Music Supervisor Round Table
MAIN ROOM
(The Bill Bordy Media Conference Center)
9:45am - 10:45am
with Ann Kline ('Shameless', 'Aquarius', 'The Goldbergs'), Tracy McKnight ('Beasts of No Nation', 'Outsiders', 'Bad Santa 2'), Danny Exum (Director of Music, Workshop Creative), Raphaella Lima (Global Music Marketing, Partnerships and Supervision, Electronic Arts), Michael Kotch (HiFi Project) - Moderated by Amanda Krieg Thomas ('The Americans', 'Life In Pieces', 'Fake Off')
PANEL DESCRIPTION
Several leading music supervisors working today discuss their beginnings, day to day on the job and the current (and future) state of the career in an evolving music industry.
Amanda Krieg Thomas (Moderator)
Music Supervisor, Neophonic
Amanda Krieg Thomas has music supervised a wide variety of projects, most recently bringing her experience to the stellar team at Neophonic. Recent work includes family comedy Life In Pieces (CBS), critically acclaimed series The Americans (FX), American Crime Story: The People v.s. O.J. Simpson (FX), American Horror Story: Hotel (FX) and Scream Queens (FX), as well as indie feature Billy Boy (starring Blake Jenner and Melissa Benoist). Amanda began her career in the music department at Lionsgate, before moving to Reveille (now Endemol Shine North America), where she music supervised unscripted shows Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings (IFC) and One Born Every Minute (Lifetime). She then joined Format Entertainment in early 2012 as Music Coordinator on projects such as Pitch Perfect 1 and 2 (Gold Circle Films/Universal), Beyond The Lights (Relativity/BET), The Other Woman (Fox) and ABC comedy, Trophy Wife. Prior music supervision highlights include indie feature Girl Flu (starring Katee Sackhoff and Jeremy Sisto), Grace Stirs Up Success (American Girl/Mattel), performance competition show Fake Off (truTV), documentaries Operation Popcorn, Off The Floor, and Going Attractions, and indie comedies, The Back-Up Bride and June, Adrift. She also frequently writes industry-related articles on her blog, www.tadpoleaudio.com.
Tracy McKnight
Music Supervisor / Executive Music Producer
Tracy McKnight has earned a place in the entertainment industry as a highly sought after music supervisor and creative executive. With roles as former Head of Film Music for Lionsgate, prolific music supervisor, record producer, and label co-founder, her kinetic enthusiasm pushes her to find new ways of sharing her passions with an ever-growing audience seeking quality projects and music.
Current projects include the highly anticipated Miramax / Broadgreen Pictures presented Bad Santa 2, directed by Mark Waters, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates and Christina Hendricks. Ms. McKnight is also lending her expertise to Trudie Styler’s directorial debut feature film, Freak Show, starring Laverne Cox, Abigail Breslin and Bette Midler as well as the Netflix comedy When We first Met, starring Workaholics’ Adam Devine. She is currently music supervising WGN’s hit TV series The Outsiders as well as Kitty Green’s documentary Casting JonBenet. Additional highlights of her prolific career include Beasts Of No Nation, directed by Cary Fukunaga and serving as the executive score producer on Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed Selma.
In her post at Lionsgate, Ms. McKnight oversaw projects including The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and the franchise’s first installment The Hunger Games– a record breaking worldwide box office phenomenon. The Hunger Games: District 12 & Beyond soundtrack album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart and was the top selling soundtrack for 2012. Both soundtrack albums garnered Golden Globe and Grammy nominations respectively. She was also responsible for soundtracks for: Now You See Me, Red 2, A Madea Christmas, Warrior, along with director John Singleton’s Abduction, and The Next Three Days by Academy® Award winning director Paul Haggis, and the hit action film The Expendables.
Prior to Lionsgate, Ms. McKnight was a celebrated Music Supervisor with years of experience spanning a diversity of genres. Her resume of over one hundred films boasts a balance of studio films (Adventureland, El Cantante, The Hoax, Friends With Money, The Ice Harvest), acclaimed documentaries (Born Into Brothels, No End In Sight, Murderball, Wordplay, My Architect), and independent films (The Messenger, Delirious, Off the Black, Coffee and Cigarettes, Raising Victor Vargas).
Before her tenure at Lionsgate, Ms. McKnight co-founded Commotion Records with former Sony Records head Walter Yetnikoff. Commotion Records released an impressive slate including the acclaimed film soundtracks from Hotel Rwanda, The Cooler, Dedication, Mysterious Skin, and My Architect. Ms. McKnight also previously headed two independent film companies’ music departments – at Good Machine, founded by renowned producers James Schamus and Ted Hope, and at Cary Woods’ Independent Pictures.
Ms. McKnight has devoted much of her time as an advisor, speaker, and consultant to the film music industry at large. She continues to be an ally of the Sundance Institute/Festival where she has participated for the past 14 years as an advisor for their Producers Conference and Composers Lab in addition to co-programming the Festival’s yearly “Celebration of Music in Film” concert. She works with the Los Angeles Film Festival on their Grammy Museum Music Series and has advised in the past for the Independent Film Project (IFP) and served on the host committee for the 2007 Gotham Awards.
The media has taken notice of Ms. McKnight’s many achievements. MovieMaker Magazine spotlighted Ms. McKnight as one of ‘2006’s 25 Coolest People To Know’ in independent film; she was featured in the acclaimed PBS series Roadtrip Nation, and has been singled out for her accomplishments by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen International, Detour, ASCAP, and BMI among many others. Tracy McKnight is currently the Vice President of the Guild of Music Supervisors and on the board of Women In Film.
Ann Kline
Music Supervisor
Ann Kline earned a BA from UCLA and a JD from Southwestern University School of Law. She practiced law in the music department of the William Morris Agency before starting a career as a music supervisor. For many years she ran the music department for John Wells Productions. In her position at JWP she supervised many television series’ including ER, The West Wing, Third Watch, SMITH, and the feature films White Oleander, Nearing Grace and The Company Men. Outside of her work for JWP, she supervised the TV series Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip and worked on such films as 20 Dates, Suicide Kings, Jackie Brown and Beverly Hills Ninja. Currently she is working as an independent music supervisor on Shameless, Aquarius, The Magicians, Guilt, The Goldbergs, Imaginary Mary and the film Super Troopers 2.
Raphaella Lima
Global Music Marketing, Partnerships and Supervision, Electronic Arts
Raphaella Lima has been with EA for 14 years. In her role of Global Music Partnerships & Marketing, she is the liaison on all music needs within EA, including endorsements, performances, theme songs, and the creation of unique programs driven by or with a strong focus on music. As a Music Supervisor, she oversaw the selection of licensed music and the creation of custom songs for several EA franchises, including the blockbuster FIFA series. Raphaella also previously headed the production of EA Recordings, a division in charge of digital releases of all EA-owned music assets, with credits on 100+ releases. Prior to EA, Raphaella served as music supervisor and A&R coordinator on various action sports videos, as well as the Producer of the first ever music magazine on DVD format, 750mph.
Michael Kotch
Senior Composer, HiFi Project
Michael Kotch is an unrepentant rocker with a soft spot for bubblegum. As co-founder of the punk-pop band Eve’s Plum, he toured worldwide and released two records on Sony. Meanwhile, word of his stellar writing and production chops leaked out, and he has written and/or produced records for multi-platinum artists including Vitamin C, Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Lloyd Cole, Friendship 7, and others. He scored music for The Sarah Silverman Program and performed as a member of the The Silvermen, Sarah’s house band in addition to rocking out as a member of punk pop band Ruth Ruth and and Lloyd Cole’s suave outfit “The Negatives.”
In the world of ad music, Michael has scored spots for Toyota, Mattel, TJ Maxx, Nike, Bratz, Coca-Cola,Target, Cadillac, and many, many others.
Danny Exum
Director of Music, Workshop Creative
Danny Exum is currently the Director of Music for Workshop Creative, leading the music department and overseeing all creative music endeavors at the agency. Danny got his start in the music industry as a DJ and live mix engineer at the esteemed 88.9 WERS in Boston, before bolting westwards to work in EMI's Film/TV department. Since those days he has built a strong career placing music in marketing campaigns for many types of films, including: Kubo And The Two Strings, Why Him?, Zoolander 2, Neighbors 2, Sisters, Trainwreck, Edge Of Tomorrow, Lone Survivor, The Avengers, Wreck It Ralph, Watchmen, The Dark Knight, and X Men: Days Of Future Past. In addition to his film trailer work, Danny has music supervised a number of independent films and advertising campaigns. He has been nominated twice for a Guild of Music Supervisors award for Best Use Of Music in a film trailer.