Cutting Edge Entertainment is talent personified. It is from within our hallowed studio that many of Philadelphia’s greatest entertainers continue to emerge. We brag because we can… we’re just that good. It isn’t really bragging though, it’s pride, coupled with a commitment to excellence that has no rival in the City of Philadelphia.

Someone once asked if I had moments of regret for choosing the name “Cutting Edge” for our company. If somehow we could have chosen another word that hadn’t such a connotation of what was new and avant-garde. I wondered if some other name would have lessened pressure of achievement and innovation, somehow making it alright to settle for mediocrity. Perhaps. But as it stands, the name is Cutting Edge, and so we are.

Lights and camera are concluded by action, almost as if to be the punctuation of the words which came before it. Action is what the entertainer brings to the table in any equation, and our approach to interactive entertainment is on both the micro and macro level. Practice makes perfect, and working often as well as a regular rehearsal schedule are a part of Cutting Edge Entertainment’s rigorous approach to event entertainment. The key word is “interactive”. Lights and cameras are important and integral parts of any production, but the performers are the catalyst that create the excitement.

If you were to ask our entertainment staff about the hard work they put in to training and rehearsal, it’s quite likely that they would have no idea what you were talking about. As Mary Poppins said, “In any job that must be done there is an element of fun… Find the fun and SNAP, the job’s a game”. The cast at Cutting Edge Entertainment is like one big spoonful of sugar, and they inject fun into everything they do.

Many thanks to Photographer Kevin York and NJ Blast Energy drinks for sponsoring or April 2010 rehearsal.

-Craig

Kevin York Photography – www.kevinyorkphotography.com

N.J. Blast Energy Drinks – www.njblast.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

For the past few Thursdays, Cutting Edge Entertainment has been re-tooling our DJ and production gear. Pedro, Marc and I have been working with Carl (our production manager), overhauling our equipment and making some much needed changes to the technology we implement at events. Although I admit it is exciting to see great new systems and equipment put in place, it hasn’t been easy.

Cutting Edge Entertainment is a ‘multi-op’, a term used within the disc jockey industry to describe a company that has multiple DJ rigs or setups, in our case the magic number is seven (we didn’t pick the lucky number, it just worked out that way). What this means is that on any particular day Cutting Edge Entertainment can handle up to seven simultaneous events.

That’s a lot of sound gear, so to tackle a project like re-wiring and re-tooling is no small task, it’s a major undertaking.

This year alone C.E.E. has invested thousands of dollars in new equipment, and going into 2010 we are confident that Cutting Edge Entertainment truly is ‘cutting edge.’

The 2009 year presented many challenges being a recession year, and we met it head-on with an aggressive business plan and a few staff changes, but for the most part our mission has stayed the same… to provide great entertainment.

Certainly having state of the art gear is important (great sound, cool lights, etc), but at the end of the day it’s the caliber of talent that Cutting Edge employs that makes all the difference. While having great equipment is no doubt important, it’s the skills of the artist that make the masterpiece, not the quality of his paint brush.

But it doesn’t hurt to have great paint brushes as well.

-Craig Sumsky
Cutting Edge Entertainment

P.S.  I’d like to thank Carl for his tireless efforts in overseeing this project (which still isn’t quite finished), as well and Pedro (a.k.a. wizard with a soldering gun) and Marc for all the time, work and dedication you’ve all put into this project.

P.P.S.  For those DJs out there reading this blog, you might recognize the old Soundcraftsman mixer in the photo.  It’s for sale – cheap – quite a relic and time to be retired from service.  It’s in excellent condition and would appreciate a loving home.

Cutting Edge Entertainment – www.cuttingedgedjs.com

Facebook – www.facebook.com/CuttingEdgeEntertainment

Photo courtesy of the Pedro iPhone

In a series of recent articles by ‘The Man Registry‘ published on the OneWed ‘Savvy Scoop’ blog, the author offers the readers some of what I would call ‘misinformation’. The first article goes on to say things like “Go see your DJ or Band live” (an absurd suggestion, as a DJ has no right to invite perspective clients to someone else’s wedding), where the next article suggests that in choosing an iPod over a DJ or band, the only thing that is sacrificed is the announcer.

(Click here to see OneWed’s blog post)

Now considering that DJs and bands pay OneWed to advertise, is it really wise for OneWed to publish articles diminishing the value of professional entertainment/entertainers at a wedding reception?  Doesn’t seem like OneWed is looking out for it’s advertisers.

But in regard to the article…

When Aunt Rose comes up and requests a jitterbug, will the iPod somehow know just the song to play? Or maybe the random groomsman knows, and he can pull it up… after having three vodka tonics, or assuming he knows what a jitterbug is in the first place.  Or maybe the iPod can look at the dance floor and see it’s time to change it up a bit because some of the older folks have sat down for dessert and it’s a great time to play a mix of newer music for the younger guests still dancing?

I could go on, but why? I’ve talked about iPods in previous blog posts, and can see the merit in them from a budgetary perspective… but that’s all.  Heck, why not save money on the bartender as well and just set up a keg in the corner?

The bottom line really is, if you want to have entertainment at your wedding, then hire entertainment.  Both bands and DJs bring a lot more to a wedding reception than just making the announcements. An experienced DJ vs. an iPod can make all the difference in the success of your event.

Since coming across this article I expressed my sentiments to OneWed, who went on to shift the blame to The Man Registry, claiming that they were not the authors of the article.  This was disappointing, as OneWed forgets that it is published on their blog, and hence is an endorsement in itself.  As far as The Man Registry goes – a website geared more to grooms and groomsmen – I’ve always found their site to be a great resource in the past, so I’ll just write this off as a hiccup.  Chris from The Man Registry contacted me by email today, and although I told him I would be posting a response to his article, he did see my points and I found him to be quite affable. Thank you Chris.

-Craig

The Man Registry – www.themanregistry.com

‘DJ Brain’ illustration by Sean Gallo Designs

What can one say about a place where so many different and creative minds come together?

Cutting Edge Entertainment is a mad house of energy, talent, and personality.  It’s really become so much more than just a place of business to me, it is my extended family.  If you ask the average person how many jobs and different places of employment they’ve had over their high school and college years, it’s common that you’ll hear anywhere from four to five different answers. This is completely different at Cutting Edge… great people stick around.

To be honest, Cutting Edge isn’t really just a job to me… it’s an experience. When I was first hired (almost a decade ago), and I heard how many years some people had been with the company, I was kinda like  “These guys are a little nuts! Why have they been doing this for so long?  Don’t they have real jobs?”  It didn’t take me long to figure out what was really going on.

That thought was quickly replaced with the understanding that C.E.E. is a place where you can do some serious growing, both professionally and personally.  I have been fortunate to have been with Cutting Edge Entertainment for seven years now, and I wouldn’t change a thing about my time here.  Starting out as a dancer, I learned from some of the most talented and unique people I have ever had the opportunity of meeting, not to mention working beside.

Now as I make my transition into the world of being an MC, I’m excited knowing there is so much more I will be exposed to and learn from being with this company.

Cutting Edge Entertainment a very cohesive unit, learning from one another’s strengths in an environment that is conducive to success.  Much of what makes this a great company to work for is what makes it such an outstanding company to hire.  Folks who are excited about what the do and the organization they represent are the kind of folks I work with, it’s just a great formula to succeed.

-Nate Jones

Photos by Jean Valentin Photography – www.jean-valentin.com

Become a fan of Cutting Edge on Facebook
www.facebook.com/CuttingEdgeEntertainment

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

There are only a handful of what I would term ‘really talented’ event photographers in the Philadelphia area, and last Thursday we were lucky enough to have one of them come out and do a little impromptu photo shoot with a few of my top event DJs.  Kevin York – whom I have known for about three years now – is one of a group of ‘edgier’ and more creative photographers that I have come to discover.  In my twenty-plus years of being in the event industry it is only in the past three or four years that I have become ‘enlightened’ you might say.  Prior to that my experience with photographers had always been what I term the ‘pose and shoot’ variety, simply aiming and shooting.  To be honest, the first time I ever even noticed a photographer bothering to change lenses was a great photographer named Dawn Deppe about eight years ago, but at the time I thought to myself that she was working way too hard shlepping all this gear and changing cameras and lenses all the time and that she seemed more like she should be shooting for National Geographic.

Let’s just say I’ve learned a thing or two in the past few years.  A videographer colleague of mine – Dave Williams of D’Videography – once told me that if a client wanted to only spend $1,500.00 on a videographer for their event, they would be better off spending that money on a really good video camera and handing it off to a guest to take the footage, because in the end at least they would own the camera when they found their footage wasn’t very good.  Dave couldn’t be more right.  Photography (and videography) is an art, and a camera in the hands of someone without real skills gets you pictures (or video) you might as well have taken the pictures yourself.

So yeah, Kevin York is an excellent photographer.  Over the next six months, I will be featuring several ‘excellent’ photographers here on the blog, professional photographers that are masters of their craft.

I have been asked in the past why I don’t offer photography as an add-on to my service, essentially offering photography through Cutting Edge Entertainment like many other DJ companies do.  The answer is quite simple, and it’s always the same… because at Cutting Edge Entertainment we focus on what we do best, Event Entertainment.  I know what some of these other companies are doing is making them a lot of money, but the product they are delivering is average at best.  If you want an excellent photographer, hire and excellent photographer, not a DJ Entertainment company that ‘also offers’ photography.

Oh, and if the selling point is “Our photographers have shot hundreds…  even thousands of weddings.”  Who cares?  The amount of events an individual has worked does not ensure quality, it might simply mean that the price is cheap enough to book hundreds and thousands of jobs.  Very much like furniture made of cheap materials; It certainly sells more than the good stuff and it might even look good when it’s new, but it certainly isn’t a family heirloom.

Always remember, quality remains long after price is forgotten.  Better yet, you get what you pay for.

-Craig Sumsky

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

-Dina and Mike Silberberg

Although I am grateful to Dina (and Mike) for submitting this testimonial, I am even more grateful for the friendship I have formed with them since the event.  I have had the pleasure of seeing them a handful of times at other clients events since their own and it feels as if I am reuniting with old friends. 

-Craig

 In the last two months more than a dozen people have asked me about Brianna Taylor, a former Cutting Edge employee who appeared on the most recent installment of Mtv‘s ‘Real World.’  The answer is yes, she did work here for about two years before and after her stint on American Idol.  Unfortunately she didn’t get as far as our first Cutting Edge American Idol contestant Justin Guarini (another former employee), but she certainly has the voice and the talent.

Another former employee (and the greatest choreographer I have ever known), Mike Gamble, is currently in the heat of competition on NBC’s ‘American Gladiator.’  So far, Mike seems to have things very much under control… as he typically does.  Since I know Mike personally I am confident that he has more than a good chance of winning, but my gut also tells me that the show – and the outcome – are already taped and simply waiting to be aired.

Naturally, having semi-famous former employees is nothing new at Cutting Edge Entertainment.  Our first foray into pop stardom was with Angela Trimbur, who was one of the original competitors in the Mtv show ‘Popstars (2),’ as well as on the Mtv show ‘Road Rules.’  Also, Monica Devlin - who still does work for us from time to time – was a Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleader for four years, serving as captain of the squad when they went to the Superbowl and also cheering in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl.

One of my most recent discoveries has been that former dancer Lyndsay Chauveau is working at the Lincoln Center in New York City for none other than Wynton Marsalis, one of my all-time favorite Jazz artists.  Lyndsay has promised that I can meet Mr. Marsalis in the fall if I make the trek to N.Y.C., so I look forward to taking in some cool jazz in the near future.

Lastly, and I think one of the most interesting and unique ‘semi-celebs’ from Cutting Edge, is Katie Sah, known on YouTube as ‘katiesopinion.’  Katie is what some might call an e-celebrity, with over 15,000 subscribers to her videos on YouTube and over a million video views.

Is Cutting Edge Entertainment a star-maker? Hardly.  It’s a simple formula… hire talented people and they inevitably do remarkable things.

-Craig

www.cuttingedgedjs.com