(This week The Columbian-Progress spotlights Marion Theater owner Tony Weinedel.)
Q: When and where were you born?
A: I was born in Columbia on Aug. 18, 1966.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I went to many schools. I went to Columbia Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School and briefly attended Columbia High School, but then I went to boarding school in Chattanooga, Tenn. Then I went to military school and graduated with honors in art at Culver Military Academy in Indiana. I was in the black horse troop, and I was captain of the roughriding team where we did trick riding with horses. I used to ride five horses at a time, and we would do jumps, and flip over seven horses, so it was kind of like circus trick riding. I went to Jacksonville University and majored in commercial art and minored in photography. Then I went to Full Sale University, studying recording and music production and a lot of things with the music industry. Recently, I’ve put myself through visual effects school at Gnomon, which is probably the top visual effects school in the world. I’ve won ten awards through Gnomon workshops, so I’ve been winning my education through contests. I recently switched my curriculum back to music production and am currently studying music theory from Cal-Berkeley, music business from Vanderbilt University — I’m in five classes right now. I just finished deadmau5’s (dead mouse) electronic music production master class.
Q: Where do you work? Tell us about your job/company.
A: I co-own the Marion Theater, but I’m also trying to reignite my music career. I’m currently in a production contest for a $16,000 prize with the potential to be signed at the label. I’ve been in a lot of different businesses; I was a web designer, illustrator, photographer, music producer, concert promoter and a club DJ. I’ve worked with thousands of musicians and hundreds of bands like AC/DC, The Allman Brothers Band, The Temptations, The Monkees, Blues Image, The Marshall Tucker Band and other legendary artists. I’ve promoted benefit concerts and festivals for United Cerebral Palsy, United Way, WINGS Women Shelter, Missing Children of America and a lot of other organizations. I even helped to sell Elton John’s publishing catalog. I’ve been writing electronic music for a long time. I play multiple instruments — keyboard, piano, drums, guitar, bass and I played the trumpet in the JMS band. I’m a third generation DJ and have played live at clubs in Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. I’ve written hundreds of songs. I’ve taken a few years hiatus to do the theater, but I’m getting back into the music business.
Q: What was your first job?
A: I was a freelance illustrator and photographer at 14 years old. My grandmother raised world champion racking horses, and I used to go to the shows and take pictures of the horses in the ring to sell them to the owners of the horses.
Q: What are some things you do in your spare time?
A: Some of the things I’ve done here in town, I did the logo for the Mississippi Rodeo Hall of Fame, do the downtown street lamp banners that go down Main Street, do 3D printing for different events, designed the entrance sign for Graves Creek Baptist Church and some book covers, designed the Columbia Computers billboard, Griner Drilling’s logos, the Marion County Bicentennial logo, John Ford Home entrance sign, Sparta Water’s branding, multiple websites and the historic district signs around here. I do a lot with the haunted house. I wrote all original music that plays in the haunted house. The music that goes between the movies at Marion Theater is my original music. I’ve designed five video games. As I’m watching movies, I’m studying creature design and character design for video games, movies and that kind of thing. The music industry has evolved a lot, and I’m evolving with it. I’ve put together a whole new DJ set, writing a new album and plan to release my music to license it for television, film and commercials. I study creative technologies to try to bring it altogether, combining motion graphics and animation with the music. A lot of things need art and music, so I’m trying to pull it all together. I’m in multiple DJ and music production contests right now. I write a lot of different styles of music, including EDM, rock, hip hop, new age and soundtrack type music. I also do decorative concrete work and sculpting.
Q: What do you enjoy most about living and working in Columbia and Marion County?
A: I like the tightness of the community. When the economy collapsed, the recession hit and I saw small towns dying across America, I didn’t want to see that happen to my hometown. I kind of set out to keep from that happening, and that’s why I’ve done a lot of this.
Q: Who is the person who has been most influential in your life?
A: George Lucas. He did what I’m talking about with pulling it all together. He pulled unique characters and storylines together when he got out of college. With Star Wars, he pulled his college buddies together and put together a movie they thought was going to be a B movie. He put together a visual effects company that did a lot of the big movies after that. He sold his company for $9 billion to Disney, and that was all built on his creativity and visual effects.
Q: If you could have anything for your last meal on earth, what would it be?
A: Probably steak and potatoes. I’ve eaten at a lot of the top steakhouses in the world, and I love steak.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: Japan. I love Asian art and culture. It’s just amazing. There’s just so much there that’s interesting.
Q: If you could have lunch with anyone from your life or history, who would it be and why?
A: Leonardo da Vinci would be a good one. He was a renaissance man kind of like me because I do so many things. The question I hate most is ‘what do you do?’ because I do a lot of things. I just try to do combine creativity with technology and create.
Q: How would you like to be remembered?
A: I’ve tried to use my creativity and talent to benefit others, which is why I’ve done a lot of charity events. I guess I want to be known as a creative force.
Q: Would you rather read a good book or watch a good movie and why?
A: I’d rather make a good movie. It would probably be a Sci-Fi movie about artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, cloning — a lot like Bladerunner.
— Joshua Campbell
Pictured Above: Tony Weinedel, co-owner of the Marion Theater, is rekindling his love for music. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
