2020 was a tumultuous year which made the value of inspirational messaging in response all the more important. A music video bringing a moving rendition of "Glory" front and center as performed by the Detroit Youth Choir scored as SHOOT's top track of the year.

Also in the mix in our Top Five of 2020 were: an American Cancer Society PSA which poignantly expressed the value of time, and a stirring plea by Uber to not use its services and stay home during the pandemic. The opening episode of a mini-docuseries meanwhile gave us sound from the perspective of a deaf athlete, and TAG Heuer put us smack dab in an endurance test of auto racing over "The Longest Night."

So have a listen to the best music and sound that 2020 has to offer.

1:  Detroit Youth Choir, Yessian, IndigoYaj Capture “Glory” In Music Video Supportive Of Black Lives Matter

Client Detroit Youth Choir’s “Glory” music video Agency Imagination Detroit Alistair Wilson, agency lead; Stefania Walkowiak, Ashley Carey, executive producers; Rob Cousineau, producer. Production Imagination Detroit Everett Stewart, director; Corey Gipperich, DP. Postproduction Imagination Detroit Nick Sullivan, editor; Davis Nixon, colorist; Zack Jacobs, VFX. Music “Glory” (song from the motion picture Selma), written by John Legend and Common.  Detroit Youth Choir Anthony White, Donnell Mosley, vocal arrangement, additional lyrics; IndigoYa, rap lyrics. Yessian Music, Detroit (music recording, producing, arranging, mixing) Brian Yessian, partner/chief creative officer; Gerard Smerek, song producer/exec producer, mixer, recordist, engineer; Scott Gatteno, Pro Tools recording engineer, vocal editing, technical engineer; Mark Chu, music arrangement & adaptation, track production and all programming; Michael Yessian, partner/head of production.  Sterling Sound, Edgewater, NJ Chris Gehringer, mastering. Audio Post Yessian Detroit Gerard Smerek, mixer.

2:  Top Spot of the Week: BBDO NY, Director Benjamin Mege “Give Time” To American Red Cross, American Cancer Society

Client American Red Cross & American Cancer Society (ARC & ACS) Agency BBDO New York David Lubars, chief creative officer, worldwide; Greg Hahn, chief creative officer, NY; Roberto Danino, creative director; Carolyn Davis, creative director/art director; Matthew Page, creative director/copywriter; David Rolfe, head of integrated production; Sofia Handler, VP, executive producer. Production Caviar, Los Angeles Benjamin Mege, director; John Londono, DP; Malcom Wax, producer; Casey Wooden, head of production. Editorial Work Editorial, bicoastal & London Anne Perri, editor. Postproduction MPC Music/Sound Q Department, New York Audio Post Honeymix, New York Conrad Sanguineti, mixer

3:  Uber, Wieden+Kennedy Say “Thank You For Not Riding”

Client Uber Agency Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Colleen DeCourcy, Susan Hoffman, Jason Bagley, Eric Baldwin, executive creative directors; Kathy Hepinstall, Sara Phillips, creatives; Matt Hunnicutt, head of production; Molly Tait Tanen, executive producer; Chris Capretto, producer; Carly Starratt, brand strategy director; Annie Sanditen, executive design producer; Karen Koch, design director; Angela Iannarelli, designer; Matt Blum, sr. production designer; Frazer Goodbody, retoucher/3D artist. Production PRETTYBIRD Editorial Exile Kyle Brown, editor; Eileen Miraglia, assistant editor; CL Weaver, exec producer; Jennifer Locke, head of production; Kristina Thoegersen, post producer. VFX Exile Wes Waldron, lead Flame. Color The Mill Matthew Osborne, colorist; Blake Harrop, color producer. Music Beacon Street Studios, Venice, Calif. Andrew Feltenstein, John Nau, Danny Dunlap, composers (original song “Promise Me”); Leslie DiLullo, executive producer. Sound Design Lime Studios, Santa Monica, Calif. Rohan Young, sound designer. Audio Post Lime Studios, Santa Monica, Calif. Rohan Young, mixer.
 

 

 

4:  Top Spot of the Week: Daniel Wolfe Directs “The Longest Night” For TAG Heuer, DDB Paris

Client TAG Heuer Agency DDB Paris Alexander Kalchev, executive creative director; Benoit Oulhen, copywriter; Mickael Jacquemin, art director; Quentin Moenne Loccoz, producer; Jerome Deplatiere, post producer; Sebastian Genty, Claude Henri Galbois, strategic planning. Production Company Standard Films, Paris Daniel Wolfe, director; Benoit Debie, DP; Julie Mathieu, producer. Editorial The Quarry Paul Watts, editor. Cosmic Talents Maxime Pozzi Garcia, editor. Music/Sound Barking Owl, West Los Angeles Atticus Ross, composer; Morgan Johnson, sound designer; Kelly Bayett, creative director; Ashley Benton, producer. Audio Post Barking Owl, West Los Angeles Mike Franklin, mixer. VFX Mikros Nicolas Huguet, visual effects

5:  Where the Buffalo Roam Produces Animated Docuseries “Being Human Is” For Google

Client Google Marketing Agency Where the Buffalo Roam, Oakland, Calif. Tim Pries, executive producer; Taraneh Golozar, producer. Production Where the Buffalo Roam, Oakland, Calif. Nico Carbonaro (represented by Nonfiction Unlimited), Tuesday McGowan, directors; Tim Pries, exec producer; Taraneh Golozar, producer; Eden Cooney, coordinator; Von Diaz, Elisheba Ittoop, story producer. Editorial Where the Buffalo Roam, Oakland, Calif. James Boger, editor. Animation Oddfellows, Portland, Ore. Erica Kelly, exec producer; Chris Kelly, executive creative director; Fabian Molina, creative director; Jan Szeto, producer; Oddfellows, illustration. (Toolbox Adobe Animate, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects; Maxon Cinema 4D; Flame, Maya, Sidefx Houdini. Music & Sound Design Space Lute JR Narrows, composer, audio director/sound supervisor, sound designer. Audio Post Machine, New York T. Terressa Tate, sound mixer; Alek Rost, sr. producer; Amanda Fuentes, sound assistant; Kyra Hendricks, audio producer.