Sound Lounge, New York, topped the 4th annual Association of Music Producers (AMP) Awards for Excellence in TV Commercial Mixing during a spirited ceremony earlier this week (6/6) at the Mosaic Hotel in Beverly Hills. Earning distinction as Mixer of the Year was Sound Lounge’s Philip Loeb on the strength of three spots: TBS’ “Buttons,” AOL’s “Quotes-9.0 Launch,” and Federal Express’ “Desert Island.”
Loeb received the AMP Decibelle trophy as Mixer of the Year. He won out over two other finalists who were honored with certificates: Sound Lounge’s Rob Sayers for Nextel’s “Bees,” Saab’s “Sticky,” and Nike’s “Marauders”; and Michael Marinelli of Buzz, New York, whose mixing prowess was reflected in General Electric’s “Columbus,” M&M’s “And You Were There,” and Xenadrine’s “Closet-Three Months.”
While the Decibelle honor was based on assessments from a panel of industry judges, the AMP competition offered a new wrinkle this year with its inaugural Spotted Excellence Award, which enabled the public to log onto www.ampnow.com, watch and listen to three finalist commercials, and then decide which sounded best. Again, Sound Lounge came out on top with mixer Tom Jucarone winning for Mountain Dew’s “Sled,” deemed by Internet voters to be the best sounding spot of the past year. Also receiving Spotted Excellence recognition for “Sled” were Mountain Dew’s agency, BBDO New York, and Stewart Copeland of Groove Addicts, Los Angeles, who served as composer and featured performer of the musical score.
“Sled” topped a field of three Spotted Excellence Award finalists, the other two being: Toyota’s “Wheel,” with postproduction audio mix by Eric Ryan of RavensWork, Venice, Calif., for Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Torrance, Calif.; and United Airlines’ “Interview,” audio mixed by Jimmy Hite of Margarita Mix de Santa Monica, for Fallon, Minneapolis.
SPECIAL MERIT
Besides bestowing the Mixer of the Year honor upon Loeb, AMP judges voted on awards in several other prime categories. Tim West of POP Sound, Santa Monica, received the coveted Special Merit Award for best newcomer to the audio mixing discipline. He earned the honor for three commercials: Gateway’s “Philly,” Full Spectrum Warrior’s “Thousand Threats,” and Del Taco’s “Product Placement.”
Additionally, honorable mentions for a particular spot or campaign were awarded to the following mixers: Tom Goldblatt of audioEngine, New York, for Snapple’s “Robot”; Mitch Dorf of POP Sound for Ford Mustang’s “Cornfield”; Paul Rodgers of Avenue Audio, Chicago, for Hallmark’s “In The Attic”; and David Baker of Crescendo!, San Francisco, for the California Milk Processors Board’s “Russian Family.”
“The judges were extremely impressed with the quality of entries this year and this is the reason we expanded our awards list to include more winning spots,” related AMP West Coast chapter president Liz Myers of Trivers/Myers Music, Manhattan Beach, Calif. Myers served as chair of the AMP Awards event.
The evening awards proceedings drew some 200 attendees from the advertising and entertainment arenas. Eduardo Xol, the host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, served as awards show emcee. The winning work was screened, as was a show DVD featuring insights into the judging and an interview with Mixer of the Year Loeb. For the DVD, SHOOT senior editor/technology & postproduction Carolyn Giardina interviewed Loeb.
This fourth annual AMP event actually marked its second year as a national competition honoring the talents of postproduction audio engineers who mix the final sound on TV spots. (The first two years of the awards honored the work of mixers on the West Coast.) Eligible commercials for the ’05 AMP Awards must have debuted on air in the U.S. between Jan. 1, ’04, and Dec. 31, ’04. Entries had to be the on-air versions of the spots.
“A lot of expertise goes into making a great television commercial, and the sound mix is the critical last step,” related AMP president Jan Horowitz of New York-based music/sound design house David Horowitz Music Associates (DHMA). “Pulling all the audio elements–the music, dialogue, voiceover and sound effects–into perfect balance supports both the visual image and the advertiser’s message. That’s what the very best postproduction mixers do, and we think they deserve recognition.”
SHOOT was a primary sponsor of the event. A portion of the proceeds generated by the awards show will benefit the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which provides musical instruments and instruction to public schools that need assistance.