Big Picture Entertainment: Marcy Bulkeley, Interview by Tess Taylor – NARIP

Per la nostra rubrica ecco l´intervista in inglese condotta da Tess Taylor di NARIP.  Marcy Bulkeley direttrice di Big Picture Entertainment e music supervisor:

Photo courtesy of NARIP.com: Marcy Bulkeley

Tell me about Big Picture Entertainment, how do they work and operate?

Big Picture Entertainment is a full service theatrical, brand, and consumer product marketing company that works with every major studio to create effective advertising campaigns for their films. Recently we expanded our services to include multimedia production, commercial advertising, Web series, special content for films and TV. We are a full service commercial agency.

Let’s talk about your latest projects – what are you working on now and in the coming months?

Right now I have about 7 or 8 different projects happening, World War Z, Last Vegas, This Is The End, Grown Ups 2, The Internship, Noah, NCIS Red (TV show), Runner Runner and a Web series that is in production. It changes a lot as new projects come in constantly. It’s best to IMDB.com all of these films to understand the range of what I am working on. They include everything from comedy to thriller to horror.

Does Big Picture have in-house music producers, composers, or do you start browsing and selecting music from scratch for every project?

We have one editor who writes music and does sound design for us occasionally, but if custom composed music is needed for a project, or any music other than commercially known music, I have music production libraries that I have great relationships with. I’ll send a description of my project to them and they will pitch me options from their catalog. I do get a lot of opportunities to have music custom composed though, which I love. I know a lot of composers and am always looking for more. I know what styles all of them are really strong in so I can go to a couple with my needs and get something written pretty quickly. This is what we did for the Inception campaign. I had a reference cue from another movie, [it was] sort of wrote inspired by that and also by Hans Zimmer’s score to the film. But I’ve also done smaller scale custom projects, it’s all project dependent – 99.9% of the time I browse and select music from scratch for each project.

How does someone get on your search list and stay on it?

By sending me chocolate. Just kidding. Very much kidding. I have been building relationships with musicians and producers for about 10 years now, they all started with an email, meeting in person and have built into solid professional relationships. I prefer it when someone emails me initially, to just send me 1 or 2 songs and in the subject line put the genre/style they are absolutely strongest in. I might not get to their email right away, but if I am busy I will file it in a folder for that specific genre/style and then go back to it when I have a project that calls for it. If their music stands out to me, and they are easy to work with, I will continue working with them and send them searches. Also, if they put ALL of their metadata into their music files I will definitely work with them again. If they reply in a timely manner, and if they are open to possibly making changes to their music to fit my project, if they have instrumentals available to me right away… all these things help! The film trailer world is very, very fast paced, we need things to happen very quickly in order to keep our clients happy. I need people who can work quickly with me.

What chances do independent publishers, musicians and composers have to pitch their songs and secure licenses in modern media? What can they do to improve their chances?

They can do as I said above, make sure their information [metadata] is in every music file, only send me a handful of songs at a time, and a brief email. The chances are VERY good for independent publishers, musicians and composers. I love working with independents, it is so easy and fun for me and we get a chance to get much more creative than we would with working with a major label artist, there is more flexibility. Also, my budgets range from $0 to $$$$ lots, so independent artists willing to be flexible with compensation at first will absolutely be hired again and used on higher paying projects in the future, this happens a lot.

How have NARIP Music Supervisor Sessions helped you do your job?

Sooooooo much! I have discovered SO much incredible talent through the NARIP sessions. Some truly amazing artists. They have given me access to composers that I send searches to all the time, independent publishers that I didn’t know existed but happen to have some of my favorite smaller artists. They are so useful to me, I never know what I’m going to get and I always get a lot and I keep in touch with everyone that I’ve met at these sessions.

What’s the most lucrative area of sync?

I think trailers are the most lucrative because studios are willing to spend the money on marketing to get people to see their film.

What kind of music is trending at the moment?

 Hip-pop, pop/hip-hop hybrid stuff. And anything that sounds like The Black Keys, southern rock.

What is the best way to pitch music to you?

 EMAIL and email only.

Sources For More Info

http://365music.wordpress.com/author/marcyb52/ – Marcy’s Music Blog

www.bigpic.com

www.IMDB.com

www.narip.com

NARIP Editor’s Note: Come see Marcy Bulkeley on April 3, 5 and/or 6 in Paris. Receive a brief of her CURRENT music needs, pitch music and get her feedback on the spot. Get more details and costs, and register here NOW:

Wed, Apr 3: Panel Discussion: http://bit.ly/NARIP-Paris-Place-Music
Fri, Apr 5: Music Pitch Session #2 w/ Marcy Bulkeley: http://bit.ly/NARIP-Paris-Marcy2

Sat, Apr 6: Music Pitch Session #3 w/ Marcy Bulkeley: http://bit.ly/NARIP-Paris-Marcy3

Three ways to register:

1. Online at www.narip.com using PayPal or any major credit card (you need not be a PayPal member)
2. Call +33 (0) 1 72 77 43 61 (France) or 818-769-7007 (US) to register with credit card
3. Email Mary Bee at mary@narip.com

Executive Profiles

Marcy Bulkeley, Director of Music, Big Picture Entertainment

 Marcy Bulkeley is music director at Big Picture Entertainment, an entertainment marketing and advertising company, where she works on major motion picture campaigns as well as broadcast sports marketing campaigns. She is responsible for the music in the campaigns for Looper, Seven Psychopaths, Contagion, Inception, Due Date, The Town, Sherlock Holmes, Hubble 3D, Just Wright, Harry Potter 6 & 7, LOST, Modern Family, Cougar Town, It?s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (seasons 5 & 6), Sponge Bob and for music in upcoming campaigns for an untitled A-list zombie movie (major studio), Grown Ups 2, Last Vegas, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Noah (starring Russell Crowe and Emma Watson), This Is The End and others. Marcy continues to take on music supervision and has consulted for Kathy Nelson (previously VP of film music for Universal Pictures), music supervised with G Marq Roswell at 35Sound, and consulted for Deutsch Advertising, among others. Her involvement in music placement goes beyond the screen; Marcy provides background music services for retail and restaurant businesses in Los Angeles. Specialties: music supervision and consulting, branding through music, music publishing, music licensing (drafting to execution), creative licensing, artist development and management, communication and negotiation skills, record / soundtrack production, acquisitions, label relations, label management, marketing and advertising, building and maintaining strong relationships with creative and inspiring individuals. In 2013 the Guild of Music Supervisors nominated Marcy in the category of Best Music Supervisor in Trailers, and in 2011 the organization awarded her Best Original Music in Trailers for her work on the Inception campaign. Marcy graduated from Emerson College with a degree in Audio / Radio Production and directed her studies towards film and television music. 

Tess Taylor, President, National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP)

Tess Taylor is president of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP) and creator of NARIP’s Music Supervisor Sessions, which feature music supervisors from the film, TV, ad agency and trailer sectors and have yielded multiple music placements. NARIP’s sessions have been a hit in London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin and New York, selling out in four cities. One of the U.S.’s leading authorities on careers in the music and record industries, Ms. Taylor has connected countless people to jobs and opportunities through her work in the US and abroad, cultivated collaborations for over two decades, helped launch hundreds of projects and several companies. Dubbed “International Music Ambassador” by music supervisor P.J. Bloom (Glee, Nip/Tuck, The Shield, CSI: Miami), Ms. Taylor works with groups such as the European Music Export Office, Danish Songwriters Guild, French Music Export Office, Boomtown (Sweden) and Berlin Music Commission to connect their members to opportunities in Los Angeles and throughout the U.S. She has consulted leading businesses such as InsideSessions (a joint venture between the Universal Music Group and Penguin Putnam, Inc.), The Walt Disney Company, BMG Entertainment (formerly Sony BMG), Concord Records and MySpace.com in its start-up phase. In the last year she has keynoted at Popkomm (Berlin), the Drucker Career Conference (Los Angeles), the Trigger Creative Conference (Sweden), the University of Vienna’s Institute für Popularmusik in Austria, and at NAMM 2011 (Los Angeles). Deeply annoyed by people who think music should be free, Ms. Taylor is a vigorous defender of intellectual property rights and debated Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow on “free music” at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (2006) and was invited for a rematch at Ohio University (2008). She won both times. From 1988 to 1993 Ms. Taylor was employed at MCA Records, Inc., last serving as Associate Director of Marketing. A classically trained pianist, she studied music at the University of Vienna, and is a Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of Redlands’ Johnston College where she received her BA degree in music, German and literature.

Tess Taylor, NARIP President – Photo courtesy of NARIP.com

About NARIP

NARIP promotes education, career advancement and good will among record executives. Established in 1998 and based in Los Angeles, NARIP has chapters in London, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Phoenix, Houston, Las Vegas and Philadelphia, and reaches 100,000+ people in the music industries globally.

NARIP is committed to promoting the cultural and economic benefits of music and intellectual property, and to providing a platform to convey insights and perspectives to improve the music business around the world. NARIP upholds the contributions of music and related fields to the fiscal health of the U.S. and global economies, and is committed to fair compensation and protection for artists, and for those who invest in, own and market their works.

 CONTACT:

www.narip.com

paris@narip.com

+33 (0) 1 72 77 43 61 (France) or 818-769-7007 (US)

@NARIP