Bylines 1/13/21: CityBeat and Cincinnati Magazine
I had two articles published this week from CityBeat and Cincinnati Magazine. I chatted with a filmmaker, an actor, a musician and folks who are turning Cincy into a music city. What a privilege it’s been to share these stories!
CITYBEAT
CINCINNATI MUSIC ACCELERATOR’S MUSIC BUSINESS ACADEMY AIMS TO END THE CYCLE OF STARVING ARTISTS
CMA serves about 300 musicians and compensates about 180 artists every year through bookings and events. As an educational institution, it aims to enable students to become entrepreneurs in the music industry.
“We’re providing you resources and educating you on those resources, how they work and operate. We take things that you use in everyday life, like your finances, trying to promote yourself, bringing in clientele,” says Lee. “We teach you how those subjects function and operate so that you better understand, ‘if I do this, I can apply that here’ and vice versa.”
A key component to CMA’s philosophy, Lee says, is that it’s not enough for artists to be talented enough to book gigs — they need to be able to handle their business as professionals. That means keeping track of capital, having business and savings accounts, sending invoices and maintaining a knowledgeable and professional demeanor when working with clients.
CINCINNATI MAGAZINE
LOCALLY PRODUCED POLITICAL THRILLER IS NOW STREAMING ON DEMAND
Newberry wrote, produced, and directed Who Is Amos Otis? as a stage drama in 2019. It premiered at Memorial Hall that September and was voted “Favorite Local Production” by Movers & Makers magazine. He says it was nominated and considered for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama.
Likened to such TV shows as The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror, the film offers a speculative take on a future shaped by real current events. The president in question remains anonymous, which Newberry says was intentional. He describes the unseen leader as “a ruthless type character” and “wannabe dictator.” “The story picks up after the assassination,” says the Cincinnati native. “I wanted people to create their own person, whoever they could imagine.”
Still, details from American history are woven into the script—including the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy—and the film shows scenes of political demonstrations and social uprisings that parallel those taking place today. Other social issues addressed include climate change and the mistrust of science, the dangers of political division, the rise of authoritarianism, and the intersection of media and politics. “I think the story is a cautionary tale of what can happen,” says Newberry. “When lies become the truth and when the truth becomes lies, democracy dies. That’s the pivotal question or statement in the film.”
