Squeak E. Clean Studios executive creative director Sam Spiegel, aka Grammy-nominated DJ, producer, director, and songwriter Sam i (formerly of duo N.A.S.A.), and Nashville production and songwriting vanguard Shmuck the Loyal have joined forces for a new collaborative project TRY–a name representing their core beliefs as artists and people striving for proactive positivity. They’ve released Chapter One of their debut album, an uplifting and optimistic project born from an inspiring and terrifying time.
Through that lens, TRY chooses the path of light, acknowledging the flaws of the world while choosing to find the beauty of the human experience. TRY’s debut is a sonic travelogue through every corner of electronic and pop.
Alongside the release, they’ve also shared a video, directed by Spiegel, for “Clarity” ft. EARTHGANG. In addition to his role as ECD at Squeak E. Clean Studios, Spiegel is repped as a director for commercials by Hey Wonderful. Massive synth melodies and a rippling chorus kick down the door and weave around the dexterous rhymes of the Atlanta hip-hop duo atop a sample of a song recorded at Angola Prison. The track is about optimism through the lens of hardship. A percentage of the proceeds of “Clarity” will go towards helping the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in Louisiana….
From Restoring To Hopefully Preserving Multi-Camera Categories At The Emmys
When Gary Baum, ASC won his fourth career Emmy Award earlier this month, it was especially gratifying in that the honor came in a category--Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Half-Hour Series--that had been restored thanks in part to a grass-roots initiative among cinematographers to drum up entries. Last year the category fell by the wayside when not enough multi-camera entries materialized.
In his acceptance speech, Baum appealed to the Television Academy to keep multi-camera categories alive. He later noted to SHOOT that editors also got their multi-camera recognition back in the Emmy competition this year. Baum hopes that after resurrecting multi-camera categories in 2024, such recognition will be preserved for 2025 and beyond.
A major factor in the decline of multi-camera submissions in 2023 was the move of certain children’s and family programming from the primetime Emmy competition to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ (NATAS) Emmy ceremony. For DPs this meant that multi-camera programs last year were reduced to vying for just one primetime nomination slot in the more general Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (Half-Hour) category. It turned out that this single slot was filled in ‘23 by a Baum-lensed episode of How I Met Your Father (Hulu).
Fast forward to this year’s competition and Baum won for another installment of How I Met Your Father--”Okay Fine, It’s A Hurricane,” which turned out to be the series finale. Two of Baum’s Emmy wins over the years have been for How I Met Your Father, and there’s a certain symmetry to them. His initial win for How I Met Your Father was for the pilot in 2022. So he won Emmys for the very first and last... Read More