Meetings, Meetings, Meetings!

Production meetings have been the highlight of this past week and weekend. It’s all about everyone getting on the same page when it comes to the music needs of the film. If I’m lucky, I’ll come on board during pre-production. This is when I can help with the creation of the budget. I have to constantly remind many filmmakers that they need a music supervisor on board as early as possible to ensure that the expensive songs that they choose are taken into consideration before shooting starts. If an entire film revolves around on $100,000 song, it’s time to get more money or rethink the script. My job regardless is to do the best I can to meet the needs of the filmmaker without jeopardizing my relationships with the songwriters, publishers and record labels.

Last Thursday I had a pre-production meeting for the film, “Conflict of Interest” with producers David Cuddy and Bonnie Orr. A lot was discussed in a short amount of time and was an overall good meeting. The most important topic of discussion (to me) was the music budget. Yes, this film has one. It’s not very big, but it’s a budget. With this budget I’ll be able to hire a composer (yes, a paying gig) and use the rest to pay for all of the licensing fees. In this case, I will select songs that will fit within the music budget. There are songs written in the script, but not specific songs. I can pick and choose what I want to play over those scenes.

John Sjogren is directing “Conflict of Interest.” The last time I music supervised one of his films, I was given full reign on the creative side. I found all the music for the film with the exception of a few songs that the music editor asked if we could use. Having creative control adds to the enjoyment of this job. It’s not all paperwork when you get to play around with the music.

On Sunday I had a conference call for the film “Harmony and Me.” On the call was director, Bob Byington and producer, Jennifer Hallmark. Again, the music budget was front and center. We also went over the song list and music clearance strategies. We have a huge hurdle to climb with the need to license Elton John’s song “Harmony.” I already received a six-figure quote from the record label (on the master side). They offered a step deal due to the fact the music budget is nowhere near the amount that they quoted. I’ll most likely get a quote from the publisher that will match the record labels quote. These quotes will almost definitely be on a Most Favored Nations (MFN) basis.

My Monday meeting for the short film, “Misunderstood” was postponed due to other production issues that the producers and director had to iron out. When we reschedule, we’ll have director, Clark Johnson present as well as producer, Bob York. Clark directed “The Sentinel” with Michael Douglas, Kiefer Southerland and Eva Longoria. Since this will be the first time I’ve worked with Clark, I’ll have a lot of questions in regards to what his musical vision is on this film. Based on the script, the music will be predominantly urban/rap music with one scene where “smooth jazz” is playing. If Clark does not have a composer in mind, I’ll be looking to hire one. This will be an interesting film as the script was written by high school students who competed in the Scenarios USA “What’s the REAL DEAL” screenwriting contest.

More meetings are slated for the coming weeks. If you’d like to check out my Projects list to see what films I’m working on or will be working on, just visit my Music Supervision website. I’ll have music needs listed as well.

I am also scheduled for an appearance on the radio talk show, “Let’s Just Talk,” with radio talk show host Kathryn Raaker. My plan is to be a weekly or monthly regular on the show. I’ll post more in future blogs.