Hired to create a video for a Latino hip-hop artist, Jason Pires and Modern Visual Communications didn’t want to take the typical route. After all, “Vecino” by Jae-P is not such a typical song especially when it was released just as the debate over immigration and immigrant rights began to heat up as thousands of people marched in the streets in Los Angeles and other cities. “It’s a very positive message but not one that everybody may agree with,” Pires said. “The artist is saying, ‘We’re here to work, we’re here to make a living like you and your ancestors and let’s see if we can find a way of getting along and continue building this great nation.'” Now one of the most-played videos on Spanish-language television, “Vecino” has generated awareness of the Chatsworth-based Modern Visual Communications, the marketing and production firm owned and operated by Pires and his wife. Pires and Modern Visual were tapped by the music division of Univision to do the Jae-P video after he had done two other music videos and designed packaging for the company’s compact discs. The concept of “Vecino” showing Jae-P dodging stereotypes and writing a letter about the immigrant experience hit a nerve with both the label and the artist, Pires said. “We go into the letter and the lyrics come to life using green screen tech and motions graphics,” Pires said. With “Vecino” creating a buzz, Pires now looks to restructure the company into two segments, one concentrating on marketing and branding and the other on music. If he doesn’t make that movie, the message of what he can do for music clients will be lost, Pires said. “Producers and smaller record labels are having a harder time maintaining control over their artists, record labels are mismarketing artists and playing around with their image in the wrong way,” Pires said. “I’m trying to give back control to the artists, producers and smaller record labels looking for distribution and give them control over the artist’s image. It really is an investment as much as it is an investment to record the artist to begin with. They Have Their MTV The childhood friends behind L.A. Direct magazine will get additional exposure for their publication this month through an MTV reality television show. “Jamie Kennedy’s Blowin’ Up” will include an episode to air June 27 of the photo shoot for the magazine’s June issue featuring it’s star Jamie Kennedy and sidekick Stu Stone. “They were there four to five hours. They brought their whole crew with them. It was a wild time,” said L.A. Direct co-publisher Michael Crandall. “I was miked up and the camera was in my face but I don’t know yet if I am personally in it.” The show follows Kennedy and Stone as they attempt to start a career as rap artists. Kennedy had been on the cover of the magazine once before, which led to the cover shoot featured on the show, Crandall said. Crandall, co-publisher Oren Levy and Editor-in-chief Josh Sternberg grew up together in the San Fernando Valley. Crandall and Levy are graduates of Taft High School and Sternberg went to Calabasas High School. After finishing up at three different colleges, the friends hooked up again and decided to go into business. Their initial idea of a newsletter as a way to sell advertising evolved into taking one step further to the business model of free publications, Crandall said. Rather than a drab newspaper in black and white, the trio would assemble a glossy, full-color publication. “Our focus was going to be on serving the reader and maximizing the exposure for the advertisers,” Crandall said. Now in its third year and available throughout the Valley, L.A. Direct is expected to get a boost in exposure and credibility with its readers and advertisers through its presence on the MTV show. This spring the publication launched a new distribution mode in the form of a custom-designed rack placed in 500 businesses in the Valley. The new racks stand out because it is specifically designed for the size of the publication, Crandall said. “When you add the full color and vibrancy of the magazine, it really works,” he added. ‘Supreme’ Winner Futuristic strategy warfare game “Supreme Commander” released by THQ, Inc. in Agoura Hills garnered several awards from industry websites covering the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Gamespot.com named “Supreme Commander” as the best strategy game and was a finalist in the best game of the show. “That was a huge coup for the title,” said Kevin Kraff, director of global brand management with THQ, Inc. “That is one of the top gaming enthusiast and industry on the web right now.” GameTrailers picked “Supreme Commander as its best strategy game. IGN, another industry website has SC as its first runner up as best strategy game, while IGN affiliate Gamespy.com named it as its number three top PC game and best overall strategy game. Set in the 37th Century, “Supreme Commander” is a real time strategy game pitting humans against robots and aliens and that allows for full strategic and tactical gameplay, Kraff said. A unique camera feature lets a player see the full continental scope of battle as well as the ability to zoom in to engage in tactical warfare, Kraff added. THQ makes PC games in the real time strategy, first-person shooter and role playing genres, Kraff said. “Supreme Commander” is scheduled for release in early 2007. Disney Layoffs? Citing unnamed sources, the New York Times reported May 28 that layoffs could be coming at The Walt Disney Studios. As part of a review of the company’s long-term goals, Burbank-based Disney is considering laying off between 5 percent and 10 percent of its studio workforce as early as July, the paper reported. International distribution and home entertainment were the two divisions expected to be hardest hit if the cuts are made, the paper said. The move by Disney could be seen as a signal as where the company sees its future growth coming from, said Gigi Johnson, a lecturer at UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Entertainment and Media Management Institute, “If you look at where cash flow has come from, a large chunk came from international distribution and home video,” Johnson said. “They will have to rethink how they will get future cash flow.” In November, Warner Bros. Entertainment let about 250 employees go from its Burbank studio facilities as a means to cut costs in the face of decreased revenues from the home entertainment side of the business.