Talina Adamo.By Hap Erstein
This Sunday, Lake Worth singer-songwriter Talina Adamo adds “filmmaker” to her career hyphens.
A recent graduate of the Palm Beach Film School, she unveils her first movie, a 47-minute documentary called The Love of Music, at a red-carpet premiere screening, live concert and reception at Fort Lauderdale’s Cinema Paradiso.
The film turns the spotlight on a dozen or so singers and bands on the South Florida club scene, asking them about their careers and their “love of music.”
Music has always been a part of Adamo’s life, ever since she composed her first song at the age of 9. In recent years, though, she has turned her attention to making films, and The Love of Music allows her to combine the two passions.
“I had just kind of quit making music, but after I graduated from film school, I got the spark again,” she says. “The first thing I wanted to film was music videos and people performing. At the same time I wanted to make movies, because I can and because it makes me feel good. And I thought, ‘Who not promote other artists at the same time?’ ”
Among the artists featured in The Love of Music are Dominique Vouk & The Sexy Band, Michaela Paige, the South Side Kings and Kriya & Miss Becca. But there could have been a lot more, because Adamo shot footage of another dozen performers. Originally conceived as two-part film, she now plans to air the outtakes on the Internet.
“I have this Internet channel called Black Onyx TV,” she explains. “So I’m going to put the rest of the people that didn’t get onto the film, I’ll pit them on the TV series.”
Although Adamo has been on the local club scene, she did not know most of the subjects of her film. “No, I did a simple ‘Let’s see what would happen’ on Craig’s List. And you would not believe how many people responded.”
The Love of Music is rudimentary filmmaking at best, largely static talking-head interviews with little visual variety. Adamo concedes that production costs were a limiting factor.
“I did it on really no budget at all,” she says. “There are definitely a lot of things I could critique about it myself.” The 47-minute length, not quite a feature and too long for a short, came about because “it isn’t a typical movie format, but I didn’t want to bore people with too many questions and answers. I could have extended it a bit if I had more performances.”
Still, the views of the artists should be helpful for young performers trying to break into the business. “I really plan on trying to get it into the school system, reaching out to younger kids, seeing if I can get into the educational part of the market,” says Adamo.
The performers interviewed impart some wisdom that Adamo wishes she had had in her early career. “It’s about not letting bad things people say about your singing stop you from pursuing your dreams,” she notes. “Because you’re always going to get a thousand ‘nos’ before you get that one ‘yes.’ ”
Adamo is now back to singing, as well as filmmaking. “I’m back at it, but I’m back at it with a new focus. I just want to have people hear the music. It’s not so much that I want to be signed by a record label and become famous. I kind of enjoy it more as a hobby, but I hope I can still get my music out to people.”
Adamo will be performing after the film screening on Sunday, along with pre-teen singing sensation Paige. “There will be a red carpet entrance for any celebrities we can get to come, we’ll show the film and afterwards Michaela and I will sing. And of course, there’ll be food and drink.”
Tickets range from $10 general admission to $70 VIP packages, to help pay for the event. “The thing is not really focused on fund-raising,” says Adamo. “I actually am using it to get the film seen by the performers and the crew, and then use the money to make up the cost of renting the theater. So even if I flatline and just break even, I’ll be happy.”
THE LOVE OF MUSIC, premiere event, Cinema Paradiso, 503 S.E. 6th St., Fort Lauderdale. 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $10-$70. Call; (866) 913-9606.