I can’t believe we are celebrating the first birthday of The Amused Now Blog and YouTube channel. I have met many talented artists and shared many interesting stories and helpful advice. Indie artists are the bravest and truest artists in the world. This past year has been more rewarding than anything I could have imagined.  Yes, Amused Now is becoming known as one of the premiere sites to promote indie artists; but what really excites me is the community and partnerships that we are building as we grow. I love how we support each other and share each other’s successes and introduce each other to those who can help advance our careers. How many sites can say that? I want to celebrate the successes of our five most popular posts this year. I am often asked how artists can increase their reach and attract new fans. Well, I’ll let these real life examples answer that question: #1 Smiz the Moneykid ~ Office Boys NY These guys are promotion machines! Smiz the Moneykid and Villa Dom have multiple Twitter accounts, one for each of their projects. I just looked up their post and, since their post was published in February, they have over 1700 tweets. They heavily promote on Facebook and Google+ too. Lesson learned: The lifetime value of your post depends on you. As a promoter, when I publish your post, I give it my undivided attention for 1-3 days. As long as the information in your post is relevant, you can link to it from your website and social media accounts for long after the publish date. Take advantage of all your internet real estate and pump up the volume! #2 Chris Browne ~ Busker Rhyme I love Chris Browne’s positivity. I asked...

The social media world is a wild and crazy place. I wrote a blog post about Matthew Modine and met Tara Dublin, actress and radio personality, here in my home town of Portland, Oregon. Tara stars in the hit web series The ScreenPrinters, available on YouTube and Funny or Die. The series has over 1000 subscribers, 7000 viewers and 29 episodes to date. Everyone is so excited about how well the show has been received, considering it only went live about 3 months ago. The team shot 6 more episodes and has one more scheduled shoot date. Then, the series’ future is uncertain, but Tara hopes to do more. Tara became involved with the project when Mercedes Rose, the series’ producer, was looking for just the right person to play the shop owner. Mercedes wanted the shop owner to be a woman who’s sarcastic and funny, so she asked Tara to audition. Tara got together with the other cast members (Brian Sutherland, Katie Michels and Hannah Barefoot) and “it was magical.” The team markets the series through social media, mainly Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr, because the show is on the web. Support from stars like Matthew Modine and fan word-of-mouth play a big part. However, as Tara explains, “if anyone from Entertainment Tonight wants to come and film us while we’re shooting the show, I wouldn’t say no.” Matthew Modine gave the team permission to use the show to market a tee with his face on it, and a portion of the proceeds benefit Oregon Children’s Theater. We, at Amused Now, think it’s so cool that The ScreenPrinters is helping young artists! Ryan Cole, from Cole, Inc., pulled Mathew Modine’s avatar off Twitter and created the shirt. Tara was a little nervous that he would say “No,” but he...

Everyone who knows me has heard me say, “Twitter has changed my life.” Well, my life expanded again this week. I cannot tell you how exciting it’s been since @Amused_Now met @MatthewModine. We discovered that both of us are working to create opportunities, so everyone can make a living pursuing what they love. Amused Now works through its blog and upcoming e-commerce site; Matthew Modine works through his short films, available now as a collection on iTunes. Matthew graciously agreed to a written interview with Amused Now about his films. We’re thrilled to share that interview with you: Cynthia: Matthew, you’ve starred in so many motion pictures, what prompted you into making your own short films? Matthew: Actors are storytellers. We do our best to embody the characters we play, bring them to life and tell their stories. For some actors, there comes a time when playing a role isn’t completely satisfying and they want to become orchestrators of the stories they tell. There are great examples of actors who have worked in front and behind the camera, from Charlie Chaplin to Woody Allen to Clint Eastwood to Ron Howard. Making short films is an exercise I do to try and master cinematic storytelling. Cynthia: How long have you been interested in filmmaking? Matthew: More than twenty years. I have also directed theatrical productions. Cynthia: Who are your influencers? Matthew: I’ve learned from all of the directors I have worked with. I’ve learned valuable lessons not only from the best of them, but also the least. It’s important to learn why something doesn’t work as much as why something works effectively. Every director wants to create something amazing and memorable. Something lasting. It’s rare when they do. And that is why we celebrate great...