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The Impact of Music Venues on Creating Culture and Community Engagement

Music venues usually sit at the heart of local culture, giving artists places to showcase their talent and giving everyone a place to come together for live music. For many communities, music venues become cultural symbols, helping to shape city and neighbourhood identities.  At DiaDan Holdings , we recognize that these spaces are vital for supporting artists in local communities. They create connections for emerging talent and enrich the cultural lives of local citizens. A large part of the cultural identity of any community, big or small, stems from the kinds of acts and artists playing at the local theatre. The entertainment on offer ideally mirrors the diversity of tastes and cultures that contribute to making the community what it is.  Concerts also bring in tourists, giving a huge boost to the local economy. Music venues contribute to job creation while building a common sense of community pride. Live music has a way of uniting people, crossing boundaries and generationa...
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The Impact of Sustainability and Green Investments on the Entertainment Industry

At DiaDan Holdings, we are constantly searching for new opportunities that align with changes in the market and society. A big trend in entertainment now is the focus on sustainability. More companies and people are taking measures to protect the environment, and the entertainment industry is a leader in moving toward greener practices. This creates many investment opportunities for private equity firms like ours. Sustainability in Film and Music Production The entertainment industry affects the environment in several specific ways. Film production consumes a large amount of energy, while live concerts have high carbon emissions. There is considerable room for change and improvement. More creators and production companies are responding to this challenge by using sustainable methods that cut waste, consume less energy, and reduce carbon emissions. In film, sustainable production means using fewer disposable items, saving energy while filming, and balancing emissions with environmental ...

Jordan Smith Tapes PBS-TV Special at L.A.’s Evergreen Stage

Four years ago, in December 2015, Jordan Smith won season nine of NBC-TV’s popular vocal competition “The Voice.” The Harlan, Kentucky native and Lee University graduate would become the show's biggest-selling singer, selling more than 1.5 million singles and placing eight songs into the Top 10 on iTunes' singles chart, three of which went to number one. When you enjoy that kind of success on such a highly viewed television show, lots of wonderful career opportunities often come you way. In Smith’s case, one of those opportunities brought him to the Evergreen Stage in Burbank, where he taped his first hour-long Christmas program, the 2016 PBS special “Jordan Smith: ‘Tis the Season,” which aired on KET-TV in Kentucky. The show, which presented a concert of holiday music from Smith's 2016 Christmas album of the same name, brought together the talents of a number of top musicians and industry luminaries. It seemed almost a given that Smith would record a holiday a...

David Foster, Other Luminaries Come Together for Jordan Smith PBS-TV Special at L.A.’s Evergreen Stage

If you’ve listened to records, CDs or streaming media, or watched movies or television over the past four decades, you’re well-acquainted with the work of David Foster, the legendary Grammy® -winning composer, songwriter and music producer who’s worked with everyone from Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion and Chicago to the late Whitney Houston. Four years ago, the highly regarded Foster added a new name to his roster of recording artists: Jordan Smith. Following Smith’s run during the ninth season of NBC-TV’s popular vocal competition “The Voice,” which culminated in winning that season’s competition, Foster produced “ Something Beautiful ,” the Harlan Kentucky natives debut album. Not long after that, he also produced “Jordan Smith: ‘Tis the Season,” Smith’s second album, which featured mostly traditional holiday songs. Then came the kicker: Foster played piano as a special guest during the taping of Smith’s first television special since “The Voice,” a holiday-themed PBS specia...

LZ Love and Clara Bellino Record at The Evergreen Stage

For more than 40 years, The Evergreen Stage has been making music history. The state-of-the- art recording facility located in the heart of Burbank, with its massive 3,000-square-foot live room, has been the studio of choice for some of your favorite musical artists, and the site where many of your favorite songs have been recorded. With a complete range of accommodations for both digital and analog recordings, the studio, until recently owned by DiaDan Holdings, Ltd., earned its well-deserved reputation as the go-to recording facility for artists, engineers and producers, both LA-based and those who travel to southern California to ply their trade within its acoustically perfect walls. If those walls could talk, they’d tell you stories about the wide and diverse range of singers, musicians, bands, and even symphony orchestras that have spent long days and nights getting just the right sound at the Stage. They include A-listers like Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartne...

The Evergreen Stage Continues to Attract Talent

The Evergreen Stage in Los Angeles continues to attract top tier musicians from around the world. The recording studio, previously owned by DiaDan Holdings Ltd. recently hosted a recording session by Maxwell’s All-Stars , featuring some of Los Angeles top studio musicians, including blues guitarist Hadley Hockensmith, singer Charlean Carmon, bass player Abraham Laboriel and drummer Bill Maxwell, who also produced the “Up to the Mountain” session, a gospel groove number written by Patty Griffin and inspired by the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. In October 2018, country star Blake Shelton and producer Scott Hendricks popped in to record a string session for an upcoming release. And in September 2018, the 120-member Southeast Symphony squeezed into the Evergreen Stage for a week of rehearsals. Yes, it’s a big studio (3,000 square feet) but was built to accommodate up to 80 musicians. The Southeast Symphony certainly pushed the space’s limit. Earlier in 2018, smooth ...

A Gem On- and Off-Camera: L.A. Landmark Plays Dual Role in History

  "Just pick ONE!" In the 2016 film, La La Land , S ebastian (Ryan Gosling) utters these words in frustration after seeing that his favorite jazz club, Van Beek, has been turned into a samba and tapas bar. Much like art imitating life, the theatre that played the part of Van Beek has two identities … but many in the creative community of Los Angeles are glad past owners did NOT “just pick one!” The storied building, located at 4403 Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank, spent several decades as the Magnolia Theatre . Designed by Jacques DeForest Griffin in 1940, the Magnolia’s marquee was topped with a 170-foot pylon said to be inspired by the Eiffel Tower. In 1964, Jack Grossman remodeled the 800-seat movie palace at a cost of $60,000. The renovation included a new 60-foot V-shaped marquee, a 45-ton capacity gas refrigeration air conditioning installation, a new box office covered with Italian marble and new lighting. It boasted a parking lot large enough for 300 cars. Not ...