Doreen Murphy

“Life Is Beautiful! Art and Music Festival”

It was my great honor to work with the incredibly talented Justin Weniger and his amazing team on their passion project. …”Life is Beautiful is an inspirational music, food, art and learning festival held in the heart of Downtown Las Vegas. Spread over 18 city blocks, 4 massive stages host over 70 chart-topping musical acts. In addition to a killer musical lineup, Life is Beautiful brings a unique twist to the festival experience.”

I worked with LiveXLive and City Drive Studios on filming this immersive and evocative event.

Beyoncé, Destiny's Child, KISS, Ted Nugent, Godsmack Mary J. Blige, Cindy Crawford, Cedric the Entertainer, Randy Jackson, Carmen Electra, Sharon Stone among many others

Rockin' The Corps was the largest military thank you concert In American history. 45,000 US Marines and their families were treated to this free star studded show at Camp Pendleton to celebrate coming home from the Iraq war. The show was organized by Support The Corps, a non-profit organization founded by Joseph E. Robert, Jr along with musician/producer Quincy Jones, music/film producer Spencer Proffer, and music manager Doc McGhee. To this day, I am very proud to have worked as the Production Manager filming the show live to tape with Director Lawrence Jordan. The show aired  in select movie theaters across the U.S. and it was broadcast by the Armed Forces Radio and Television Network to 880,000 servicemen, servicewomen and civilians at bases worldwide and it is still being sold today as a DVD.

This one was fun as it literally had everything you could possibly do on stage.  When I think back to my team on scissor lifts with giant balloon bags and confetti cannons, they are glowing like some kinda crazy diamonds. If you look closely at the end, you'll see me, I'm the blonde sitting next to the director Sam Jones.

The Producer was the lovely Jil Hardin and the label was Columbia. Sam Jones known for being a photographer/director is now a triple threat, talent. He can be seen as the host of OffCamera that is now on it’s 12th season and airs on DirectTV and Netflix.   

Interesting fact: It was the very last production shot at the historical Downey Studios, a 250,000 sq ft building that once held the company who built space shuttles and vehicles for the Apollo Space program. 

Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg and Directed by Charlie’s Angels director; McG, this live performance was aired as a special on Bravo and packaged as a DVD.  Finnerty and his band first caught America's attention as the foul-mouthed wedding singer in the box-office smash "Old School". The Dan Band became a cult-smash amongst the celebrity sub-culture of Hollywood. The show is a hard hitting, comical and captivating performance that played to sold-out, celebrity-filled crowds night after night at the Avalon Nightclub in Los Angeles, CA. The set list pays homage to a legion of talent female singers who know how to take matters into their own hands. Opening with the unforgettable "Shoop" by Salt-n-Pepa, Finnerty and his backup singers -- Gene Reed and John Kozeluh -- forge through the show with a bevy of classic hits including "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward, "Nasty" by Janet Jackson, "Slave 4 U" by Britney Spears and "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips. 
 

Godsmack's Changes is a concert film/documentary that offers Godsmack fans glimpses of the band's life on the road, interspersed with live concert footage. Filmed in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the band rip through 12 songs from their highly popular albums, highlights being "Awake", "Faceless", "Keep Away", "Voodoo", and "I Stand Alone". Fans are still talking about the most memorable moment in both the live show and forever captured on the DVD that features lead singer Sully Erna and drummer Shannon Larkin.  They "duel" in what is known as the "Batalla de los Tambores";  both of them duking it out on separate drum kits  on an extended drum solo.  (If you just want to see this part go to 1:26:43 in the video link)

This Changes DVD is certified as Platinum in Canada and Gold in the United States. When it went Gold I was given a plaque that is in my office closet somewhere.

This was my first time meeting Gene Simmons and my favorite!

On the first day, while everyone was at lunch,  Gene Simmons called my cell phone. I walked to where he was parked and brought him to his dressing room. I'm not sure what was said but as I left him he firmly said, "From here on out, you are now my band b*tch.  I protested and told him how much I had to do as the PM on the job. He said, "I'm only going to ask you once."  Somehow I was able to do my job while also spending a great deal of time with KISS.  

It's a weird hazy dream where I got their costumes from customs, helped them do their makeup and walked them to stage. And I didn’t just walk them to stage, I held hands with Gene and Paul as they walked to set in those incredibly high platform shoes. I met Chastity Bono, producer Doc McGhee and the stunning Cher. Somewhere out there is a "behind the scenes" special that you can see all of this. It aired on VH1 and oddly my father saw it one strange night and said he was proud of me.

Interesting fact: If you want Gene Simmon's to sign anything he always charges a dollar. I didn't think it was possible, but it made me like him even more. 

If you ask me what my most memorable job of all time is, this is it.   

When CMT called me to put me on the job, I remember actually "taking a knee" when they told me who the talent would be. It was ground breaking, not only was it the first time the Crossroads series paired two women artists together, but these two ladies crushed it.

Melissa Etheridge is a powerhouse of ease, talent and music. Dolly Parton, on the other hand, well she is a force of nature; spending four days with her was one of my greatest delights.