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The New Orleans Film Society has appointed Carroll Morton as its new Executive Director. Morton joins Nofs with an impressive background in the New Orleans film industry – she has served as the director of the City of New Orleans Film Office since 2018. As Executive Director of Nofs, Morton will continue to expand the mission of Nofs by promoting and amplifying the diverse voices of filmmakers through film and film-related programming. She is expected to ramp up the upcoming and future editions of The New Orleans Film Fest. That runs October 16-27 this year.

Morton said she was deeply honored to take the post.

“This organization has long been a cornerstone of our city’s cultural landscape, and I am eager to work alongside the incredible team at Nofs to build on its legacy. Together, we will continue to champion the film industry in New Orleans, ensuring it remains a vibrant...

The “Barbie” film and soundtrack album are such an embarrassment of riches that an equally massive bounty of Grammy and Academy awards seems like a foregone conclusion. But such awards don’t just happen — it’s an intricate, laborious, precisely timed dance of official submissions, lobbying, advertising campaigns and (so we’ve heard) insider machinations less-than-lovingly known as “FYC,” i.e. For Your Consideration.

So, Atlantic Records, which released the Mark Ronson-helmed “Barbie the Album” soundtrack, and Warner Bros. pictures have a challenge on their hands: Which songs to push for which awards, and which categories?

Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” may be the most musically resonant song in the film and album, but it’s a melancholy one; conversely, Dua Lipa’s disco-fied “Dance the Night” is lighthearted fun personified and lights up the dance scenes, but it’s maybe not as emotionally resonant. Nicki Minaj...

The winners of the 13th annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards were revealed Sunday night at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

Anton Monsted won best music supervision for a film budgeted over $25 million for Elvis, while Lauren Marie Mikus and Bruce Gilbert won the award for a film budgeted $25 million or under for Everything Everywhere All at Once. The latter film also won best song written and/or record for a film for “This Is a Life.” Rob Lowry took home two awards for his work on Cha Cha Real Smooth and Do Revenge.

On the television side, Nora Felder won for best music supervision for a television drama for the fourth season of Stranger Things, while Kier Lehman won in the comedy/musical category for Insecure season five. “Perfect Day” from Better Call Saul season six won best song written and/or recorded for TV.

At the awards ceremony,...

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Elvis lead the nominees for the 2023 Music Supervisors Guild Awards.

Each film earned three nominations in the same categories: best music supervision for film budgeted over 25 million, best song written and/or recorded for a film and best music supervision in a trailer – film.

Artists who contributed to the Black Panther sequel and Elvis movie soundtrack, Rihanna and Doja Cat, were also nominated for awards this year, as were performers and songwriters Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Diana Ross and David Byrne.

High-profile films and TV shows that earned two nominations apiece include A Jazzman’s Blues, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Atlanta, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Better Call Saul, Stranger Things, P-Valley and The Afterparty.

The winners in categories spanning film, TV, video games, advertising and trailers will be revealed at an in-person and...

The Guild of Music Supervisors released on Thursday the nominees for the group’s 12th annual awards ceremony, honoring music supervisors in film, television, advertising and video games.

Among the nominees for the film categories are “Being the Ricardos,” “Encanto,” “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” “The Harder They Fall,” “The Tender Bar” and “Tick, Tick… Boom.” Meanwhile, some of the Television nominees include “The Crown,” “Cruel Summer,” and “Genius: Aretha.”

Nominees for music supervision in trailers include “The Matrix Resurrections” and “Spencer,” while video game nominees include “Grand Theft Auto: Online — The Contract” and “FIFA 22.”

As previously announced, Diane Warren will receive the Icon Award, while Mitchell Leib will receive the Legacy Award, which honors “music supervisors who have excelled within the craft of music supervision.”

Read the complete list of nominees below:

Film

Best Music Supervision for Film Budgeted Over $25 Million

Mary Ramos – Being The Ricardos...

The Guild of Music Supervisors today unveiled the nominees for its 12th annual award ceremony, celebrating outstanding achievement in the craft of Music Supervision in film, television, games, documentaries, advertising, and trailers, with such notable songwriters and performers as Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eddie Vedder, Anderson .Paak, Bruno Mars, H.E.R. and Demi Lovato making the cut.

Beyoncé was among those recognized for the Oscar-nominated King Richard song “Be Alive,” with Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, filmmaker Jeymes Samuel and music supervisor Michelle Silverman noted for the song “Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall, and Miranda cited for his Oscar-nominated Encanto song “Dos Oruguitas.” Vedder was nominated alongside Glen Hansard, his performer daughter Olivia and music supervisor Tracy McKnight for the Flag Day tune “My Father’s Daughter,” with Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars among those sharing a nom for the Shang-Chi song “Fire In the Sky.” H.E.

Nominees for the 12th annual Guild of Music Supervisors (Gms) Awards have been revealed, recognizing the craft of music supervision in film, television, games, advertising and trailers.

Among the film nominees for the 2022 edition of the Gms Awards are “Encanto,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” and “Being the Ricardos,” each of which also scored Oscar nominations this week. Television shows that scored nods include “The White Lotus,” “Blindspotting” and “Lovecraft Country.”

Songwriters, artists and music supervisors will be recognized together for the category of best song written and/or recorded for film.

As previously announced, Diane Warren will receive the organization’s prestigious Icon Award, and Mitchell Leib will receive the Legacy Award honoring those music supervisors who have excelled within the craft of music supervision.

The 12th annual ceremony will take place virtually on Sunday, March 20.

Film

Best Music Supervision for Film Budgeted Over $25 Million

Mary Ramos – “Being the Ricardos...

The Guild of Music Supervisors has partnered with Mondo.NYC for its 4th annual one day education seminar on Oct. 14, which will once again be held virtually.

The program track will feature some of the top music supervisors in the field today, along with their creative partners and collaborators, who will present case studies and break downs of projects they’ve worked on.

Programming for the sessions was headed by Gms co-founder Jonathan McHugh, who says: “Our NYC steering committee has done another excellent job on crafting a great day of programming. It’s a mixed blessing that our one day event is virtual again this year. The good news is that now people from all over the world can attend and learn from some great Gms music supervisors/producers and some of the creative partners and brands that they collaborate with.”

Mondo is an incubator confab for the music...

The higher the intensity of a trailer, the slower the song that accompanies it. This may seem fairly recent as a reliable rule, but it’s not a completely new phenomenon. What goes back at least to the 2001 trailer for the first iteration of Xbox 360’s apocalyptic warfare video game Gears of War — with Gary Jules delivering a heart-ripping cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World” — is an visual-aural contrast that’s now common practice.

More recent examples of the trend include FJØRA’s echoey take on the 4 Non Blondes perennial “What’s Up?” in the terrifying trailer for 2020’s “Welcome to the Blumhouse”; Lana Del Rey’s creepy version of “Once Upon a Dream,” from the classic Disney animated film “Sleeping Beauty,” in the trailer for 2014’s “Maleficent”; and ConfidentialMX featuring Becky Hanson’s operatic interpretation of the Bee Gees’ “I Started a Joke” in the dark trailer for 2016’s “Suicide Squad.

Abramorama has acquired global distribution rights to “City of Ali,” a documentary that examines how the death of Muhammad Ali brought the people of his Kentucky hometown together for one memorable week.

The film is directed by Graham Shelby and produced by Jonathan McHugh (“Long Live Rock…Celebrate the Chaos”). It features interviews from Asaad Ali, Lonnie Ali, Rahman Ali, Rasheda Ali, Mayor Greg Fischer, members of the Muhammad Ali Center and many more.

Following a premiere event on June 3, screenings of “City of Ali” will take place throughout the week at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, as part of the annual Ali Festival, a weeklong community event that celebrates Muhammad’s legacy. It will be held from June 3 to June 13. “City of Ali” is set to have a national release Friday, June 4 as a Watch Now @ Home Cinema Release, via Abramorama.

“Muhammed Ali has been a shining example...

Halestorm have recorded a predictably raucous rendition of the Who’s 1974 hit, “Long Live Rock,” to accompany a documentary also titled Long Live Rock.

The song, with its big riffs and anthemic vocals, is a perfect fit for the group. Singer-guitarist Lzzy Hale exalts rock & roll with the same deference as Roger Daltrey, even on Pete Townshend-penned lines like, “We were the first band to vomit at the bar.” The accompanying video shows Hale and her bandmates recording the song, along with footage from the documentary, which comes out next month.

Abramorama has acquired worldwide distribution rights for Jonathan McHugh’s directorial debut “Long Live Rock…Celebrate The Chaos” and plans a March 12, 2021 release.

“Long Live Rock” was filmed at various rock festivals around America showing the scope of just how massive these crowds are. Attesting to the power of destination music festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza are interviews with members of Metallica, Guns N ‘Roses, Slipknot, Korn, Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, Rage Against the Machine, Greta Van Fleet, Halestorm, Machine Gun Kelley, and Shinedown. These prominent performers discuss, among other things, the relationship with their audience.

The film is produced by McHugh, Gary Spivack and Jonathan Platt. “Long Live Rock…Celebrate The Chaos” will be launched with an online global red carpet premiere screening event on March 11 featuring a Q&a with the filmmakers, band members and some surprise guests. The film will be available the next...

The Guild of Music Supervisors (Gms) has announced the full agenda for its third annual event and film festival in partnership with Mondo.NYC.

Among those participating are Bryan Cosgrove, head of creative music licensing for TikTok, and Sam Hayflitch from Viacom and +1 The Vote. “Mr. Soul!” and “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President” will also screen.

For the first time, the event will be accompanied by a three-night film festival featuring music-oriented full-length documentaries and Q&As with the music supervisors and directors who worked on the projects.

Both the NYC Education Event and Film Festival will explore the opportunities and challenges of supervision and sync and master licensing, and how related technologies like AI, data collection/analytics and more may impact them.

The program takes place on Thursday, October 15 from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. Et.

Full Agenda Below:

October 15, 2020

Conference Kickoff: 12:00 noon Et/ 9:00 a.

The Guild of Music Supervisors has unveiled its summer panel series lineup featuring many of the top musical tastemakers and composers working across television and streaming platforms today.

The first panel kicks off with music supervisors from HBO’s lineup: Kier Lehman from “Insecure,” Jen Malone from “Euphoria,” Liza Richardson from “Watchmen” and Blake Leyh from “The Plot Against America.” Guild founding member Jonathan McHugh will moderate the panel on June 11. Register here.

June 18’s panel focuses on the working relationships of composers and music supervisors on Apple TV Plus shows. Moderated by Variety Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay, speakers include Zach Cowie and Michael Brook (“Little America”), DeVoe Yates, Ian Hultquist and Sofia Hultquist (“Dickinson”) and Liza Richardson and Carter Burwell (“The Morning Show”). Register here.

The Netflix panel on June 25 looks at the diverse offerings of shows where music features as a character. Matt Biffa of “Sex Education,” Nora Felder...

The Guild of Music Supervisors is continuing its weekly panel series with a program aimed at exploring the relationship between showrunners and producers and music supervisors. Scheduled for April 23 and moderated by Variety Artisans editor Jazz Tangcay, the discussion will feature Jason Katims, the producer and writer best known for “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood”; showrunner Alan Freedland, currently working on the animated TV Series “Fabulous Fury Freak Brothers”; music supervisor Madonna Wade-Reed (“Batwoman”); “All American” producer and former NFL player Spencer Paysinger; producer Nkechi Okoro; and Gms Co-founder Jonathan McHugh.

Among the topics on the agenda: how music supervisors work with producers to create the perfect musical soundtrack; the timeline process from start to finish; how music supervisors find new music; and how the role of music supervision has changed.

Co-sponsored by Mondo NYC, it follows last week’s panel featuring music supervisors Gabe Hilfer and Evyen Klean, music...

The Guild of Music Supervisors has partnered with Mondo.NYC for the second year. An incubator confab for the music and tech industries that includes a multi-venue festival showcasing emerging artists from around the world, Mondo.NYC is scheduled for Oct. 15 – 18 at the Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn.

The final day, Oct. 18, billed as the Second Annual NYC Guild of Music Supervisors Education Event & Film Festival, will feature panels with music supervisors Trevor Gureckis and Sue Jacobs, composer and music supervisor, respectively, of “The Goldfinch;” publishing professionals Andrea Minze, Senior Director, Music for Advertising, Umpg, and James Armstrong, VP Creative Marketing, Sony/Atv; and business development executives Jennifer Freed, CEO, Trevanna Tracks and Cestjon McFarland, general counsel/head of business affairs, SyncFloor.

Topics planned include how technology is improving the work of music supervisors; how composers and music supervisors can work better together and a case study on the campaign roll-out for Weedmaps’ Museum of Weed.

“A Star Is Born,” “Black Panther” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are among the films that have received multiple nominations from the Guild of Music Supervisors, which announces the nominees for its 9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards on Thursday.

All three of those films were nominated in the Best Music Supervision for a Film Budgeted Over $25 Million category, alongside “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Peter Rabbit.” They were also nominated for individual songs: “A Star Is Born” for Lady Gaga’s “Shallow,” “Black Panther” for Kendrick Lamar’s “All the Stars” and “Mary Poppins Returns” for Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s “Trip a Little Light Fantastic.”

The other nominated songs are Dolly Parton’s “Girl in the Movies,” from “Dumplin’,” and Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” from “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” the only song nominated by the Gms that is not on the Academy’s short list of...

Coming on the heels of successful conference held on the USC campus on Saturday, the Guild of Music Supervisors today announces a partnership with Mondo.NYC, an incubator confab for the music and tech industries that includes a multi-venue festival showcasing emerging artists from around the world.

Scheduled for Oct. 2 to 5, Mondo.NYC will host panels at the Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn. The final day, Oct. 5, will feature music supervision heavies like David Schulhof, Exec. Producer of “Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives,” Sue Jacobs, music supervisor for “Sharp Objects” and “Big Little Lies,” and heads of music from Vice Media (Charlotte Von Kotze) and Viacom (Anita Chinkes-Ratner), among many others. Topics such as how composers and music supervisors work together and the current documentary boom also feature on the schedule.

Programming for the sessions was headed by Gms co-founder Jonathan McHugh, who said: “Being a native New Yorker...

The parties will jointly produce a slate of pop culture and music-focused documentaries and TV series for worldwide distribution on XLrator Media’s Lifeframe documentary label.

The first title will be the TV series Origins, which will explore the roots of pop culture’s biggest comic book franchises through the eyes of creators, industry legends and fans. The completed pilot focuses on X-Men comic book creator Chris Claremont.

The companies’ first feature documentary co-production will be Cosplay Universe (pictured), styled as a definitive look at the worldwide cultural phenomenon in which participants transform themselves into iconic pop culture characters. The parties have earmarked a late 2017 release.

XLrator Media and J2 Films will also collaborate on the North American release of the documentary Man In The Camo Jacket about Mike Peters, lead singer of the Welsh rock band The Alarm, and his inspirational battle with cancer and his work to help others with the disease.

Earlier this year...

Gotta love the 80s.

“Ping Pong Summer” is a good tribute movie to those moviegoers who remember growing up in the 80s. It’s about a teenager who spends a summer at the beach in Ocean City in 1985. It combines the tributes of arcade games, young teen love, hip hop and of course—ping pong.

The film has great veteran actors like Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris and John Hannah. It also features the young actors of Marcello Conte, Myles Massey and Emmi Shockley.

Latino-Review had an extended exclusive phone interview with director Michael Tully. We discussed in significant detail about the production, the actors, the music and the love of the 1980s.

“Ping Pong Summer” is currently in limited release in certain theaters and also available on VOD.

Read the interview below.

Latino-Review: First of all, I want to thank you for doing this type of movie. I...

Recently, The Film Stage caught up with Morgan Spurlock to discuss his new film Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, now playing. The film examples the role of product placement and advertising in movies. Here is what he had to say:

Is this part of your sponsorship deal, this whole outfit?

What’s funny is that it was all my idea. That’s the thing, as you watch the film, this whole pitch of the suit was my brainstorm, so now these are my own chickens coming home to roost. So yeah, comes with the territory now.

Did you really think that when you started out…

That anyone would give us any money?

…that you’d even think you’d have a film?

Yeah, we had no clue. When we started, we thought it was a great idea, we didn’t know if it was even possible, and...

Saw 3D Soundtrack CoverSideways Media provided a free CD of the Saw 3D soundtrack for review and the tracks were a heavy metal delight. However, there is more than just hard rock in these sixteen tracks. There is technology influenced rock, some blues, thrash and pop rock. Pop rock almost always gets an immediate fail here, but heavier tracks like "Goliath" by Karnivool, "Bad Ass" by Salive and "The World Belongs to Me" by My Darkest Days make up for what the soundtrack lacks. These are excellent choices for a film that deserves heavier, authentic sounds. A more specific review inside.

Executive Producers: Mark Burg, and Oren Koules.

Soundtrack Album Producers: Jonathan Platt, Jonathan Miller, & Jonathan McHugh.

Soundtrack Album Executive Producers: Vinny Rich.

Tracks:/Review Notes:

1. Saving Abel – "Never" 3.5/5 Decent, not too heavy, not too soft.

2. Hinder - "Waking Up The Devil" 4/5 Heavy enough for the film, good voice.

3. Karnivool...

(April 12th, 2010 – New York, NY) Jonathan McHugh has been appointed Senior Vice President of Film, TV & Soundtracks, Island Def Jam Music Group, it was announced today by Steve Bartels, President & COO, Island Def Jam Music Group. McHugh will seek to create opportunities for the Idj roster through music placements in films, TV and video games. He will also music supervise films and look for soundtracks to produce for Idj. McHugh, who is based in Los Angeles, will report to Bartels and Antonio “La” Reid., Chairman Island Def Jam Music Group.

NEW YORK -- Billy Ray Cyrus and High School Musical star Olesya Rulin will headline Jim Amatulli's drama Flying By, the story of a businessman who risks his marriage, family and fortune to pursue his dream of being in a rock band.

Rulin will play the supportive daughter of the businessman (Cyrus) alongside Oscar winner Patricia Neal, Robert Gossett (TNT's The Closer), Eric Allan Kramer (American Wedding) and Ted Hutton in the family-friendly indie feature. Eric Abrahamson, Jonathan McHugh and Amatulli will produce for Arte Films and Encore Partners.

Neal is in final negotiations to play the mother of Cyrus' character, who teams with his bandmates (Gossett, Kramer) after being encouraged to perform by a club booker (Hutton). The film will begin shooting Nov. 26 in San Diego.

Cyrus, best known for his country hit "Achy Breaky Heart", is riding high with the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, starring his 14-year-old daughter Miley Cyrus. He's on tour promoting his new album, Home at Last.

Rulin will be seen next year opposite Jessica Simpson in Major Movie Star.

Amatulli wrote, directed and produced the 2003 crime drama Artworks, starring Virginia Madsen and Rick Rossovich.