Author Archives: Mike Garland

About Mike Garland

Mike is a screenwriter, comedian, and blogger. He has penned numerous blogs, commercials, and screenplays-- including award-winning shorts.

Photo Shoot with Come Back Alice at our St Petersburg Photography Studio

Over the years, our St Petersburg photography studio has collaborated with many musicians, ranging from multi grammy award-winner Chick Corea to pop musicians like Mat Kearney and the Band Perry! One of our more recent endeavors included a unique photo shoot with rock band Come Back Alice for their upcoming music releases and tour.

Tony Tyler (lead singer, guitar) & Dani Jaye (fiddle, guitar, vocals) of Come Back Alice in our studio

For the shoot, the band came in with stylistic ideas for the portraits, and together collaborated with our photographer to bring their vision to life. The band was looking to create something with a classic rock vibe- with a little inspiration from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album. But also something that had a current feel and appeal. All the photographs were taken in our Tampa white cyc studio.

Tony Tyler, lead singer of Come Back Alice, gives some classic rock attitude in our Florida photography studio.

Our St Petersburg photography studio was the perfect place to bring out the mystery and intrigue that makes their music so much fun to listen to.

Tony Tyler and Dani Jaye of Come Back Alice in our St Petersburg white cyc studio.

Our Florida photography team experimented with lighting and effects to create a variety of looks for the band. Some gritty filters and post processing were done to give the photos a visceral feel.

Our studio photographer captured this black and white image of Come Back Alice’s Dani Jaye.

Photographer Christian Cashmir directed the shoot and captured the photos utilizing gear from our Tampa photography rental package– like our Canon 5D MkIII camera, Canon L-Series Lenses, and Profoto D2 500w strobe light kit. Our Tampa photography crew used a combination of natural and strobe lighting to give each photo a distinctive feel.

One of the Profoto D2 500w lights from our Tampa photo rental kits.

After a funky, cool photo shoot the band selected their favorite photographs and we took them back to our Tampa photo editing suite to retouch them. Our photo editors created a number of different versions of each photograph to highlight the distinct characteristics of each image.

Dani Jaye poses in our St Petersburg photography studio.

Rumor has it that our Litewave Studios’ team may be filming another music video with Come Back Alice later this year- if you haven’t caught their last Tampa music video we produced, check out their song “Coraline“. You can also check out another St Petersburg live music video that we produced for them in 2014.

There’s no mistaking Come Back Alice’s whimsical charm.

Are you in need of a Florida photography studio or Tampa video studio? Contact us today to schedule a visit or see how we can assist on your next production. Be sure to like us on Facebook to see more of our projects and head over to our blog stay up to date on all our St Petersburg photography studio news!

Tampa Video Production Studio Films Web Series In-House

Our Tampa video production studio recently wrapped principal photography on a web series we created and filmed right here in our own studio! The series combines the documentary style of NBC’s The Office with a behind-the-scenes look at an Independent film-making studio. In conjunction with the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission (FilmSPC), we were able to bring our web series, “BTS” (short for “Behind The Scenes”) to life. The dedicated talents of local actors, crew, community partners and screenwriters all working together made the project possible. The film-within-a-film concept allowed us to show the process of filmmaking from a highly satirized and comedic (at least we hope so!) perspective.

Director Christian Cashmir and the BTS cast perform a read through of the script at our Tampa video production studio.

“BTS” follows a local group of filmmakers at a St. Petersburg video production company as they attempt to produce a big-budget science fiction musical starring an actor who was just indicted on charges of arson. The team tries to manage a multitude of unhinged actors alongside numerous production problems, money and legal issues; needless to say, hijinks ensue!

tampa video production crew white cyc studio

Our Tampa video production crew….waiting on sound….in our white cyc studio

With a finalized concept and scripts in hand, FilmSPC awarded us a generous grant and it was off to the races for a very busy and fun few weeks! We filmed nearly the entire series in-house at our Tampa video production studio, utilizing everything from our green screen studio and white cyc studio to our editing suites, nothing was off-limits. Led by director Christian Cashmir, our Tampa video production crew worked tirelessly on set (and through the holidays!) to ensure a smooth production as we hustled to film 8 episodes in only 13 days!

The BTS cast rehearses in our Tampa white cyc studio before the first take of the day.

Director of photography Eric C. helped film the series using gear from our St Petersburg video equipment rental package like our Canon C300′s and Canon CN-E cinema lenses, giving the series the high-quality look and feel of a primetime network show. Most of the principal photography took place in the office area of our studio, but a few scenes were filmed in our Tampa green screen studio. This is where the scenes for the movie-within-a-movie science fiction part of the series took place.

st petersburg video equipment rental studio

Our director of photography is always happy when he’s by a camera!

We also traveled to St. Petersburg/Clearwater’s gorgeous beaches to film part of the sci-fi movie that the team creates within the show, and thanks to FilmSPC and Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, our Tampa video production crew were able to film everything from full-blown ninja battles on the beach to tender, romantic dance numbers at sundown.

After a challenging two weeks, we wrapped principal photography on the entire first season! With production complete, we now move on to the next stage– post-production! Over the next few weeks the team will be editing all of the footage in our Florida video studio, prepping the series for it’s debut in 2017.

Sometimes you just gotta have a little fun after a long day!

Catch a sneak peek of season 1 below:

Stay tuned for more updates as we approach the series premiere! Be sure to like and follow the BTS: The Web Series Facebook page for more photos, videos, and behind the scenes action as we continue post-production!

Do you need a Tampa video production studio or Florida video studio? Contact us today for a consultation. You can like us on Facebook and be sure to follow our blog to stay up to date with all St Petersburg video production studio news.

St Petersburg Video Studio Films Tampa Comic Con TV Commercial!

Star Lord, Thor, and Sauron all walk into a bar in downtown Tampa this weekend, it’s not a portal to Asgard …it’s Tampa Bay Comic Con! This year we had the excellent opportunity to film a TV commercial for the 2016 convention (Aug 5-7) right here in our St Petersburg video production studio. The commercial link is below, and it’s also running on TV right now!

They’re not the dancers we need right now, but the dancers we deserve.

Each year Tampa Bay Comic Con (TBCC) hosts one of the largest conventions in Florida, with exhibitors like New Force Comics, cosplayers like Jessica Nigri, and panels with famous actors and actresses like Norman Reedus (aka Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead), Ian McDiarmid (known for playing Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars), and many others.

Last year we hosted the TBCC team in our St Petersburg green screen studio to film an exciting commercial. This year we continued the tradition in our Tampa white cyc video studio with a cosplay parody of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”. Heroes and characters flooded our studio- everything from The Walking Dead’s “Rick” to “Anna” from Frozen and “Barry Allen” from the DC Universe; needless to say the production went by in a Flash!

Everyone watches as Spiderman busts out his signature move: The Web Sling!

We filmed the commercial with our Canon C300, Canon cinema lenses, and state of the art studio lighting system to ensure top video quality. After principal photography, it was time to head to our Tampa recording studio to record our own Tampa Comic Con-inspired song – a version of “Shake It Off”. We then imported footage of the amazing cosplayers into our post-production suite to edit the clips to the song, and then color grade the final TV commercial!

Heroes gather to shake it in our St Petersburg video production studios!

We had a ton of fun in the studio filming the commercial, and now we look forward to attending Tampa Bay Comic Con all weekend, where we’ll also be filming a behind-the-scenes video, highlighting all of the amazing moments, panels, and of course all of the fans and cosplayers!

In the meantime, check out the finished Tampa Bay Comic Con TV Commercial below:

Do you need a St Petersburg video production studio to make a Tampa TV commercial? Contact us today to discuss how we can help you. Be sure to like us on Facebook and make sure to check out the blog to stay up to date on all the latest Litewave Studios news!

Tampa Video Studio Hosts 5 Hour Energy TV Commercial

Over the past few years our Tampa video studio has had the opportunity to host a variety of unique projects, including award-winning web series like the Skyship Chronicles, and amazing musicians like Matt Kearney, Grammy award-winning jazz artist Chick Corea, and country crooners The Band Perry. This month, two exceptional organizations came to film at our St. Petersburg video studio: 5 Hour Energy and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF).

The Tampa video crew completes sound checks prior to filming.

5 Hour Energy filmed a commercial in conjunction with the SOWF here at Litewave Studios, allowing our Tampa white cyc studio to become the backdrop for their newest commercial, which is now airing nationwide. Litewave Studios’ founder Christian Cashmir was given the opportunity to work on the production, bringing his skill and expertise to the project.

A 5 Hour energy drink prepares for its close-up.

During the shoot the producers utilized our Tampa video studio rental and grip packages, including our Panasonic production monitors and the lighting grid that illuminates our Tampa video studios. The project was filmed on a Canon C500 camera with Zeiss CP.2 cinema lenses.

A member of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and daughter of a fallen soldier speaks on her experience with the organization.

“It was a great experience filming the 5 Hour Energy TV spot in our St. Petersburg video studio. The charity that they’re working with is such a great cause. It makes what we do more meaningful when it’s directly helping those in need,” says Litewave Studios’ founder Christian Cashmir.

Check out the finished commercial on ESPN or watch it below:

Are you looking for a Florida green screen studio or St. Petersburg video studio rental? Please contact us today for more info. Be sure to like Litewave Studios on Facebook and check out our latest video projects. Keep up with the blog for more Tampa video studio news!

DeChoker Films National Infomercial in Our St Petersburg Video Studio

“The DeChoker is an FDA Class 2 Medical Device…” read the teleprompter when we filmed an infomercial for the new invention at our St Petersburg video studio. Inventor Alan Carver came up with the idea while sailing, where there were limited options for choking victims. Now he aims to save lives both on land and at sea. Litewave Studios was excited to host Alan and the DeChoker team at our Tampa video production studio where we filmed with a variety of equipment right on our Tampa white cyc studio, which offers a seamless backdrop of over 50 feet.

The DeChoker team celebrates a successful shoot with our St Petersburg video crew.

Litewave Studios’ director and cinematographer, Christian Cashmir, filmed the commercial using our studio’s Tampa video equipment rental package, including a Canon C300, Canon cinema lenses, and our teleprompter. For lighting, our Kino Flo Divas, and 4′ Four banks lit up our talent with a soft, stylized look. Altman LED cyc lights lit our Tampa white cyc studio and gave the shoot the clean and professional look our client was looking for.

Actress Michele Yeager as the spokeswoman for the DeChoker infomercial in our St Petersburg green screen studio.

Actress Michele Yeager came on-board as spokeswoman for the commercial. We filmed her scenes on our Tampa green screen studio so we could add in dynamic graphics during post production.

One of the many testimonials we filmed for the DeChoker infomercial.

With our Florida film crew on set to light our Tampa green screen, filming for the commercial went off without a hitch. After a great shoot, we began the next objective: shaping the footage in the edit suite. The editing team cut together 10 different versions of the commercial suited for different media, and even a European version that went on air this week!

Bobby-Anne, a Tampa Bay resident, anxiously waits to give her testimonial on how the DeChoker saved her life.

Do you need a St Petersburg video studio rental or Tampa green screen studio? Please contact us for a free consultation. Be sure to like Litewave Studios on Facebook and check out all of our latest video projects. Keep up with our blog for more St Petersburg video studio news!