An indie film made by lots of folks from Bongiovi Entertainment (and directed by myself) is hitting stores on March 9th – and you can rent it from Blockbuster.com and Netflix; or buy it at Walmart and Amazon.

It’s called “ROT: Reunion of Terror” – and jobs performed by the Bongiovi team were : Incidental score – Joseph Butera, Ryan Copt and Joseph Beaty; Sound Mix: Joseph Butera; Folies Artist: Rob Summers; and Musical Engineers: Paul Kronk and Ryan Copt

All these guys are on the message board here – so after you see the flick – give us a shout out and let us know what you thought! It was recently awarded with a 4 star review from Rogue Cinema.

PLUS – the new episode of the web series “Eye on Bongiovi” is complete – and you can check it out here! It’s from the Moves Super Bowl party – and features interviews with all your favorite players – discussing what’s currently in their iPods. Wait ’till you hear what Ray Lewis has in his iPod!!!

- Mike Hoffman

First post here!

First off; let me do a little to introduce myself. My name’s Michael Hoffman – and until 2 years ago – I was a freelance filmmaker/editor/cinematographer. That was – until I came to Bongiovi Entertainment to have a film I was working on scored. Shortly afterward – I was hired to do a few shoots for the their team – and now – I’m a full time employee (on the entertainment side – not the Acoustics) running their HD/film department (which sits alongside one of their recording studios).

Over the past 2 years I’ve been traveling all over to shoot coverage for the Bongiovi Acoustics team – and some of the locations have been really amazing. Motown recording studios back in 2007 was a real highlight (where Tony Bongiovi received an honorary lifetime achievement award); directing the “Smokin” commercial for the JVC KDS-100 radio was a BLAST and CES from 2008 through now is always a killer time!

Being my 3rd trip with the boys to Vegas – I knew what to expect. But – was actually blown away at what was happening there! It seems almost every manufacturer at this year’s event had gotten the Bongiovi fever – and from what I saw; there’s a BUNCH of major companies getting ready to implement the Bongiovi audio technology into their products soon (but can’t reveal anything yet) !!!!!

So, now that you know a little about me – back to CES.

In my humble opinion, there were 2 major show stoppers this year (sorry – not as much “new” technology at this event – like Ipods or Playstations – just a lot of companies bulking up what’s already on the market):

The first one being Panasonic – who showed off their new 3D television sets – with unbelievable results! The technology implemented gets rid of the need for lame Blue and Red glasses (goodbye Blu Ray versions of “Caroline” and “My Bloody Valentine”) – opting for the polarizing optics like field sequential theatrical Real D – and- delivering a true theater experience at home.

This is the first time I’ve been super excited by Television technology beacuse, to me, it feels like you can now really have the cinema experience at home – missing the ever increasing ticket prices of a theatrical show (and loud audience members). When this technology is standard (a bunch of other companies were pushing their version of the same thing – even low end manufacturers!) – I think watching movies at in the comfort of your own living room, with friends  (and beer), will be a more rewarding experience than trapsing down to the local multiplex (for $10 nachos!).

The other major thing I saw at the show was IHome’s private booth (yea – baby – got behind the yellow tape!). Ever since they launched their studio series IP1 to compete with other premium docks (and kill them – literally – in both sound and quality) – it seems this company’s turned from just making affordable IPod docks – to making amazing sounding affordable IPod docks. Looking forward to the new year when they release their new line – as they had a handful of moderately to low priced units on display  – which not only look cooler than everyone elses – but actually sound waaay better. Like pretty premium audio for a $99 dolar-ish (a killer sounding cheapo clock radio – who would have thought?) price tag.

I guess my biggest beef with other companies is – as opposed to making their stuff sound good for the price – they try to make them sound good for the size. Take, for instance, an expensive 2 speaker radio. Yeah. It sounds GOOD – but again; a real system for the same price will sound waaay better (think tweeters and a subwoofer). I think it’s because these other companies sell their stuff to be smaller in size – but; when I’m spending a lot of money – I don’t want to pay a ridiculously premium price for a home theater system that sounds good for 2 speakers, I want the one that sounds GOOD (usually with 5 or 7 speakers) that’s actually cheaper – and I think that’s exactly what IHome has done in the IPod dock market. Even their amazing sounding IP1 is under 3 bills – and it KILLS anything offered by another company (even for twice the price). Quite simply – it’s the best sounding dock on the market. And now, even their lower end stuff is getting the same make-over. Can’t wait.

I’m getting ready to create a new Eye on Bongiovi web video that will be up in a few weeks (I’m working on a film set over the next 10 days – so it will be up shortly after that) to highlight just what I was talking about. Hoping everyone will want to check it out!!!! It has LOTS of closed door coverage of this year’s CES – along with the Bongiovi Acoustics “it girl” Jackie Fischer. If you haven’t seen the first Eye on Bongiovi that was shot Prior to this year – check it out!!! Sexy girls and a Delorean: http://vimeo.com/4727743

Also – since I’m planning on posting here regularly – feel free to email me if  you ever want to chat film; audio or have questions with the HD world in general. I’m always here (just a heads up – I love to help indies out – so if you have the low-bo filmmaking bug – I’m an editor in the IATSE Motion Picture Editor’s Guild – and always love to help).

Finally, on a slightly different subject, I can honestly say – an indie film I directed had it’s stereo mix down run through the Bongiovi Acoustics technology (the same thing used in the ITunes plug in) – and we got AMAZING results for a low budget feature. It hits DVD on March 9th everywhere – and I’ll post more on that flick as soon as we get closer to the date. I think that’s one of the reasons I started working for these guys full time (when I had the film mixed down – I was still working for another company). Their stuff just gives you an edge on everyone else in the market – and these guys can tweak it to work in any product – or application!

The Bongiovi team is the real deal – and I’m happy to be a part of it (though in a totally different department). I honestly can’t wait to hear what you think of any products with the Bongiovi branding and just to speak with everyone here in general!

Take care – and here’s to a GREAT 2010!!!!

- Mike Hoffman

(J. BUTERA III – DPSPLUGIN.COM)  All of us who own laptops have the same issue; portability vs quality.  Maybe your machine fits nicely in your backpack but you are missing the one key that makes playing your favorite game enjoyable.  Or perhaps your net book is great for email on the go but heats up and shuts down while watching Hulu.  And of course playing music on a laptop always sounds like the conversations you had as a kid over a string and two tin cans.  Well, we’ve been working on that last issue…

The Digital Power Station (DPS) Plug-In for iTunes has been an exciting project for us at Bongiovi Acoustics!  We’ve proven that the DPS technology is amazingly effective for car audio applications with the JVC KD-S100.  If you are the proud owner of one of the 10,000 ever made then you know what we are talking about!   And the iHome iP1 with the rest of the Studio Series made a big splash this year at CES 2010.  The DPS technology really does work for improving the sound of small speakers!

An application for use in laptops the next logical step for us (now for Mac computers only, but Windows is coming soon).  The DPS is a patented process that works with the efficiencies and deficiencies of an audio system.  By affecting the electrical “signature” of sound before it reaches the speakers, we are able to optimize that speaker’s output thus allowing it to deliver more bass, clearer highs and an overall richer tone.  A cool side effect of this process is enhanced clarity at lower volumes and/or high noise environments.

You might ask, why not just use the iTunes equalizer?  By simply boosting a frequency on an equalizer you are increasing the overall  electrical power of that frequency.  And not all frequencies are created equal!  Your laptop may have no problem producing very high frequencies (like cymbals and the “ess” sounds of the voice) but it may have trouble with lower frequencies (bass drums, heavy guitars or Johnny Cash’s vocals).  By boosting up the frequencies you can’t hear well it is very easy cause harmful and unpleasant distortion.  Also, an equalizer setting may work well for a few songs but not your entire catalog.

The DPS Plug-In for iTunes is constantly reacting to the audio content that you are playing at any given time.  Whether it is music, movies or a podcast, the DPS technology dynamically optimizes audio for your device.  The result is a much richer sound for your laptop speakers, earbuds or anything else you connect to your computer.   Compressed audio formats (mp3, AAC, AC3) are also brought back to life with the DPS technology.

This iTunes Plug-In uses a system of “profiles” to manage the settings for specific devices.  All current models of Mac computers have a custom profile available.  There are Universal profiles for any external audio device you may want to hook up to your computer including headphones, portable desktop speakers or televisions.  We are also constantly creating new custom profiles for popular audio devices such as the iHome Capsule speakers and Skull Candy headphones.

Visit www.dpsplugin.com to get the free trial and learn more about this amazing audio technology!  And get involved in our forums at  www.dpsinsider.com

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