As we kick off a yearlong “Then and Now” series in this issue to commemorate SHOOT’s upcoming 50th year anniversary, it occurred to me that a recent panel discussion I moderated had some of the elements our anniversary coverage will uncover relative to reflections and observations on changes in the industry, what dynamics have remained constants, and what the future holds.
The panel was the SHOOT session Music For Commercials at the recent Hollywood Reporter/Billboard Film and TV Music Conference in L.A. Panelist Andrew Bancroft, associate creative director/copywriter at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), San Francisco, observed, “My hiring at the agency wouldn’t have happened before the nature of the business changed.” Bancroft didn’t have the classic advertising portfolio. Instead his background was in web content, including developing online musical projects.
With the digital age emerging, GS&P saw the benefits of Bancroft’s then atypical creative experience and hired him. The shop has since tapped into his sensibilities for innovative music-driven projects, including the “Comcast Town” spots, as well as the tongue-in-cheek California Milk online rock opera Battle for Milkquarious. The opera found lyricist Bancroft collaborating with composers/performers Tyler Spencer and Zach Shipps of the band Electric Six.
Yet while the rock/pop domain is hot in terms of crossing over into the ad biz, there’s something to be said for original music and sound houses with artisans who have both creative and advertising sensibilities. Panelist Josh Rabinowitz, senior VP, director of music for Grey Group, New York, noted that while his agency successfully explores and taps into rock/pop talent, some 70 percent of Grey’s work involves commercial music houses.
Underscoring those contributions was the work shown by Liz Myers, composer/co-founder of Trivers/Myers Music, composer Danny Dunlap of Beacon Street Studios, and Zack Sinick, executive music producer of Squeak E. Clean Productions.
The latter screened the U.S. Cellular spot “Shadow Puppets” for Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco, featuring a track which had a new arrangement of the 1926 song “Tonight You Belong To Me.” The charming piece reflects the arrangement chops that a music house brings to the table, as well as the appropriately understated vocal performances of Sinick and Elizabeth Shapiro, with Sinick also on ukulele.
The contributions of an original music house were also evident in Vinamilk’s “Balloons” for Lowe Vietnam. A simple, touching story unfolds to a musical score that’s a mesh of Western and Asian worlds. Beacon Street composers Andrew Feltenstein, John Nau and Dunlap reached out to Orange County, Calif’s. Little Saigon where they met musician/teacher Chau Nguyen who exposed them to Vietnam’s musical culture and performed on Vietnamese instruments that were incorporated into the track.
Besides demonstrating the value of ad music house acumen, “Balloons” represents the industry’s expansive reach with agencies and artists finding new pockets of business globally.
Also reflecting new opportunities that lie ahead while affirming the ongoing importance of original music and sound shops was the work showcased by Myers–another of the beautiful animated broadcast spots that Trivers/Myers has scored over the years for United Airlines, and then a recent distilling down of the essence of that brand music identity into a Twitter intro for United. Her observation is that with the advent of social media, music for a growing number of projects is getting shorter and shorter but having a much wider impact than ever before.
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More