WEST LOS ANGELES—Bob Gremore of Mike Recording Services, West Los Angeles, won the 3rd Association of Music Producers’ (AMP) Mixer of the Year Award during a gala ceremony on April 24 at the famed rock ‘n’ roll studio The Village in West Los Angeles. The honor has an extra special meaning in that this marks the first year the AMP competition has covered a national field of entries from audio post mixers. During its first two years, the award was regional, recognizing the top West Coast mixer of commercials.
Gremore earned the inaugural National Mixer of the Year distinction on the strength of three entries: Ford’s "Submarine," Discovery Channel’s "Nefertiti" and Altoids’ "Guinea Pig."
Also honored were two National Mixer Award finalists: Jimmy Hite of Margarita Mix de Santa Monica, and Peter Rincon of POP Sound, Santa Monica. The latter’s entries were Chevrolet’s "Car Carrier," AmeriQuest’s "Street" and a Hispanic market spot for the U.S. Army titled "DRTV."
Hite gained recognition for a body of work consisting of Infiniti’s "Snow Chains," "Detroit" for video game "Kill Switch," and Chandon’s "Ricochet." Hite is no stranger to the AMP honorees’ circle; he won the very first West Coast Mixer of the Year Award in 2001.
Receiving honorable mention this year for a particular spot or campaign was mixer Robert C. Marshall of Another Country, Chicago. Marshall garnered the kudos based on Budweiser’s "Moat," promoting the beer’s tie-in to Major League Baseball.
AMP also established a new honor, a Judge’s Special Merit Award in recognition of a newcomer in the field of post mixing for TV commercials. The honoree was Craig Helmholz of Crescendo! Studios, San Francisco, for adidas’ "Lessons," Maxwell House’s "Keeps In" and Kool-Aid’s "Storm."
AMP judges assessed each entrant’s body of work based on audio production value, mixing skills and sensitivity to the relationship of voiceover, dialogue, music and/or sound design. An entry for a given audio post mixer consists of three commercials (except for the honorable mention category).
Because the judges are looking for versatility, spots from the same campaign weren’t accepted. All mixes had to be on-air versions of the commercials. Additionally, to be eligible, the spots must have debuted on air in the U.S. between Jan. 1, ’03 and Dec. 31, ’03.
Some 200-plus ad industry folk turned out for the awards gala, which was emceed by Roger Lodge, the host of syndicated TV series Blind Date. Live musical performances also accented the evening, including one by cellist Drake Price, whose instrument came from Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (see spot.com.mentary column, p. 4). During the awards evening, an auction of various items and services was held to benefit the Opus Foundation.
Also among the evening’s performers was The Prodigals, an Irish rock band whose lead singer/accordionist is Gregory Grene, musical director at Foote, Cone & Belding, New York.
Other highlights included a special 5.1 (cinema sound mix) presentation for ad agency producers, sponsored by POP Sound, and gala attendees receiving a CD titled The Greatest Hits of AMP, a best-of compilation of some of the most recognizable, successful music in major national advertising campaigns.
The event, for which SHOOT served as a sponsor, was chaired by Liz Myers, partner/composer at Trivers/Myers Music, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
