9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards

On February 13th, 2019, elite members of the music in media community and the greater entertainment industry gathered for the 9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards, held at the Theatre at ACE Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, to celebrate the accomplishments of music supervisors and creatives in film, television, trailers, gaming, and advertising.

The ceremony kicked off with Grammy award winning singer/songwriter, Aimee Mann’s emotional delivery of “Drive” by The Cars, which was used to great effect in FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Story. Mann’s performance was followed by a warm welcome from President of the Guild of Music Supervisors, Thomas Golubić, who reflected on the varied activities and milestones achieved by the organization over the past year.

The 2019 Legacy Award was presented to Joel Sill, the creative force behind the artistically driven and commercially successful soundtracks of Forrest Gump, The Color Purple, Easy Rider, My Cousin Vinny, and many more. There to introduce him with a sentimental speech was Oscar winning director, Taylor Hackford, a dear friend and long-time collaborator on films including La Bamba and An Officer and A Gentleman.

In acceptance of this year’s Icon Award, Marc Shaiman took to the stage to perform two musical numbers — “My Agent, Yes!”, a hysterical tribute to his longtime representative, Richard Kraft of Kraft-Engel Management, and a touching rendition of “The Place Where Lost Things Go”, his 2019 Oscar nominated song from Mary Poppins Returns. Shaiman’s captivating presence had the audience hanging on his every word and he was honored with multiple standing ovations. If Shaiman takes home an Oscar this weekend, he will finally achieve EGOT status for his unparalleled musical contributions to cinema, television, and theatrical productions.

Another high note of the festivities was Lukas Nelson’s version of “Shallow” from A Star is Born — the night’s winner in the “Best Song/Recording Created for a Film” category. Nelson, son of country legend, Willie Nelson, co-wrote several key tracks for the immensely popular soundtrack for A Star is Born, and served as a backing musician for Bradley Cooper onscreen alongside his band, Promise Of The Real.

The crowd was also treated to a dynamic performance from 20-year old Brooklyn bred singer/songwriter, King Princess, who shared her original song, “Ohio” from her forthcoming freshman album on Mark Ronson’s Columbia imprint, Zelig Records.

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Lukas Nelson performing “Shallow” at the 9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards | © Rich Polk | Getty Images

King Princess performing “Ohio” at the 9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards | © Rich Polk | Getty Images

Pop Disciple spoke with a number of the evening’s guests about their nominated projects and their connection to the craft of music supervision.

JOEL SILL

Joel Sill is the 2019 Guild of Music Supervisors Legacy Award recipient. In his illustrious career, he has shaped the sonic statements of cultural phenomenons including La Bamba, Forrest Gump, My Cousin Vinny, The Color Purple, Twister, Striptease, Cast Away, Munich, and Begin Again.

We are here at the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards, celebrating your incredible far-ranging career tonight. I imagine that receiving the Legacy Award has given you a chance to reflect on your accomplishments. What are the projects that come to mind when you think of your legacy?

Well, there's a lot of them! *laughs* An Officer and a Gentleman, Easy Rider, Forrest Gump — those are certainly films that are near and dear to me. Not only in terms of the way that they turned out, but the experience of working on them, and working with the filmmakers.

The scene in Easy Rider featuring “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf is such an iconic music moment in film history. What originally sparked that idea?

A lot of the songs in Easy Rider actually came from sitting up late at night and playing songs against Johnny Carson's skits. We’d try stuff and then all of a sudden, something would work. On every project, you literally play with ideas. To find a good song for a scene, you have to get a feel of what you want to say, what the tempo of the scene is, and what feeling or emotion you’re trying to get across. After that, you start pulling songs from there based on genre.

What is your wish for the next generation of music supervisors?

I think music supervision should be acknowledged more and recognized more for its contribution to all visual arts. It's still a struggle for music supervisors to get recognized for their contributions — they need to be seen, heard, and taken care of appropriately.

GLORIA ALLRED

One of the evening’s most distinguished guests and presenters was Gloria Allred, legendary women’s rights attorney, and activist. Thomas Golubić and Michelle Johnson of SuperMusicVision earned a GMS “Best Music Supervision for a Documentary” nomination for their nuanced work on Netflix’s Seeing Allred from directors Roberta Grossman and Sophia Sartain.

Can you tell us why it was important to you to make an appearance at this year’s Guild of Music Supervisors Awards?

I never thought about music supervision until I had my own documentary called Seeing Allred, which is streaming on Netflix. I now understand that those individuals who have that skill, and that experience, and that instinct for artistry really deserve so much more credit than they usually get. It’s usually just their name at the end of the film, which is not sufficient because it would be a very different documentary experience, feature film experience, television/movie experience without the music, and without the supervision. That's an integral part of it. So, I profess ignorance for never having thought of it previously, but now that I have thought about it and understood it, I feel that loyalty goes both ways. They [Thomas Golubić and Michelle Johnson] did the best they could for our film, and I think they did a great job. I'm here to acknowledge them and appreciate them for what they did.

Is there a particular song featured in Seeing Allred that holds a special significance for you?

Well, of course, anything that's called "Gloria.” [Laura Branigan’s platinum-certified 1982 single]. It's fun, and they just did a beautiful job of putting it all together. I've had so many people tell me that they love the film, that they felt empowered by it, they felt inspired by it. I attribute quite a bit of that to the music that fit the narrative of the film. It is about my 43-year battle for women's rights and minority rights. There are ups, and there are downs, there's sadness, there's happiness, there's everything in between. There's excitement, and there are surprises, so the music needed to be appropriate for everything that's going on there, and it was. I've seen the film many times because we've had so many screenings of it and of course, on Netflix, yet it's still new to me. I still appreciate what they've done each and every time.

Did you learn anything new about yourself or your legacy during the process of illustrating your life’s work with music?

It gave me an appreciation for the courage of my clients — many of whom are victims — and gave me an appreciation of the fact that their courage and the work that we do, combined, is important to so many millions of people. What we do resonates with so many people who've previously not had a voice, who have not felt the power that they have, and have not understood the rights that they have and the options. It's all been a journey — an emotional journey — and it's been made more beautiful and more important by the music in the film.

JULIA MICHELS

Julia Michels received the GMS Award for “Best Music Supervision for Films Budgeted Over $25 Million” alongside Julianne Jordan for their showstopping work on A Star is Born. The pair also took home the same honor at last year’s ceremony for their joint contribution to Pitch Perfect 3.

Congratulations on your creative role in the worldwide sensation that is A Star is Born. Can you tell us about the beginning stages of your creative process with Julianne and the rest of the team?

First of all, Julianne and I chased this movie for many, many years, even back when it was Beyoncé and Clint Eastwood. We wanted to do this movie. There’s always been something about this film. When Bradley [Cooper] came on to direct, and he chose Lady Gaga, it just took off.

We were involved very early on. We heard Lady Gaga sing her songs to us at her kitchen table and we all cried. It was an experience I'll never forget because, first of all, you're like, "My God, this is my life," and, secondly, what they were doing together was so poignant, soulful and special — it felt so organic. I know that sounds cliché, but it really was — the way they met and how they started working together.

From then on, we just watched the songwriting process — how she [Lady Gaga] wrote, who she chose to write with, how Bradley wrote. The songs inform the story, and the story informs the songs. It’s powerful.

Did you anticipate the incredible response to “Shallow”?

I think that “Shallow” has taken off so much because of how it was used in the film. It was telling the story of Ally [Lady Gaga’s role in A Star is Born]. It represents the first time Ally gets up on stage with Jackson [Bradley Cooper’s character in A Star is Born] and is brave enough to sing. It was also used in the trailer, so everybody heard it first, lived with it, and now, here we are.

Lukas Nelson will perform the song tonight. His band, Promise of the Real backed up Jackson Maine in the film, so it all comes full circle, and I’m really honored to be here.

RAFAEL CASAL

Rafael Casal is an accomplished musician, poet, and rising actor, best known for his portrayal of ‘Miles’ in the 2018 critically acclaimed independent drama, Blindspotting, which he co-wrote and produced with Daveed Diggs. Founding member of GMS and revered music supervisor, Jonathan McHugh was nominated in “Best Music Supervision for Films Budgeted Under $5 Million” category for his impeccable work on Blindspotting.

What was the greatest responsibility of creating a film that captures the very essence of the Bay Area?

That! All the pressure you just put in that question — it’s that right there! We’re responsible to so many people’s stories — so much music culture, so much street culture. People in the Bay are so wrapped up in our identity of the Bay Area. We feel like we’re in a Whoville situation — we’re small, but everything we do is really important. We contribute so much to the larger culture, but it’s not always acknowledged. So, when something is going to be our megaphone into the world, it better be accurate, or we’re going to denounce it. We’re going to be like, “No, no, no. That’s not the one”. So, I think we just had to be very meticulous every step of the way, and ask ourselves, “Does this feel true to form? Does this feel authentic? Is this the right kind of coloring? Is this the right cast? Is this the right vernacular?”. All of that had to be in there.

Can you describe your collaborative dynamic with the music supervisor, Jonathan McHugh, and composer, Michael Yezerski?

Arguing mostly. *laughs* Jon’s the best. Michael’s the best. These two are impeccable artists in their own right. You know, Michael composes everything from his own house, so we’d just sit on his couch for hours and hours. He’d go, “I’d really like to take a stab at this,” so we’d come back the next day, and he’d have ten versions of it all figured out because he’s such a massive overachiever. Michael really took to heart our collective inspiration board for the score. It was just watching a master at work, putting together this bed of music that felt of the place, of the time period, and it blended right in with all the tracks that Jon had managed to get for us.

And then, Jon’s job was really to, above all else, take on this hyper-specific task we gave him. It all had to be Bay Area specific, region specific, and neighborhood specific. And that’s hard! It was a tall order, and he handled it with such grace. Every time he’d play us something, we’d go like, “Oh, this is great. Where’s this person from?”, and he’d be like, “L.A,” and we’d go, “No!” and go back to the drawing board. He would always bring us the best possible work he could find, and had great solutions! I mean, there were so many things we couldn’t clear, and Jon always found some kind of crazy way to get it done — get a cover song license, have a band replay it, and bring in the same rapper to re-record a different verse. He just went above and beyond, but that’s what you get when you hire Jon because he’ll go the extra mile.

Obviously, me and Daveed [Diggs, co-writer, co-producer, and co-star of Blindspotting] are both musicians, and that’s our background, so to work with people who love music and love sound design as much those guys do, it’ll be impossible to top. It’s just going to be a career of disappointment if we don’t get them on every project now.

JENNIFER PYKEN

Jennifer Pyken won the “Best Music Supervision for a Television Drama” award for season two of NBC’s heartwrenching series, This is Us. In 2018, she was nominated for an “Outstanding Music Supervision” Emmy for her work on the “That’ll Be The Day” episode of This is Us.

What has been the most meaningful personal reward of working on “This is Us”?

The best thing about working on "This Is Us" is reading all the letters and e-mails I get from artists, songwriters, and even just regular people that love the show. Occasionally, I'll be wearing a This Is Us jacket in public and people will stop me on the street to tell me their story or something they relate to on the show. These experiences have really touched me because I've never been on a show like this before — one that's touched so many people this deeply.

What is your hope for the future of music supervision?

I’m really hoping that we get an Oscar nomination soon. I think it would be a great thing for us to be honored in that way.

LAURA WEBB & LINDSAY WOLFINGTON

Laura Webb and Lindsay Wolfington won the “Best Music Supervision for a Television Limited Series or Movie” award for their collaboration on Netflix’s teen romance hit, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. The soundtrack features cuts from Lauv, Blood Orange, Tears for Fears, Matthew Dear, and Anna of the North.

Laura Webb and Lindsay Wolfington at the 9th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards | © Rich Polk | Getty Images

To All the Boys I've Loved Before is something of a revolutionary film — it’s the first teen romantic comedy to feature an Asian American female lead actress. What did it mean to both of you to tell Lara Jean’s story with music?

Laura Webb: We feel very honored to be able to help tell this story. We love to see other voices being represented. We, as women, think it’s very important to help tell female-driven stories for future generations.

Lindsay Wolfington: She [Lana Condor, the actress who portrayed Lara Jean] was such a natural fit. We were working on the film about nine months before it came out — it was just beautiful and charming. We didn’t know it was going to be a groundbreaking thing to have an Asian woman as the star of the film, so it was really cool to be a part of something representing that type of diversity. It was always a part of the story, so kudos to Awesomeness Films. Jenny Han [author of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before] said they were the only production company who would agree to cast an Asian lead. Everybody else wanted to write it as something else.

Laura Webb: Yeah! That’s the reason Jenny chose to make it with Awesomeness. It’s amazing how it all happened.

Lindsay Wolfington: And it was cool that it was released on the same weekend as Crazy Rich Asians.

What was your musical highlight of the film?

Laura Webb: I think we both agree — it’s our hot tub moment, which used “Lovers” by Anna of the North. We were both were like, "We got to nail this." Seeing the fan response and the power of Netflix’s worldwide release has been really rewarding. It was cool to see the film charting in Asia — #1 in the Philippines. Anna is so adorable and such a great artist, so it was really nice to see her benefit from an awesome scene in the movie.

Lindsay Wolfington: We’ve worked on young adult properties forever, and they don’t always get the respect they’re supposed it. It’s a genre we love to work in because the fans love to consume music and really take ownership of it when it’s played for the characters they like. Overall, we couldn’t have been happier with the project.

What would you say are the most significant creative similarities and differences between the two of you?

Lindsay Wolfington: We pretty much bonded immediately because we both love music from the UK and Sweden. In our second year of friendship, we were at South by Southwest together, and Laura was like, "I heard this band, Mumford & Sons is supposed to be good." So, we went, and we became their first two fans in the U.S.

Laura Webb: We share a bond of ‘let's find the saddest song and cry’. I know that sounds weird, but we like to try and find the saddest songs possible. We are big fans of love songs — anything dark and moody.

What are the last songs you’ve cried to?

Lindsay Wolfington: Today, I was working on an episode of NBC’s The Village, so it was Declan J. Donovan’s “Human Way.” I can’t go into detail, but it’s a hopeful song that plays over some really sad scenes — it pulls at the heartstrings that much more.

Laura Webb: The new Bear's Den album, So That You Might Hear Me. I don’t even know if it’s released yet, but the whole album will make you cry.

Lindsay Wolfington: Yeah, if you want to cry, listen to Bear's Den "Above The Clouds at Pompeii." Done.

Laura Webb: Yes! I dare people to watch the music video too.

KIER LEHMAN

Kier Lehman was nominated for “Best Song/Recording Created for a Film” for “Sunflower” performed by Post Malone and Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, “Best Song/Recording Created for Television” for “The Glow” performed by Victoria Monet for HBO’s Insecure, and “Best Music Supervision for a Television Comedy or Musical” for season three of HBO’s Insecure.

Can you tell us about how you have sculpted the musical identity of Insecure? Is it a very collaborative process?

It's definitely a collaborative process. All the music on Insecure is a collaboration between Issa [Rae, creator and star of Insecure], me, the editors, and some of the other producers. We all get in there, but it’s my job to organize everything, take the directions I get from Issa and then expand on it, filling out the show with all the right music.

The soundtrack of Insecure created a shift in popular music trends, and you also premiere a lot of new music on the show. Is there a song you discovered along the way that resonated with you?

I work on a lot of different projects with different styles of music, but R&B is probably my favorite. It was just a great match because this is music I was already loving, appreciating, researching, and getting deep into. Then here comes a show where they’re trying to feature that music with a creator who’s passionate and has great taste. We’ve been able to build on that, working together and exposing these great artists that we love — Anderson .Paak, Thundercat, Jazmine Sullivan. These artists really deserve to have a bigger presence and get more exposure, and now they have. Not only through our show, but that music is all over the place now, and it’s been really cool to see that happen.

Can you elaborate on your experience supervising Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse?

It was such a great project. I'm so lucky to have been a part of that. It was obviously in development for a long time — all the directors and producers had been working on it for years. It was awesome to be able to use some of my favorite music that I’ve loved for a long time and expose it to a new audience. And then, we created these new songs that will stand the test of time, and are really, really connected with the movie, the characters, and the audience. It’s been great to see.

The main character, Miles sings the song, “Sunflower” throughout the film? How did you come across it in the first place?

We worked with Republic Records, and Dana Sano is our soundtrack partner, so she brought that song to the table, and we all knew it was something special. As we lived with it for a little while, we became really attached to it, and it became ingrained in our minds. We knew it was a catchy song, but it also fits so perfectly in that scene with Miles’ character. It just evolved into a really important part of the movie and the soundtrack.

And you must have had to come up with the song before they animated it, right?

That's right. We were working on that early on to find the right song that we could animate to. We had a demo, so they were able to animate to the vocals and then the song was fleshed out a little bit after the fact. It came together really well, and then it plays again in the middle of the movie, and then at the very end, so it really tied everything together.

The transitions from song to score felt so effortless. Did you interface much with the composer, Daniel Pemberton, or was your creative process pretty separate?

I think we influenced each other. Early on, we had the same conversation about what the direction was going to be — using hip-hop, featuring New York and those music elements in the songs and the score. He would listen to the songs we were putting in the movie, and he was in L.A. working on the score for a while, so I got to be in the studio with him, reviewing things with the producers and aiding in that process. He just nailed it. He did an incredible job — so creative.

AMANDA KRIEG-THOMAS

Amanda Krieg-Thomas was nominated for three GMS Awards — “Best Music Supervision for a Television Drama” for season 1 of FX’s Pose, “Best Music Supervision for a Limited Television Series or Movie” for FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, and “Best Song/Recording Created for Television” for Aimee Mann’s cover of “Drive” by The Cars featured in FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.

First of all, congratulations on your nominations. The success and recognition of Ryan Murphy’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story has been tremendous. Can you elaborate on a musical moment in the series that holds a personal significance?

What's incredible is that the song that means the most to me is the one that everyone's going to get to see tonight — Aimee Mann’s performance of "Drive." It was an amazing scene. It was an incredible experience because it was a moment that encapsulated what it means to be a music supervisor. That moment was written into the script, and Ryan instinctively said, “It has to be Aimee.” There were a couple of songs that were kicked around, but it was Aimee who brought “Drive” to the table. She was like, “This is a song that resonates with me, that I feel like I can really bring something to." After that, the producers were like, “This is it."

I was in the middle, shepherding the whole process — making sure the recording happened, making sure everybody was happy, getting everything to set on time and being on set. It was all of the best parts of supervision. It’s not just about picking songs or even being the one with the creative idea. It’s about bringing together all of these elements. I love realizing the visions of incredible storytellers, and this was such an amazing moment on camera moment — Aimee Mann performing while Darren Criss is crying. It came out great.

What is the most gratifying aspect of working with Ryan Murphy?

Oh my god, I can't even answer that. Ryan is a genius. It's always his vision, and he’s got an incredible musical mind. He knows exactly what he wants and knows how his stories need to feel down to the lyrics. We're all just here to make Ryan's dream come true, and I’ve been so fortunate to help bring these stories to life. It’s his sandbox, we’re all just playing in it, and it’s a really fun sandbox to be in.

What’s next for you in the coming year?

More of this. I am really lucky. I’m actually going out on my own, and just started my own company the beginning of this year. It’s called Yay Team Productions. I’ll still be working on all the same shows and Ryan, of course, has many wonderful projects coming up. I’m currently working on The Politician, which will air on Netflix in the fall, the second season of Pose on FX, and then there’s his next show, Ratched, which is the origin story of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. That’s happening right now, and then I’m also working on season 3 of Claws, which is as crazy as ever. That will premiere in June. So, I’m busier than ever, but I’ll also be bringing a new life into the world in June.

MATT BIFFA

Matt Biffa was nominated for “Best Music Supervision for a Television Comedy or Musical” for his stellar contribution to the first season of Netflix’s dark British comedy drama, The End of the F***ing World.

Can you elaborate on some of the key concepts that underpin the music supervision approach for The End of the F***ing World?

The End of the F***ing World is a show about teenagers, who are very uniquely a product of the adults around them. They're trying to make sense of what those adults have done to them, whether intentionally or unintentionally. There's a couple of things that work in tandem with that. First off, the look of the show, which is very ambiguous. You don't quite know where it is, and you don't know what time it is or what period it is.

We mutually felt that the time of the teenager was the 50’s — before social media when they were having their experiences explained to them through music for the first time. That’s really why we started with quite a lot of doo-wop. We noticed it works very well against the deadpan nature of James, and also Alyssa, who is very hysterical. As the show develops, Alyssa starts to feel more like herself and James starts to come out of the shadow of his mother’s suicide — it’s quite hardcore. The music itself changes, so we move into later genres and use things like the Buzzcocks, Shuggie Otis, even a bit of Fleetwood Mac. It was quite deliberately done like that — to develop throughout every episode.

Is there a song you placed in the first season that’s near and dear to your heart?

Yes! I like "Oh Daddy" by Fleetwood Mac in it. The reason for that is because it’s the last nice time Alyssa has before she realizes that her dad is a complete, pardon my language, shit. There was a lot of discussion about it, but I felt it was important to give her one last lovely moment where everything was great before it all goes wrong for her. After a while, you grow to love your characters, and you become so used to them, so you feel very strongly about how you shape your journey. That’s a lovely moment. There are loads of nice little moments along the way, but that’s probably my favorite, and it was difficult to clear, so I am glad I managed to get it.