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Loretta
Muñoz
(ASCAP)
Germaine
Franco
(Composer)
Laura
Karpman
(Composer)
Wendy Christiansen
(Warner/Chappell)
Alex Hope
(Songwriter / Producer)
Tracy
McKnight
(Music Supervisor)
MODERATOR
Join us for a lively discussion with a group of extraordinary women in music who are at the top of their respective fields. They are dealmakers, risk-takers, art-makers, and rule breakers - each a maverick in her own right. We will get an inside look into the world of composing, songwriting and producing - and see how it connects with today’s changing media landscape.
TYPE: Moderated Panel
ROOM: TAPER HALL 101
(319 Seated)
TIME: 3:00pm - 3:50pm
Germaine is the first Latina composer invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, music branch. She creates music and songs that reflect her extensive training as an orchestral musician, an electronic music programmer, a multi-instrumentalist, and a lover of world music, dividing her time working on studio blockbusters, independent features, television, VR, and immersive reality projects.
Tag, her highest profile, big studio feature (directed by Jeff Tomsic for New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.) was released this summer, making her the first female composer to score an R-Rated comedy for New Line. On Coco, Franco collaborated with filmmakers Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina, and Darla K. Anderson as a songwriter, music producer, additional composer, arranger and orchestrator. She wrote five original songs with Molina, including “Un Poco Loco” and “Proud Corazón”, and produced, arranged, and orchestrated the Oscar®-winning song “Remember Me”. Additional composing work includes Dope, directed by Rick Famuyiwa (Open Road Films), Vida for Tanya Saracho (Starz’), Motiongate (DreamWorks Animation), and Kung Fu Panda – The Emperor’s Quest Immersive Attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Honors include the ASCAP Shirley Walker Award, the ASCAP Top Box Office Film Award (Coco), the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music (Coco), Sundance Music and Sound Design Fellow, Women In Film Music Fellow, and a Black Reel Award Nomination (Dope). Univision honored Germaine as one of “15 Latinas Who Are Changing The World As We Know It” on International Women’s Day 2018. She is an Advisory Board Member of Women in Media, a Board Member of the Alliance for Women Film Composers, and is the first female composer to be hired by DreamWorks Animation and Pixar. She holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Germaine Franco
(composer)
Loretta Muñoz
(ASCAP)
As someone who has an uncanny gift to spot and nurture talent, Loretta Muñoz has been a fixture in the music business for more than two decades and has a deep, working knowledge of the industry. As ASCAP's Assistant Vice President, Membership Group and Special Projects, Muñoz is responsible for the recruitment of songwriters and repertory, developing opportunities for promising new talent and established artists, and creating and producing mentorship and other popular educational programs. Muñoz is a fierce advocate, passionately working to launch and elevate the careers of countless writers and artists, across all musical genres and platforms.
Muñoz established and continues to produce ASCAP'S highly regarded Music Café at the Sundance Film Festival. The project has become a cornerstone event and one of the most popular draws at Sundance. It is a showcase for both emerging and established artists and a place where independent filmmakers can meet and interact with film composers and songwriters, often sparking memorable collaborations. Muñoz has produced similar concert programs at Sundance/London, and the Tribeca Film Festival, among many others.
Muñoz’s unique background has made her a sought-after speaker and advisor for numerous industry organizations. Her professional affiliations include: National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences LA Chapter Governor; GRAMMY Advisory Committee; WHYHunger and Artists Against Hunger and Poverty Boards; National Recording Preservation Board; Philip Glass Carnegie Hall Tibet House Benefit Concert Series Committee; Latin Academy of Recordings Arts & Sciences; Women In Film (WIF/LA); Country Music Association; Academy of Country Music, Leadership Music among many others.
A bold, incandescent musical talent, composer Laura Karpman contributes to numerous critically acclaimed projects including MOZART IN THE JUNGLE (Amazon), INVENTING TOMORROW (Sundance), THE BEGUILED (Focus), PARIS CAN WAIT (Sony), UNDERGROUND (WGN), the re-release of Francis Ford Coppola’s THE COTTON CLUB (Zoetrope), SET IT UP (Netflix), STEP (Fox Searchlight).
With a doctorate from Juilliard, Karpman’s concert and theater music includes the Grammy award-winning multimedia opera ASK YOUR MAMA, commissioned by Carnegie Hall for Jessye Norman and The Roots, WILDE TALES, for the Glimmerglass Festival, BALLS, an opera collaboration with New York Times columnist Gail Collins, and BRASS CEILING, commissioned by The U.S. Army Band, set to premiere in 2018. Her new musical, a collaboration with Sa Ding-Ding and Adrian Noble, will open in China in 2018.
Karpman’s stunning scores have garnered 4 Emmy Awards, 8 additional nominations, the Critic’s Choice Award, the BMI Champion Award, 2 HMMA Awards, 2 GANG Awards, and an Annie nomination for Best Music in an Animated Feature.
In addition to making music, Laura is a committed advocate and mentor. She serves as an advisor for the Sundance Film Scoring Labs, is on the faculty of the USC Film Scoring Program, and is the founding President of the Alliance for Women Film Composers. She is proud to be the first female governor of the music branch at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where she is currently serving her first term.
Laura Karpman
(composer)
Wendy Christiansen
(SVP, Film & Television Music, Warner/Chappell)
Wendy Christiansen is Senior Vice President, Film & Television Music, for Warner/Chappell Music. In this role, she is responsible for securing creative licensing opportunities for Warner/Chappell & WMG Catalog, in the film and television arena. She also oversees the day-to-day duties of the West Coast creative licensing staff. Christiansen is based in Los Angeles.
Christiansen expertly develops creative opportunities, initiates innovative solutions and meets the synchronization needs of potential licensees, through working closely with studio executives, music supervisors, directors, producers, and music editors. In addition, she is responsible for developing marketing tools and concepts to promote represented songs, songwriters and artists to reach the film and television community in a meaningful way.
Before joining WMG, Christiansen was Senior Director, Film Music for BMG Music. Prior to that she was Senior Director Creative Film & Television at Zomba Music, where she was responsible for the promotion, placement and licensing of all Zomba controlled record label masters and publishing copyrights for film, television, soundtrack albums and commercial use. She began her music career in publicity at RCA Records/BMG.
Alex Hope is an Australian ARIA & APRA award-winning producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, currently residing in Los Angeles, CA. Hope is known for her contribution to Troye Sivan's debut album Blue Neighborhood, including singles "Wild" (feat. Alessia Cara), "Heaven", and "YOUTH" which won Song of the Year at the 2016 ARIA's.
In addition to her works with Troye Sivan, Alex is also known for her production and collaborations with Tove Lo, Jack Antonoff, Years & Years, Alec Benjamin, Wrabel, Broods, Gnash, Seeb, & Mikky Ekko. In 2017, Alex became an APRA Ambassador and was coined a Spotify 'Secret Genius' as the ambassador for Australia.
Having moved from Australia to LA, she believed the lack of females producing music was a uniquely Australian problem. When she moved to Los Angeles, she was met with the reality that this lacking population extended beyond Australia and to the rest of the industry. She has been dubbed as one of the top female producers coming up in music, being told she should be prepared to become the "face of female producers" upon her arrival in Los Angeles in 2016.
Alex Hope
(songwriter / producer)
Tracy McKnight
(music supervisor / executive music producer)
MODERATOR
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.
Tracy’s current projects include Matangi / Maya / M.I.A.; National Geographic’s highly anticipated documentary feature Free Solo; Academy Award nominee Dana Adam Shapiro’s latest, Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, winner of the Lone Star Prize at SXSW 2018, and Shut Up & Dribble executive produced by LeBron James.
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 is also responsible for soundtracks including Now You See Me, Red 2, A Madea Christmas, Warrior and the hit action film The Expendables. Prior to 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.
Tracy presently sits on the Board of Directors of WOMEN IN FILM – she chairs the music committee. She is the first music supervisor to be invited to sit on the TV Academy Peer Group Executive Committee and also serves as an advisor to the Sundance film festival, curating their annual concert, A Celebration of Music and Film.