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Are you ever too young — or too old — to chase a dream? Is success in the entertainment industry possible when you don’t know anyone? Can there be one setback that’s just too daunting to get past? Today, prolific composer and all around great person Todd C. Burns is here to share hard-earned advice on overcoming adversity to be successful in the entertainment industry. Like us, Todd came into this crazy business not knowing anyone, hustling to make things happen, and facing some obstacles so big they could have seemed impossible to overcome. Today we talk with Todd about the courage to chase your dreams, how to define your own success, and standing tall and proud when fate tosses you the ultimate curve ball. If you’re a creative person chasing a dream on any level, today’s episode is for you. Todd’s not only successful, he’s a great guy with a big heart, and very open and honest when it comes to giving advice. You’re gonna love him!
Todd C. Burns – Music To Our Ears
Like some of you listening to this podcast, Todd C. Burns is a working professional in the entertainment industry. And, like many others listening, Todd, like you, was once a young, aspiring creative who knew no one in Hollywood.
On today’s podcast episode we have a wide-ranging conversation with Todd about the journey we all go through. From just starting out, to becoming a pro, to becoming the “wise old wizard” who pays forward what they’ve been taught in life. It’s a ride every single one of us probably wants to take, and we’re all at our own pit stop on that wild adventure.
Just some of what we discuss today:
- Getting started when you don’t know anyone in Hollywood
- Overcoming inevitable setbacks
- Reframing “luck” and making your own
- Defining your own success and happiness
- Facing imposter syndrome – and why it’s not a bad thing
- Embracing mentorship – from both sides
- Turning what is terrifying into pure motivation
- Why the biggest obstacle in Todd’s life gave him new perspective
- How Joke landed an early internship with Hollywood’s biggest female producer
- And…what it means to be “THE DUDE” – and that is NOT gender specific!
Hit that giant play button at the top of this page to listen now!
Filmmaking Chops – Sound Design
On a more hands-on, practical note, Biagio discovered Todd’s YouTube channel when looking for inspiring sound design tutorials in prep for our new series Unraveled. Todd has a great channel packed full of tutorials on creating sound design and composing music for TV and film.
One of the cool things Todd does is turn every day items into crazy sound effects that are very useful to filmmakers. He does the same with sound effects of wolves and other recordings your probably already have access to. While Todd uses music software to get this done, many of these same effects can be achieved right in Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro, so no filmmaker should shy away from trying to create a few unique, signature sounds for their projects. Here’s one to get you thinking:
Production Music Club – Make Your Own Music?
Now, most of you probably don’t know that Biagio writes a lot of the music for our shows, and loves brushing up on his composing skills with online tutorials.
So another reason we were so into what Todd was doing is that he’s also teaching how to write music for film and TV, both on his free YouTube channel, and also in his great online course at Production Music Club (more below, NOT an affiliate link).
If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to write music for your productions, and you have a keyboard laying around, and GarageBand or some other free Digital Audio Workstation, you’ve got what you need to learn how to make some cool unique music for your film, TV, and YouTube projects.
Here’s one of Todd’s free YouTube tutorials on making mystery music, something we obviously do for a lot of our shows:
And here’s one where he makes a whole mystery track out of garbage!
If you like Todd’s music tutorials and want to sign up for his course, where he shows how to write music that works for film and TV, as well as how to make money doing it, you can check out Todd’s online course.
NOTE: WE ARE NOT AFFILIATES, we make nothing and get nothing out of you trying Todd’s course. That said, it’s just a really great course, Todd’s a wonderfully fun teacher, and Biagio happens to love it and has learned a lot.
Todd was kind enough to create a huge Production Music Club coupon which knocks a whopping 35% percent off the price of the single-payment option if you want to try his course.
Production Music Club
Coupon code?
Biagio
(Yes, Biagio, all spelled out. LOL!)
Again, we get nothing if you sign up, we’re not pushing this for any reason other than Todd is a really cool guy, and Biagio’s learned a lot from his course. If you’re into making music, or possibly composing music to make money, Todd’s course is terrific.
And by now, hopefully you’ve hit that giant play button above to check out his interview – he’s a great guy and the industry needs more people like him.
Helpful and Related Links
Here’s Todd’s YouTube Channel
The Production Music Club – great course, use coupon code “Biagio” (no quotes) to save 35% (like over $50 at time of this posting.)
For another inspirational story of overcoming terrible news to create something wonderful, check out our podcast with Steve Mazan on Dying to do Letterman.
Amazing advice from Roger Nygard on working in both scripted and unscripted television.
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Let’s Make Some TV Together
You’ve been hard at work on your package for an unscripted TV or film project? Doc series? True crime project? Want to learn more about teaming up with us at our company Joke Productions? Here’s everything you need to know: