The ascent of a live shows producer professional : Sequoia Slentz? When Sequoia Slentz, owner of Cleanbox Entertainment in Laguna Beach, set his sights on the entertainment business nearly a decade ago, he never fathomed that his success would far exceed his goals. The Laguna native, who was once the frontman for local punk band Yer Mom and who initially set out to produce punk albums and merchandise with the establishment of Cleanbox in 2001, is now juggling a reality TV show, concert bookings, music and TV promotions and a clothing line.
Sequoia Slentz profile in 944 Magazine : Although the world CleanBox inhabits is a far cry from the glossy photo spreads of beautiful people getting their rocks off that fill the mag’s pages, the recognition is still appreciated. Even though we despise the types of people who are into the magazine: the Armani and cologne wearing set, the bitchy, fake-titted chicks who won’t give us the time of day, we are ready and willing to accept all publicity. Plus, Sequoia and I got some free tequila at the photo shoot. Nothing beats a semi-solid excuse to drink hard liquor at noon.
About Sequoia Slentz: Owned and operated CleanBox Entertainment since 2001. Over the past 4 years we have produced major live events nationwide. My company created a television show which was licensed to Howard TV in 2009. We are interested in all ideas. Specialties: Designing, Manufacturing, Merchandise, Producing Live Shows, Creative Marketing on a budget, Event Planning.
Sequoia Slentz creative marketing advices: It goes without saying that there’s no “I” in team, and the best way to achieve your results is to be surrounded by people you trust, people who are professionals and experts in the field, and people you can rely onto do their jobs. With so many moving parts of your live event, you can’t micro-manage, or keep track of every detail within each department. So that’s where your team comes in to help you be those extra eyes and ears to catch any issues and ultimately get the job done right. It’s easy to go over budget when you start adding extra wireless microphones, Internet and power drops, cameras, and probably one of the biggest cost over-runs is not correctly estimating the amount of time it actually takes to produce your event. In most cases, labor can be your biggest cost, and if you don’t account for overtime, and even double time, you run the risk of being way over budget. Having the proper staffing ratio is crucial to staying on time and budget. You need to have the right amount of labor to get the job done, and not either under or over staff. If you’re producing a video webcast with a live audience, you’ll have core costs that will cover equipment and labor.
Sequoia Slentz on Covid-19 times and the entertainment industry : “In what ways have you seen COVID-19 affect the music industry? The pandemic has been pretty devastating for live entertainment and in general, and especially the music industry. It’s been especially challenging for up and coming artists that want to get out there and play live. Now, clearly, all they can do right now is a live stream, but if they don’t already have a large following, that can present its own challenges. The pandemic has hurt all artists, even larger acts had to cancel tours. Ultimately what we’re talking about is that there has been loads of money lost for the artist, for the promoters, also for the sound engineers, light engineers, stage crew, food vendors, security, stage techs, drivers, venues, and merchandise sales in live music. Furthermore, the pandemic has created a lot of self-doubt and uncertainty for artists. Some artists are now thinking about shifting to a different career or creating side hustles. Multiple income streams are the way to go even during normal times.
Killers of Comedy & Sequoia Slentz : We travel around the country with the Killers, meeting super fans everywhere we go. When you hang out with Beetlejuice before a Killers show, you feel like you’re hanging with freak show royalty. Everyone recognizes him and everyone loves him. But, after traveling from SF, and the extremely hectic Artie show, Levy, Yucko, and Shuli were all exhausted. We dragged them down to the party to find what looked like the cast of the Andy Griffith Show, a gang of 30 white collar Republicans and their families, sitting in a generic hotel conference room, with zero knowledge of the forthcoming entertainment.