Burt Bacharach Dazzles at the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards in LA — Here’s Who Took Home Trophies

Burt Bacharach received the prestigious Icon Award at the Guild of Music Supervisors 10th Annual Awards ceremony in Los Angeles last night. In a keynote, he offered some sage advice to the crowd of music supervisors.

DMN’s special coverage of the Guild of Music Supervisors 10th Annual Awards is made possible by Songtradr, a VIP sponsor of the event and supporter of the broader sync community.

Bacharach is not only a legendary musician and performer, he’s also a seasoned music supervisor. Accordingly, he had some comforting words of advice for the supervisor crowd on hand at the Guild of Music Supervisors awards showcase.

“I know what you guys are going through out there,” Bacharach said after receiving the Guild’s Icon Award. “A lot of things are out of your hands.”

The comment drew rapturous applause from the supervisors attending the event — most of whom have toiled in the trenches of complex clearances and layers of approval.

Bacharach famously won Oscars for Best Original Song and Best Original Score for the 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But according to Bacharach, the lead song — “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” — almost got nixed from the film.

Actually, it’s surprising the classic — which practically made the film — got included. In a moment of candor that fits such a seasoned figure, Bacharach noted that half of the film’s board wanted the song removed — even Robert Redford failed to see the fit.

“I know what you guys are going through out there.”

Indeed, ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’ is a recurring theme for many music supervisors.  But that — and other occupational hazards encountered by supervisors — helped to create a sense of camaraderie at the event. It seemed that every conversation or acceptance speech included some hapless war story that was overcome — or, not overcome.

Legendary Canadian music supervisor Bob Hunka, who received the Guild’s Legend Award (after a warm introduction by Emmylou Harris), comically told stories of his early forays into music supervision. Well, it all sounds funny decades later, but Hunka quickly learned to grapple with impossible budgets, sometimes questionable production companies, and a distinct lack of job security.

“Composers sometimes have to deliver under impossible conditions,” Hunka said.

Other stories were equally relatable.

The team of David Taylor, Scott McDaniel, and Jonathan Wellbelove, who won Best Music Supervision in Advertising (Original Music) for their ‘Hokey Pokey’ Apple Watch commercial, described the sheer insanity of listening to ‘Hokey Pokey’ variations and edits thousands of times.

Anny Colvin, who won Best Music Supervision in a Trailer for her scoring of the Joker Teaser, described an enduringly awkward relationship with her parents. “My parents still don’t get what I do for a living,” Colvin said during her acceptance speech. “My father said he couldn’t wait until I won an Oscar.”

Actually, maybe that’s not so far-fetched. “Looking into the future, we hope that these awards will garner more attention from other institutions such as The Academy,” said Guild president Joel C. High.

Meanwhile, the bigger event was in the lobby.

That’s where hundreds of supervisors, composers, Hollywood producers, and artists networked intensely. This is a niche but powerful audience that drew some superstar attendees. Among the celebrities on hand were Michael Bolton, Regina Spektor, Reggie Watts, Kristen Chenoweth, former New York Giants linebacker Spencer Paysinger, and the aforementioned Emmylou Harris.

________________________________________

Here’s a complete list of the night’s winners.

Film

Best Music Supervision for Film Budgeted Over $25 Million

• Mary Ramos – Once Upon A Time In Hollywood *WINNER*
• Tom MacDougall – Frozen II
• Matt Sullivan – Aladdin
• Ted Caplan – Ford v Ferrari
• Randall Poster, Robbie Robertson – The Irishman

 

Best Music Supervision for Film Budgeted Under $25 Million

• Kier Lehman – Queen & Slim *WINNER*
• Trygge Toven, Toko Nagata – Always Be My Maybe
• Jason Markey – Hustlers
• Zoë Bryant, Pete Saville – Blinded By The Light
• Becky Bentham, Karen Elliott – Judy

 

Best Music Supervision for Film Budgeted Under $10 Million

• Meghan Currier, Randall Poster – Waves *WINNER*
• Henry Van Roden – Seberg
• Tracy McKnight – 5 Feet Apart
• Zachary Dawes – The Peanut Butter Falcon
• Steven Gizicki – Teen Spirit

 

Best Music Supervision for Film Budgeted Under $5 Million

• Terri D’Ambrosio – The Last Black Man In San Francisco *WINNER*
• Karen Elliott, Jack Arnold – Wild Rose
• Susan Jacobs, Dylan Neely – The Farewell
• Steve Bouyer Pascal Mayer – Atlantics
• Lynn Fainchtein – Gloria Bell

 

Best Song Written and/or Recorded for a Film

“One Little Soldier” from Bombshell *WINNER*

Writer: Regina Spektor

Performed By: Regina Spektor

Music Supervisor: Evyen Klean

 

“Spirit” from The Lion King

Writer: Beyoncé, IIya Salmanzadeh, Timothy Mckenzie

Performed By: Beyoncé

Music Supervisor: Mitchell Leib

 

“Into The Unknown” from Frozen II

Writer: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

Performed by Idina Menzel featuring AURORA

Music Supervisor: Tom MacDougall

 

“Glasgow “(No Place Like Home) from Wild Rose

Writer: Caitlyn Smith, Kate York, Mary Steenburgen

Performed by Jessie Buckley

Music Supervisor: Karen Elliott

 

“Don’t Call Me Angel” from Charlie’s Angels

Writer: Alma-Sofia Miettinen, Ariana Grande, IIya Salmanzadeh, Elizabeth Grant, Max

Martin, Miley Cyrus, Savan Kotecha,

Performed by: Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus

Music Supervisor: Julianne Jordan and Julia Michels

 

 

Television

Best Music Supervision – Television Drama

• Adam Leber, Jen Malone – Euphoria – Season 1 *WINNER*
• Madonna Wade-Reed – All American – Season 1
• Ashley Neumeister – American Soul: The Untold Story of Soul Train – Season 1
• Steven Gizicki – Fosse/Verdon – Season 1
• Amanda Krieg Thomas, Alexis Martin Woodall & Ryan Murphy – Pose – Season 2

 

Best Music Supervision – Television Comedy or Musical

• Robin Urdang – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Season 2 *WINNER*
• Bruce Gilbert – GLOW – Season 3
• Javier Nuño, Joe Rodríguez – Los Espookys – Season 1
• Brienne Rose – Russian Doll – Season 1
• Matt Biffa – Sex Education – Season 1

 

Best Music Supervision – Reality Television

• Jill Meyers – Songland – Season 1 *WINNER*
• Robin Kaye – American Idol — Season 2
• Meryl Ginsberg – America’s Got Talent – Season 14
• Jen Schwartz, Catherine Wharton – Girls Cruise – Season 1
• Jon Ernst – The Hills: New Beginnings – Season 1

 

Best Music Supervision – Television Movie

• TIE (2 WINNERS)
  • Howard Paar – Native Son *WINNER*
  • Joe Rudge, Chris Swanson – The Dirt *WINNER*
• Evyen J Klean, Jennifer Reeve – Deadwood: The Movie
• Evyen J Klean, Janet Lopez – My Dinner With Hervé
• Tracy McKnight – Tall Girl

 

Best Song Written and/or Recorded for Television

“Something Stupid” from Better Call Saul *WINNER*

Songwriter(s): C. Carson Parks

Artist: Lola Marsh

Program: Better Call Saul

Episode: #407 “Something Stupid”

Music Supervisor: Thomas Golubić

 

“All These Things That I’ve Done” from A Million Little Things

Songwriters: Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer, Ronnie Vannucci, Jr.

Artist: Gabriel Mann

Program: A Million Little Things

Episode: #101 “Pilot”

Music Supervisor: Kevin Edelman

 

“Invisible Ink” from This Is Us

Songwriter(s): Taylor Goldsmith, Siddhartha Khosla

Artist: Mandy Moore

Program: This Is Us

Episode: #307 “Sometimes”

Music Supervisor: Manish Raval and Tom Wolfe

 

“Jenny of Oldstones” from Game of Thrones

Songwriter(s): David Benioff, Ramin Djawadi, George R.R. Martin, D.B. Weiss

Artist: Florence + The Machine

Program: Game of Thrones

Episode: #802 “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

Music Supervisor: Evyen J Klean

 

“On a Roll” from Black Mirror

Songwriter(s): Trent Reznor

Artist: Miley Cyrus

Program: Black Mirror

Episode: #503 “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too”

Music Supervisor: Amelia Hartley

 

 

Documentaries

Best Music Supervision for a Documentary

• Tracy McKnight – Halston *WINNER*
• Kevin Moyer – Boy Howdy: The Story Of CREEM Magazine
• Aminé Ramer – Love, Antosha
• G. Marq Roswell, Dondi Bastone – The Apollo
• Willa Yudell – Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1

 

Best Music Supervision in a Docuseries

• Rudy Chung, Jonathan Christiansen – Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men *WINNER*
• Marchese Taylor, Jake Weinreb, Jordan Passman – Free Meek
• Evyen Klean – Mike Judge Presents: Tales From The Tour Bus
• Evyen Klean – What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali

 

 

Trailers

Best Music Supervision in a Trailer

• Anny Colvin (Jax) – Joker Teaser *WINNER*
• Bobby Gumm (Trailer Park) – Wonder Woman 1984
• Toddrick Spalding (Mobscene) – The Goldfinch
• Danny Exum, Kelsey Mitchell (Workshop Creative) – Bombshell Trailer 1
• Will Quiney (GrandSon) – When They See Us

 

 

Advertising

Best Music Supervision in Advertising (Sync)

• David Taylor, Scott McDaniel, Jonathan Wellbelove – Apple iPhone “Color Flood” *WINNER*
• Josh Marcy – Apple iPhone “Don’t Mess with Mother”
• Doug Darnell – Lyft “Face Off”
• JT Griffith – Nike “Dominate All Dimensions”

Best Music Supervision in Advertising (Original Music)

• David Taylor, Scott McDaniel, Jonathan Wellbelove – Apple Watch “Hokey Pokey” *WINNER*
• Alec Stern – Miller Lite “Followers”
• Nellie Rajabi – Google Pixel “Kiss Detection”
• Eric Johnson, Dan Gross – Fuji Film “Don’t Just Take, Give”

 

 

Video Games

Best Music Supervision in a Video Game

• Cybele Pettus, Raphaella Lima – FIFA 20 *WINNER*
• Steve Schnur, Venus Bentley – Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
• Brandon Young, Eric Kalver – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
• Daniel Olsen – Sayonara Wild Hearts
• Alex Hackford, Peter Scaturro – Death Stranding