writing samples pdf

Robert Ramsey – writing Samples
Robert Ramsey
Writing Samples
Boomerang Broadcast Promotion………………………
Boomerang Broadcast Promotion………………………
Boomerang Broadcast Promotion………………………
“The Frame” movie log line / website intro……………
“The Frame” movie synopsis…………………………..
Drum Cafe marketing copy……………….…………..
Lives and Stories marketing copy………………………
Alex Cooley Website copy……….…………………
Freedom Title marketing copy………………..….…..
BellSouth email marketing copy……………….….…..
BellSouth splash page marketing copy………….……..
BellSouth pop-up window marketing copy….……....
Art Papers magazine feature………….……………….
Art Papers magazine article feature……………………
“The Frame” press release………………………….….
Alex Cooley biography…………….…………………
The Lizzies artist biography……………………..……..
Insane Jane artist biography…………………………….
Mercy artist biography………………………………….
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Independent Film in Atlanta Gains Exposure with “The Frame”
What do survivors of the media implosion of 2000 do with all the time on their hands? Make independent movies of
course. Some highly skilled and under employed production veterans are putting their chops to work for arts sake.
Director Ian Thorne, producer Robert Ramsey and director of photography Greg Schneider have been a team for over
10 years, cranking out marketing communications for the likes of Coca-Cola, Time-Warner and Starz-Encore. Greg
puts it simply “We just decided it was time to put our skills to work on our own projects instead of someone else’s”.
Hibernating in Vermont for the last three years Ian emerged with a screenplay and a vision for “The Frame” a
contemporary neo-noir crime thriller. Enlisting the help of fellow dot bomb survivor, and award winning screenwriter
Oliver Perrin, and bolstered by the visual quality of new video technology, a plan emerged to shoot a movie using skills
and resources readily available. “I started my ‘professional’ life as a photographer, Ian states. “I would never do this on
video if I didn’t think the quality was there. We can make this stuff look like film”.
Ian is in the challenging position of being the movie’s executive producer and producer as well as director. “Ian scraped
together the Fifty Thousand dollars to make this movie happen, so I thought was important to show him ten times that
in production value” remarks Robert, the films producer and production manager. Ian chose to shoot in Atlanta for its
growing tax incentives, accessible locations and it’s recognition as a city friendly to independent movie production.
The team scoured Atlanta for a year to find the most interesting locations. Ian notes that “from a locations perspective
Atlanta is virtually untapped, it’s one of the main reasons I wanted to shoot here”, and with 30 locations in 21 shoot
days, the production crew is keeping Atlanta’s pavement hot. Some of the architectural treats are The Counsel House
Building and The Telephone Factory, both on the National Historic Register, and the downtown Macy’s building.
Castleberry Hill, the Mitchell St. /Trinity St. area and Sweet Auburn will lend urban grit and charm, and many will
recognize divey Atlanta attractions Dunk n Dine, The Claremont Hotel, and Buckhead haunted landmark, The Pool
Hall.
Ian acknowledges that the money would never cover the value brought out by friends of the production. Atlanta set
designer, Guy Tuttle, saved the production with some quick thinking when one of the productions locations fell through
at the last minute. And Mike Powell, City of Atlanta Building Inspector opened doors not generally available to
Independent productions. “So many friends stepped up with resources that have been instrumental to this production,
I’m not sure how it would have happened otherwise” Ian admits.
The psychological thriller will likely find audience with lovers of Hitchcock, Lynch and Kubric. Ian offers that “Really
it’s a treatise on perception and reality disguised as a crime drama. That said, viewers will recognize some iconic film
characters but also be served a sort of surrealistic vision of the noir style. A palette of muted tones, clean lines and
quirky angles are visually compelling, but also help push the edgy performances to the fore”.
In his debut performance Oliver Perrin plays main character Roe, a crime scene Photographer who gets caught up in a
conspiracy involving his father, a murdered detective. Film from Roe’s camera implies he was present at the murder of
the story’s femme fatale, played by dance instructor and first time actress Rachael Rollings. Michelle Kegley (work
here) plays Julie his concerned and confused girlfriend who enlists the help of Detective Pickens. Pickens, ex-partner of
Roe’s father and reluctant father figure is played by Steve Warren (work). Atlanta favorite Greg Thompson (work)
plays the dubious conspirator. And Atlanta’s own adult entertainment maverick John J. Cornetta holds his own as
Murphy, Roes FBI buddy.
Shooting wraps on Easter Sunday with a final tracking shot through Après Diem. The task of Editing “The Frame” will
be undertaken by Greg and Ian. The marketing plan will be spearheaded by Robert and Oliver. With a logo mark by
renowned graphic designer Stefan Kjartansson and main titles by film and broadcast designer Nick Rosendorf, the
package will be visually impressive and professional. “Our plan is to go to Sundance, Cannes, and LA festivals” Robert
comments, “lets see what happens from there.”
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Alex Cooley Biography
Alex Cooley is an international concert and music festival promoter, and a
household name among Atlanta’s live music fans. Born and raised in Atlanta, he
attended Georgia State University and the University of Georgia before being
lured into entrepreneurial pursuits. From humble beginnings, Alex has become
one of the most trusted and renowned promoters in the world. His ability to
realize the cultural value of live music has distinctly shaped Atlanta’s
entertainment landscape. He has helped save The Fox Theatre from demolition,
turned The Roxy and The Tabernacle into music landmarks, and filled downtown
Atlanta streets with the largest music festival in the country. The local
newspapers have charted his career calling him “The Mayor of Music” and “the
Guy who Brought Rock and Roll to Atlanta.” With four decades experience
buying music talent, promoting concerts, producing festivals and operating live
music venues, he has deeply impacted Georgia’s entertainment industry.
In the late 1960’s as war and civil rights issues raged in America, Alex found
himself at the Miami Pop festival. With a full roster of world class talent, the
experience opened his eyes to a new era of live entertainment. He instantly
wanted to bring this new phenomenon to Atlanta. Propelled by a desire to affect
the political and cultural isolation of the deep South, Alex organized the Atlanta
International Pop Festival in 1969. Featuring a lineup of more than twenty pop
and rock acts, the festival occurred a month before the famous Woodstock
festival in New York. The 2nd Atlanta International Pop Festival in 1970 was the
largest gathering of people in Georgia history until the 1996 Olympics. That
weekend “Woodstock Nation” descended on little Byron, Georgia in a stunning
display of common cause. By most accounts, those that came represented a
broad cross section of youth at the time. The Athens Banner Herald reported on
July 5, 1970 that “the majority of persons around the festival [were]
representative of middle-class and up Americana,” but to Middle Georgia,
Cooley remembers, “Aliens might as well have landed.”
The festivals were a symbol of Southern mainstream youth's growing acceptance
of rock and roll, and of the growing influence of countercultural values. They
also began a festival tradition of offering a diverse lineup and aiding the
discovery of new music. The events showed a clear demand for new music in the
South, and Alex tapped the momentum. In the years to come, he would host
thousands of rock and roll concerts at nightclubs, halls, theaters, auditoriums,
stadiums, and public parks in Atlanta and around the world.
As creator of internationally recognized Music Midtown Festival and the
historically significant Atlanta International Pop Festivals, he has been a driving
force behind Atlanta’s large demand for live music. The first major concert
promotion and production company in the south was Alex Cooley, Inc. in 1970,
and in the 80's founded Concert/Souther Promotions with longtime partner
Peter Conlon. By 1987 Alex had been inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of
Fame. He also set in motion some of the largest cultural events in U.S. history.
The Atlanta International Pop festival attracted over 150,000 people. The Texas
International Pop festival drew 150,000. By some estimates, The Second Atlanta
International Pop festival drew 500,000 souls in search of freedom and music.
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More recently the Music Midtown festival ran for twelve years and brought
upwards of 300,000 people. In 2004, he was awarded a Grammy HEROES Award
by the National Academy of Recording Artists and Sciences (NARAS) and he also
served on the Board of Governors for the Georgia Chapter of NARAS. Alex
represented Georgia and U.S. entertainment industries at the G-8 Summit by
request of Georgia’s governor, in 2004.
“It’s not time to go sit on the mountain yet,” he laughs. He sits back in his
leather chair behind a large desk. Piles of correspondence, financial statements,
research, books, movies, a computer, a cat and a dog vie for his attention. His
office sits in a separate building from his main house on Lookout Mountain.
“There are more things Atlanta can do to enhance its identity as a music capital.
I’d like to see Atlanta grow and prosper in many ways, I would like Atlanta to be
a place for groups and musicians to do really innovative great things.” In his
Midtown office where Cooley spends half of his time, he’s busy developing new
projects and granting speaking requests. His lesson from concerts and festivals
from The Atlanta Pop Festivals to Music Midtown is that live music still has the
ability to deliver ideas, and to build communities and cultures. “Music is a
molding agent. It changes societies. In medieval times, touring minstrels spread
new ideas from castle to castle. In modern times, it can be very powerful
because people have more access to musical instruments and more ways to
record and distribute it.”
Over the span of forty years, Alex has adjusted to the expectations of concert
goers, and the ups and downs in concert and festival markets. The amateur
architect, technology buff, armchair historian, activist, preservationist, and rock
and roll impresario lives by his world-view of “enlightened self-interest,” and a
core belief that there’s a lot more to life than money. “I’ve tilted at my share of
windmills. I guess if I’d gone into all of this with just money on my mind I would
be fabulously wealthy…and I’m not.” His focus on the talent and the audience,
has shielded him from the many changes in the music industry, proving that
long-term success in live music requires a focus on the experience. Through
thousands of productions and across decades Alex has never lost sight of his
main objective: To create a conducive atmosphere for artists and audiences,
where music can help make something even bigger happen.
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When former Nashville Pussy bassist Corey Parks met songwriter Savic Enn down at the crossroads in
Georgia, they began mapping a sonic imprint that resembles early Bowie, T-rex and Lou Reed and the dark
turmoil of Black Sabbath, the Sex Pistols and The Pixies. And like the female gang of the same name in the
70’s cult classic, The Warriors, “The Lizzies pack heat, man!” Half reptile and half human, these libertines
from the future are making a sound that is both deeply familiar and strangely alien.
Slavic’s deep voice is bizarre and beautiful evoking Iggy Pop and Johnny Cash. Weezers' guitarist Brian
Bell remarks that “Savics’ flawless song writing craft seems to come as easy as breathing to him” Writing
his punk pop gems in a trailer on a landfill in Athens, Georgia, Savic scoffs and dismisses the term “artist.”
“I don’t know what I am. Art is an event, it only happens between the work and the observer. All I do is sit
down and watch my hand bounce around the frets of my guitar and the words start coming out.” His
outlook on rock and roll, though, is a refreshing reminder. “When did rock become some kid whining about
his problems? Rock and roll can be anything…an alien’s perception of earth, or even a look backward at a
future event, if it wants.” After a few runs at songwriting with The Didjits’ Rick Sims, Meatloaf and Carlos
Santana, Savic settled down in Athens for a simpler life. His attention turned to more civic minded matters
like legalizing tattooing in Athens. His music, though, found its way through certain circles of rock
musicians.
Corey, also a fashion designer whose jacket was worn by Bono on the cover of the Los Angeles Times
Magazine, is one of the most recognized female rockers in the world. Her triumphs and tragedies have
shaped her into rock’s most ass-kicking bass player. When she brought the idea of forming The Lizzies to
LA scenesters Nate Shaw (Die Hunns) and Bryan Lee Brown (Bluebird) the buzz began. ,"We have one of
the most prolific songwriters of our generation living out on a 400 acre landfill, and if we don't form a
band, no one's going to hear these songs except the convicts he plays them for” Her love for the material is
echoed by Nate, the bands guitar player. “This band is all about the songs. Savic is seriously one of the best
rock and roll songwriters of our time. The material deserves our attention and people deserve to hear this
music.”
While recording their demo in The Pixies studio in Los Angeles, the band realized they had something very
special. Nate, who is also producing the demo, recalls that “people were showing up at the studio to see if
they could meet Savic, and some of LA’s most credible musicians kept calling to see if they could play on a
track.”
Their first release is a track on the independent Bomp/ Disaster Records compilation “Old Skars and
Upstarts,” with Motorhead and Turbo Negro among others. The song, entitled “Baby Black and Blue,” is a
hard rocker questioning a lover’s S&M tendencies. The song skillfully elicits an uncomfortable chuckle
with brilliant little quips like, “pleasure and pain / they’re the same just a different strain” and “what the
hell you gonna do / when I leave you feeling like you’re being used? / do you wonder if your heart can take
a beating too? / baby black and blue.”
The Lizzies are currently in the studio developing material for an upcoming album and looking at label
options in the United States and Europe.
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