Former agency copywriter Steve Skibba and commercial/television composer Phil Rosenthal have launched V-72s, a spot music and sound design house based in Los Angeles. Skibba and Rosenthal share creative director, composer and sound designer duties at the new venture.
Before relocating to Southern California last summer, Skibba served for three years as a copywriter at Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), Portland, Ore., where he turned out spots for Nike, Diet Coke and Microsoft. He moved to the Los Angeles area to lay the groundwork for what turned out to be V-72s, which will work on ads for TV, radio and the Internet. Skibba’s partner, Rosenthal, formerly the lead singer/songwriter in the band Twenty Cent Crush, had most recently been freelancing as a composer for spots and on-air promos for clients such as the FOX Kids Network, Toshiba, ABC and Cinemax.
Thus far, V-72s has composed music for "Car Designers" for BMW and Fallon, Minneapolis; "The Mission" for Honeybaked Ham via Austin Kelley Advertising, Atlanta; and "Mall," an ad for StoreRunner, out of Robert Chandler & Partners, Marina del Rey, Calif.
Skibba’s additional composing credits include "Eraser" and "Teacher," two ads for Marylhurst University via W+K, which he scored while on staff at the agency.
One of Skibba’s final copywriting projects at W+K was the SHOOT Top Spot "Body" for Nike, featuring Lance Armstrong and directed by Ralf Schmerberg of bicoastal/international @radical.media (1/14/00, p. 14). While at the agency, he also collaborated on "Presentation" and "Engagement Ring," a pair of international Diet Coke spots helmed by Kinka Usher of House of Usher, Santa Monica. In the latter spot, a young man purchases an engagement ring for his girlfriend, and suddenly finds himself irresistible to the fairer sex. The spot ends as he’s deciding whether to follow through with his proposal or give in to temptation; the final resolution is left open to interpretation.
Prior to coming aboard W+K, Skibba freelanced for such New York agencies as Cliff Freeman and Partners and Korey Kay & Partners. Earlier in his career, he was a copywriter for BBDO West, Los Angeles.
Rosenthal earlier served as music supervisor for the Access Entertainment Network, the now defunct cable music channel for which he scored network IDs and show opens. He also composed music for several promos on the network for clients such as A&M Records and Best Buy. Rosenthal’s additional credits include the theme song for ABC’s Boy Meets World, and "Real Estate," an ad for Toshiba via Bozell (now FCB), Costa Mesa, Calif.
Rosenthal headed up Twenty Cent Crush from ’94 to ’97, during which time the band released two albums and enjoyed modest success. Earlier, he was a base player in the band Not Even, a post he took over from Skibba, who went on to pursue graduate studies at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta. Before disbanding in ’89, Not Even established itself as a staple of college radio stations.
V-72s is in the process of securing sales representation.
