Audio By Carbonatix
The DreMak studio launch party at the Granada Theater has all the elements of a quintessential entertainment industry ‘do: live music, comp drinks, VIP tags and all kinds of free appetizers. But the crowd is hardly straight outta Los Angeles. It’s more like a family reunion, with middle-aged couples, their teenagers and even a baby or two rocking out with businessmen in smart suits. Seems everybody has a “VIP” lanyard, and as DreMak co-founder Dickie Dean introduces the band, he says, “If it’s too loud, I apologize.” Edgy it ain’t. But it ain’t supposed to be.
DreMak (pronounced “dream make”) studios are mall-based audition rooms where aspiring singers, actors and comedians make a two-minute DVD of their acts to send to talent agents, casting directors or just to keep at home for late nights with a bottle of Yellow Tail and a side of broken dreams. The first-ever set-up, a portable version of the studio, will go into the Galleria mall on June 14. If all goes to plan here, Dickie Dean will put his “American Idol on steroids” in 52 malls across the country. DreMak will also post auditions online for viewers to rate, creating a ranking system to bring, theoretically, the best talent to the top. The concept is all about accessibility, not exclusivity. According to DreMak, “everyone deserves a chance” at their 15 minutes of fame. Everyone with $50, that is.
The fee gets you inside the DreMak booth to record two minutes of whatever it is you think you’re good at. No accompaniment is allowed, just all the talent you can pack into a red-curtained space the size of a small bedroom and lit up like Las Vegas. A 65-inch plasma display is tailored to the auditioner’s genre of choice with an appropriately dressed onscreen tour guide–for country, a handsome blond dude with artful scruff and a light twang–leading them through the process.
The portable studio cost about $200,000. DreMak co-founder Albert Raggio says the result is “one step above doing it at home but one step below professional.” After the audition is recorded, customers walk away with a DVD and the option of a Web address where their video is posted online.
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Casting directors can search the online database for acting or comedy talent, but DreMak will handle the musicians. Dean and Raggio’s production company is staffed with music producers, vocal coaches and songwriters who will work on development deals with those who record DreMak’s highest-ranked online videos. Eventually, DreMak will produce compilation CDs for distribution. But all that’s a long way away.
Right now, DreMak’s portable studio will only be in the Galleria for 60 days before it heads to Tampa. As Raggio put it, “At the end of the day, if you’re like, ‘I have no talent whatsoever,’ at least [you] tried.” After all, if you can make it at the mall, you can make it anywhere.
