Rave Reviews (Thanks Everyone!)

I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE ABILITY TO SHARE AND CREATE INTERESTING AND MOTIVATING STORIES USING CONTENT AND MEDIA FOR A VARIETY OF PURPOSES, plus to review the past and move into NEW creative storytelling experiences and relationships.

These reviews cover film & television professionals with whom I have worked as an originator, creator, developer and producer of stories; live, streaming and podcast interviews conducted on my Blog Talk Radio channel; interviews printed in the arts section of a newspaper serving Orange County, NY, and by website design clients. 

Here we go...

"I have worked with Val on two projects now, and each time I have been blown away by Val's connection with and dedication to the material. She was an integral part of the development of each project and brings her heart and soul into the creation of any project she works on. This has made her an absolute joy to work with, and a person whose friendship, vision and creativity I cherish. I highly recommend Val as a solo contractor, team member and content creator, and would work with her again in a heartbeat!"
-- Sameera Steward, Producer, Constellations Entertainment

"Valerie Michele is an innovative, professional and strongly driven individual with a sound grounding in business strategy, and the flexibility to consider new ideas. Valerie trusts concepts born from genuine talent and works well with her business partners to create the best possible solution for the project."
-- Jacob Larch, Writer/Editor/Script Doctor

"Our team was lucky to find Val a few months ago and she has been a wonderful asset ever since. She is driven and optimistic, and her personality has helped to fuel the rest of our crew. She has also been instrumental in finding us some key players who have been essential in moving our projects forward. I would recommend Val to anyone in need of a dedicated team player or a truly amazing friend. Thanks again, Val, for all your hard work!"
-- Sarah L. Taylor, Creator/Writer/Producer, "Blood Lines"

"...the interview with Luciana Souza was incredible. I loved the dialogue on parenting, grief, spiritual practices, music..."
-- Claire Milam, Spiritual Coach

"Fantastic job."
-- Barbara Sobel, Sobel Promotions

"Beautiful music, wonderful conversation, all around inspiring and energizing program. Thank you!"
-- JD Flaten, Publicist, Media Owls

"Thank you!!! I had a great time being on your show!!! -- Georgie Porgie, A Billboard Magazine Top 10 Dance/Club Artist of the Decade

"You have been doing an amazing job with your interviews/shows. I'm so impressed with what you've done."
-- Paddy Noonan, Founding Partner & Musician, IMRadio

"Wow!" Val. The radio show was so amazing! Thanks so much!
-- Tonya Marie Faris, Songwriter, song featured as a healing dedication

- "Excellent and informative interviews. I enjoyed the show very much. Joel Juan Qui is a beautiful expression of healing through his education and music. Val and Barry, great show!
-- Daniel Zazueta

 

"Val, thank you for posting the great [audio] interview with Linda and Jacqui at our show opening . . . I'm glad your interview got into some of the more contemplative and spiritual aspects of why we do what we do."

-- Karl Leitzel, "Far & Near Horizons" Group Exhibition World Tour from the International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) and Landscape Artists International (LAI), Founder of LAI

"I was glad to meet you at Musikfest, and later, thrilled with the wonderful job you did. You are an excellent writer, photographer, and interviewer all rolled into one: quite a combination."

-- Ann Whipple, Publicist, Musikfest

 

"Thank you for your great interview. You did a great job." @ The 110th Anniversary of Downing Park

-- Jean McGrane, City Manager of the City of Newburgh, NY

"Thank you so much for all the space and time you took with the article. The interview is great and Mystique did a great job with the photos. Can't thank you enough. You should also know that several people have already phoned me to say they read and enjoyed the article."

-- Mary Ann G. Neuman, Photographer, "Somebody's Sister" Series

“Your organization of materials, attention to detail and intelligent approach is unique, refreshing and MUCH appreciated. It makes all the difference!”
-- Don Devine, President, Devine Design

"Wow, the interview went really well. I enjoyed hearing the artist's responses, and found out a little bit more about each artist I had not known before. Thank you for all your support!"

-- Virginia Walsh, Director, Ann Street Gallery

"I'm finally home and have been meaning to call and THANK YOU for the wonderful feature you did on me."

-- Judi Silvano, Jazz Vocalist/Composer/Producer/Educator

"You are (as they say): "No joke". I thank you for lending your genius to the mass of positive good going on in the city of Newburgh right now. The article helped to give wonderful insight into who I am as a candidate for city council."

-- Marge Bell, Owner, Newburgh Artisans and 2007 & City Council in Newburgh, NY

"What a treat to have you with us and conduct such a powerful interview. Thank you for posting the live interview! I've added it to my blog so others can listen and find your site . . . What a wonderful job you do."

-- Linda Richichi, Tour Director, "Far & Near Horizons" Group Exhibition World Tour and Plein Air Painter

"I just wanted to say thank you ever so much for the fabulous job on the article! It was an absolute pleasure to see such a great spread and the company so well represented. I appreciate your efforts and hard work!"

-- Stacey Hawkins, President and CEO, Time Savor Gourmet, LLC

"Val, thanks so much--what a wonderful job."

-- Brian Burke, Owner, Downing Film Center

"You need to clone yourself -- doing a great job covering so many events and really focusing on the personalities behind them!"

-- C. Kippy Boyle, Divisional Manager, San Francisco International Gift Fair

 

"Your new Web site looks and FEELS great--open, inviting and very informative."

-- Eleanora Amendolara, Sacred Center

 

"The pleasure has been ours . . . I was singing your praises last night while showing off the website and clicked on your site to show people who you are . . . I am very happy!"

-- Sharron Miller, Executive and Artistic Director, Sharron Miller's Academy for the Performing Arts

 

“You have an extraordinary company! The level of work you do is very, very high---"over my head" for design work, innovation & concepts, etc.-- a very different area of our industry than I'm in! But you truly have a great and exciting company!”

-- Marc Frankel, President, Hudson Valley Mac

Creator's Corner: How to Work (and Play) Well With "The Others" to Succeed

NOTE: Creator's Corner is now being published on Wordpress, so you can access and read all of the columns (past and future) easily at one location. Click Here.

I ATTENDED A GRADUATE SCHOOL WHERE ARTS & BUSINESS STUDENTS WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER--on purpose--to propose, create and apply communications technology solutions as a team to problems. As graduate students of the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), we were encouraged to face our distrust of "the others'" approaches to problem-solving (creative arts vs. business) and collaborate in playful and experimental ways to meet the needs of individuals, groups; local, national, and global communities--artistic, nonprofit and commercial--who we were learning to serve as a workforce. Otherwise, we could not succeed in our studies, projects, or current and future employment.

How Can I Trust You?

WE HAD TO FIND WAYS TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND, TRUST, AND SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER (even if one's primary incentive might only be to get a good grade). Sometimes trusting simply meant investing in the belief that we would do whatever we could to help each other succeed for the sake of that project. Those who couldn't or wouldn't commit, who gave up, failed: they either left the program or flunked out. For those of us who did commit, paths always eventually opened, and some of those solutions we accomplished together were simply astounding. Those collaborations and solutions led to our Information Age and what's coming beyond it.

NOTE: The Interactive Telecommunications Masters Program in Tisch School of the Arts at New York University is going strong. Check out some of the pioneering and innovative courses.

Artwork © Gavin Aung Than 2017

  Column Inspiration:

Akira Jurosawa: The Note Taker

 

How Not To Give Up Before The Miracle Happens

I READ SOME LITERATURE TODAY TO HELP INSPIRE AND MOTIVATE ME NOT TO GIVE UP in areas that I want and need to change in my life (personal and professional). I get tired and discouraged at times. I can't afford "keeping up appearances" (like Hyacinth, the character in the British BBC program) because I've learned the hard way that doing so is incredibly stressful and hurts my health. One quote I read is from an article (AKIRA KUROSAWA: The Note Taker) included in the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine, Sunday, February 12, 2017 edition is just the right medicine:

"Kurosawa was determined to become a better screenwriter and set about writing one page a day, despite how busy he was as an AD, 'There was nothing I could do about the nights I had to work till dawn, but when I had time to sleep, even after crawling into bed I would turn out two or three pages.' Writing didn’t come easy, but over time the daily struggle became a habit and Kurosawa found that like most creative endeavors, just showing up was the key. 'At some point in the writing of every script I feel like giving the whole thing up. From my many experiences of writing screenplays however, I have learned something: If I hold fast in the face of this blankness and despair, adopting the tactic of Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect, who glared at the wall that stood in his way until his legs became useless, a path will open up.'"

      

Column Inspiration:

"Keeping Up Appearances"

SOMETIMES I THINK THAT WE HUMANS SUFFER FROM CHRONIC FORGETFULNESS: we work hard on something, complete it, and then lose our confidence in what we've learned and know: we start from the beginning again--over and over--in uncertainty (a creative-specific conflict forgetting like in the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind--though they choose to forget!). We stick to our endeavors, come through again, and hope we will remember in the future.

THE HEALING ARTIST STUDIO PROJECT BLOG, THE CREATIVITY & STORYTELLING 'ZINE, and all the writing, content curating, posting and tweeting I do is my way of remembering, of continuing the open-mindedness, trust, and collaboration I learned as a high school student at The Team School, and as a graduate student at ITP.

WE ARE NOT IN A PHYSICAL CLASS TOGETHER, AND MAY NEVER MEET, but I choose to believe that I am investing in our creative and business problem-solving success to benefit our world through the practical and miraculous solution we are every day.

MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and storytelling support now (and in the future) by exploring the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine, and previous Creator's Corner columns: Lies & Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray; Best Storytelling Has Sensory Empathy (or It's Important to Engage the Senses), Get Up To Speed On Quality Do-It-Yourself Storytelling: On a Low Budget, Best Storytelling is Copied, Stolen Content? (or The Lighter Shade of Led Zeppellin), The Joy is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible), Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life; Conflict Has Creative Value, Learn How To Use It; Card Decks & the Mystic or Visionary Persona, Here Comes Play-Doh, and Sacred Geometry–Visual Storytelling Content: One Of Top Four Creative Trends 2016. 

Dare to shine, be generous, and love this life.

Valerie







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CREATOR'S CORNER is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine (as the editor/curator) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest in creativity and storytelling as content for usage in arts & entertainment, media communications, marketing and advertising, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the world covering a variety of professions.  

BlogTracks: You Dig, Dig, Dig. What Have You Got There? Gold!

Welcome to BlogTracks! Click on the links for a multimedia experience of sight and sound to inspire, motivate, and elevate your creativity and storytelling energy.

I received a double rainbow during a nap in what I think was a dream even though I felt like I was awake. Now this is quite fascinating to me because I’ve been viewing and listening to a song titled “Wishery” (a remix of a song from Walt Disney’s Snow White that I discovered through one of the Facebook groups. This led me to thinking about mining for gold within myself and others as a healing artist. The gold nuggets I’m talking about are mental, emotional, physical, electromagnetic and spiritual energy that can yield treasure in many forms.

I don’t know about you, but for many years I have loved the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” made famous by Judy Garland singing it in the film, The Wizard of Oz. It taught me to believe I had to travel over it to get to “the pot of gold” to transmute and transform the stress and troubles of my life to beauty, peace, and tranquility. It seemed so far away, so way up high, too high, and how do I get to it?

It took me gently digging into my self with a master healer as my guide to discover the answer that I had forgotten: I AM the rainbow. The rainbow that exists above also exists below: the rapture of the double rainbow – the rainbow of love. Every person is a living rainbow to me, the manifestation of the rainbow light here on earth, and can come to believe that they are the true Wiz of their life. I don’t want to get into a conflict with any fans of leprechauns, but I am proof that the pot of gold is not over the rainbow but instead within me. Those nuggets and gems are within each of us, ready to be accessed, retrieved, revealed in the hidden places in our minds, physical and energy forms, hearts and spirits when we are ready to awaken, heal, and live the lives we dare to dream.

Music artists: Judy Garland, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Tania Maria, Lena Horne, and Keith Jarret.

As the disabled child Tiny Tim says in the book, "A Christmas Carol", written by Charles Dickens: "God bless us, Everyone!"

Valerie