Frankie Cavone.
It’s funny how you get into the creative arts. In Frankie Cavone’s case, it was very physical, on four wheels, with grinding and ollies. This would, in a series of fortunate incidents, put him on the path to video production and entertainment news outlet Mirth Films. You may know his work; in fact, you may know it and not know it was his. It stands up against any video out there, and Frankie’s just a great guy.
I connect with Frankie, and we talk about 360-degree film techniques.
RRX: I try to shy away from controversy, as we’re an (Addams) family-friendly program, but I think it’s time to air this, and from what I’ve recently learned, you have a pony in the race. Reubens. So, I am ardently in the camp of corned beef, Swiss, kraut, and Russian dressing on rye. No pastrami, no Thousand Island. Am I a heathen?
FC: Russian all day, baby. In Fact, Ken’s Russian Dressing is hands down the best dressing for a Reuben. And get that pastrami sh*t out of here. Sounds like you know your stuff Liam!
RRX: You started a video production/entertainment news outlet called Mirth Films. I think being that it’s seven years old, “started” probably isn’t the right word. The name Mirth came from a kind of inside joke that carried over the years. Can you explain it to our readers? The name origin, but also the feeling that inspired Mirth Films?
FC: We are celebrating our fifth year as a company and at the end of the day, I am very thankful to have some of my bestest friends working alongside me. Five years ago, I was sitting on my friend’s couch drinking my usual six pack of Busch and Cumby’s black iced coffee and knew that I wanted to start a publication/video company hybrid but knew it had to have the right name. Years before this my friends and I had an inside joke where we all would say “Mirth Is King!” Now what the f*** does that mean? Well at first it had zero meaning to us. The slogan all came from my friend wanting to watch a Phish live stream at his apartment but unfortunately his Wi-Fi wasn’t working so he went to his upstairs neighbors to ask for the WiFi password and that happened to be “Mirthisking.” So, at the end of the day, I named Mirth Films after that password/inside joke that my friends and I bonded over.
RRX: The beauty of what you do is that you make it look effortless. When I watch your videos, I’m tempted to think you just opened your camera and waved a wand, and all the angles and cuts just fell in line, but really, it’s work. It’s maybe a maxim that if you’re really good at what you do, people will think it’s easy. Does that ever get in your way?
FC: When it comes to making videos, I want to be able to say at the end of the day that I put in my full energy. Nothing is more important than the quality of our content. While quality is a big focus, I also want to make sure that our content is making an impact big or small. We have a lot of great stories to be told in Upstate NY and we just want to tell them right.
RRX: You cover entertainment news in Upstate New York, as well as putting together video production for people who come to you. Have you always wanted to do entertainment, or I should say entertainment only, or did you cut your teeth off something like video-journalism? If so, any difficult scenes or moments?
FC: To be completely honest, I have no clue how I ended up where I am today, but I am grateful for it. I really didn’t even have a why either. But what I can say is that if it wasn’t for skateboarding, I would have never picked up a camera in any form.
RRX: You recently did a documentary called Grapplin’ Greg: The Story of Greg Bell. Greg Bell is a local music promoter with over 30 years of bringing shows to the area. It was well-received, and I’m sure people who saw it would love a quick “The making of…” So here and now is your chance to do that.
FC: I, among many other individuals owe a lot to Greg Bell for always elevating the great music scene we have here in the Capital Region. While a “making of” would be pretty rad, I’d rather take that time/energy to shine a light on someone else.
RRX: This is where you answer the question I didn’t ask. Comments? Remarks? Educate, enlighten, emote – the floor is yours.
FC: All I need to say is to follow the golden rule, respect others’ creative visions, and don’t forget to ask for extra dressing while ordering a Reuben out on the town. Great Reubens never have enough dressing.
