Adam Taylor has been appointed as the new chairman of the Production Music Association. Taylor, president of APM Music and previous vice chair of the PMA board of directors, replaces Randy Thornton of Amphibious Zoo Entertainment, who sat on the PMA board for nine years, serving as chairman for five.
“Randy’s wisdom and guidance have been an incredible driving force for the PMA over the past five years. His passion and commitment to upholding the values of the PMA have been instrumental in our successes, and his participation and leadership will be sorely missed,” said Morgan McKnight, executive director of the PMA. “We are excited to see what this next chapter holds for the organization under Adam’s direction.
For over three decades, Taylor has been helping intellectual property companies, organizations and individuals manage and extract value from their copyrights, trademarks and patents. As president of APM Music, Taylor continues to reinforce the company’s standing as an innovative creative house and production music library, with one of the most diverse collections of original music for every type of media.
“I am grateful to have been elected as the chairman of the Production Music Association,” Taylor said. “Production music serves a vital role in television, film, advertising, new media and UGC programming, and it is my honor to help communicate and preserve the value of music for both publishers and composers. The PMA has played an important part in this responsibility for over two decades and I look forward to continuing the direction established by Randy Thornton while collaborating with everyone in this new capacity.”
The PMA has also appointed Joe Saba as its new vice chair, taking over Taylor’s previously held position. Saba, a co-founder and current board member of the PMA, is the co-founder of Videohelper, one of the leading independent creators and suppliers of production music. He is also an active composer/producer both for the library and for custom projects, including TV show themes, music for the Olympics, and several Super Bowl commercials.
“The PMA grew tremendously under the leadership of Randy Thornton, and I look forward to building on that progress with Adam, the board, and the production music community,” Saba added.
Thornton is retiring from serving on the PMA board of directors, but will still be involved via his membership with Amphibious Zoo.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More