Syn has expanded its global team with Derek McNeill as head of U.S. music licensing. A Los Angeles-based entertainment professional with almost two decades of experience in licensing, client relations and digital content management, McNeill has negotiated and managed agreements with every major record label, as well as a variety of indie labels, music publishers and artists. In addition to his music work, McNeill has brokered deals with entertainment studios, tech companies and consumer brands.
Over the course of his career, McNeill has music supervised and curated music for a variety of creative ventures, including two recent feature documentaries and a 2021 Webby Award nominated Amazon Alexa project. Clients he has provided music solutions for include American Idol, AT&T, Coca-Cola, LACMA, Rock The Vote, Tony Hawk and Univision. McNeill’s role with Syn expands its Los Angeles presence to deepen new licensing opportunities for film, television, advertising and gaming.
Syn, a global music studio and agency founded by Nick Wood and Simon and Yasmin Le Bon, creates sonic branding, original music, and sound design for advertising, entertainment and networks, along with location-based sonic environments and live curated music for hotels.
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