Buster, makes Variety Magazine..

[V. Barbarino]

Finding ideas that float

Entrepreneurs mine niches of Miami's diverse entertainment sector

By VARIETY STAFF

A3: ALTERNATIVE TV

When friends and fellow nightlife mavens Justin Altshuler (known as Buster when DJ'ing) and David Mardini decided to launch a dance music video channel, they had only $1,000 between them to invest.

But they parlayed that sum into leased time on a Charter Cable slot that previously had aired advertorials, and pre-sold the channel by calling in favors and relying on the goodwill of friends and acquaintances. "We were lucky so many people believed in us," Altshuler says.

Alternative TV, branded as A3, bowed in September 2002 in just 100,000 homes and hotel rooms in Miami Beach, targeting nightcrawlers with an airtime from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Within a month, it was making money, claims Altshuler. He declined to disclose revenue, but says, "Everything is going back into the business."

Less than two years out, A3 has added carriage on Comcast, and now reaches some 1 million households and hotel rooms stretching from neighboring Broward County on down to the Keys. (On the mainland, the party starts earlier at 10 p.m.)

A3 airs dance and electronica musicvideos, culled from submissions and solicited from labels in Europe, where the genre and the DJs who drive it are far more mainstream. "We're showing videos never seen before in the U.S.," says Altshuler.

Stateside, outside the club scene, "the biggest exposure people get to this music is via commercials," he notes, referring to Dodge, Mitsubishi and Motorola ads that use the music to target youthful consumers.

Altshuler and Mardini, with production director Luciano Alexander, created promos and interstitials, plus a half-hour show they call "Wildlife," in which they roam the night with a camera crew to showcase "parties you couldn't get into," plus club action and Miami restaurants.

One seg, called "VIP For a Night," involves taking a club patron from the end of the waiting line and escorting him past the doorman for a night to remember.

The pair hit multiple venues in a single night, then edit the footage on computers.

"Wildlife," updated more or less monthly, is showcasing events that took place during the teeming dance world convention known as the Winter Music Conference & M3 Summit, held in Miami Beach in March. Focus includes the DanceStar Awards, whose founder-CEO Andy Ruffel came onboard at A3 as a partner in December.

A3's trio of owners are at work on expanding the concept for export to other cities. "We're putting plans together to bring A3 to New York and Los Angeles within the year," Altshuler says.

-- Mary Sutter

MAVERICK ENTERTAINMENT

They're cheap, plentiful and come wrapped in colorful, albeit cheesy, packages.

New urban and Latino-themed direct-to-video pics from Maverick Entertainment hit the rental shelves around twice a month. The Deerfield Beach-based homevideo distrib-producer has reaped some tidy earnings from its emphasis on volume sales. It may not be churning out Oscar-winning material, but it posted $8 million in gross sales last year.

In a bid to capture both the U.S. Hispanic and international markets, Maverick's fledgling production arm Breakaway Films will start shooting low-budget Latino pics in English and Spanish. As always, Breakaway will mainly cast its net on the talent pool in Florida for its director, thesps and crew.

For acting talent, it sometimes looks further afield to Spain and Latin America.

According to Maverick president Doug Schwab, separate shoots mean a 20%-30% increase over pic budgets that he says average $500,000.

"This is an experiment of sorts," says Schwab. "This way, we won't need to dub or subtitle our English-language films."

The trial run will begin with "Grand Opening," a Latino comedy set in a grocery store with a shoot skedded to kick off in Florida in late May. Plans include lensing in high-definition, as Breakaway has with its latest Latino pic, "La migra," and urban comedy "My Big Phat Hip-Hop Family."

Some of its titles are loosely based on classics, such as "Carlita's Secret," a Latino "Les Miserables."

The company often taps rappers and Latino artists eager to make it onto the big screen. Platinum rapper Kurupt starred in "I Accidentally Domed Your Son" while platinum hip-hop diva Trina made her film debut in "A Miami Tail," a "Girls in the Hood" version of ancient Greek play "Lysistrata." Tito Puente Jr., a recording artist like his father, starred in Breakaway's first Latino-themed pic, "Senorita Justice." A number of telenovela thesps also star in Breakaway's pics.

Since its launch in October 2002, Breakaway has made a dozen urban and three Latino-themed pics. Schwab sees a shift to more Latino pics in the near future to feed what he sees as an underserved market. "Out of the 10 films we plan to make this year, five to six will be Latino," he says.

A 25-year veteran of the homevideo business, Schwab was a senior buyer for Blockbuster Entertainment for 10 years. In 1997, he founded Maverick Entertainment, which has since created other labels, Maverick Latino and premium brand Maverick Platinum. Schwab plans to launch a horror genre label in the near future

[V. Barbarino]

congrads focker..

[ryan2772]

he deserves it....they do a great job

[Guest LeVeL]

Wow with only 1,000 dollars they got that TV staion out the ground eventhough with a little help. THats an accomplishment by itself. Congrats to Buster eventhought I dont watch the channel since i dont have it in my area.

[Guest pod]

Buster is Buster no matter what! He doesn't DJ though, they got that wrong.

[ryan2772]

Buster is Buster no matter what! He doesn't DJ though, they got that wrong.

yeah, i started laughing when i read that!

[AndrewChibale]

:-X

[Guest LeVeL]

:-X

It looks aside from Saleen we have another hater on the board.

[AndrewChibale]

i just speak mi mind ..

altho, i get into a lot of trouble for that

[Guest pod]

Well, just for the record, explain what you don't like about A3/Buster/etc...

[Bling]

props to buster

[AndrewChibale]

A3 is the same thing with 93.1, all good at first but repetitive and cheese and the end ...

everytime i go pass by that channel i see that damn motorcycle video over and over and over and over ... again

we need better quality in music, lately, is not even worth it to go to the record store becasue people keep on watching the same old shit, so why bother of producers to make new stuff if the "crowd" is cheese educated ?

let me tell u something, the whole media can be as good as it can be BAD for music .. and to tell u the truth, it is just making it look just worst right now ..

[AndrewChibale]

and for the record,

same thing goes with saleen, hip hop and buster and other people and things

i "can't" hate the person but i do hate "attitudes"

[Guest pod]

In buster's defense: (he's a friend after all hehe)

A3, 93.1 and so forth aren't really geared to the "underground" crowd. The logic being that they are out in the clubs hearing what they want rather than watching TV and listening to the radio. A3 especially...it costs money to produce a decent music video...I'd say to kick something decent out the door it's $30,000+. Video gear isn't cheap, just to get started you need $5,000...Not many dance music labels and producers can afford that. The ones that can are the ones that you'd expect...Oakenfold, Tiësto, AvB, etc...the ones you see the videos for...and very few video producers do pro bono or discounted work.

Frankly, stations like A3 and 93.1 are a benefit in my opinion, it gets people interested in the scene, then hopefully they go out and realize there's more to it than trance...and if they don't, it's no skin off my back, at least they're not into hip-hop.

Besides, if there's no aboveground, there is no underground 8)

[ryan2772]

A3 is the same thing with 93.1, all good at first but repetitive and cheese and the end ...

everytime i go pass by that channel i see that damn motorcycle video over and over and over and over ... again

we need better quality in music, lately, is not even worth it to go to the record store becasue people keep on watching the same old shit, so why bother of producers to make new stuff if the "crowd" is cheese educated ?

let me tell u something, the whole media can be as good as it can be BAD for music .. and to tell u the truth, it is just making it look just worst right now ..

So negative dude....jeez. You afraid your world will collapse or something? I think it's freakin awesome to see A3 on the air.

[AndrewChibale]

afraid ?

afraid that the "above ground" scene will run over everything i like ? over my expectations as a dj ? over the music and the scene i like ?

then yes

dude

[Guest JMT]

Frankly, stations like A3 and 93.1 are a benefit in my opinion, it gets people interested in the scene, then hopefully they go out and realize there's more to it than trance...and if they don't, it's no skin off my back, at least they're not into hip-hop.

Besides, if there's no aboveground, there is no underground 8)

well said POD!

[Guest JMT]

A3 is the same thing with 93.1, all good at first but repetitive and cheese and the end ...

everytime i go pass by that channel i see that damn motorcycle video over and over and over and over ... again

we need better quality in music, lately, is not even worth it to go to the record store becasue people keep on watching the same old shit, so why bother of producers to make new stuff if the "crowd" is cheese educated ?

let me tell u something, the whole media can be as good as it can be BAD for music .. and to tell u the truth, it is just making it look just worst right now ..

I think it's freakin awesome to see A3 on the air.

im with you Ryan.

[Guest JMT]

afraid ?

afraid that the "above ground" scene will run over everything i like ? over my expectations as a dj ? over the music and the scene i like ?

then yes

dude

if "your" scene is so great you shouldnt have to worry. if somehow you do get "run over" its because youre alone in "your scene"

[Guest pod]

It is not gonna overrun the scene you like. When is the last time you saw a bunch of people you can easily point out as "mainstream" haging out at the events you hang out at?

I don't see the 93.1 crowd at Nerve, NV, or Privilege...frankly I wouldn't mind it since they'd be there spending money helping the venues...

Even at Space, where some of my favorite DJs play at, the 93.1-listening crowd hangs out, and I really don't mind it. They don't bother me. Again, I see them spending money, and I'm happy...my favorite club lives to fight another day.

The mainstream crowd brings money and numbers to the venues...as long as they don't bitch about the music, I'm glad.

I don't like the mainstream crowd, but I'm a big fan of their money.

[Guest durrtylexx]

It is not gonna overrun the scene you like. When is the last time you saw a bunch of people you can easily point out as "mainstream" haging out at the events you hang out at?

I don't see the 93.1 crowd at Nerve, NV, or Privilege...frankly I wouldn't mind it since they'd be there spending money helping the venues...

Even at Space, where some of my favorite DJs play at, the 93.1-listening crowd hangs out, and I really don't mind it. They don't bother me. Again, I see them spending money, and I'm happy...my favorite club lives to fight another day.

The mainstream crowd brings money and numbers to the venues...as long as they don't bitch about the music, I'm glad.

I don't like the mainstream crowd, but I'm a big fan of their money.

I agree w/you POD, clubs are in the business to make $$, and 93.1 parties will atleast bring in more girls, more females at clubs thats always a positive thing

[Guest Cosmigonon]

It is not gonna overrun the scene you like. When is the last time you saw a bunch of people you can easily point out as "mainstream" haging out at the events you hang out at?

I don't see the 93.1 crowd at Nerve, NV, or Privilege...frankly I wouldn't mind it since they'd be there spending money helping the venues...

Even at Space, where some of my favorite DJs play at, the 93.1-listening crowd hangs out, and I really don't mind it. They don't bother me. Again, I see them spending money, and I'm happy...my favorite club lives to fight another day.

The mainstream crowd brings money and numbers to the venues...as long as they don't bitch about the music, I'm glad.

I don't like the mainstream crowd, but I'm a big fan of their money.

WERD!! 8)

[Guest durrtylexx]

Hey I dont know how many of guys are grew up down here, but before 93.1 we only had Power 96 and maybe Y-100 and they would mix in some crappy trance song after a booty mix.Atleast 93.1 opens peoples mind to electronic music. And on Sunday nights the Global DJ Broadcast is a beatiful thing.. ;D 8)