Unlikely forces join to produce and fund student music video

As anyone with a vague knowledge of Michael Jackson might admit, there’s nothing like a good music video to shape a musician’s image. For this reason, among others, Yale senior and indie rock musician Laura Zax recently enlisted the help the of Columbia film group King Cub Productionsto create a whimsical video for one of her new songs, “Doctor, Doctor.”

Music videos, however, don’t come cheap. To raise money and promote her music, Zax and King Cub, in collaboration with Yale’s Bulldog Productions, an organization of student filmmakers, are hosting a fundraiser on Saturday at Patrick Ryan’s pub in Harlem.

Victor Suarez, CC ’11, contacted Zax last December, after a friend played him some songs from her recent EP. “The fact that he took the initiative to contact me, a stranger, to give me a hard sell about why he should make my music video, was very impressive to me,” said Zax. “It was fortuitous... A music video was the next project for me, but I hadn’t begun to pursue it yet.”

The fundraiser, called Sensory Overload, will feature live performances by Zax and Columbia band The Kitchen Cabinet. The event is sponsored by MBerry, a company that makes Miracle Fruit tablets, which alter tastebud shape to change the tastes of food and drink. MBerry will provide free tablets for all attendees, as well as a variety of food and drink samples.

The money raised at Sensory Overload will supplement Yale and Columbia funding for the video. Suarez acquired funding through a grant from CUArts’ Gatsby Charitable Foundation Student Arts Support Fund and recounted his experiences—both positive and negative—with the program.

The Gatsby Fund aims to give students both an introduction to the grant application process and a way to finance arts projects that enhance the Columbia community. Chad Miller, the CUArts events and outreach manager, said of the Gatsby Fund, “It’s really a mentoring experience as to how you would apply for your first grant.”

Students can apply for grants as individuals or as part of a group, and the entire process is intended to be encouraging to all prospective applicants. So, while the Gatsby application process is somewhat labor-intensive—Suarez’s application was fourteen pages long—the program awards money to practically every well-planned project. “We hardly ever turn away an application,” Miller said.

However, because so many projects receive funding, CUArts has a limited amount of money to distribute to each one. Gatsby grant recipients generally receive between $200 and $2,500 depending on the scope and magnitude of their projects, but the cap on funding for anyone applying as an individual is only $500.

This cap on individual grants is a recent adjustment to the Gatsby program, and Suarez has found it challenging to work around. “Before the change, a music video like this [Zax’s] could have been virtually entirely funded by CUArts,” he said. “Without outside investment, it’s very hard to get an ambitious project off the ground.”

Suarez believes that the limit on Gatsby Fund grants, combined with the high cost of creating films, may unfortunately stifle the campus film community. “Columbia’s undergrad film resources are limited enough as it is. Producing a worthwhile short film easily costs $5,000. There’s lots of talent in Columbia’s undergrads, but without

Columbia financially supporting an undergrad film community, a lot of talent will go unrealized,” he said.
Despite the budgetary concerns, Suarez reports that his experience putting together a music video has so far been a productive and successful collaboration with Yale’s Bulldog Productions. “They’ve not only generously provided financing, but are also a constant source of advice and knowledge. We wouldn’t be able to make this video without them,” he said.

Building these types of relationships between creative partners, CUArts’ Miller said, is also one of the Gatsby Fund’s goals. “I’m really about connecting people and the resources they have,” Miller said. “You’re creating something that’s going to be a connectivity tool.”

Suarez hopes that the music video will highlight the diversity of student artists at both Columbia and Yale who joined forces for its creation. “The music video showcases the talents of dancers, painters, costume designers—its artistic collaboration is the core content of the premise,” he said.

Saturday’s fundraiser, while primarily a means of financing Zax’s video, also aims to emphasize the range and talent of Columbia’s artistic community. But the event also holds something for students just looking for a good time—as Suarez said, “If live bands, drink specials, and lots of miracle berries isn’t enough to convince someone to come to the fundraiser, then I don’t know what is.”