The 2019 AMP Awards are off and running as the competition’s official call for entries portal is now open and ready to accept submissions. Sponsored by the Association of Music Producers, the AMP Awards are advertising’s only juried, non-profit competition dedicated to honoring achievements in music and sound in all media.
To enter this year’s competition, visit the portal here.
The AMP Awards has set up a tiered system of entry deadlines and fees, with an early bird deadline of January 25 for AMP members in good standing; entries submitted by this date will receive a significant discount on their entry fees. The general entry deadline is set for Friday, March 1.
Entries are welcome from music companies, audio post houses, ad agencies, marketers, labels, publishing companies and any entity involved in the providing music and sound for advertising, branding and marketing content. Full details on entry deadlines, requirements and fees can be found on the AMP Awards entry portal.
To be eligible for the 2019 AMP Awards, work must have first been aired or released publicly between March 1, 2018 and March 1, 2019.
Judged by members of the Association of Music Producers along with a Curatorial Committee comprised of agency, label, publishing and music production professionals, the awards will present trophies in 14 unique categories as well as a Best In Show honor. Entries are now being accepted for the following categories:
- Best Original Song
- Best Original Score
- Outstanding Adaptation / Arrangement
- Best Use of a Licensed Pre-Existing Recording
- Best Sound Design
- Most Effective Use of Music in a Campaign
- Best Use of Music in a Promo or Trailer for Film, TV, or Game
- Best Use of Music and Sound in New Media Marketing (Case Study Submission)
- Best Use of Music and Sound in Experiential/Events (Case Study Submission)
- Most Innovative Process & Execution (Case Study Submission)
- Best Artist + Brand Partnership (Case Study Submission)
- Outstanding Mix
- Best Execution of a Sonic Logo/ID
- Excellence in Audio-Only Marketing
Excellence in Audio-Only Marketing represents an expansion of the AMP Awards’ former radio category. It’s designed for non-synced, audio-only commercial or promotional content whose success and impact on the listener are a direct result of its creativity, production and sound. Entries for this category can range from radio ads to branded podcasts to music and sound created for mobile devices or IoT uses.
The AMP Awards honors will be presented at a gala presentation set for Tuesday, May 21, at Sony Hall in New York City. Formerly the Diamond Horseshoe, the venue, located in the Paramount Hotel just off Times Square, was the site of the 2017 AMP Awards show. Among the highlights of the event will be the presentation of the AMP Hall of Fame trophy, presented to an innovative marketer in recognition of its use of music and sound in building strong consumer perceptions.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More