Directed and produced by Matthew Taylor Ruggieri

It is so exciting when my love for film and The Motley come together like this.  Stay tuned and let the holidays begin.

P.S.  This might sound weird, but I know that I have a few readers out there.  I’m going to start reading the books on the list that my friend hand wrote for me below.  Starting with “In the Absence of the Sacred” by Jerry Mander or Brave New World. If you want to tag along and read them together, comment to let me know.  Let’s do it.

For the production of the show, I’ve traveled to Las Vegas and a city outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.  If the show gets picked up (even for six episodes) it looks like I’ll be spending a greater deal of time in small town Utah.  Utah is gorgeous, so I really wouldn’t mind that.

I cannot describe the show on my blog (hopefully America and the rest of the world will know about it come September), but it has been an exciting roller coaster.  We’re working with an executive producer that has a ten year history in reality television with huge pitch meetings lined up for next week.  I’ve been in charge of the visuals and produced all of the materials that they’ve been using thus far.  I’ve developed a story and characters that I’m really excited about.  This would be the first time where I completely take my hands off the camera to concentrate on story development – something that I’ve wanted to do for a really, really long time.

It would be such an adventure if this took over my life – we’ll see.

I’ll also be traveling to Madrid for the entire moth of July (don’t ask me how I’ll work on the show and be in Madrid, because I’m not quite sure…)  I have to finish up my USC language requirements, so I figured that it would be best if I went directly to the source.  This will give me an opportunity to distance myself completely from the city that I’ve found so much comfort in and experience something entirely unfamiliar.  If you know me, I live off of the thrill that comes with that.  I had a meeting about it yesterday and cannot wait to board the plane to Europe.

Lastly, I’m working on my first project for a new, smaller record label that I’m really excited about.  Their roster includes artists that I actually listen to (!).  No more music videos or meaningless videos for me – a kid has to grow up at some point.  We’ve got real projects in mind.  I’ll write about that another time.

If you’ve been reading my blog since I was working with Warner, you’ve come with me on a long journey that seemed to come to a violent halt when I decided to go back to school.  I spent the last several years with over-the-top anxiety about getting back into the working world.  It is all starting up again.  I didn’t give up, I didn’t lose passion, I didn’t lose my contacts and I can’t wait to share the continuation of my career with you.

1) I concluded the year working on a television show pilot. I’ve been directing and producing promotional materials that will be used to pitch the show. In doing so, I flew to Las Vegas and might be heading to Provo, Utah to follow-up and film more.

2) I’ve stepped up to take on multiple hats for my best friend, partner-in-crime and outstanding songwriter, Josiah Leming. It’s officially out: we’re gearing up to independently release material. We’re beyond excited and are releasing the first post-major label single in less than two weeks.

For the new single photo shoot, we went out to the desert at 5am to capture a true sunrise. It turned out to be absolutely freezing (28 degrees) and almost impossible to shoot.

However, the results are quite stunning. Special thanks to my good friends Isabelle Ahadzadeh, Kelly Fogel and Jason Kim for their help and hard work.

3) The Motley celebrated an extremely successful holiday season. Since the company launched this past April, we’ve had nothing but an uphill battle. Unveiling such a lifestyle brand during a recession wasn’t easy. However, things are turning around. In early 2012 we will introduce over two dozen new products to the store including one of our very own. Buckler’s Chapped Skin Remedy (our own product!) will be released next month.

4) I’m proud to say that I’ll be (finally) graduating from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in eight months. What I’ll be doing after is entirely undecided.

I’m extremely excited about what 2011 holds. I hope that you all had a good New Years – I couldn’t ask for a better one myself. Stay creative and do what you love to do. Take a risk this year.