Music Video Asheville 2022 Makes Big Splash! - TribPapers
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Music Video Asheville 2022 Makes Big Splash!

Matt Mittan and Michelle Sheve from Buzz Radio. Photo by Tom Afrr.

Asheville – On Thursday, October 5, 2022, The Salvage Station hosted the 14th Annual Music Video Asheville or MVA, sponsored by Prestige Subaru. Local music and filmmaking artists came together for a night, celebrating local talent in what has grown to be one of Asheville’s top media events.

A bumpy ride back

When asking this year’s event producer Marisa Blake (from iamavl.com) of the misfortunes that fell upon the event during 2019 she recapped how, “the 2019 Music Video Asheville ceremony suffered from many technical difficulties … I was MC’ing the event and I was just trying to pick up those pieces.” The music festival and its participants witnessed an unraveling that left many wondering whether or not the festival could ever bounce back. “Music videos weren’t playing and everyone was really mad, and I was just there trying to save face,” Marissa remembers. It should be noted that Lush Life Productions had produced many successful iterations of the event in the years prior to 2019 and since relinquishing control has rebranded and shifted its production focuses.

An established video company takes the reins during COVID

The 2022 event was spearheaded by the local live streaming video production company iamavl.com with Marisa and Josh Blake. As Marisa recounts, “we had already been featuring interviews and live streaming the MVA event.” The couple approached Lush Life Productions about taking it over. “Since we were already doing live streaming prouductions, it felt like a natural pivot for iamavl.com.” Lush Life Production concurred that the time was right for a transition. During the height of COVID in 2020, iamavl.com produced a live stream virtual presentation of Music Video Asheville. More than just a web event, iamavl.com produced all sorts of swag items for its winners and interacted with its participants. “We prepared these little goodie bags, with contributions from a bunch of sponsors for the winners to pick up. I remember standing outside Echo Mountain with my mask on just handing out these prizes.” The awards ceremony happened on Zoom, and it was despite its plethora of understandable limitations, a positive event that even featured live performances that were broadcast from within their studios.

Diverse set of judges for the event

Marisa notes that this year’s event included a sizable and “very wide selection of judges.” They selected 29 videos from the 89 submissions for this year’s event. The event now included “a best international video category that was awarded to an entry from Taiwan, as well as a category coined as Best of the U.S., which was awarded to someone from Tennessee.” Cash and studio time from Echo Mountain Recording Studios were provided for the ‘Crowd Favorite’ and ‘Judges’ Choice’, respectively, while trophies were awarded to the other top category winners.

The red carpet treatment

The event began with red carpet pictures behind a step-and-repeat backdrop of local sponsors captured by Asheville’s own paparazzi of independent photographers. Multiple screens and a sizable sound system presented the festival’s chosen videos at 7 o’clock in all their visual and audio glory. Hilliary Begley, an actor and comedian, served as the event’s host. Krave Amiko sang live, followed by the official awards ceremony. The celebration continued after 10 p.m. with the After Party ushered in by DJ Malintzin!

A strong turnout of local sponsors’ support

All in all the event transpired in a very professional fashion. It’s itineary of events blended well as the music did to the medley of video media. Prestige Subaru, Welcome To Mars, Asheville Color and Imaging, Devil’s Foot Brewing, Hi-Wire Brewing, Ceiba Hemp Distribution, and The Salvage Station were just a few of the local companies who helped Musiv Video Asheville put this event together.