the best of the best when it comes to projects and creatives. One of the lessons she taught

Duri ng l ate ni ght s m e m b e rs o f t h e c rew wou ld of te n ma ke s ure I got b a c k to my c ar s a fe ly a f te r we w ra p p e d . I t t r u l y fe l t l i ke a fa m ily. Paige Simpson

Silverman, Rachel Brosnahan, and others eulogize the year that never seemed to end.” Simpson's self-described strength is the ability to bring amazingly talented people together, which she did and more for this comedy special. "Yearly Departed" was met with such commercial and critical success that Amazon gave it a second edition. The star-studded cast for the newest entry commemorating 2021 included host Yvonne Orji, with eulogies delivered by Jane Fonda, X Mayo, Aparna Nancherla, Chelsea Peretti, Dulcé Sloan, and Megan Stalter, and a musical performance by Alessia Cara. The second edition was similarly met with critical and commercial success. But Paige's role as Head of Development and Production at Scrap Paper Pictures would also come to a close. Recently she was hired as Vice President of T.V. at 21 Laps Entertainment, a production company founded by Shawn Levy who has notably worked on "Stranger Things," “Shadow and Bone,” and Free Guy. These are just a few of the notable works that have been done by 21 Laps. "I have always been a fan of Shawn's work. I loved Cheaper by the Dozen, Arrival, Night at the Museum, and Real Steel. I wanted to learn to box after Real Steel. Shawn’s passion and hunger for epic,

diverse storytelling was what really drew me into this opportunity. I am aggressive about telling stories that matter and entertain while working with good people, and he is the same way. Shawn puts his whole weight behind his work and his team. And when I tell you the team at 21 Laps is brilliant! Literally everyone! I’m so excited for the world to see what we’ve been working on. I'm so glad that I can work at a company that houses people that have such a passion for what they do. It's an integral part of the job." Even though Simpson's job title refers strictly to television, she does have the space to make features, and even though she is only a few months on the job, she already has multiple projects in different stages of development. She couldn't talk about anything in great detail, but some of those productions are coming to Georgia. All of these projects harken back to Simpson's desire to highlight marginalized people(s). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Simpson was able to increase her writer knowledge and relationships outside of the traditional LA scene. Technology such as Zoom and other innovations have allowed her to find writers that fit projects more precisely. Writers who bring their own personal, unique experiences to the table.

"A lot of the projects I am developing center marginalized and underrepresented voices. I am working on a project with a production that I have always wanted to work with. We have an overall deal at Netflix on the tv side and I think they are amazing to work with. They are extremely collaborative and honest. Some of the best partners to have.” But just because Simpson has reached the stars doesn't mean she can't go any higher. "I would love to work with Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama's company. I want to formally work with Forrest Whittaker and Denise Davis, who is one of my mentors and a Producer on ‘Insecure.’ It would be cool to continue to work with more new talent in front and behind the camera.” Simpson's final words of wisdom were what most of us hear growing up, but upon stepping into a position of power, it morphed into a profound lesson that deserves to be repeated: "For anybody who wants to do this job, you have to understand that you will hit several roadblocks. Don’t let that stop you. Ask for help. Surround yourself with people who understand the mission and will help you achieve that mission. Creating great content is a team sport.”

March / April 2022

Never Left The Service Industry By: Kevon Pryce Photos Courtesy of Recording Academy® Atlanta Chapter

Crossover Entertainment Group, like many businesses here in Atlanta, is operated by one of the most genuine, hardworking, and innovative people in the city. His name is Billy Johnson. Hailing from Tulsa, Oklahoma, born of a mother who was a trained pianist and a father who had a knack for sales, Johnson had an upbringing that surely shaped him into the man he is today. From moving from Tulsa to multiple cities across the United States while he was a grade schooler, Johnson finally settled in Atlanta at the tender age of 12. Having moved nearly every year up until this point, Johnson formed a passion for cultivating lasting relationships with every new person he met. With this attitude, he was able to foster and nurture relationships in the music business that would last for decades. 26

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

Derek St. Holmes & Billy Johnson (Lead singer & guitarist for Ted Nugent)

is journey into entrepreneurship was not one straight path. From working in bars and clubs, he was able to hold on to the two things he cared about most: music and people. During this time he was able to learn the ropes of live audio and gain control of the live acts that performed at the clubs. From booking to setting up the lighting and leasing out audio equipment, Johnson had found his purpose. He went as far as learning to broadcast these live performances in the club directly to the radio. Everything began to come together; Crossover Entertainment Group was forming without Johnson even knowing it yet. Crossover is now a true one-stopshop that many artists call home. It consists of a 20,000 square-foot rehearsal and production facility that also sports recording studios and a live music equipment rental house. Artists come to Crossover and are given everything they need, as well as receive an experience of hospitality that is unmatched. Since being officially in business since 1992, Johnson makes it a priority to make artists feel at ease.

Oz: Tell us about how Crossover got started. Johnson: After working with the band Tom Grose & The Varsity as their production manager in the late 80s, right before they went on tour, we couldn’t find any rehearsal space here in Atlanta. We had to travel to Nashville to get the space we needed. While in Nashville I discovered all of these rehearsal places that were basically for major touring artists. I asked the owner of one of the studios if I could pick his brain about this part of the music business. He took me around the studio and showed me all the ins and outs. After this I definitely saw the need for a space like this in Atlanta. The timing was perfect because during this time LaFace Records was just getting to town. My partner Luther Randall and myself went on the hunt for a building that we could do production and live rehearsals in. We found the building we’re in today and bought the building and to our benefit, Robocop 3 was filming in Atlanta. Production decided to rent the building for 6 months and they went ahead and upgraded the electrical, plumbing, and security system. When they gave us the

keys back it was pretty much where it needed to be. We then partnered with LaFace Records to do a showcase for their parent company Arista records, where we turned our large Studio A into a showcase room for acts such as Goodie Mob, Outkast, TLC, Toni Braxton. The timing is really what launched us. Oz: What made Atlanta the home for Crossover? Johnson: Nashville is the music city and for the most part all the record labels and all the recording studios are really in a small area. At one time there were probably 35 music labels on Music Row, and several recording studios, and down the street from that were the clubs artists would perform in. Everything was consolidated. The city of Atlanta is different; it’s spread out, and during the time we all, in general, lived in different parts of what they call Metro Atlanta but there weren't a ton of people living here at the time. For example, when you look at New York, there’s this entertainment circle you have to penetrate, but once you’re in you’re exactly where you need to be. Now, Nashville was known for a few March / April 2022

genres, there was Christian and Country, but Atlanta has several different genres: there's Gospel, Jazz, Hip-Hop, R&B, and Rock. There are all these different circles. They’re kind of like the Olympic rings and you have to choose which one is which one you want to penetrate. This was the perfect city to tackle all of those genres.

B.O.B. & Billy Johnson

Oz: If you were to describe Atlanta’s music scene in one word, what would it be and why? Johnson: Dynamic, because it’s constantly changing for the better. One of the things I noticed was that no one person is responsible for this growth, it’s everybody. You see this in Hip-Hop especially. People here are proud and love their city. The people who live here are so creative, I can’t really explain what that is, it’s huge. I’m doing what I do because I didn’t want to be sitting in an office, sitting in the same place for 30 years, but guess what? I’m here 30 years later doing that same thing at Crossover, but everyday is different. It’s the people. Everyday I’m around 20 or 30 creatives and I feed off their energy, and to me that’s amazing. Oz: You’ve seen live shows over the past few decades get pretty immersive. Where do you think the future of live music lies? Johnson: Personally, I think live music will never go away. I was surprised that it was able to even be stopped in these past two years of COVID. I’ve seen live music change when the world decided to shift from analog to digital, so I know that technology is a big part of changing the live visuals. With the switch from analog to digital, when people were able to now buy songs for $1 instead of buying a $21.99 CD, the music business now had to work harder for their money. This worked out for Crossover because the business began focusing more on live performances. I prepare people for tours, I do festivals, I rent equipment to festivals, and people rehearse here prior to going to those same festivals. I view live [music] entertainment, kind of like I do a sporting event. When you go to a football game you know that it’s going to be a historymaking event because nothing is going to

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

be repeated in the same way even though they have the same players, same time allotted, same referees, etc. Live music is also a history-making event; the concert you went to and someone else didn’t, you’re going to experience something they never experienced because it’s history making. They might play the same songs in a row, but each time they perform it’s different. Also what I noticed during these live shows is that we keep setting the bar higher and higher and that’s great because it creates competition. For example, when Beyoncé comes out and she has a hologram flying through the air, now Lady Gaga has to top that. We’ve created competition for the entertainment dollar. As technology advances, everyone has to adapt and the benefactor of that is that fans are now getting some of the most entertaining shows. The next show fans go to, they’re expecting a little bit more and the artist knows this.

Oz: How has the pandemic made you adjust? Johnson: Everything I told you so far was all pre-pandemic thinking. What the pandemic did to the music industry was force entrepreneurs to think outside of the box. We here at Crossover had to think of new ways to generate revenue because everything that we did was affiliated with a live component. Every aspect of our revenue stream went away completely. I furloughed all of my employees and I

took the time to look at what was really going on in the industry and noticed that some people were able to jump onto things from a visionary standpoint. I began to notice people would livestream from their homes. That’s all well and good except now you’re looking at the fireplace with the deerhead on the mantle, the cats running around the background, you’re just inside people’s homes. Visually there is nothing there to really hold you. After seeing that, I wanted to change the visual part of these livestreams, so then I did the scariest thing in the world, which was to spend money when there was no business at the time. I decided to upgrade our internet upload speed, bought new lighting setups, and turned my studios into appealing sets to see on camera. At the time, we couldn’t have too many people in the building so I began inviting local solo artists to come in and test it. We were doing multiple of these to just get the word out that we had the capability of doing this. As time progressed to where we could start getting more people in, I started getting calls from my clients saying they had tours that were ready to launch, so they would come down and livestream with us. The pandemic was an opportunity for a restart. A lot of the ideas I had in my head, such as thinking I had to do more things on the technological side, the pandemic forced me to actually do it. People would say to me at times, “You only did this out of fear.” Fear is when you step off the curb when the bus is coming and you freeze. Survival is when you step off the curb when the bus is coming and you jump over to the other side. I was in survival mode. Oz: What does the average day look like at Crossover? Johnson: Our hours of operation are 10am to 12 midnight, 7 days a week. So, in a sense, I run two shifts here. I manage to stay in the music business and work a normal 9-5 job, and I created it that way. I come in and I open up myself. The atmosphere in each room, the cleanliness, the scent is what I care about. My whole thing is, and I learned this in the club business, is that I come in here and I walk from the front all the way to the back. I walk in like I’m a client, if there are fingerprints on the front glass doors,

Michele Caplinger (Executive Director Recording Academy w/ Kaskade & Billy Johnson

I’ll wipe them off. I go to the bathrooms, I set the lights the way they need to be set, I get everything set up as if this were a restaurant opening for lunch. After everything is set, I go to the calendar to see who’s coming to the facility next, see if I have a load-in for a tractor trailer, and instruct my staff on what we need to prepare for the day. Also a lot of my day is spent advancing technical riders, the client gives us the stage plot, then my people lay all of the equipment out exactly as it is on the stage plot. Our idea is when the artist walks in the door, they can immediately get started doing their sound check. We do all of the behind the scenes production work prior to the artist coming. The calendar really dictates how the day goes. If there’s any down time at all, I research what tours are coming up and start laying the groundwork to have them come to the facility. If all the studios are booked, every 20 minutes or so I’ll pop my head in and ask if there’s anything I can do for the client. I really learned this from the service industry; it really taught me attention to detail. Oz: If you were to have known Atlanta would be this big in the music scene when you began, what would you have done differently?

Johnson: I would have pursued multiple genres at a time. Kris Kross was my first rehearsal, Jermaine Dupri was 18 and the boys were 12. At the time, I didn’t know that Hip-Hop and R&B would grow so fast. During the time what was touring here was Rock, Modern Rock, R.E.M., Edwin McCain, Shawn Mullins, and Indigo Girls. Again, I’ll say the timing was perfect because LaFace Records was just getting started here. What I ended up discovering was the actual name of the company coming true. The name of the company is Crossover and I pursued what I thought was right at the time and realized going forward that there are so many different genres operating in Atlanta. I used to think that whatever was hot at the time, I had to go after, and that was a mistake because there were all of those different genres to explore. In the beginning I pursued the band R.E.M. I had a fax machine, I looked up who their management was, and faxed them a layout, an overview, and photos of the business. A year later, I got a call from R.E.M. saying that they wanted to come here and rehearse before they recorded their record. They were going to rehearse here then go record in Miami. When they got here, after being here for only two days, they came into my office and said

they wanted to record at Crossover. At the time, we weren’t a recording studio and they told me not to worry, they’ll cover everything, they just loved how the room sounded. They locked down the building so they could record; I only had one other room that I could rent at the time. I then booked this group called Arrested Development for the other room. I was thinking these are two totally different genres of music and they would never understand each other. After about a week of them both being in the facility, R.E.M. comes out and asks me who’s recording in the other room and I tell them Arrested Development. Michael Stipe, the lead singer said to me “You mean Speech?” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “I love him, can I meet him?” I then asked Speech, “Have you heard of the band R.E.M.?” He said, “Michael Stipe?” I said, “He wants to meet you.” He replies “Oh my God.” They then spent the next 3 hours in the lobby talking about music. At that moment I realized that this is Crossover.

March / April 2022

Public Relations Influencers

itch Leff and Melissa Sanders, cofounders of the Georgia Entertainment Public Relations Alliance (GEPRA), shared with us their words of wisdom when it comes to working in Public Relations. Leff and Sanders, coming from independent PR firms, have combined their expertise to create a diverse team of PR professionals to better serve clients with all types of needs. Their careers are driven by their main inspiration: following their passions and integrating what they love into their work.

What made you want to work in PR? MITCH: My journey to a career in public relations took a circuitous route. My undergraduate degree was in finance, which might have sent me to a career in banking or financial services. But I’d spent several years in college running all sorts of on-campus activities, from concerts and dances to travel excursions and film screenings. All of that came with all the accompanying marketing and PR. My first job was as an account coordinator at Cohn & Wolfe Public Relations, then the largest public relations agency in the Southeast. I worked on a range of accounts in sports (Goodwill Games, Olympic Games, several Super Bowls), technology, healthcare, and consumer products. The sheer variety of clients got me hooked and here I am more than 30 years later! I grew a strong expertise in writing and media relations and in a few years I was the agency’s Media Relations Supervisor, working on clients around the country. MELISSA: As a musician and athlete, my two passions were always music and sports. But I was also a good writer and found I had a flair for it when I was in high school. I must admit, when I settled on studying journalism in college I wasn’t focused on public relations, but advertising — I didn’t really know what PR was at the time. I ended up in the PR sequence at The Ohio State University as a backup when the Journalism school reorganized. Fortunately, I quickly realized I was in the right major. While at OSU I also joined the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), hoping it would bring me some clarity of where I should focus my career. After a meeting one evening, I went to look at the internship bulletin board and I saw a pink flier for BalletMet, who was looking for a PR intern and it all clicked for me. I realized I could do what I loved for something I was so passionate about — I got that internship and enjoyed every moment. I also interned with a PR agency (which I was not fond of because the clients were not inspiring for me), and then finally interned with my PRSA mentor at the opera. That’s when I knew I was in the right place and wanted to work in the performing arts. I only applied for

performing arts jobs, and after MUCH persistence and MANY interviews all over the country, I was offered a dream job with the New York Philharmonic. The rest, as they say, is history. Who did you work with before you started your company, and what did you learn that you carry on today? MITCH: I worked for Cohn & Wolfe public relations, then Edelman PR, and GCI Group. In 1999, I was lured away from agency work to a position as Director of Public Relations for Turner Learning, the educational division of Turner Broadcasting Systems. There I managed PR for programs across many Turner properties, including CNN, Turner South, Cartoon Network, TNT, the Atlanta Thrashers, and Turner Classic Movies. The agency work taught me how to manage client accounts and teams. Every manager I worked with taught me something: persuasive writing, creative event production, and the vital importance of attention to detail. One of the most important lessons was the power of creating and nurturing strong and lasting relationships with journalists. MELISSA: I started my career on the public relations team of the internationally-acclaimed New York Philharmonic (New York City, NY) handling PR for concerts, international tours, a record label, television broadcasts, and more. After moving up the ladder there during my 11 years, I moved to Atlanta to broaden my music scope and head up PR for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, as well its Youth Orchestra and Chorus. This included concerts, a record label, Carnegie Hall performances, Chastain concerts, and the opening of the Ameris Bank Amphtitheatre (formerly Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre). After 7 years there, I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to work with another venue and even more diverse music at The Green Music Center (Sonoma County — yes, wine country. It was divine if you must know!). I oversaw communications, marketing, and promotions spanning genres of classical to country and jazz to rock across three venues including Weill Hall, Weill Hall and Lawn, and Schroeder Hall (which we opened while I was there). When I left that last role we moved back to Atlanta so I could launch Tadpole

Communications to truly expand to all sectors of entertainment PR. And truly, there really isn’t another city in this country where music, film/tv, and gaming/esports are all thriving at the same time in the same place. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be temporary (until I found a “real job”), or long-term. Seven years later, here I am. I have learned so much from these experiences and the people I worked with, but what stands out is what has always been at my core: do what you love, do it for something you are passionate about, and always maintain your integrity. By following this my entire career, I am able to always offer my best because I truly love what I do and love those I work with — I think this shows in both the relationships with my clients and in the results we produce, whether it’s an esports event, a new album, or a venue opening. Besides your own companies, which PR firm do you admire today and why? MITCH: CarenWestPR (www.carenwestpr.com) has built an impressive roster of lifestyle clients around the country and always impresses me with their creativity and results. Melissa Libby & Associates (www. thinkmla.com) is the agency I think of first for restaurant PR. Through ups and downs in a challenging industry over the last years, they’ve remained successful. PRecise Communications (www. precisecomm.net) is another agency I admire. They are well-known for excellent services focused on multicultural communications. MELISSA: Leff & Associates for sure! Honestly, I greatly admire Mitch and what he has built. I also really admire all of the independent consultants and small PR Agencies who do not have the infrastructure or financial backing of the bigger, more traditional PR agencies. Those are the agencies in it for the client and are fortunate to also make a living doing what they do, and doing it well. These folks may not win all the awards or get listed in all the “best of” lists, but you will always hear about them and the stellar work they do making a difference and impacting their clients in massive ways.

March / April 2022

Talk about how you both ended up working together on some of your projects: MITCH: Melissa and I have known each other for many years, but we really hit our stride together in 2015. We created the Georgia Entertainment PR Alliance together, and began partnering on other clients including Georgia STAND-UP, PC&E, Esports Week, and many other projects. Why do we sync so well? I find Melissa to be a top notch PR strategist, an excellent writer, and cursed with the same attention to detail that I need in a partner! MELISSA: When I moved to Atlanta (the first time) in 2008, I was introduced to Mitch through a colleague, so we’ve known each other now for many years. But when I moved back here from California in 2015 (the second time) and launched Tadpole, we connected in a different way as colleagues and friends. When Mitch shared his brilliant idea of creating what is now the Georgia Entertainment PR Alliance (GEPRA.net), it was a game changer. GEPRA is a collective brain, if you will, of about a dozen independent counselors or small agencies who collaborate to serve the entertainment industry not just in Georgia, but all over the country and world, from music and tv, to film and esports. This is where our partnership really grew into how we are working together with each other and our other PR colleagues today. We are very like-minded and carry the same integrity for our work, but also have a lot of fun. Talk about the difference between PR and Advertising: MELISSA & MITCH: In simple terms, PR is earned media and advertising is paid media, but the reality is that public relations encompasses so much more than working with members of the press to tell a story. We always say public relations helps to create and sustain an environment in which our client/ company/brand can achieve its goals most effectively. We do that in a number of tactical ways, but there is always a strategy built around that concept. How do you choose angles for a story pitch? 32

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

MITCH: Some story pitches write themselves. A company introducing an innovative new product or service has very specific points that are very clear. But for some clients we’re creating more of an overall brand campaign, so the pitches become a bit more subtle, focusing on delivering “key messages” we’ve created for the client. But some of our great success comes from proactively identifying story opportunities and connecting journalists with “subject matter experts.” One day that’s setting up an interview for a business professor for a story on inflation. The next day it’s an interview with a magazine with a studio CEO talking about the importance of Georgia’s film industry tax credit! MELISSA: It depends. Sometimes a great story is just staring you in the face; sometimes you have to dig to uncover one. But talking to people is absolutely necessary for a good story. Then I ensure it will help my client’s objective to tell this story, and be sure it’s engaging and appropriate for the outlet and journalist I’m approaching. Relationships are everything. Solid, genuine stories help. Never be afraid to pitch — the worst that can happen is they tell you “no thanks.” Talk about the process of creating a media placement. MITCH & MELISSA: We start by identifying an angle we think will appeal to a journalist and their media outlet. The next step is to create a very short “pitch,” a way to offer the reporter the key points of the potential story as briefly as possible. We deliver that by email, text, social media DM, or in some cases even by an old-fashioned phone call! When the reporter lets us know they want to do the story, we prepare our client for the interview (often with a little mock interview practice), and set up the interview in person, by zoom, or by phone. Often we’ll help provide photos or video to be used in the article, or facilitate the media outlet shooting their own. What media placements are you most proud of to date? MITCH: I’m still proud of my first media placement

from the San Diego Union Tribune in 1989! It was for an exhibition of Russian art sponsored by the city. In 1999, I placed a story in USA Today around an educational outreach for a new production of A Christmas Carol on TNT starring Patrick Stewart. And finally a story on the CBS Evening News with one of our business professors from the Goizueta Business School about the “great resignation.” MELISSA: There are a few, but one that stands out for me was The Late Show with David Letterman (when he was still there). I have always loved brainstorming and coming up with new ideas, and anyone who knows me knows I'll lasso the moon if you let me! In my first years at my first job, I had actually met a producer at The Late Show and kept pitching her the idea of having the New York Philharmonic play on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater. This went on for nearly two years and no one thought I would ever make it happen. When we named a new music director for the Orchestra, I reached out again to see if this new angle would make a difference. A few weeks later she called me and said: “Melissa, you’ll never believe it. It’s finally going to happen. They want the Orchestra to play on the roof!” I nearly fell out of my chair. It was insane pulling it all together, but it happened and it was an amazing experience. Creative persistence paid off. How do you present the results of your work? MITCH & MELISSA: We like to do monthly summaries so clients can see what we accomplish month to month, and we often do wrapup reports at the end of a project (sort of like a case study) where we’ll summarize the number of placements and the size of the audiences reached. We do share media results (and related data), but often what we are tasked with is measured in ways beyond media coverage, so we prefer to look at our successful work more comprehensively. Since social media came into the picture, was it a game changer? How do you integrate it with PR? MITCH & MELISSA: The addition of social media elements isn’t a game changer, but rather a “game

enhancer.” Earned media strategies continue to be a key tactic for most of our clients. We tend to view social media as a strategy in our PR plans and we collaborate with both the marketing and social teams (if the client has them) to ensure we are collectively going after the same goal and maximizing our efforts together. Social media has definitely been a catalyst for a shift in how we approach PR, but the digital ecosystem as a whole has been the real game changer. What was your most creative and effective campaign? MITCH: As the COVID pandemic struck in March 2020, our client at the Construction Education Foundation of Georgia was literally in the middle of its largest annual event, a CareerExpo at the Georgia World Congress Center where 5000 students were learning about career opportunities in construction and skilled trades. As schools nationwide began announcing shutdowns to begin March 16, the event was canceled after the first day. In an effort to keep their audiences engaged, we decided that Facebook offered the best way to reach students, parents, teachers, and partners. We worked with the client to develop key messages, a schedule of guests for the year, and overall content strategy. Some months were entirely themed, some episodes connected to events such as “National Women in Construction Week,” etc. To host the series, we engaged Kayleen McCabe, a nationally renowned DIY TV host, contractor, and speaker, and titled the series “Lunch with Kayleen McCabe.” MELISSA: About a year after launching my agency, I was approached about a gaming festival coming to Atlanta for the first time. I’m not a gamer, mind you (do Candy Crush and Among Us count?), but I was thrilled to branch into another sector of the entertainment industry; and since they wanted an agency who specialized in entertainment PR, it was a great fit. A GEPRA colleague and I met with them and were ultimately hired to handle the PR to launch the event. That “event” turned out to be the Stockholm-based gaming festival, DreamHack (which is part of ESL Gaming, the world's largest

esports and gaming lifestyle company). DreamHack had only been in one other U.S. city prior to that: Austin. We only had about six weeks to introduce, plan, promote, and launch a global gaming festival in Atlanta that encompassed everything gaming under one roof during a three-day, 24-hours-a-day event with 30,000 attendees — from professional and amateur esports, to a cosplay championship and music concert, to panels, screenings, an expo and more. I was officially indoctrinated into the gaming world with that event! It was exciting, stressful, and incredibly satisfying. And, don’t mind if I do say so myself, we rocked it. I have since been fortunate enough to also launch and oversee the U.S. PR for DreamHack events in Denver, Anaheim, and Dallas, while also continuing festivals here in Atlanta, along with other ESL initiatives and projects. Esports is the fastest-growing sport in the world, so it’s amazing to have gaming companies on my roster among the music, tv/film, and non-profit clients. Covid certainly hit that industry hard (much like music and film/tv), shuttering events and forcing competitions online. This year, we will finally see a return to in-person events and I can’t wait to be a part bringing those back! Have you ever had to manage negative media attention? Or how would you handle a PR crisis? MITCH & MELISSA: Absolutely. Issues management is a regular PR task that often goes overlooked; this is when we look to see if volatile situations and news trends could be connected to the client or company, and then prepare to respond if it does. Dealing with an actual crisis is a different beast — one we have each had to tame more than once. Sometimes we may have a lot of time to prepare for something you know will become a crisis (such as a pending labor strike), and sometimes they come out of nowhere (such as as a shooting). Regardless, we tend to approach them all from a place of honesty and integrity, and counsel clients to do the same. We hate the “spin doctors” out there who give the rest of us a bad name. Probably all of our colleagues agree with telling the truth and being honest. If you’re hiding something or lying, believe us — it will all come out eventually.

What is the best part of being a PR professional. And what is the part that makes you drink? MITCH: The best part is working with multiple clients on any given day. That’s also sometimes the part that makes me drink, when multiple clients have news to release the same week! MELISSA: The best part for me is just being in a field I’m passionate about. I truly love what I do and get to meet some of the most tremendous people, tell amazing stories, and see amazing events come to life. Sometimes that calls for a celebratory drink all on its own. But this can also be a super stressful field … to enjoy a glass of my favorite wine is often a nice close to a day like that. If someone came up to you and asked, “how do I get into PR,” what would your recommendation/s be? MITCH: Find an industry that you’re passionate about and start there. That might be sports marketing, food, fashion, technology, or entertainment. Many agencies specialize in these industries. Look for internships during your college years. MELISSA: I think public relations is more about the kind of person you are. We PR people are natural storytellers, and we find stories in the most unusual places and at the most unusual times (and we love it); we are networkers who love running into our colleagues, journalist friends, and clients no matter the place or time; we love making connections among others so when the tide rises, we can all rise with it; we are strong writers and editors; and we are always “on” — whether it’s a 4am idea or a 5pm revelation. I truly believe you either have it in you to do this or you don’t. If you do, believe me, you’ll know. So take that skill, apply it to a field you are passionate about, and go lasso the moon.

March / April 2022

HOSPITALITY I N

T H E

T I M E -

O F

By: Alexa Rachelle Jennings

Image Courtesy of Live Nation 34

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

C O V I D

e are all on this collective journey-maybe a collective trauma depending on who you are talking to-but we can’t ignore the fact that we are all going through it, together. COVID has been by our side faithfully for the past two years. It put a pause on our day to day functions, it wreaked havoc, and caused panic in Americans. We couldn’t find toilet paper. We are STILL in this pandemic and it has made a lasting impact that will affect us for some time to come. Social industries like hospitality and events were affected heavily by COVID. As large crowds are gathering and people are wearing masks less, I think we can all agree that the world has shown us that human interaction is more important than being locked inside and isolated. Naturally, I wanted to talk to a few people and get insight on their experiences through the worst of the pandemic, and how they are making a comeback as regulations are loosened and gatherings become more frequent. These people have something in common: the film production world. Though they don’t work directly in film, they have a huge impact on the industry and are thankful that productions stuck around and found a way to keep people employed.

KARYN KOTLER WITH LIVE NATION Karyn Kotler is a Senior Director of Sales at Live Nation. “When I started 10 years ago, I had one venue, The Tabernacle… We have six venues in the market. The indoor theaters are The Tabernacle, Buckhead Theater, and The Roxy. Outdoors are Chastain, Ameris Bank Amphitheater, and Solaris Bank Amphitheater.” Kotler explained that in March of 2020, everyone thought this virus would be short lasting, but then quickly realized that was not what was going to happen. When the world went under lockdown, her company furloughed the majority of their employees, and she was “the last man standing” because of her senior position. Live Nation kept only 10% of employees during this time, and Kotler was one of them. As grateful as she was to keep her job, times became stressful as she fought to keep business coming in. “The first furloughed employee came back in March (2021), but that was one person. By May, we got most of our furloughs back. There were people who were laid off that didn’t come back and there were positions that were just eliminated. Where I had one venue then, I have three now, and that’s permanent.” “Out of the six venues, I was the only person booking for events and filming, but also postponing other clients that had events at that March / April 2022

time. I was so busy throughout the entire pandemic… Fortunately, because we had dates available for all of our venues and we didn’t have any concerts going on, I was able to capitalize on the film industry… I’ve done filming events throughout my career, but availability is always an issue. We did television, catering holds, and live streaming concerts where it’s just the performer streaming from the venue.” As concerts were phased out due to increasingly strict regulations, Kotler made adjustments that really worked in her favor. They had more time for people that typically wouldn’t get a spot in these venues because of concerts and conventions being canceled. These venues were able to hold weddings and church services, on top of the productions. She says conventions are just now coming back in March of 2022 and beyond, so she is seeing another shift in the industry that went away for quite some time. Companies are still doing virtual events, so it may take a while to go back to the “old normal.” “...Conventions postponed to future years, and that’s what I do. Mostly convention events…the filmings sustained us and kept some of my people employed. If it wasn’t for the film industry, a lot of people probably would’ve been laid off.” Something Live Nation adapted to was the virtual event. “As soon as we knew we weren’t going back to work, we were on the forefront of creating new event types because nobody was doing anything. People couldn't gather, so that’s how we created, what we call, ‘socially responsible events.’ We created the micro wedding… virtual events, regional events, and drivein events…So it’s like creating a whole new

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

paradigm. Did people do virtual events before? Sure, but now everybody’s doing it. There’s a virtual proponent to everything. Graduations were virtual, or they were socially distanced and streamed so people who couldn't come could still watch it.” “The pent up demand for concerts is so big there are no dates available for me to book anything right now. I book 6-16 months out…so if I’ve got a client calling me today and they are looking for dates in May, there’s not a lot going on. There’s not a lot available even in October. We are a year round business, so that’s the challenge now…Concerts are booking in a shorter time frame and canceling also because of Covid…The booking window is shorter for all of us and it’s a lot of last minute stuff. You don’t have as much lead time anymore…The other thing that changed is that the cost of doing business has increased by 20-30%...Things are backordered. We have a brand new screen that we want to hang but we can’t hang it because we don’t have the motor. The motor is sitting on a ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean. So it still affects everything.” “As a company we joined forces with our competitors. Having a unified message to appeal to Congress because there are a lot of gig workers and they’ve all just completely lost their income and they didn’t qualify for unemployment…That’s the majority. So we created a fund called Crew Nation. So there are really good sides to it as well. You see people reach into their pockets to help.” Kotler has clients that work with her time and time again. She states, “The relationships are my favorite part

of the job. I got to work with some of my favorite film scouts that I hadn’t worked with in a while or that I wanted to work with and it just hasn't worked out. The other cool thing is that they would book The Tabernacle and then two of my other venues, so we got to keep it in the family...I think working with some of my favorite people over multiple times for multiple venues was probably the best part of it.” “We had to follow government guidelines all along…You have to social distance. It was constantly changing. You can have up to 100 people, now you can have up to 800, but you have to be six feet apart and you have to wear masks unless you’re eating or drinking. All of our staff are still required to wear masks, and for our public events, like concerts we are requiring vaccines or negative covid tests within the last 48 hours. Company wide. Now, private events, we leave it up to that production…The film industry gets tested at least three times a week and they’re very safe. Which is what is great about our venues. 40,000 square-feet, you can definitely social distance! …I think that was a big factor in people selecting our venue as well,” in addition to their event spaces being so unique. Kotler’s outlook on the event world is positive; “I think people are dying to come back to what we know as normal. I think the future is bright. It’s not gonna stop. People were sitting in their houses for two years. They haven’t traveled for two years. They want to have fun. They want to celebrate, they want to have a party, and we sell fun.”

STEVEN EISENSTEIN WITH CLASSIC TENTS AND EVENTS Speaking with Steven taught me that not everyone’s business struggled during the pandemic. At Classic Tents and Events, they flourished. Eisenstein is the Chief Event Officer and part owner of the company. Classic Tents and Events has been around for over 20 years, but he purchased it with Karen Alcock in 2010. “We serve the sporting market, concerts, retail, movie productions, educational events like graduation ceremonies,” as well as many other event outlets. During the shutdown in Georgia when everyone else stopped working, Eisenstein’s team was put to the test. Business did slow down a bit, but they were able to take that time to focus on enhanced employee training. Most of the time, their training takes place on site, so the pandemic was good in the sense that they were able to unwind and make training a priority. Classic Tents cross-trained their employees to be more versatile within the company and capable of fulfilling multiple roles. If someone is unable to work because of illness, someone else has the ability to step in, which wasn’t possible before. So, in this time, they became more prepared for the business to come, and they did their best to stay ready. Their typical clientele made quite the shift as annual festivals were canceled and hospitals needed tents. Fulton County contacted them requesting tents for their COVID testing sites; they’re still in use to this day! When people were trying to figure out whether or not to cancel weddings and bar mitzvahs, a lot of them decided to cancel their venues and planned their events at private residences with added tents. “We are in touch with the people in our industry, so when we all hunkered down and tried to figure out what was going on, we all relied on each other. We talked to other industry professionals in other cities and had daily discussions… where we all tried to figure out how to get through this. It strengthened our relationship with others and we all kind of went down this rabbit hole together and helped each other the best we could… we added new equipment that we didn’t

Classic Tents and Events 20 meter x 40 meter tent

have in our inventory…We added a lot more handwashing stations with hand sanitizer. We added different types of walls. We used to use pipe and drape. Those pipes now have vinyl on them so it’s able to be cleaned easily. We came up with a lot of separation tables, like little dividers so people could have their own little sections… There’s been a lot of new items that have come through covid that were also added to our inventory.” Eisenstein believes these new additions to their inventory will be around for a while because of their usefulness. The biggest challenge he said they faced during this time was the unknown. Not knowing anything about this virus. Not knowing who might get sick or what might get canceled, along with the uncertainty around how they could adjust. Because they were so busy, they couldn’t stop the show, which is where their training came into play. What really helped was that they were able to apply for and receive a PPP loan, and although there were a few employees that they were forced to part ways with at the beginning, they were able to add fifteen more jobs in the past few months. “I think people are going to still want to continue to do stuff. There’s a lot of pent up demand and a lot of events are gonna go on now, a lot of festivals are happening,

they’re on the books, the annual events that used to happen, are going to go on again. I think different events will think of things they need to be wary of and be proactive to make sure people are safe and comfortable enough... So we are trying to take those precautions to make sure people keep going to events.” “We’ve got a great staff here and we are still looking for staff, but we’ve also found ways to be more efficient by adding more mechanical systems. We are also members of the LMGI, which is the Location Managers Guild International. We typically serve the location managers for what we do. They tell us all the different scenes that they’re going to be working on and we help them solve their needs and figure out what size tents can fit there and provide different equipment that we have or inventory to help them. We’ve been blessed to have the movie production business here in Georgia and we know it’s here to stay for a long time and we are glad to be part of that and enjoy working with movie productions here in town. We always try to help others as well so if we don’t have something, we like to tell people where to get it or we’ll rent it for them and bring it over to them. We like to try to be a solution based company to help make memorable events.”

March / April 2022

The Classic Tents and Events team

MS. B WITH MS. B’S CRAFT SERVICES Ms. B’s time during the pandemic hasn’t been easy, but it has been steady since Film and TV productions came back after a long hiatus because of COVID. She founded Ms. B’s Craft Services in 2008 while working in event catering. “I was asked to do a wrap photo shoot for a Tyler Perry production and it was for brunch. One of my clients asked me to do this for her in 24 hours for 75 people, so I did. And it was an overwhelming success to the point that the executive producer wanted to see me. And when I went to see him he goes, ‘Oh my god that was some of the best food I’ve ever had.’... So he hired me to work on a TV show. That’s how I got into the production industry. After I worked on that show, we disbanded and people were calling me to work on different shows and I never looked back. It kept growing and I realized, this is a business. And that’s when I decided to get more trailers and I got vans and I grew with each show. And that was back in 2008. Film wasn’t as big here back then so 38

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

I got in at the right time. It was different in how I did it because people in crafty typically were not chefs and I’ve been to culinary school…my passion has always been food.” It’s clear Ms. B is very proud of the business she’s grown and the hard work she has put into its success. It goes to show that if you put in the time and effort, people will always flock to you. But even with a strong passion and work ethic, it’s still difficult to stay afloat at times.. When the pandemic started, her team was working on three to four different productions and everything was brought to a screeching halt. One day they had work and the next they didn’t. It was a very scary time for Ms. B. “Thankfully there were all these programs coming out for small businesses and I was eligible because I had been in business for so many years. I went through all the steps and they looked at my company as if I was a viable business.” That helped keep Ms. B’s Craft Services afloat until productions came back by mid-September and October of 2020. Once they began working again, Ms. B says, “We immediately learned

that we had to have more people on set. Typically an average crew would be just two people, one on set and one in craft services. We could no longer do that because everything had to be handled by craft services only…We used to have big bowls or salad or hotel pans of food. We could no longer do that, we had to individually package everything. So it was not as easy as it once was. Then we would have a runner because someone had to be there to hand everything to everybody. One of the things I initiated before the pandemic was that I didn’t like everybody touching forks and straws and so I always used covered flatware. I think that’s a good change because of COVID. So it was an easy transition... At the beginning of 2021 the shows were going down a lot because somebody tested positive. And they were testing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, sometimes Tuesdays and Thursdays. I would try to keep the background separate from the basic crew because I didn’t want any cross contamination. It was trial by error and we now do it that way.”

Ms. B doesn’t work on set anymore, and does mostly administrative work for her company, but she makes sure to hire trained chefs, as she feels it really makes a difference. One thing that has changed is she can no longer visit the set. They don’t allow visitors anymore due to COVID. If she wanted to check on her team or talk to the producers like she used to, she’s not allowed. The camaraderie with the crew isn’t the same for her anymore. It’s straight to business, so she hopes that does change one day. “I miss having beautiful presentations because I think food never makes it to your mouth if it’s not pretty. Now I’m talking to my people about how the food has to look in the packaging. I really love what I do because it’s food. I loved that the trailer was a kitchen and all my trailers have a prep station. It’s a salad and sandwich prep station and I used to have all kinds of sandwich meat and salad fixings. And they could go into the trailer at the prep station, put on their gloves, and make themselves a sandwich. And I loved it.” “I think that we've come a long way since the beginning and I feel like we are

on our way [to normalcy]. You can’t ignore it, we are just learning to live with it. The difference between 2020 and 2021 was that we had to learn how to work with it. It’s just working smarter.” All I can say is I hope to be on one of Ms. B’s Craft Services sets one day-everyone has such great things to say about her food. She has high standards and sticks to them. It’s clear that in spite of tough times, we can always find ways to adapt. As humans, we are built to go into survival mode and do what we have to do. These people and their stories of adaptation and innovation show us what is possible. As we tread further into 2022, and (hopefully) further away from the pandemic, we are adapting more and more to our changing environments. Rest assured that if you are ready for an event large or small, you can rely on these great people to have a venue prepared, or a tent if you want to be outside, and the food to complete the day.

“ I wou l d t r y t o keep t he backg r ound s epar at e fr om the bas i c cr ew be ca use I d i d n ’ t w an t an y cross con t ami n at i on . It wa s t r i al by er r or and we n ow d o i t t hat wa y .” MS. B

March / April 2022

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

Veteran On-Set Medic Stan Swofford Answers Georgia’s Call By Lisa Ferrell

magine for a moment that you’re on a movie set and hours of pre-planning have gone into executing a difficult and potentially dangerous action scene. Of course, they go as planned most of the time – stunt coordinators do know what they’re doing. But what if the unthinkable happens? Who do you call? What do you do? If you are on-set medic Stan Swofford, you don’t have to imagine it – you’ve lived it!

March / April 2022

Stan Swofford

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

“There was a fight scene on [the movie] Furious 7, and a stunt guy crashes through several full walls of glass into a hallway, then through a glass handrail barrier which had the handrail attached to the railing with a compression fitting with a glass railing. They had done all this preplanning for the glass to break. The only thing they didn’t factor in was where the railing attached to the glass, it did not break – it was compressed,” Swofford recalled. “There was a compression joint there. And so, the guy landed on that piece – as luck would not have it – and it cut him. Bad.” Veteran Paramedic Stan S. Swofford, the owner of Production Medical Services, began his service in 1985 to provide on set stand-by medical services to the motion picture, TV, and commercial markets in the state of Georgia and throughout the Southeast. He has coordinated the teams of many highrisk major motion pictures and has handled the emergency medical services for other high-profile events and sports venues including music videos, the Atlanta Braves baseball team, the Atlanta Falcons football team, the Olympics and Peach Bowl sporting events, PGA golf tournaments, and major concerts.

Stan standing in front of Atlanta South Motorsports Safety team rescue truck. On set of Black Dog

“In 1985 my good friend [actor] Hank McGill was dating a wanna-be actress, she got some roles and introduced us to the film business,” said Swofford. “We later learned that film companies hired medics and Hank and Pete Mitchell got us started as set medics. Our first movie was The Annihilators which led to our first big one Invasion USA with Chuck Norris. The rest is history. I’m still working as a set medic 37 years later.” Swofford’s medical career, which began in the 70s, has mirrored the rise of the Georgia film industry. According to the Georgia Film, Music, and Digital Entertainment Office website, Georgia experienced some film production in the early 70s, but the industry really made waves on a national level in 1972 with the movie Deliverance which proved to be both a commercial and critical success. Former Governor Jimmy Carter, realizing the state’s potential, established the Georgia Film Office in 1973 “to market Georgia as a shooting location for future projects.” In that same year, Sonny Foster, the

owner of the Sandy Springs Chapel and Roswell Funeral Home, paid for Swofford and four others to attend Red Cross First Aid classes. Later they were some of the first to take Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training courses and upgrade to Paramedics. “The TV show ‘Emergency!’ had a huge influence on my getting involved in EMS (Emergency Medical Service),” said Swofford. The television series “Emergency!” originally aired from January 15, 1972, to May 28, 1977, on NBC and lasted for six seasons. When the series began in 1972, there were only two or three startup Emergency Medical Services in the country. After eight years of the show, almost the entire country was covered by some form of EMS. In 1974, Swafford became one of the first three Emergency Medical Technicians in Fulton County and served on the first Volunteer Rescue unit for Fulton County Fire. “Emergency Medical Service (EMS)

started in Georgia around 1972,” Swofford recounts. “Before that, you had Grady Ambulance in downtown Atlanta, other than that it was funeral homes that operated the ambulance services – not necessarily because they wanted to, but because they had the only vehicles that had a stretcher and could transport a disabled person.” Swofford continues, saying: “There was no 911 number, no Fire Department EMS, and few to no private ambulance services. Many people at the time would just dial ‘0’ on their hard-wired phones. They would get the phone company ‘Operator’ who would do their best to route the call to an appropriate funeral home or Grady dispatch. There was no coordination between the Ambulance, Fire Department, or the Police. Seems unfathomable these days.” Swofford’s experiences before he became a part of Georgia’s film industry are highlighted by several impressive “firsts” for the state. During this time, he served as paramedic in charge of the March / April 2022

ambulance on approximately 25,000 911 calls and his other major achievements include his serving on Lifebird 1 EMS Helicopter (the first EMS Helicopter in Georgia), the Metro 101 (the first Critical Care Mobile Transport vehicle in Georgia), and providing escort for the Presidential Motorcade EMS for Atlanta visits made by former presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush. There are different types of medics employed for every production: set medics, off-production medics, and the key medic. The key medic is the first medic hired for a production; they serve as the medic department head and are ultimately responsible for staffing the medical department. It’s a job with huge responsibility and is usually reserved for those who have demonstrated their ability to perform their job well on multiple films. With over 37 years in the industry,

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Swofford has earned a reputation for being able to get the job done. A veteran paramedic who has been involved in EMS since 1974, Swofford started working on movie sets early on in his career. Set medics are those that are assigned to work on set while filming takes place. They work closely with the stunt coordinators, the onset fire marshal, and usually assistant directors. They also attend meetings to see exactly how the day's film schedule looks, whether or not there are any potential hazardous stunts being performed, and what the exact plans are should something go wrong. With each production shot in the state, Georgia film union IATSE Local 479 – a chapter of The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists, and Allied Crafts – advises that someone who can administer first aid be present on the set.

However, most film sets, construction sites, and stunt rehearsals usually have at least one, if not an entire team, of set medics available to respond if things do not go as planned. “Furious 7 was the biggest stunt movie I ever worked on,” said Swofford. “It lasted seven months and I was in charge of all the stunt safety and managed 17 medics total – just not at the same time.” Furious 7 may have been the biggest stunt movie Swofford worked on, but it was by no means the only one that presented tense scenes – both in front of and behind the camera. “We were on Black Dog in Helen,” Swofford recalls. The stunt was to drive a tractor trailer down a mountain at 63 miles per hour, have it crash into a mobile home that was being towed, then flip over and roll three or four full rotations. The stunt man had baseball catcher shin

guards on, full shoulder pads, Nascar-style full helmet and he was secured with ratchet straps in several different directions. He executed the stunt perfectly and walked away with his only injury being a bitten tongue. We had a rescue truck, ambulance and EMS helicopter on site for that one.” “Another big one was Stone Mountain Park gondola on Fled. They ran the cable car partway up the mountain at least 10 stories, then staged a fight scene where the stunt man gets pushed out of the gondola and falls 10 stories to a giant inflatable air landing pad. They positioned the air bag by having the stunt guy lean out of the car and drop a small sandbag off his forehead, and if they miss it’s curtains. The stunt went well, no one was hurt.” The thrills of being an on-set medic don’t all come from the tense action scenes, though. There are some moments of levity.

“This isn’t medical but on the set of We are Marshall, we got a long rain/lightning delay. The producers decided to stage a crew talent contest for a $500 prize. One of the grips had been mastering his Matthew McConaughey impression but didn’t want to go on stage. After several of us chipped in some guaranteed winning money out of pocket he agreed. He nailed the impression with McConaughey in the room watching. The crew went crazy and the guy won first place. I never laughed so hard.”

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March / April 2022

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Oz Magazine March / April 2022

Articles inside

Feature Story: Hospitality In the Time of COVID

Cover Story: Paige Simpson

Feature Story: Billy Johnson Never Left the Service Industry

Feature Story: Someone Call A Medic