The Association of Music Producers has unveiled the lineup of industry professionals who’ll be serving on its 2015 AMP Awards for Music and Sound Advisory Board. Heading up the panel, which is tasked with setting creative standards for the 3rd annual advertising music and sound competition, is Paul Greco, director of music & radio at J. Walter Thompson in New York. The AMP Awards is scheduled for May 5 at City Winery, the site of last year’s sold-out show.
Having served on the 2014 Advisory Board, Greco this year will be joined by Jerry Krenach, managing director, global music production at mcgarry bowen, and Julie Hurwitz, VP, commercial synchronization, Kobalt Music Publishing. Also serving on the Board are past chairs Rani Vaz, sr. VP, music and radio production, BBDO New York, who led the group in 2014, and Josh Rabinowitz, exec VP, director of music at Grey Group, the dhair in 2013.
Rounding out the Board are Eric Korte, VP, director of music, Saatchi & Saatchi; Jeannette Perez, sr. VP, Kobalt Music Group; Mark Huffman, executive roduction manager, P&G; Cammy Grusd, VP, client relations & industry marketing, Clear Channel Media + Entertainment; Keith D’Arcy, creative licensing & catalog acquisition, Songs Publishing; Matt Miller, CEO & president, AICP; Lyle Greenfleld, founder & partner, Bang Music; Jeff Rosner, partner, Color; and Amanda Sobeck, sr. director of advertising, BMG Chrysalis.
“We’re honored to have such an impressive array of talent on our Advisory Board, representing every facet of the advertising music and sound industry,” said AMP president Marlene Bartos, executive producer at Yessian Music in New York. “This underscores the Board’s role, which is to bring a diverse set of perspectives and insights to both the shape of the competition’s categories and its judging process.
“The AMP Awards are a great showcase for the role of music and sound in the creative process of making content and building brand identity,” added Greco. “These elements often get overlooked, yet they’re a vital piece of all brand content. The AMP Awards gives the people who create these great soundtracks a chance to shine and lets everyone, not just those of us in the music business, see and appreciate this outstanding work.”
With 12 unique categories for entries and the AMP Awards Hall of Fame–which recognizes major marketers that have made music and sound cornerstones of their brand campaigns–the event has brought together professionals from the music, advertising, marketing and entertainment worlds to celebrate the best of the best. Prior inductees into the AMP Awards Hall of Fame have included Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Budweiser and Nike.
Rocking the celebration at the 2014 Awards gala were performances by Island Records artist American Authors and Capital Records artist Sky Ferreira. The 2015 lineup of artists who’ll be performing at the AMP Awards ceremony will be announced soon, along with the marketers to be inducted into its Hall of Fame.
The AMP Awards call for entries goes live on Monday, Feb. 9, with an entry deadline of Friday, March 20. Submissions must have aired or first appeared between Jan 1 , 2014 and February 1, 2015.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More