Breaking Band: Artists as Composers
Composing original music for a film, TV show or ad involves a revolving door of professionals beyond just the music creator. Directors, music supervisors, producers & company execs often play a role in crafting the creative direction of the composer’s work. For those that come from a musical background, but not a learned composition one, navigating the role of a hired gun can be a difficult transition. Being responsible for driving the emotion of someone ELSE’S vision, selling a product or creating music as a sonic palette, rather than the dominant figure, can require a heavy dose of adjustment and direction.
Presenters
Rebecca Rienks
Music Supervisor
NBCUniversal/E! Entertainment
Rebecca Rienks began her career in music supervision after joining the music department at Lionsgate Films. There she worked on films as diverse as Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman, the acclaimed Leonard Cohen concert film and documentary I’m Your Man, the Academy Award-winning Crash and the first season of the hit Showtime series Weeds. Upon leaving Lionsgate, Rebecca co-founded the independent music supervision house Creative Control, working on a slew of impressive indie feature films, documentaries and box office number ones. She currently serves as Music Supervisor for NBCUniversal’s E! Entertainment, overseeing music creative and administrative elements for all content on the channel, including worldwide advertising and promotions and E!'s #1 rated Red Carpet coverage.
Ian Moore
Madrona Music
Ian Moore is a singer/songwriter/guitarists who has lived many lives. He started his career as an symphony violinist, became a world renown blues/rock guitarist in his teens, and a well respected singer/songwriter in his 20's. He has opened for artists from the Rolling Stones to Bob Dylan, done sideman stints from Roky Erickson to Jason Mraz, and played everywhere in between, from yoga studios to stadiums
The last decade has found him expanding his horizons into composition/production, with a wide range of production/engineering/session credits. In 2011 he started Madrona music, along with composer Jason Staczek. Madrona music is a commercial music production company that splits it's time between high level commercial work and film/television scoring. Ian continues to tour internationally, as well as releasing his own records.
Colton "DJ Cheapshot" Fisher
Pres
Bridge Compositions
Most credit the birth of modern DJ culture with the urban street parties that sprouted up in The Bronx in the 1970’s. But music purists know that the genre was truly born in a Northridge, California hospital room in March 1977, the day Colton Fisher emerged from the womb and immediately sucker-punched his midwife, earning the “Cheapshot” moniker that has followed him ever since. Twelve years after that fateful day, Cheapshot picked up his first record, bought his first turntables and mixer, threw a “DJ” in front of his name, and embarked on his quest to rock your world.
Now with over 20 years of DJ and production experience, Cheapshot is internationally renowned as a top touring act and club DJ, an accredited music producer, and a working television composer. Being called Cheapshot you’d expect he’d be one to sucker-punch his way to the top. But if his name implies anything, it’s that he has a knack for recognizing and jumping on opportunity, and his vast and impressive resume reflects his hard -nosed approach to making big things happen.
It begins with his involvement in seminal LA underground hip-hop group Styles of Beyond, who catapulted into the forefront as featured players in platinum-selling hip-hop ensemble Fort Minor, a project started by Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. Riding the success of this endeavor, Cheapshot and Fort Minor toured the world with top-selling rap artist 50 Cent, and even took home a 2006 MTV VMA.
Aside from headlining the Projekt Revolution Tour and becoming the official DJ for the New Kids on the Block “Casi-NO Tour” in 2010, Cheapshot has gone on the road with other top musicians, including Crystal Method, Swollen Members, Hi & Mighty, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Takin’ Back Sunday, Him, Placebo, and hip-hop veterans The Jungle Brothers. These tours have taken him to major markets including Toronto, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Kansas City, Chicago, Scottsdale, San Francisco and more, where he has built a growing fan base.
When not on the road, Cheapshot’s home is in the studio, where he composes tracks for other musicians (Linkin Park, Beastie Boys, Fort Minor, Nappy Roots, Ras Kass, Get Busy Committee, etc), television (America’s Top Model, Punk’d, LA Gang Unit, Jersey Shore, etc), and movies (The Transformers, Crank, Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, The Corruptor, etc). He also spends time creating his own mix tapes which have amassed a cult following, including “Mega’Dudical” an innovative blend of early 80′s pop with Down South Crunk mixed together as only Cheapshot could , with over 10,000 copies in circulation, and his most recent release “Club Footed” which is multi-genre mix of dance music mash-ups.
Over time his love of music and skill as a deejay has helped navigate him through changing musical trends always keeping him on the forefront of the club scene. Sure his arsenal of DJ gear includes a lot more technology than just turntables and a mixer, but one thing is still clear: Cheapshot’s going to rock your world, whether you are expecting it or not.
Lysandra Woods
Film & TV Creative
Third Side Music
I've worked in Film & TV Licensing at Third Sie Music for 4 years. I'll be doing the Breaking Band panel with a bunch of awesome people. Come on down and ask any questions you might have.
Alan Wilkis
Music Producer
Wilcassettes
Alan Wilkis, Music Producer Bio: http://wilcassettes.com/about
Alan is a critically-acclaimed music producer/remixer, 1/2 of the band Big Data and the Creative Director for Advertising & Brand Partnerships at Spirit Music Group, one of the world’s leading indie music publishers. He has composed music for ad campaigns (EA Sports, Microsoft, Hutchinson Bikes), written theme music (for the new E! series, Pop Innovators) and has licensed his music for several projects (F/X Network's Wilfred, TV promos for Adult Swim and NBC's Do No Harm, Mike Birbiglia’s film Sleepwalk with Me).
In addition to his own musical pursuits, Alan’s role at Spirit allows him to work with and represent the music of The Who, T. Rex, The Naked & Famous and Matt & Kim, among others. He has strategically placed Spirit's rich and diverse catalog across a wide variety of advertising campaigns, with clients including: Trident, Progressive Insurance, Microsoft, Best Buy, Bing, Blu Dot Furniture, Honda and Miller Lite.