CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE FULL INTERVIEW!

Coming up under the mentorship of the legendary Wayne Isham, Spence Nicholson created a distinct style of visual art to match musical compositions.Recently signed to Red Van Pictures, you can also catch two of his music videos airing on MTV.

View more of his work on his website at http://www.spencefilms.com.

Excerpt Do you have any advice for future music video directors?"...If you legitimately want to direct purely because you love it and have the passion for it, then get out there and do it. Contact as many bands as you can and go to as many shows as possible. Try to meet as many like minded people as possible, try to build a crew."

Antics and AboveTheLine.TV are pleased to feature six-time Emmy winner, animation industry legend, and the master behind classics such as the Simpsons, King of the Hill, Garfield, Charlie Brown, Phil Roman of Phil Roman Entertainment!

READ THE EXCLUSIVE ABOVETHELINE.TV INTERVIEW HERE!

Excerpt
What draws you to a talent:...I look for something beyond the drawing, something that shows that little spark and shows what’s really in their heart. I want to see that they have the enthusiasm to work hard. I can always teach them to animate, but I can’t teach them to be enthusiastic…to love the business.
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Archives:

Director Brian Frank of Rewind Films

Director Jeremy Rall of Anonymous Content

AboveTheLine has teamed up with the industry leader in pre-visualization and animation, Antics! For all you animators out there, or even those of you who wish you could learn animation, Antics is simply the easiest tool out there to create animated graphics for your videos or storyboard visualizations before your shoot.

The Antics contest is going to be run in two stages:
STAGE 1: We've got the multiple Emmy-award winning animator behind the Simpsons and King of the Hill, Phil Roman, on board to judge your animated music videos (or music videos with animated elements)! You've got a month to submit your videos for consideration to win a copy of Antics! (*starts September 26th)

STAGE 2: Antics is going to open up an extended trial of their newest release only to AboveTheLiners! We're going to give you an exclusive track from an artist to create your animated music videos using the Antics software. In addition to winning a copy of Antics, your video will be featured on the Antics website and also put in consideration to be the official video for the artist's song!

About Antics:
Antics software (http://www.antics3d.com) is for anyone with a story to tell. Antics allows anyone with a creative vision to be able to produce 3D animations quickly and easily – only limited by their imagination.

Users can build their own scenes using Antics supplied content or import content from external sites. Animation is easy using Antics intelligent props; cameras can be freely positioned cameras and shots modified on the fly; and the output is simple to share or process in other programs. For those making professional films, it can produce pre-visualizations that help improve a pitch to win financing or a commission, plan a smooth production process or generate 3D graphics - ensuring clear communication.

Develop ideas that move with 3D animated storyboards. And, amazingly, there’s no need for 3D modeling or animation skills. If you can point and click, and drag and drop, you can use Antics. It takes care of the complex animation, allowing you to focus on your creativity.

You can now use Meez (http://www.meez.com) to create your animated music videos for Stage 1 of our Antics Animated Music Video Contest.

To celebrate, we're giving $10 iTunes giftcards to the top 25 overall entries as determined by your votes! Our new deadline to get your entries in is December 14, 2007 at midnight. Don't forget, the winning video will be chosen by animation industry legend Phil Roman!

See an example of a Meez music video here.

Follow these directions to make your own Meez music video on a PC or Mac.

Remember, you only need to have some animated elements in your video to enter! Also, you can now export your special edition AboveTheLine.TV Meez to your AIM profile as your buddy icon! Scroll down to get more info on the contest.

1) Become a member of AboveTheLine.TV
2) Go to: http://abovethelinetvantics.ning.com.
3) Click on "Add a Video" and follow the directions to upload your animated music video or music video with animated elements.

Visit the link often to rate and comment on videos! The winning video will be chosen by animation industry legend Phil Roman, but ratings will be taken into consideration. Scroll to under the VideoStatic Headlines on this website for full details and to find out more about STAGE 2, where you'll get full access to Antics for a limited time to create a music video for a label!

Like what you see with Antics? E-mail Preeti at preeti@abovetheline.tv for a coupon code to get $100 off a full license and $35 off a subscription license. When the new version is released, you'll also get a free upgrade!

***"Antics Contest" banner developed by Tony Bannan at (AMMO PREVIZ )***

Above The Line Media at the Music Video Production Association Awards on May 16, 2007 with "Win A Trip to the MVPA Awards" contest winner Walter Bernard. (left to right: Mark Hason, Walter Bernard, Preeti Shrivastava, Danny Wright)

AboveTheLine.TV member Javier Ortiz won a copy of industry leading Gorilla 4.0 Production Software (retail value $399) in the MVPA Picks Contest!! Congratulations Javier!

We'll be updating with pictures, video and stories from the MVPA Awards! In the meantime, check out our new Groups feature and create your own! Also,View our Twitter of the MVPA Awards night!

A lot can happen in 12 hours... 12:00 PM - Check into Hollywood hotel and get ready.
4:30 PM- Early dinner with a top music video director
6:00 PM - H2 Limo pick-up
6:30 PM - Red Carpet Arrival
6:45 PM - Pre-event Press Conference
7:00 PM - MVPA Awards
9:30 PM - Post-Event Press Conference
9:45 PM - Official After-Party
11:30 PM - Unofficial After-Parties
2:00 AM - Limo ride back to the hotel
12:00 PM- Check out of hotel and fly home.
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*Posted 5/7/07 @ 12:09 AM PST* VOTING IS OVER!!!! Congratulations to Walter Bernard for coming in #1 and winning the all-expenses paid trip to the MVPA Awards, Johnny Digital coming in at #2 and winning the custom "Above The Line" video iPod, and Matt Schuman coming in third and winning a MVPA membership! While Walter wins the grand prize package with 85 votes, we've been so blown away by the support for Johnny and Matt's talents, that, in addition to their individual prizes, we're offering both of them a ticket to the MVPA's as well!
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April's $100 a Week Music Video Contest!

To celebrate our beta launch in April, we gave away a $100 a WEEK to the director of the highest rated video.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
*Week 1's winner was Spence Nicholson for his "Preacher" video for The Johns.
*Week 2's winner was Johnny Digital for his video for Kim Hill.
*Week 3's winner was Walter Bernard for his "Hey (be like me)" Video for Smoot ft. Topic.
*Week 4's winners were James Cheeks and Stephen Smith!

Above The Line Media is the production company behind "Above The Line: The Search For America's Next Music Video Director" and the show's online component, "AboveTheLine.TV." The principals of the company are Mark Hason, Preeti Shrivastava, and Danny Wright. Representation is by L.A.-based Rebel Entertainment Partners Talent and Literary Agency.