Woman who has worked at a San Marino dry cleaners since 1992 now has her own 6-song CD.By Ryan Vaillancourt
As she toiled through a hapless marriage bound for eventual divorce, while moving with her two children to France from her native Iran and then, in 1992, to Glendale, a somewhat secret talent helped Jasmin Youssefian keep her cool.“She’s gone through a lot of hardships and made some really tough decision in our lives, as far as being a single parent,” said Shervin Youssefian, 29, Jasmin’s son, who is a Hoover High School and owner of Spot On Media, a Glendale based Commercial Production Company. “And while we moved from Iran to France and from France came here, we had to make a lot of changes, and she really had to keep all of us together. Even though there was a divorce when I was 18, she really stuck through it, but she always, I would always hear her sing.”
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It was through song — in any of the five languages she speaks — that Jasmin Youssefian was able to express her emotions, he said.“A lot of people really took that for granted,” he said, “including us.”Fast-forward 14 years since she arrived in the United States with her son and daughter, Sherly Youssefian, 25, and Jasmin’s little talent is not so secret anymore.Though she still works six days a week at the same San Marino dry cleaners that hired her in 1992, Jasmin’s now selling her own CDs by the bundle to longtime friends and customers.On his mother’s 53rd birthday in October, Shervin surprised her with a trip to a Glendale recording studio.He had made arrangements with the studio to record one song to put on an album to share her talent with friends and family. When they strolled into the studio, with its sound-proofed walls, bevy of instruments and computer equipment, Jasmin Youssefian got giddy.“Oh, I was just laughing like a crazy person, crying, too,” she said. “I couldn’t control myself....
This was one of the big miracles for me.”Working with a studio producer, she launched into the first song that came to her mind — a Farsi love song — which they recorded in two takes, she said. Impressed by her pipes, the producer invited Youssefian to come back in a few weeks to record some more songs, for free.She obliged, and a month later, her son ordered 300 copies of a six-song album called Love Songs from Faraway Lands.Her son, and pseudo-manager, also created a website to hawk the discs at www.jasminalbum.com.All heartfelt, romantic love songs that she learned as a child, Youssefian sings in Farsi, Turkish — a language she culled from her Turkish nanny in Iran — Armenian and French.“I didn’t know she sings,” said Anni Kauppi McConnell, a seven-year customer of Youssefian’s at the dry cleaners and one of many who bought the album. “I have to admit, I was amazed.... it reminded me of Portuguese fado.”With support from her friends and family, and her musical talent no longer a secret, Youssefian hopes she can sell enough discs to raise funds to record another album.
It’s a prospect that has led some of Shervin Youssefian’s friends to suggest that he could end up turning a sweet profit in the music business, his mom playing the key role.“You know I’ve had some friends say ‘you’re going to make some money,’” he said. “But I said ‘No way.’ I’m not getting any money out of this. This was my promise to her. This is all for her.”
__________________________________
For more information about Jasmin and to purchase the album, visit www.jasminalbum.com.
www.SpotonmediaTV.com
800.507.0159
818.246.SPOT
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Wednesday, July 3, 2013
A Lifelong Dream Come True
When was the last time you made someone's dream come true?
In this day and age, it's hard to even concoct a dream, let alone realizing them. Dreams are just not in vogue anymore. Wait, I don't even think the word "vogue" is in vogue anymore. So many things we can buy now that'll make us happy... who needs dreams anyway?
The story I'm about to share with you is not about me or any of my dreams. It's about an woman by the name of Hasmik which means Jasmin in Armenian. For those of your who are not botanically inclined, Jasmin is a shrub or vine having fragrant flowers emply used in perfumery.
Jasmin arrived in the US with her two kids in August of '92. Being a single parents, she started right off the bat, working at a family-owned Dry Cleaning store. After paying all the bills including a hefty college tuition for her teenagers, there wasn't much left at the end of the day. While she may have had a tremendous amount of ambition and charm, she remained at that Dry Cleaner's working 9 to 5. Why? It was fear that kept her there for the last 15 years and up to present day. Fear that she couldn't provide for her children as she had once promised she would as a single parent. Beware, a bad job can plague your spirit and it can stump your dreams until they're buried so deep into the ground that you can't see them anymore. You feel there's no way out unless you get fired or hit the jackpot.
Jasmin's customers and co-workers could never imagine the talent that she kept hidden on her side of the counter. A talent that no Dry Cleaner's employee could have and still work there. That gift was music and Jasmin's talent was in her voice, a voice of gold. A voice that has aged like wine through years of good and bad and terrible experiences. When you hear her throaty vocals, you are suddenly transported back through time and you can actually feel the heartache in her songs. Growing up, Jasmin would sing for whoever would listen. As an adult, she would a small group of friends and familiy after dinner and a round of quiet applause were enough to please her. Around her children, she would sing when she was happy. And she would sing when she was sad.
You may ask me how I know all this. You see, Jasmin is my dear mother, and I've grown up with her beautiful voice as the soundtrack of my life.
It was two months ago, in September of 2007, when a truly original and ingenious idea hit me. It was a random thought, but so perfect, that I knew nothing would stand in its way. With just a few hundred dollars, I was going to make my mother's greatest dream come true!On the following month, on the morning of October 4th, we woke her up for her birthday and took her to breakfast. While she may have been happy enough just by the mere fact that we had all taken her to breakfast, I told her the real surprise had yet to come. In fact, this surprise was so great that it would surely surpass any other gift she had or would ever receive in her life.Her mind started working overtime. "Did you sell a script?" "Is it something relating to your job?" "Something about Sherli?"What surprised me most was that all her questions revolved around me or my sister having attained some sort of success.
My mother had neglected her own aspirations for so long and that she seemed to have replaced her dreams with our dreams. Now, she couldn't grasp the surprise had nothing to do with us, but revolved entirely around her.We sat in the car and drove to Burbank and I gave her a series of clues such as "We're going to a house and a man is waiting for us there." "Is it Steven Spielburger hiring you to direct a movie?" she asked! "No, mother. And it's not Spiegelberger, it's Spielberg."Finally, we parked and walked toward the house.After knocking on the door, a young Armenian man opened still in his pajamas, then led us through the living room toward the backyard where another man was waiting. "Ok mother, now we follow him," as I observed my mother more confused than ever. Finally, the second man lead us into a small room built in the back of the house and as we walked in, my Mother slowly realized what was happening. The keyboards, the recording equipment, the professional microphone, the headphones and all the works. We were going to professionaly record her voice and mix it with a full arrangement of instruments.Needless to say, she was shocked. She burst into mad laughter for a good five minutes without completely comprehending what I was telling her. Once she came back down from 7th Heaven, she took a deep breath and approached the microphone. She took directions from the musician like a real pro as if she had done this sort of thing all her life. Maybe she had. Maybe she had rehearsed this exact moment a million times in her head. She sang her first song and everything was still. It was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Even the professional musician was shocked. "I see artists come and go all the time, but no one has the emotional depth that your mother has, and no one ever sings it perfectly the first time through!" he exclaimed.He had loved my mother's voice so much that he offered a second visit to record two more songs at no additional charge.
A few days later, we returned to record three more songs. The following week, we recorded three more songs. With the heartbreaking lyrics and music, and driven by powerhouse vocals, my mother's first music album was officially in motion and I was not going to stop halfway! I pulled all the stops. I charged my credit card and professionally designed a logo and a complete CD case, the whole works!
The Album entitled Love Songs From Far Away Lands was released yesterday on Monday, December 17th, 2007. Since its release, it has already sold 40 copies! You can imagine how ecstatic my mother is. You can just imagine how shocked her customers are as they admire the music in the store before they find out the tiny woman behind the counter is the singer with the powerful voice.
Now who says Dreams don't come true? If you have a dream and you have faith in God, please take stock in this story and know the truth about Dreams… Just like Jasmines, they will bloom in full fragrance if you never ever quit tending them.
To Buy your own copy, visit:
www.JasminAlbum.com
Production Company:
www.Spotonmediatv.com
If you liked this article, you may be interested in:
Commercial Production
Creative Branding
Television Ad Storytelling
Branding Exercises
Infomercial Production
DR Productions
DR Marketing
Direct Response Production
Direct Response Commercial
Infographics
In this day and age, it's hard to even concoct a dream, let alone realizing them. Dreams are just not in vogue anymore. Wait, I don't even think the word "vogue" is in vogue anymore. So many things we can buy now that'll make us happy... who needs dreams anyway?
The story I'm about to share with you is not about me or any of my dreams. It's about an woman by the name of Hasmik which means Jasmin in Armenian. For those of your who are not botanically inclined, Jasmin is a shrub or vine having fragrant flowers emply used in perfumery.
Jasmin arrived in the US with her two kids in August of '92. Being a single parents, she started right off the bat, working at a family-owned Dry Cleaning store. After paying all the bills including a hefty college tuition for her teenagers, there wasn't much left at the end of the day. While she may have had a tremendous amount of ambition and charm, she remained at that Dry Cleaner's working 9 to 5. Why? It was fear that kept her there for the last 15 years and up to present day. Fear that she couldn't provide for her children as she had once promised she would as a single parent. Beware, a bad job can plague your spirit and it can stump your dreams until they're buried so deep into the ground that you can't see them anymore. You feel there's no way out unless you get fired or hit the jackpot.
Jasmin's customers and co-workers could never imagine the talent that she kept hidden on her side of the counter. A talent that no Dry Cleaner's employee could have and still work there. That gift was music and Jasmin's talent was in her voice, a voice of gold. A voice that has aged like wine through years of good and bad and terrible experiences. When you hear her throaty vocals, you are suddenly transported back through time and you can actually feel the heartache in her songs. Growing up, Jasmin would sing for whoever would listen. As an adult, she would a small group of friends and familiy after dinner and a round of quiet applause were enough to please her. Around her children, she would sing when she was happy. And she would sing when she was sad.
You may ask me how I know all this. You see, Jasmin is my dear mother, and I've grown up with her beautiful voice as the soundtrack of my life.
It was two months ago, in September of 2007, when a truly original and ingenious idea hit me. It was a random thought, but so perfect, that I knew nothing would stand in its way. With just a few hundred dollars, I was going to make my mother's greatest dream come true!On the following month, on the morning of October 4th, we woke her up for her birthday and took her to breakfast. While she may have been happy enough just by the mere fact that we had all taken her to breakfast, I told her the real surprise had yet to come. In fact, this surprise was so great that it would surely surpass any other gift she had or would ever receive in her life.Her mind started working overtime. "Did you sell a script?" "Is it something relating to your job?" "Something about Sherli?"What surprised me most was that all her questions revolved around me or my sister having attained some sort of success.
My mother had neglected her own aspirations for so long and that she seemed to have replaced her dreams with our dreams. Now, she couldn't grasp the surprise had nothing to do with us, but revolved entirely around her.We sat in the car and drove to Burbank and I gave her a series of clues such as "We're going to a house and a man is waiting for us there." "Is it Steven Spielburger hiring you to direct a movie?" she asked! "No, mother. And it's not Spiegelberger, it's Spielberg."Finally, we parked and walked toward the house.After knocking on the door, a young Armenian man opened still in his pajamas, then led us through the living room toward the backyard where another man was waiting. "Ok mother, now we follow him," as I observed my mother more confused than ever. Finally, the second man lead us into a small room built in the back of the house and as we walked in, my Mother slowly realized what was happening. The keyboards, the recording equipment, the professional microphone, the headphones and all the works. We were going to professionaly record her voice and mix it with a full arrangement of instruments.Needless to say, she was shocked. She burst into mad laughter for a good five minutes without completely comprehending what I was telling her. Once she came back down from 7th Heaven, she took a deep breath and approached the microphone. She took directions from the musician like a real pro as if she had done this sort of thing all her life. Maybe she had. Maybe she had rehearsed this exact moment a million times in her head. She sang her first song and everything was still. It was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Even the professional musician was shocked. "I see artists come and go all the time, but no one has the emotional depth that your mother has, and no one ever sings it perfectly the first time through!" he exclaimed.He had loved my mother's voice so much that he offered a second visit to record two more songs at no additional charge.
A few days later, we returned to record three more songs. The following week, we recorded three more songs. With the heartbreaking lyrics and music, and driven by powerhouse vocals, my mother's first music album was officially in motion and I was not going to stop halfway! I pulled all the stops. I charged my credit card and professionally designed a logo and a complete CD case, the whole works!
The Album entitled Love Songs From Far Away Lands was released yesterday on Monday, December 17th, 2007. Since its release, it has already sold 40 copies! You can imagine how ecstatic my mother is. You can just imagine how shocked her customers are as they admire the music in the store before they find out the tiny woman behind the counter is the singer with the powerful voice.
Now who says Dreams don't come true? If you have a dream and you have faith in God, please take stock in this story and know the truth about Dreams… Just like Jasmines, they will bloom in full fragrance if you never ever quit tending them.
To Buy your own copy, visit:
www.JasminAlbum.com
Production Company:
www.Spotonmediatv.com
If you liked this article, you may be interested in:
Commercial Production
Creative Branding
Television Ad Storytelling
Branding Exercises
Infomercial Production
DR Productions
DR Marketing
Direct Response Production
Direct Response Commercial
Infographics
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Shervin Youssefian, writer-director of Crossroad
Writer, director, and producer Shervin Youssefian has made a name for himself in as an artist capable of telling compelling stories through enhanced visual representation. Since writing his first screenplay at the age of 10 and making his first movie at the age of 12, Shervin Youssefian has immersed himself in the art of filmmaking, through short films, commercials, and features. Shervin Yousefian attended USC and CSUN, graduating in 2002 with a degree in Film and Cinema Arts. It was at CSUN where Youssefian and partner Danny Simonzad made a 15-minute short called “Color Blind,” focusing on digital editing software as compared to manual visual manipulation. The film received numerous awards, including the Davis Film Festival Short Film Award and a Hollywood Foreign Press Fellowship Award.
- Shervin Youssefian directing a national Anti-Bullying PSA with celebrity teen Joey King.
After graduation, Youssefian worked in the advertising industry, where he honed his skills as a meticulous director and thoughtful screenwriter. Needing a change in 2007, and in response to his professional success throughout Los Angeles, Youssefian and Danny Simonzad founded Spot on Media, a multimedia production company that has created hundreds of commercials for television, radio, and web for clients including Nissan, ING, ABC, Coke, and Honda.
- Shervin & Arsine Youssefian
In 2013, Youssefian and Spot On Media released Crossroad, a feature film written and directed by Youssefian. Crossroad has received numerous awards and accolades, including Best Feature, Best Screenplay, and Best Performance from the 2013 Attic Film Festival, and Best Ensemble Cast at the Monaco Charity Film Festival. Built upon the success of Spot On Media in both the advertising and film industries, Youssefian plans to produce an anti-bullying PSA to bring attention and awareness to the devastating effects bullying can have on the lives of children. The project, entitled, “The Eulogy of Ivy O’Connor” is based on a gripping short story by New York Times Bestselling Author Sophie Jordan.
For more information on Shervin Yousefian, Spot On Media, “Crossroad,”
http://www.imdb.com/
http://spotonmediatv.com/
http://crossroadmovie.com/
If you liked this article, you may be interested in:
Commercial Production
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Television Ad Storytelling
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DR Marketing
Direct Response Production
Direct Response Commercial
Infographics
http://spotonmediatv.com/
http://crossroadmovie.com/
If you liked this article, you may be interested in:
Commercial Production
Creative Branding
Television Ad Storytelling
Branding Exercises
Infomercial Production
DR Productions
DR Marketing
Direct Response Production
Direct Response Commercial
Infographics
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