The fourth annual Association of Music Producers (AMP) Awards for Excellence in TV Commercial Mixing was held earlier this week in Beverly Hills (see story, p. 1). The competition offered significant new wrinkles, perhaps most notably 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.
Internet voters chose Mountain Dew’s “Sled” from BBDO New York as the Spotted Excellence winner; audio post mixer was Tom Jucarone of Sound Lounge, New York. Allowing the industry at large to cast votes diversified the AMP Awards beyond its continuing slate of honors based on the assessment of expert judges.
Meanwhile, across all other categories, judges were enamored with the field of submitted commercials. AMP Awards event chair Liz Myers of Trivers/Myers Music, Manhattan Beach, Calif., related, “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.” This was reflected in more honorary mentions of particular commercials than in years past, continued Myers, who is also president of AMP’s West Coast chapter.
But perhaps even more impressive than these new developments is an “old” carryover from the 2004 AMP Awards, whereby a portion of the proceeds generated by the event was donated to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. That’s one of the many reasons that SHOOT was particularly proud to again be a prime sponsor of the AMP Awards.
Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation was inspired by the motion picture Mr. Holland’s Opus, the story of the profoundly positive impact that a dedicated music teacher had on generations of students. The film’s composer, Michael Kamen, founded Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation in ’96 as his commitment to the future of music education. Kamen passed away in ’03 but the legacy he left behind includes not only his amazing body of work, but also the Foundation itself.
The organization was started to address the fact that across the nation, school and community music programs have been discontinued or greatly diminished due to budget cuts. The positive effects of music education on children’s emotional and intellectual growth have been proven in numerous case studies. Arts and music education also contribute to students doing better in school generally. Kids feel a connection to the arts–and as a result, they begin to value schooling in different subjects such as math, English, science and history. Youngsters start to realize that education is relevant to their lives.
The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation recognizes the importance of music to children and seeks to keep music alive in our schools and communities. The organization maintains The Melody Program and the Special Projects Program. The latter targets community schools of the arts, after-school music programs, and youth orchestras. And the Melody Program targets qualified kindergarten to 12th grade music programs.
Donations to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation are tax deductible. People can mail a check or money order to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation at 15125 Ventura Blvd., Suite 204, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403. Donations via credit card can be made by phone (818 784-6787) or fax (818 784-6788). Musical instruments can also be donated. For further info, log onto www.mhopus.com.
