Nashville Film Festival: A Bridge from Coast to Third Coast
Robert L. Doerschuk
July 11, 2009
Music was intrinsic to film even before Al Jolson ended the silent era with "The Jazz Singer" in 1927. But that relationship is growing more mutually beneficial as Hollywood and Nashville's songwriting community explore what each can offer to the other.
This point was illustrated in several of the premieres at this year's Nashville Film Festival (NaFF), perhaps especially with "Noble Things," whose soundtrack bristled with edgy Country along with elements of blues and even orchestral music - and whose cast included a high-profile appearance by Lee Ann Womack.
More critically, though, NaFF provides an increasingly important forum for this meeting of interests.
April 16-23, actors, directors and all manner of movie industry players, well known as well as up-and-coming, walked the red carpet and into the Regal Green Hills Cinema complex to attend screenings and receptions, grant interviews, share insights on panels and meet members of the local creative community.
This last point is especially relevant to Music City's songwriters, which is why CMA, as a "marquee sponsor," has developed events at NaFF to help empower local talent and bring it to the attention of film industry leaders. In the same spirit of service that powered its Consumer Research Study introduced earlier during the Country Radio Seminar, CMA facilitated this connection through a panel, "Music Supervisors: The ABC's of Song Placement and Licensing," co-sponsored with SESAC on April 21.
An attentive crowd, composed mostly of songwriters, filled every seat, spilled into the aisles, and stretched toward the theater doors as Nashville music attorney Jim Zumwalt moderated a discussion by a group of leaders in the business of matching music to film. Tips centered around the concept of professionalism, in how CDs are presented ("If you hand-write on your CD, it automatically gets thrown in the garbage," stated Frankie Pine, President, Whirly Girl Music, and Music Supervisor on "Arctic Tale," "Believe in Me," "Vice" and many other films), music pitches are recorded ("Submit music that's broadcast quality, that we could use in a show or a film that day," said Rudy Chung, Music Supervisor, Hit The Ground Running (HTGR), whose television credits include "Everybody Hates Chris," "Kath & Kim" and "The Cleaner") and common sense applied ("Watch the show," insisted independent Music Supervisor Lindsay Fellows, with "Bridge to Terabithia," "How to Eat Fried Worms" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" among his recent films. "You would be amazed how many people think they know what's on 'Grey's Anatomy,' even though they've never watched it.").
More broadly, there was consensus that in a precarious economy, favorable licensing deals can be leveraged in untraditional ways. "If you license something for a show and you're not getting much money up front, ask if they could put a link on their Web site to your MySpace page," suggested Rachel Levy, Senior VP, Motion Picture Music, Weinstein Co. And Marianne Goode, VP, Music, Lifetime Television, illustrated the point with an account of how her network posted a link to Nashville singer/ songwriter Megan McCormick's MySpace page after adding one of her songs to the soundtrack for "Prayers for Bobby" - which drew 8,000 hits within two hours after the special aired in January.
For the second consecutive year, CMA added a social component to NaFF with its "CMA Speed Dating" reception. On the clear-skied evening of April 20, six tables were arranged throughout the CMA atrium, each impeccably set. Following an informal reception, attendees took their seats, with nine representatives from the local music scene and one film industry guest at every table. Stacy Widelitz, NaFF President, then reviewed the rules: Everyone was encouraged to converse for 25 minutes over appetizers, three courses and dessert catered by the Clean Plate Club, after which Widelitz would play a flourish on a xylophone and each film person would rotate to the next table.
The results were convivial as well as professionally promising. "A number of people who attended last year's Speed Dating event have told me they've stayed in touch," said Widelitz. "Every music supervisor that's ever come to Nashville through the Film Festival goes away knowing that there's a lot of great music going on, in all genres. That's the whole purpose of these events, to create relationships and open the right channels."
Levy can testify to that. Noting that this was her first visit to Nashville, the Los Angeles-based executive admitted, "I knew I would love it here, and it's everything I expected it to be - and more."
On the Web: www.nashvillefilmfestival.org
2009 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
This point was illustrated in several of the premieres at this year's Nashville Film Festival (NaFF), perhaps especially with "Noble Things," whose soundtrack bristled with edgy Country along with elements of blues and even orchestral music - and whose cast included a high-profile appearance by Lee Ann Womack.
More critically, though, NaFF provides an increasingly important forum for this meeting of interests.
April 16-23, actors, directors and all manner of movie industry players, well known as well as up-and-coming, walked the red carpet and into the Regal Green Hills Cinema complex to attend screenings and receptions, grant interviews, share insights on panels and meet members of the local creative community.
This last point is especially relevant to Music City's songwriters, which is why CMA, as a "marquee sponsor," has developed events at NaFF to help empower local talent and bring it to the attention of film industry leaders. In the same spirit of service that powered its Consumer Research Study introduced earlier during the Country Radio Seminar, CMA facilitated this connection through a panel, "Music Supervisors: The ABC's of Song Placement and Licensing," co-sponsored with SESAC on April 21.
An attentive crowd, composed mostly of songwriters, filled every seat, spilled into the aisles, and stretched toward the theater doors as Nashville music attorney Jim Zumwalt moderated a discussion by a group of leaders in the business of matching music to film. Tips centered around the concept of professionalism, in how CDs are presented ("If you hand-write on your CD, it automatically gets thrown in the garbage," stated Frankie Pine, President, Whirly Girl Music, and Music Supervisor on "Arctic Tale," "Believe in Me," "Vice" and many other films), music pitches are recorded ("Submit music that's broadcast quality, that we could use in a show or a film that day," said Rudy Chung, Music Supervisor, Hit The Ground Running (HTGR), whose television credits include "Everybody Hates Chris," "Kath & Kim" and "The Cleaner") and common sense applied ("Watch the show," insisted independent Music Supervisor Lindsay Fellows, with "Bridge to Terabithia," "How to Eat Fried Worms" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" among his recent films. "You would be amazed how many people think they know what's on 'Grey's Anatomy,' even though they've never watched it.").
More broadly, there was consensus that in a precarious economy, favorable licensing deals can be leveraged in untraditional ways. "If you license something for a show and you're not getting much money up front, ask if they could put a link on their Web site to your MySpace page," suggested Rachel Levy, Senior VP, Motion Picture Music, Weinstein Co. And Marianne Goode, VP, Music, Lifetime Television, illustrated the point with an account of how her network posted a link to Nashville singer/ songwriter Megan McCormick's MySpace page after adding one of her songs to the soundtrack for "Prayers for Bobby" - which drew 8,000 hits within two hours after the special aired in January.
For the second consecutive year, CMA added a social component to NaFF with its "CMA Speed Dating" reception. On the clear-skied evening of April 20, six tables were arranged throughout the CMA atrium, each impeccably set. Following an informal reception, attendees took their seats, with nine representatives from the local music scene and one film industry guest at every table. Stacy Widelitz, NaFF President, then reviewed the rules: Everyone was encouraged to converse for 25 minutes over appetizers, three courses and dessert catered by the Clean Plate Club, after which Widelitz would play a flourish on a xylophone and each film person would rotate to the next table.
The results were convivial as well as professionally promising. "A number of people who attended last year's Speed Dating event have told me they've stayed in touch," said Widelitz. "Every music supervisor that's ever come to Nashville through the Film Festival goes away knowing that there's a lot of great music going on, in all genres. That's the whole purpose of these events, to create relationships and open the right channels."
Levy can testify to that. Noting that this was her first visit to Nashville, the Los Angeles-based executive admitted, "I knew I would love it here, and it's everything I expected it to be - and more."
On the Web: www.nashvillefilmfestival.org
2009 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
Print
Email
