2011 Seminars

Hill Kourkoutis is an award-winning songwriter, musician, performer, producer and filmmaker with her roots planted in Toronto, Canada. Kourkoutis' musical history began with formal training with the Royal Conservatory of Music Canada in guitar, piano and vocal performance. As an accomplished musician, she also plays bass and drums. Hill was a part of an array of musical projects, including the alternative/pop/rock duo Drowning Girl, that allowed her to release multiple records and tour before pursuing her current solo project, "Hill and the Sky Heroes".

As a live session musician, Kourkoutis has also had the honour of playing guitar, bass and/or keyboards for legendary Canadian New Wave group Martha and the Muffins, Tara Slone (formerly of Joydrop/Rockstar: INXS), Saidah Baba Talibah, Simon Wilcox, Graph Nobel, Hunter Valentine, The Cliks, Dane Hartsell and Andrea Wasse, to name a few. This collective of pursuits granted her the opportunity to tour North America and France, receive radio play both on independent and standard radio and led to appearances on television.

As a songwriter, Kourkoutis is the recipient of multiple awards (Canadian Radio Star Award, International Songwriting Competition and the USA Songwriting competition). She has also had the opportunity to take part in writing camps (Canadian Idol, SAC) and she continues to write for up and coming artists. Kourkoutis has had the opportunity to work alongside some of Canada's most diverse and respected writers including Lisa Dalbello (Patti Labelle/Heart/Duran Duran), Simon Wilcox (Jeffree Star/Paris Hilton/BEAST), Rob Wells (Olivia Newton-John/Cyndi Lauper), Jeff Dalziel (Prozzak/Edwin), Martin "Doc" McKinney (Esthero, Hawksley Workman), Adrian Eccleston (Nelly Furtado/Kylie Minogue/Drake) and Martha Johnson and Mark Gane (of Martha and the Muffins), to name a few. Her co-writes have also been recorded by artists such as Dane Hartsell, Martha and the Muffins, Get Rebel, Katelyn Dawn and Mercy the Sexton.

In addition to her musical ventures, at the age of sixteen Kourkoutis was hired to play in "No Man's Land" as the silent but insightful drummer Megan, on the hit teen series "Radio Free Roscoe" (Noggin/The Family Channel). This experience supported by childhood desire to capture the absurdities and stories of life on film propelled Kourkoutis towards her studies at Ryerson University where she completed a BFA in Film Studies. In her final year she was awarded with several awards including the Norman Jewison Filmmaker's Award and the Harvey Hart Director's Award for her existential comedy short film "...And The Planets Conspire". Before graduating, Hill signed on as a director with Toronto-based production company The Field and has since directed music videos for such artists as Sass Jordan, Serena Ryder, Tara Slone, Mother Mother, You Say Party! We Say Die!, San Sebastian, Michou, Delhi2Dublin, Canadian Idol winner Theo Tams, Alex Cuba, Crystal Shawanda and directed the music videos for Madi and Diego on Season 3 of YTV's hit television series "The Next Star".

More things are currently being pondered, developed and created in her lair. Check back soon.

4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Getting the Gig: What it Takes to be an Agent and How to Get One
Room: Student Services Building, SSB 117
Speakers: Joel Baskin, Chuck Erman & Chris McKee

Baskin founded The Pilot Agency in Ottawa in 2006 with an interest in leveraging his passion for music into a viable business opportunity. With his musician background and experience in music retail, Baskin's first move was seeking out the talent from the hit show Rockstar Supernova and coordinating a a string of sold-out shows.

In 2009, Baskin moved his operations to trendy Queen Street West in Toronto, allowing him to position himself in the heart of Canada's music scene. 2010 proved to be busy year for The Pilot Agency, producing events including The Satellite Spoke Club Series at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, the 2010 Juno Awards, the Banff World Television Festival and the recently announced Montreal Grand Prix, in addition to a showcase debuting at Canadian Music Week in Toronto.

In Early 2011, Baskin sold The Pilot Agency to S.L. Feldman & Associates and joined their Toronto office as an Agent & Talent Manager. Joel brought along his booking roster of Fozzy, Gilby Clarke, Helix, Sean Kelly, The Respectables and Tim Chaison & Morning Fold as well as his management roster of Rex Goudie, TOA, and Whale Tooth.

Sam Feldman, President and CEO of SL Feldman & Associates maintains, "It's a rare occurrence in our business when you find an individual who combines a passion for his artists along with the acute business skills needed to navigate within this dynamic business environment on behalf of his clients. The rapid growth of The Pilot Agency shows us that Joel is just that person. We are really happy to have him on board and are confident that the opportunities created by this alliance will prove to be extremely beneficial to our mutual clients."

SL Feldman & Associates is Canada's largest full service talent agency, with over 40 years of experience in the fields of artist representation, event services and corporate consulting. SLFA's core business is talent representation and its roster encompasses a wide array of internationally successful concert attractions as well as critically acclaimed up-and-coming talent.

Baskin is an accredited member and proud supporter of CAAMA, FEO, COCA, OCFF, AFM & CARAS as well as a guest contributor to MuchMusic's "Discovered". Baskin is known for his versatility; whether it's designing events for major corporations (Molson, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Harry Rosen), booking bands to set the mood for major festivals, gaining exclusive booking rights for emerging artists, or giving undiscovered talent the guidance needed to navigate through the often cutthroat industry.

Chuck Erman has 10 years experience in Campus Market as a buyer and producer for events for Universities and Colleges across Canada, and is Currently the Chair of COCA (Canadian organization of campus activities) National conference, He Stage manages for Festivals Such as Vfest Calgary, BoonStock, Campus Chaos and for five years at Big Valley Jamboree. Currently he is the Manager of events and programming for Sheridan College Student Union and has just joined Hy Events the Entertainment buyer in Toronto. He has worked with a range of artists from Sam Roberts and Will I AM, to Three Days Grace, Lights, and Knaan.

Chris Mckee is a booking agent who in recent years has put together concert tours across Canada for international artists including: Rihanna, Akon, Flo-Rida, The Roots, Black Eyed Peas, G-Unit, Tech N9ne, Slaughterhouse, Busta Rhymes, D12, Royce Da 5'9, Naughty By Nature, Vanilla Ice and dozens more. Chris has also toured most of Canada's top Urban acts including: Classified, Danny Fernandes, Karl Wolf, Choclair, Massari, Kardinal, Shawn Desman, Maestro, Belly and many more.

Besides being an agent, Chris is the personal manager for rapper Peter Jackson and co-owns the label Richmond Street Records with Jackson.

www.mckeeagency.ca & www.mckeeagency.blogspot.com

Friday, April 1:

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Making minimum wage? How to fund your musical passion with FACTOR
Room: Student Centre, E.P. Taylor's
Speaker: Brent Bain

Brent Bain's start with music began early, as a member of the International Calgary Boys Choir. After performing on stages around the world and having released 3 independent recordings during a 5 year period, Brent eventually settled in Toronto to begin his study of Entertainment Management. For the past 8 years Brent has played an important role in the Canadian Music Industry. His experience includes work as a Manager, Agent, Promoter, Tour Manager, Publicist and Consultant with companies including The Music Managers Forum of Canada (MMF), Six Shooter Records, Live Tour Artists, Jane Harbury Publicity, Planet 3 Communications, and his own company: Working Title Artists. With this very diverse understanding of musicality, performance, artist development, promotion and professional practice, Brent brings his experience and passion for music to the position of Manager for the Submissions Department at FACTOR.

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Getting the Looks: The Image Your Band Needs to Make
Room: Student Centre, E.P. Taylor's
Speaker: Ginger Martini

Armed with a Bachelor of Design from Ryerson University's School of Fashion Design, Ginger launched her eponymously named label in 2006 and showed her debut collection at Toronto Alternative Fashion Week later that year. Ginger has since been showcasing in Vancouver at Vancouver Fashion Week. Now a leading Costume Designer and Make Up Artist in feature film and television, Ginger has had the pleasure of working with a variety of bands and musicians. Ranging from rockers The Roadhammers for their appearance on CMT's tv series Three Chords from the Truth, Brane for their 2010 album photoshoot and tour to jazz singer Terra Hazelton's music video for Kisses In The Night, Ginger has a diversified background in wardrobe styling for musicians and film stars.

For samples of her film and television work, please visit www.imdb.com/name/nm3111925/
Please visit www.gingermartini.com to view Ginger's latest collection, Ragdoll.

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
On the Road Again: How to be Successful on Tour
Room: Student Centre, E.P. Taylor's
Speakers: Dan Hand, Jesse Mitchell, Ace Piva & Joe Cacioppo
Moderator: Joel Baskin

Dan Hand started interning at Underground Operations in September of 07. When he graduated The Durham College MBM program in the summer of 08, he was instantly hired by Underground Operations as a Marketing Manager. When the times were slow and the bands were in needs, he frequently became the in house tour manager, logging miles on the road with Protest The Hero, Abandon All Ships, The Artist Life & Kingdoms.

While his duties grew at Underground Operations, he chose to retire from the road in late 2010 so that he could give it his all, and he's recently moved his UO duties into the offices of Universal Music Canada, where he just has been hired on as well, as a UMC A&R Representative.

Jesse first started out in the music industry at the age of 14 as drum tech for his fathers band (Kim Mitchell). At the age of 18, he had already been two North America tours and one world wide tour that that included all or Europe, which lasted 14 months. After a tragic car accident which claimed the life of his mentor and own TM at the time, at the age of 19, Jesse became the TM for all the bands that his mentor worked for. This included Kim Mitchell, Holy Cole, David Wilcox, Theory of a Deadman, Michael Kaeshammer, and Wide Mouth Mason.

At the age of 25, Jesse currently works at Alert Music where he co-manages Kim Mitchell. He also spends a lot of his energy as a freelance Event & Production Director for many corporate concerts & festivals across North America. Finally, he is also the General Manager of Supernova Concerts, who produce between 250-300 indie concerts a year across North America. Jesse states that even though he doesn't do the "12+ month tours anymore like when he was young gun," he is still on the road about 35% of the year.

Ace Piva has been connected with the Canadian Music Industry since 1996, when he started off as a local session drummer in his home city of Hamilton, Ontario. Ace learned the ins and outs of the industry by taking the reins and becoming his band's manager, North American booking agent and publicist. He started his touring career in 1998, and learned the hard way that there is much more to being on tour than just showing up and playing the gig. Without knowing, he quickly became the band's tour manager, accountant, and often roadie.

During 2007, Ace decided to put down the sticks and attend the International Touring and Tech Academy, graduating at the top of his class. Shortly after completing I.T.T.A, Ace began touring North America in different roles as a Tour Manager, Stage Manager and Front of House Technician with artists including 54-40, Econoline Crush, Threat Signal, D.O.A, Nashville Pussy, Fozzy (Featuring Chris Jericho of the WWE), and festivals including Canadian Music Week, South By Southwest, North by Northeast and The Rhinestone Country Music Festival.

In late 2008, Ace began working on the concept that would become E-MISSION Touring. As his vision grew, he brought the idea to his partners Joe Cacioppo and John Morley, whose determination and innovation represent the company's core values. Driven by its founders' hard work ethic and strong passion for the industry, E-MISSION Touring continually strives for improvement and excellence.

Awards:
2009 Hamilton Music Awards, Road Manager of the Year - Nominee
2010 Hamilton Music Awards, Road Manager of the Year - WINNER

Actively involved in the Canadian music industry for over a decade, Joe Cacioppo got his start at the age of 15 when he picked up the guitar. His love for music grew strong through the 90's with inspiration from Seattle grunge era. Not long after, Joe and his family relocated from Whitby, ON to Hamilton, ON in 1997 where his excitement for guitar became a lifestyle.

Residing in Hamilton, ON was new experience for Joe. Coming from a suburbia neighbourhood to a much bigger city was more than he was used to. At the age of 19, Joe, along with friends and Canadian Idol Winner Brian Melo, started the local Hamilton band known as Stoked. Stoked gained a strong local following while touring Southern Ontario during their five years together. Following Brian Melo's Canadian Idol victory in 2007, Joe and Brian continued to write and perform together to sold out venues across Canada. From small venues to large festivals, many new experiences were gained from this opportunity.

During 2008, Joe realized his place in the entertainment industry was not just on stage but also behind the scenes. Once his busy touring schedule slowed down, he enrolled in and graduated from the International Touring and Tech Academy (I.T.T.A) where he continued his education of the touring and music industry.

Since graduation, Joe has worked with some of the most recognized and celebrated artists in Canada traveling large distances across North America, Europe and Australia. Some of the artists include Academy Award Winner Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian Idol Winner Brian Melo, Singer/Songwriter Luke McMaster, Internationally Acclaimed Kim Mitchell (Max Webster) as well as up-and-coming artists Dean Lickyer and City Sirens. He is also actively involved in Canadian Music Week (Toronto, ON) as the Festival Backline Director. Joe is recognized within the entertainment industry for his consistent problem solving, resourcefulness and hard work ethic.

~ If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it. ~
- William Arthur Ward .

RECOGNITIONS:
2009 Hamilton Music Awards, Road Manager of the Year - Nominee
2010 Hamilton Music Awards, Road Manager of the Year - Nominee


4:30 - 6:00 PM
Keynote
Room: Student Centre, E.P. Taylor's
Speaker: Alan Cross

Alan Cross is the host of the long-running radio documentary series The Ongoing History of New Music. He's also the curator of ExploreMusic.com, a radio-and-web initiative dedicated to music discovery that includes everything from a massive website to a series of podcasts. Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, written four books, recorded four audio books, contributed to magazines and other publications. He's also a sought-after public speaker and lecturer, writes a weekly national music column for Metro and travels to music festivals all over the world.