Adam Paul โ06 almost choked on a pistachio when he got a call that his show, American Music Spotlight, won the 2021 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Directing Team for a Multiple Camera Daytime Non-Fiction Program.ย
โIt was shocking to get nominated, and then to win was unreal,โ says Paul, CEO of 7 Cinematics, a live music and event broadcasting production company. โI kept saying I wasnโt going to believe it until I had the Emmy in my hand because it seemed impossible that we beat Elon Muskโs SpaceX launch.โ ย
Paulโs independently produced show also beat the 94th Annual Macyโs Thanksgiving Day Parade, Disney Parks Magical Christmas Celebration and CBS This Morning. The 13-episode, 4K documentary series aired on the Circle network and DirecTV, and features top acts like Dawes, Shovels & Rope and Widespread Panic performing at historic theaters around the country.ย
โAmerican Music Spotlight was my dream, my passion,โ says Paul. โItโs another form of storytelling; itโs documenting these bands and these people and capturing a moment in time โ and we did it with no budget.โย
With the motto, โHaul water and chop wood,โ 7 Cinematics isnโt afraid of hard work, which has contributed to its success. Paul says this is unique in an industry thatโs often negative and cutthroat, joking that, while he and his team are avid music fans, they work every gig with an almost ninja-like approach.ย
โI love when people tell me, โYou canโt,โ โYou wonโtโ or โYou shouldnโt,โ do something, because it sparks the fire inside me,โ he says. โNow we literally are arguably the No. 1 live production company for music on the face of the planet.โย
Heโs not exaggerating: 7 Cinematics has worked with some of the top musicians in locations around the world, including a livestream of the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Great Pyramids of Giza. An international production like that involves complex logistics, customs, drones, satellites, power grids and security โ and would normally take months. Paul did it in 28 days. ย
โItโs literally the greatest and hardest thing that Iโve ever done,โ says the studio art major, who credits the College for giving him the freedom to explore his craziest ideas. โThe art department was integral to building my career. I did a lot of photography and printmaking and an immense amount of sculpture, because I love the three dimensions and being able to capture an actual moment in time. When I found video, I realized I could combine all the elements that I loved.โย
And, it turns out, they were all the right elements for success on both sides of the camera for his fishing show GillzNFinz, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in. After two seasons and two Emmy nominations, Paul ended the show in 2010 to start a production company, Catch Multimedia, in Charleston. Then, in 2017, he moved back home to Greensboro, North Carolina, to join 7 Cinematics.ย
Whether itโs filming a series for TV or producing a live concert, Paul is always searching for the โflow state,โ which he compares to a surfer searching for the perfect wave. And he rode that wave in 2020, when 7 Cinematics did a four-night event at Red Rocks Amphitheater for the City of Denver.ย
โEach night was a different band โ and, on the third night, the sky was orange from a forest fire 30 miles away,โ he recalls. โThe smoke was blowing over us, and we were locked in and focused. Itโs a powerful feeling when everybody gets goosebumps. Thatโs what weโre always searching for, because people need music โ thatโs what matters.โย
