Rick Kosick

Brothers In Cursive-podcast

I'm friends with some of comics down at the Comedy Store, and recently they asked to come down and be a guest on the Brothers In Cursive podcast. So did, and here's the end result.

 

The making of Regan and Watkins - a short by Rick Kosick

I’ve been hanging around the Comedy Store the past few years but don’t worry, I have no desire to start doing standup. I enjoy laughing just as much as everyone else, and I really appreciate the writing process, and watching comics take control of a room. Pretty much everything I’ve worked on has been about making people laugh, so it seems to be a natural fit. All of this started when I was introduced to the Roast Battle show and I instantly got hooked. I would go every week, standing in the back of the room, completely stoked on what I was witnessing. At the time, I consider the Roast Battle my own little secret, and I wouldn’t tell any of my friends about it. Because I didn’t want to spoil it. Yes, I was being a little selfish, but I didn’t care.

 

Going to the Battles was introducing me to some of the best up and coming roast comics Hollywood has to offer. Leaving my mind blown every week. Not to mention, seeing all of the comedy legends hanging out too and every week was a different surprise. The energy in the Belly room is something that’s comparable to a punk rock show, minus the slam pit. The only thing that would get hit with is a good roast joke and it would be the comic who would be taking across the face. One night I was attending the RB and Leslie Jones from SNL was on the panel. During the show, some dude was attacking Jeff Ross. That’s when Leslie jumped up on the table, started threatening the guy and demanding him to apologize, or else. Man, she was really angry, like a mama bear protecting her cub and I thought she was going to kick this dude’s ass, but she didn’t. She backed down when the guy apologized. Right then, at that specific moment, I knew I was in the right place and was witnessing something special.

 

I started hearing about the Kill Tony show and eventually, I started going. It's another great show the Comedy Store has to offer. At this point, I’ve made pretty good friends with a lot of the comics who are regulars at "The Store” and one, in particular, is Jeremiah Watkins. He’s the leader of the Kill Tony band, playing the saxophone and always acting as a different character every week. I found him hilarious and very talented. He’s also has a rock & roll comedy band with one of his buddies and it’s called, Regan and Watkins. I found their songs to be catchy and funny and the crowd at the Comedy Store seems to like them too.

 

At the end of 2017, Jeremiah and Pat were heading up to Venture CA. to record their first album. They asked me if I wanted to come along and film the recording process in the studio. So I jumping in the car with them and brought my camera gear and spent a couple of days filming, and we had a blast. Instantly we had good working chemistry. Ideas were flowing, both of them were open to what I was suggesting and trusted my direction. We kept filming for a while and ended up getting some cool cameos for the video with Bobby Lee, Khalyla Kuhn, Bill Burr, Bert Kreischer, Tony Hinchcliffe, Brian Redban, Tom Segura, Eric Andre, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Erik Griffin, Rory Scovel, Big Jay Oakerson and the RoastMaster General, Jeff Ross.

 

One day I was meeting with Jeremiah brainstorming some ideas and I thought of something for Bobby Lee and his girlfriend. We pitched them our idea where Khalyla, was saying how sexy Regan and Watkins are when they perform live. Bobby would pop is head around the corner catch her talking and eventually getting angry. What you see in the edit is one of two takes and they both nailed it. You couldn’t ask for anything better, it’s perfect! When we left their house, I looked at Jeremiah and both of us were shocked, and completely blown away. We gave each other a high five, and at this point, I felt like I was making something special.

 

To top this off, I wanted to have an opener for this video so each band member would have a proper introduction, and I had this idea that I wanted to borrow from a cult punk rock film called Suburbia. It's one of my favorites since I was punk myself. I wanted to recreate the scene, where all the punks are walking down the sidewalk in slow motion, looking like a menace to society. One of my friends thought this idea looked like it was trying to copy Reservoir Dog. Its close, but I wasn’t. So we took it to the streets of Burbank CA. but this time I had some extra help from Benji Lanpher on camera and Keil Eulberg using his Steadicam. Allowing me to run around and direct the scene, because we had to move fast. We didn’t have any filming permits, but we nailed the shot within 45-minutes and got the fuck out of there. That’s what you call a runaway production. I’m really happy how everything turned out. If you like what you see, be sure to check out their album wherever you buy, or stream your music. It’s available now!

 

 

NYE takeover on KXLU 88.9 FM

Music has always been a big part of my life, and It goes with just about everything. Like, getting your day started, driving in your car, working out at the gym, setting the tone and pace on a major motion picture, or TV show. Also, a song can bring up those childhood memories. I mean, the list goes on and on. Tower Records slogan once said, No Music No Life, and this is one of the main reasons I’ve always loved  KXLU 88.9 FM radio station. It’s been around for over 60-years and it continues to give new life into the music scene.

Back in the day, when I got tired of mainstream stations playing the same shit over and over. I would always turn your dial towards the left, landing on KXLU. In my opinion, it's the best radio station in Los Angeles. It offers a wide range of music, and it's still independently run, with no commercials, and is always introducing something new to you.

 

I still listen to KXLU from time to time, but now one of my good friends, Donald Andrews happens to DJ the #1 electronic music show called, 55 Shades of Blue. Every once in a while, Donald will have me on as a guest. Allowing me to curate a fun playlist, allowing me to talk on air, sharing funny stories and having fun throughout the night. But his show comes on really late on Saturday night’s at from 2-6 am, but I guess that’s what makes his show special. It’s the late show and he has loyal fans who tune in every week.   

When the holidays come around a lot of DJs leave town to go home to be with their families, leaving the daytime slots available. Donald usually jumps on the opportunity to book a show during the day. On Thanksgiving, I did a show with Donald, and now just recently, we did one on New Year's eve. We ended up locking down a 3-hour spot from 3-6 pm and I put together a massive playlist, playing a lot of different genres of music. And we also brought on of my other good friends, Gerry Nestler. Who happens to be a great songwriter, and giving him the opportunity to play some of his work. Throughout the afternoon, you can tell Gerry was having a lot of fun! I mean, we all were having a blast. Laughing at our mistakes we were making on air. All of us shared some stories 2019, making it a special way to ring in the new year, and keeping the tradition going by playing music that’s not mainstream...

Here’s the playlist from the NYE takeover.  

Metallica - Hit the Lights

Ramones – I Wanna Be Sedated 

The Clash – Spanish Bombs

PJ Harvey – Big Exist

Civil Defiance – Man on Fire

Conlon Nancarrow - Study No. 21

Civil Defiance – Eye of the Dog

Gerry Paul Nestler – Soul True

Black Sabbath – Hole In the Sky

Crosses – Trophy

The Bird and the Bee – How Deep Is Your Love

Philm- Turn In the Sky

KKLEQ MUZZIL – Joy Bomb

Red Hot Chile Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Slayer – Raining Blood

The Monkees – Can You Dig It

Frank Zappa – Dirty Love

Andrew WK – It’s Time to Party

Foo Fighter – Dirty Water

Dust – Stone Women

SHOES – Too Late

The Dead Weather – Be Still

Devo – Come Back Jonee

Alice In Chains – Check My Brain

Civil Defiance – Under The Volcano

Civil Defiance – Wearing Jar

Civil Defiance – Day Of Rain

(the) Melvins – A History of Badmen

Philm – Area

Ghost – Square Hammer

T.S.O.L. – Beneath the Shadows

D.O.A – D.O.A

PJ Harvey – The we’re In

Ramid Djawadi – Black Hole Sun

Gerry Paul Nestler – Genevieve

Van Halen – Mean Street

Jimi Hendrix – Wipe The Sweat

 

Gerry Nestler - Rain On The Window video shoot

I’ve been making my own videos for years and sometimes when I get in a pinch, I may need to borrow a camera or a lens. That’s because I don’t own a lot of gear. But one thing for sure I’ve always used Canon products throughout my entire carrier. They make some of the best lenses you can ever shoot with and they make a great camera too. 

 

Finally, after all the years I got hooked up with Canon. It’s just the beginning stage, but at least I got my foot in the door. So Just recently they let me try out the C200 camera, and of course, I loved it! It’s very similar to the C300, but with better features like filming in 4K RAW with a super-35mm CMOS sensor, and a dual DIGIC DV6 image processor making a great looking image. With all that being said, and getting the opportunity to run wild and shoot anything I want. I decided to shoot a video with my good friends, Gerry Nestler. Who happens to be a talented songwriter/ musician, and he’s played in many great bands.

We ended up shooting this video at G&L guitars in Fullerton CA. in their lounge area at the main headquarters. I asked Gerry to bring his 1972 Fender Rhodes Stage piano. But Gerry was saying how they had a piano down there we can use, and I said no. Please, bring yours. Because I’ve heard him play it before, and I really love how it sounds. It has a really cool vintage vibe. Kind of like the one Ray Charles played in the Blues Brothers movie.

So we were setting everything up getting ready to shoot, and one of the guys who works at G&L said my brother really needs to see this piano. He’ll trip out on it. I guess this man has worked with the company for many years, back when they use to manufacture Rhodes electric piano. 

When this older gentleman walked into the room he was taken back for a second, with his jaw opened totally surprised. He sat down, opened the piano up and was completely blown away by the condition of this used piano was in, and knew every little detail about it. It was truly a special moment and this man was a kid in a toy-store filed with excitement. Right then I had this funny feeling as to why I was so insistent that Gerry brings his piano instead of using theirs. It just wasn’t for us to shoot with, but for this man to see it, and bless it. He takes the time and gives it a tune-up and then sat back enjoyed the sound of this vintage electric piano has offer when we shot the video. It really makes me happy just thinking about this, and writing about it.

The rest of the day went really good and I didn’t have any problems with the camera, that's because I’m familiar with the Canon format. We shot mountable takes until Gerry was burned out, and couldn’t play the song anymore, because this was a live performance. The name of this song is Rain On the Window and it's from his Mama’s Child album. Also, I think this song sounds so good when played solo, it has a haunting vibe.

I’m happy how this video turned out and love the flexibility of filming in 4K, it allows you to punch into any frame making the editing process a lot easier. Canon also turned me onto the luts Version 201902 you can download off their website, It works perfectly with Premiere editing software. Giving your video a stylistic edge during the color correction process.

Now, the next question. When can I get my hands on the new C500 Mark II camera?

Side Note: I need to give a big shout out to Steve Araujo who really helped out with the recording process, and pretty much-facilitated everything, as well as G&L Guitars. Thank you!

 

 

Never Give Up...

Seven years ago one of my good friends who happens to be my boxing trainer, was hit with kidney failure. His name is Marc Coronel. A young healthy guy who you wouldn’t think twice that anything would happen to him, but it did. He was diagnosed with FSGS and would eventually need a transplant, and putting him on a waiting list which could take up to ten years, that’s if he was lucky. So I directed a PSA, trying to help bring some awareness to his life-threating situation. Hoping that it would help, because you never know.

 

During his life-changing process, there’s one thing I learned about Marc, he’s defiantly a warrior, who has a positive attitude just about all the time. Having to go on dialysis three times a week and still taking the time to teach a class every day. Helping and working with the local community and close friends, even If he wasn’t feeling good. Because that’s what he loves doing, giving back and helping other people.

 

So, a month ago, Marc finally got the good news that a downer was coming to his rescue. He’s already had a bunch of failed attempts of people backing out, but this one was looking promising, and I know Marc was ready because he was looking pretty beat-up. It’s truly amazing to hear that some people can be so generous and willing to donate one of their own vital organs, just to allow someone else to continue with their life. Truly a beautiful gift you can give to anyone.  

 

I don’t know if this PSA had any effect in helping Marc get someone to donate a Kidney, but it defiantly put things into motion, and it made him fight for his life. But he’s not out of the woods yet, he still has a few months of recovering. I saw Marc the other day when I visited him at the hospital, and he’s spirits were high and know he's going to be alright, and now he’s resting in the comfort of his own home. You know, I guess it goes to show you have to trust your journey and hope for the best and never give up...

New website-rickkosickfilms.com

 

I wanna let everyone know that I’ve launched a new website. My new site  rickkosickfilms.com  features some of my work. It has my directors & DP reel, some of my photography, and resume. Since my line work is mostly freelance, it's important to keep everything up to date. I plan on keeping my original site and I'll be blogging more often. So when you get a chance, please look at my new website and let know what you think and leave a comment below.