Thursday, January 18, 2007

BETJ Cool...Like That!












Producing at BETJ was a very rewarding experience! I worked there for 3 years including during it's transition from BET Jazz to BETJ, gaining 23 million viewers when they were added to DirecTV in March 2006. They are currently about to celebrate their One Year anniversary and I'm glad to have been a part of that history.
At BETJ, I traveled throughout the Caribbean producing one hour travel specials to promote network sponsored jazz and music festivals in Bermuda, Barbados, St. Lucia and Turks & Caicos. I directed talent including Kim Fields, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Freddie Jackson, Bebe Winans, Jeffrey Osbourne, and Leon. We had adventure upon adventure exploring the islands, enjoying the food and learning about the culture and of course, enjoying the music! I won a Telly Award in 2003 for the special I produced with Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Karen White in Barbados!
It was also at BETJ that I created my first television series, entitled "Influences." This half hour series is part intimate interview, part live performance! Over the years, I've discovered that quite a few contemporary R&B artists have strong musical influences in Jazz and Soul ( or in Ben Harpers case, folk music too!) .

This show was a way to "bridge the gap" between the new and older generations. I directed personal interviews with artists such as Meshell Ndgeocello, Dwele (Virgin Records), Floetry (Geffen Records), Ben Harper (Virgin Records), Raheem Devaughn (Jive Records), Anthony Hamilton (Jive Records), and Lalah Hathaway about their musical and personal influences. The artists also revealed how life events have shaped their musical journey. I also filmed the artists performing their performing their music live and intercut these elements together. This created a compelling half-hour of television that still airs today and became one of the most successful shows on the network!

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