When May Ling first suggested she take a music composition I wrote and turn it into a vocal song, I had no idea how far this project would go.

And surprised I was. She not only wrote some beautiful lyrics and a haunting melody, but she sang it with such heartfelt passion, that the goosebumps were typical.
May then assembled a talented team of artists and friends to produce a magnificent and emotional short film. Director Scott Gabriel and the rest of the team, actors Shing Ka, Cheutine Fong, and the child Princess Lam, were all stars. We filmed 2 of the 3 segments in the Studio and House here at Bennett Media Studio, and it equaled some of the Network Shows shot here (Law and Order, White Collar, to name a few).
Expressing the theme of domestic abuse, the video was produced in conjuncton with the New York Asian Women’s Center, one of the largest NY area domestic violence help centers and shelters. The video became a kick off for the annual campaign for the New York Asian Women’s Center. The official screening of the video also took place at Bennett Media Studio at the annual fund raiser for the organization. At the event, May and I performed on stage as well, a song we co-wrote called “Only An Angel,” also fitting the theme of the evening.

Since then, Scott and May have been showing the film to festivals. It was a winner at the Garden State festival for the “Best Music Video,” and at the Canadian International Film Festival for the “Award of Excellence.” It was also an official selection at Palm Bay’s ’15 Minutes of Fame’ film festival as well as the upcoming SENE film festival in Rhode Island. And most recently, it was chosen as a finalist for the 2010 Las Vegas Film Festival on June 4th, 2010.

May Ling was happy to pass along some anecdotes to me about some responses:

“At both the SENE Film & Music Festival in Rhode Island and Garden State Film Festival in NJ, many of the professionals in attendance came up and personally commented on how much they enjoyed all of the production, lighting, and the acting.  I had numerous lengthy conversations with people who were truly moved by Shing and Cheutine’s performances.   Without fail audience questions immediately asked how we were able to find such amazing child actors for all of the scenes.   Of course, everyone could not imagine how we were able to get the sets to look so stunning, and realized the amazing amount of attention to detail that must have gone into creating the correct imagery for the house, basement, and shelter scenes. ”

So congrats to the entire team (see below) for this fantastic effort and I am so happy to see the momentum behind this worthwhile project continue.

CAST

May Ling…………Singer
Princess Lam……Daughter, Young Singer
Shing Ka…………Father
Cheutine Fong….Mother
Susan Finch……..Social Worker
Caleb Gitlitz……..Young Boy
Mothers: Lillian Kui, Stacey Van Gorder, Jyoti Singh, Kelly Reeves Susaye Lawson, Emma J, Denise Violante, EJ An
Children:David Kim, Maria Kim, Paige Simunovich, Avery Violante, Kiana Shell Josiah Pujols, Ryan Leung, Wesley Leung

CREW

Scott Gabriel………Director
MinhTu Van……….Executive Producer
May Ling…………..Producer, Songwriter (Lyrics & Melody)
Ed Bennett………..Exec Music Producer, Songwriter (Musical Arrangement)
Sean Nerney………Music Producer
Ryan Halasz………Assistant Director
Milan Habijanac…..Lighting Tech
Douglas Kehl & David Goldfrank….Production Assistant
Reynaldo Carter……………………..Production Designer
Josh Dowd & Curtis Rapp…………..Set Design & Prop Master
Justin Bennett………………………..Key Grip
Rachel Stawinski……………………..Hair/Make-up
Celia Au………………………………..Casting Director
Celia Au& Ha Tran……………………Set Photographer
Nari Kim………………………..Production Assistant

NYAWC Volunteers: Kiko Kitani, Louis Mendoza, Diana Lin, Qiao Gao, Lina Wu, Leana Lung, Linda Shum, Kazuko Ishida
Special Thanks:
Tony Lam & Bun Soho Restaurant

Click HERE to see the official site of the project created by May Ling

Click HERE to see director Scott Gabriel’s creative reel.

And here it is, “Someday” by May Ling Lai

ASIANinNY.com (「亞洲人在紐約」) celebrated the year of the tiger at Bennett Media Studio on Feb 20, 2010. The event was written on the World Journal (世界新聞網)  of Feb 23.

The event featured a wide array of live performances as well as a runway fashion show with amazing performers including:

Esther Ku: one of the top ten best comedians in NBC’s Stand-up for Diversity Showcase and a finalist on “Last Comic Standing” Season 6.
Philip Galinsky: co-creator of the Manhattan Monologue Slam and a performer on Comedy Central, MTV, A&E, & USA networks.
The Hsu-nami: an internationally renowned progressive rock band with a song featured during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
Tora Brava: electronica pop/rock singer who has toured and performed across Europe, Asia, and North America.
Runway Fashion Show by Lucullen: a one of a kind, high-end fashion brand that has successfully launched various collections around the world.

And of course, wonderful food, drinks, and company as always.

Esther Ku by Evan Cohen

BMS on WorldJournal Oct 10, 2009

View all articles on the World Journal on ASIANinNY events sponsored by Bennett Media Studio.

This Music story was shot at the studio and was written and performed by Ku.

Camera was a Canon 5D Mark11, DP was Ed Bennett. Editing by Sam Oh.

One of The KuKu Girls, Esther Ku, recently finished this music video at Bennett Media Studio.

The Sing For China Tour brought three of China’s indie-rock bands to Bennett Media Studio on September 24th. There was a U.S. Tour for 28 days in August/September as part of an effort by the Chinese music community to raise funds for the China AIDS Orphan Fund.
The Tour went coast-to-coast via the Sing For China Tour bus (a converted American school bus). The tour was produced by Modern Sky Records of Beijing, China’s largest independent record label.
All proceeds from artist share of performance ticket sales/fees went to China AIDS Orphan Fund.
The NY event was held at Bennett Media Studios, in the ” Catacomb” section of the Gallery on September 24th, 2009..
120 people attended.

http://www.modernskyent.com/singforchina/about-the-tour.html

These are photos from the Sing For China event:

Bennett Media Studio has created “TIANDI” , a Record Label and Talent Management company for China. Working with Chinese artists and performers in China and the U.S., we will write and develop chinese language songs.  We also will work with and develop any artist who is facile at Chinese singing, irrespective of race or nationality ( i.e. Ayesha Adamo,singer and writer of “Tian Ran De Ai” ). All these songs on the Player below were recorded and composed by Ed Bennett at Bennett Media Music in New York City.  Artists Ed worked with on the record are:

May Ling Lai. Singer, and co-songwriter with Ed Bennett. Here we have her version of ” Someday”. This song also has a Music video which May, MinhTu Van and Scott Gabriel created to depict May’s writingof the song to bring attention to the theme of domestic violence. This song showcased the charity fund raiser for the Asian Women’s Shelter in New York.  http://www.myspace.com/songs4charity

And listen to the song “Father Jaesy”, performed and written by Jaesy Wang (Wang Wanjung) who is originally from Taiwan and lives in New York. When she came to my studio, she laid this track down very quickly and I tried to make this master as polished as I could. Jaesy is a very talented writer and singer, and you can learn more about her on her Facebook Page.

And here is a video of Ed Bennett and Ayesha Adamo performing their song “Tian Ran De Ai”

This was a special day for me at Bennett Media Studio. I had the chance to host an event which featured I song I co-wrote with May Ling Lai called  ” Someday”.  Actually, the very talented May wrote the lyrics..very personal stuff, and I wrote/composed the music. However May took this song over the top by creating a short film around it, highlighting the issue of domestic violence, Here, she chose to partner with the Asian Women’s Shelter in New york City, a dedicated group which provides shelter, support and resources to Asian Women in need of help from this difficult and debilitating situation. We showcased the video, then played the Song ” Only An Angel”. The film was co-produced by Minh Tu Van, and directed by Scott Gabriel.

The Music video and song can be heard/seen here.

Here are some photos.

Here is the Flickr Photostream of the event.

Dusty Wright presents the ambient guitar textures of Ms. Julia Crowe in the Catacombs of Bennett Media Studios. This film was shot by candlelight and shows Julia’s talent as an eclectic guitarist. She plays a vamped Gibson Les Paul.

Julia Crowe One-Take from Dusty Wright on Vimeo.

“Takeover UK”  is a band from Pittsburg who have lush harmonies and a twangy guitar sound like the Beatles of the 60’s. They visited Bennett Media Studio where we filmed them doing a song for Culturecatch’s One Take Music Shorts. This was actually shot in Ed Bennett’s Living room! Watch the video.

Produced by Culture Catch’s Dusty Wright and Richard Burns. Audio by Sean Nerney.

These are some of the photos from the performance in The Gallery:

Art was sold and money was raised.

Delicious food was enjoyed by all.

It was a great cause, and they had a great turn out.

The Co-Hosts were very happy for the success of the event.

Lucy Woodward performed.

Songs for Charity
With both Walls are Closing and Only An Angel Can Save Me Now, Bennett Media Studio is getting involved with charities. Put together by May Ling Songs for Charity Myspace website is another site to look up information on our projects.
http://www.myspace.com/songs4charity