AriKoinuma.com

Today is a day to celebrate.  We finally launched the film web site I’ve been working on for the last 6 month.

Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please…. LostInSunshine.com!

It’s a brainchild of the writer/director Jentri Chancey and producer Lorie Marsh.  And kudos also go to the web designer Shad Chancey, who did the graphic design for the site.

I am very grateful to be involved in this project for many reasons.  I think what the filmmakers are trying to do with this web site is very forward-thinking — I mean, grassroots DIY thing has been done among bloggers, authors and musicians.  Filmmakers have done it, too — but most of the cases so far have been unintentional successes.  They didn’t set out to market and sell their films that way.  But with LIS, they are totally going at it on their own, with the intention to create an online community around the film by using net-based tools.

I learned a ton from this project myself — I would never been motivated enough to really sit down and master Drupal (content management system) if I didn’t have to, but now that I’m neck deep into it, I’m amazed by Drupal’s sheer power and flexibility.

Launching a web site is always a proud moment, but I’m particularly proud of this one.

All that being said — I was thinking tonight about how proud I feel of my latest web creation, but I also imagined how I’d feel if I was releasing a new CD, and if it was selling…..

I’d be way up on cloud nine then.

You see, I love making web sites, and I love the fact that I am in demand, my peers respect me and I get paid handsomely for it.  It’s hard not to like something you’re good at.

But it’s even better, if you become good at something you love.

That’s the ideal, that’s what we should all aspire to do.  You make yourself learn and grow, because you love it.

And that’s what I want to do.  I’m not yet as developed as a musician as I am a web developer.  But I still am more musician than web developer.

And that’s OK.  I’m making what I love grow, too.  It’s just taking a bit longer, because it’s bigger.

Today I was working on a film web site I’ve been working on for the last 6 months.  It’s going to be awesome when we finally launch it.

Anyway, I was IMing with its producer Lorie Marsh and enjoying our collaboration.  Then I thought, “gee, won’t it be great if someone demanded me to work on my own music?”

I envy who ever gets to work with Lorie the producer.  She is the person who makes a business out of a film, by finding investors, building web sites, and promoting the films once they are done.  In the music circles that person would probably be called a manager.

But really, the biggest hurdle for me, and for many other musicians, is the fact that while we may have fans, nobody is demanding, nobody is holding us accountable to work on our own stuff.  I’m great with deadlines, so when someone tells me “this gotta be done by this day” I get it done.

I guess I’m not as disciplined as I can be, but that’s not the whole picture.  The collaboration that happens between a client and service provider is different from, say, between band members.  There’s certain tension and boundaries here that keeps us on our toes.

Don’t get me wrong, I am making progress on my own stuff.  But I dream of finding a Produer or a Manager for my own stuff one day — someone who can make a business out of it and demands me to produce.

Then I’ll be real productive.