Composer/ sound desiger P.J. Hanke-who had most recently been working freelance on independent features-has opened Spitfire, a Los Angeles shop that will be active in spots and longform.
Hanke is experienced in both disciplines; prior to freelancing he was at Santa Monica-based feature/TV music studio Media Ventures and its commercial arm, Cyberia, for two and a half years. At the latter, he amassed varied credits, including ads for Reebok and Coca-Colas Fruitopia out of Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, and European assignments for Audi.
On the feature side, Hanke worked with Media Ventures principal/composer Hans Zimmer. For example, Hanke contributed music to As Good As It Gets, arranged music and produced vocals on The Prince of Egypt and co-produced and arranged some songs for The Road to El Dorado, a DreamWorks SKG film slated for release later this year. Hanke also scored for the syndicated TV series Fame LA.
Additionally, Hankes commercial resume pre-dates Cyberia. He was previously on staff at Steve Ford Music, Chicago, for seven years, serving as composer, sound designer, producer and session singer on assorted spots.
Now at Spitfire, Hanke will again team with a trio of former Cyberia colleagues, Todd Haberman, Allison Wright and rep Jay Jackson. After graduating from NYU, Haberman was hired to serve as Hankes assistant at Media Ventures in 97. Though he worked there primarily in features, Haberman also composed and sound designed a Coca-Cola spot durng that time for friend Kyle Newman, a student filmmaker at NYU. The :60, entitled Bitten By Love, won a student competition put on by Coke and gained exposure in U.S. movie theaters. Haberman now becomes a full-fledged composer/ sound designer at Spitfire.
Meanwhile Wright, who was Cyberias production coordinator, has been named Spitfires exec. producer. Prior to Cyberia, she worked at Chicago spot house What The Hale Music.
And the L.A.-based Jackson will initially handle Spitfire nationally. But the company is considering hiring reps in the Midwest and on the East Coast. If that comes to pass, Jacksons focus will be on the West Coast market. Spitfires technical resources include analog 24 track, digital 8 track and 64 tracks of 24 bit ProTools recording.
