The Weekly Column

The Pulse of Entertainment: DreamWorks Animation's Joel Crawford Directs the Universal Presentation of The Croods: A New Age

Eunice Moseley

(November 24, 2020) - "Trolls (Holiday) did so well I didn't want to mess it up," said Joel Crawford about directing the DreamWorks Animation, The Croods: A New Age - distributed by Universal Pictures and in (opened) theatres November 25, 2020, and Video On Demand on December 25th. "Been here at DreamWorks since 2006 and worked on many projects as a storyboard artist. I've taken movies scene by scene...all these things that add up to me being a director."

Joel's natural progression led to directing the Troll's Holiday short animated film to directing this feature animated film The Croods: A New Age. The project stars the voices of Academy Award winning Nicolas Cage (The Guardian) as Grug Crood; Catherine Keener (Into the Wild) as Ugga Crood - Grug's wife; eight-time Primetime Emmy winning Cloris Leachman ("Raising Hope") as Gran; Academy Award winning Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man) as Eep Crood - the eldest daughter; Randy Thom (Skywalker Sound) as Sandy Crood - daughter, and Clark Duke ("The Office") as Thunk Crood - the son, and they are The Croods. The Croods' characters were developed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch), Kirk DeMicco (The Croods), and John Cleese (Shrek the Third). In the first installment of The Croods, they survive an end-of-the-world earthquake. In The Croods: A New Age, the family along with Guy, Eep's boyfriend that is voiced by Ryan Reynolds ("Two Guys and a Girl"), and two pet sloth - Sash voiced by Tara Strong (Teen Titans) and Belt voiced by Chris Sanders - discover they are not the only survivors when they meet the Betterman family. They don't get along because the Bettermans believes they are more evolved than the Croods. However, the families are forced to work together when their children become missing. The hunt is on to find the missing kids and save their lives.

The Betterman family consists of Phil Betterman - the father voiced by Primetime Emmy Award winning Peter Dinklage (Game of Thornes), Hope Betterman - the wife voiced by Leslie Mann (17 Again), and Dawn Betterman - the daughter voiced by Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars: The Last Jedi).

"Chris Adams gave me notes," Joel said about the storyline. "We were trying to see what the sequel will be for a long time...I came in later. Meeting another family was already in there...but who they are...developed when I came in."

Rated PG, The Croods: A New Age was produced by Mark Swift and is a DreamWorks Animation production. Crawford's credits, as Art Director in the animation's department of DreamWorks, also includes Rise of the Guardians, both Kung Fu Panda as Art Director, and Lego Movie 2 as Art Director.

"It's the same characters with a different journey," Joel Crawford concluded. www.UniversalPictures.com/movies/the-croods-2

The Pulse of Entertainment: Robert Gaylard is The Nomadic, Releases ‘Walk the Streets' Single

By Eunice Moseley

(November 20, 2020) - "The Nomadic is pretty much me. I have musicians I play with," said Robert Gaylard when I asked if the new single "Walk the Streets" is a solo release or a release from his band The Nomadic. "I've lived a very nomadic life growing up all over the world. I lived in five different countries by the age of 10."

The exposure, I'm sure, helped him secure a job working at the United Nations which has exposed him to many more different kinds of cultures and styles of music.

"I work for the U.N. It's like a tribe of people moving around the world supporting people less fortunately than your self," Gaylard stated. "My work knows my heart is in music."

"Walk the Streets" is the 5th single from The Nomadic upcoming 2021 album release. Previous singles include "Drifting" - which is accompanied by a music video, "Waiting," "Beyond Blue," and "Manhattan View" - which is also accompanied by a music video.

Born in Australia, Robert has a fresh sound that is a melting-pot of Alternative Country, Rock and Pop, even though his band is labeled as a Rock band. His voice and style is something the world is hungry for. Quality instrumentals and vocals (especially the vocal harmony heard in the back of his songs), with lyrical content that is inspiring and relatable.

"I'm always writing music since the age of 16 - 18, but all the time working for the U.N. it wasn't that easy to pursue my music. When I came to New York, I said, ‘I going to express myself musically.' People started identifying with it."

The Nomadic moved from Australia to America to live in New York in 2012 to pursue his music. He soon after was divorced and he turned to his music for comfort.

"I was divorced during that time and music was a great outlet. I wrote ‘Walk the Streets,'" he said. "...Just released it as the 5th single...releasing another one soon, and then a couple more next year. I'm putting together an album of 10 to 12 songs."

Robert Gaylard, a lead guitarist, singer and songwriter, still works for the United Nations, and even though he has performed for them at a staff event he said he likes to keep the two separate.

"I kept it separate," he said about his job and his music. "I play a lot in New York. I'm waiting for the pandemic to end...can't play live right now. I also have a few practical things I'm working on. I have to focus on music...there is lots of investment that goes into it."

Robert took 2019 off to invest in his music and the result is a long list of songs good enough to be major singles. Check it out for yourself at www.Youtube.com/TheNomadic.

SYNDICATED COLUMN: Eunice Moseley, MS, MBA, MPhil has an estimated weekly readership of over ¼ million with The Pulse of Entertainment. She is also a Public Relations Strategist and Business Management Consultant at Freelance Associates, and is Promotions Director (at-large) for The Baltimore Times. www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com. EVENTS: "Uplifting Minds II" Entertainment Conference (ULMII), founded by Eunice in 1999, is into its 21st year. Next events are coming Baltimore Saturday April 17, 2021 at Security Square Mall and Los Angeles Saturday November 6, 2021 at (TBD). The ULMII event is a free conference offering an Entertainment Business Panel Q&A Session, a Talent Showcase and Talent Competition (vocal, songwriting, dance and acting) where aspiring artists have a chance to receive over $15,000 valued in prizes/product/services. Log onto www.UpliftingMinds2.com for more information or to RSVP.