2016 Music Immersive Mentors
“Hookman” Marlin Bonds (Songwriter/Producer)
‘Hookman’ is a lifelong musician, songwriter, and producer. He began to play the trumpet at a young age, and by the time he was a teenager he had discovered Jazz in a big way. Regional and State Jazz competitions led him to receive full scholarships to University of Kansas City Missouri and William Paterson University, where he went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz performance. He wrote and produced his first hit single with Swizz Beatz, “Money in the Bank.” Currently based in LA, Hookman has been co-writing with some of the most accomplished producers, writers and artists in the business, including Chris Brown, Jason Derulo, Kelly Rowland, Enrique Eglesias, Karmin, and Jordin Sparks. In 2012 he started working with upcoming artists AKA King, Mz. 007, and Heven, who have recently been signed to the dance label Ultra Records. His creative vision for future endeavors extends beyond writing songs and work towards building an infrastructure where he can develop and executive produce new talent.
DJ Cheapshot (Producer)
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 25 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. 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, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Takin’ Back Sunday, Him, Placebo, and hip-hop veterans The Jungle Brothers. In 2011, Cheapshot along with fellow Styles of Beyond producer, Jason “Vin Skully” Rabinowitz, started their first company in film & television, Bridge Compositions.
Brian Fennell (Songwriter/Artist)
Seattle native Brian Fennell mixes pop, indie and a litte bit of funk into his music. After releasing a solo record, Fennell formed the indie rock band, Barcelona, with two college friends. After releasing two albums and extensive touring, the band decided to release three EP’s in 2014. Among other Barcelona TV placements, Fennell’s cover of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” was used in the most recent season of Grey’s Anatomy. Aside from the band, Fennell has recently created the side project SYML, which delves into a much deeper, cinematic sound.
Adrianne Gonzalez (Producer/Songwriter/Artist)
Producer/Songwriter/Engineer AG hails from Los Angeles, where she’s spent the last 15 years touring and making records. As one-fourth of the band The Rescues as well as a solo artist, her music has been placed in many projects. Her work has been featured on: Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, Private Practice, One Tree Hill, Grey’s Anatomy, Witches of East End, The Fosters, Reign, Mistresses, Girl’s Guide to Depravity, One Bad Choice, Finding Carter, Chasing Life, Vanderpump Rules, Virgin Territory, NY MED, 16 &Pregnant, The Messengers, and IZombie. While she has worked with numerous artists of all genres, Gonzalez has provided tour support to Jeff Buckley, Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt among others. Outside of her side project The Silent War, with songwriter Garrison Starr, she has created another side project, FINIS. FINIS allows AG to write and produce and team up with other artists, who sing on the track. Her cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” was used for The Last Witch Hunter trailer, which featured Ciara on vocals.
Richard Harris
Rich Harris is a published writer/producer with Peer MusicLA who has had Billboard, iTunes, and other chart-topping cuts around the world. His cuts have been recorded by artists such as Katharine McPhee, Elvis Blue (South Africa’s Idol winner), Anahi, Boh Runga, Sabrina Starke, Camera Can’t Lie, Shawn Hook, Tyler Shaw, Lead, Felix Cartal, Greg Cerrone, DJ Stonebridge, and recent #1 Billboard hit “Lie to Me” with Cole Plante. Co-writers include Grammy award winning and multi-million selling writers like Lazonate Franklin, Justin Gray, Erika Nuri, Mark Hudson, Pam Sheyne, Victoria Shaw, Gary Burr, Keith Follese, Jeff Franzel and Boots Ottestad. Richard’s music can be heard in commercials and TV shows like Beauty & the Beast, One Tree Hill, Cold Case, Third Watch, The Closer, The Hills, Joan of Arcadia, Critic’s Choice, and Cinematheque, as well as on CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, The BBC, History Channel, Lifetime, MTV, Discovery Channel, TNT, and many others. His recent film credits include This Means War and Single Moms Club.
Katie Herzig (Songwriter/Artist)
Katie Herzig is a steady fixture in the Nashville indie music scene. She’s spent the last few years touring the US, sharing the stage with artists like Brandi Carlile and The Fray and is apart of the Ten Out of Tenn collaborative. Herzig co-wrote the song “Heaven’s My Home,” which was performed by the Duhks and nominated for a Grammy award. She has been featured in Billboard Magazine’s “Now Hear This” as well as one of PASTE Magazine’s 25 “Best of What’s Next” Artists. Her songs have been featured in several television shows and movies, including Grey’s Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, Sex and the City: The Movie, Going the Distance and New Year’s Eve. Most recently, Katie’s music has been featured in a national Target advertisement, the trailer for the film Saving Mr. Banks, and an animated performance on Netflix’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Her latest album, Walk Through Walls, was released in 2014 and she is currently working on material for a new release.
Todd Wright (Producer)
Todd Wright is a singer/songwriter/producer from Washington DC whose 25-year career has included fronting his own pop-rock bands, touring with national acts, and writing songs for national and international recording artists. Most recently, Todd’s writing credits include the duet “L’Amour Peut Prendre Froid,” recorded by French superstar Johnny Hallyday and Grammy® winner Celine Dion, the single “Blind Heart” for Swedish duo/Avicii label mates Cazzette (which has accumulated over 45 million Spotify plays to date and reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart), and an upcoming cut in Korea with the artist Luna among many others. Todd has had countless placements in TV and film, including the shows BONES, 90210, ONE TREE HILL, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, THE ORIGINALS and SWITCHED AT BIRTH. Todd is an demand musician and producer who continues to travel all over the world to work with various artists and write at various songwriting camps.
Adam Zelkind (Composer/Writer/Producer)
Eight time award winning composer/writer/producer Adam Zekind has created cutting edge music for over 650 hit television episodes as well as various feature films and commercials. His success lies in his ability to create a distinct signature sound for each show. His composer credits include: Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love Money, Real Chance of Love—anybody see a theme?—The Surreal Life, MTV’s From G’s to Gents for executive producer Jamie Foxx, I Love New York, Charm School, My Fair Brady, and Outback Jack. Zelkind’s awards include ASCAP’s 2009 and 2010 Most Performed Underscore and Themes as well as Top Series for Rock of Love, I Love Money, and Rock of Love Bus. He has also won BMI Awards for The Surreal Life, Outback Jack, and Hogan Knows Best.
Music Supervisor/Executive
Heather Anderson (Entertainment Attorney)
Heather Anderson is a seasoned entertainment attorney, who has worked in various aspects of the music and media business. Heather received her B.A. from UC Berkeley and attended law school at UCLA School of Law. Formerly an attorney in the Business and Legal Affairs department of Interscope Geffen A&M Records in Los Angeles, Heather handled recording, production and license agreements for IGA artists such as 50 Cent, The Neptunes, Avant, Sheryl Crow and The Pussycat Dolls. Prior to joining Interscope, Heather was Senior Counsel in the Intellectual Property department at Fox, handling copyright and trademark issues for all of the Fox companies worldwide (motion picture, television, sports, etc.), particularly intellectual property issues online. Heather has also practiced as a reality TV production attorney, and as an associate at a major law firm. She is currently an interactive media attorney at a major media and entertainment company, where she specializes in mobile apps, interactive experiences and video games.
Janine Scalise-Boyd (Starz Network)
Based in the company’s Beverly Hills office, Janine Scalise-Boyd serves as lead music executive for Starz original programming, including STARZ Original series Ash vs. Evil Dead, Black Sails and Power, as well as limited series Flesh and Bone. Boyd is directly responsible for overseeing the hiring of music supervisors and composers, as well as, determining the licensing budgets and supervising clearances. Boyd also oversees music supervision services for Original Programming throughout each project’s production process from pre-production through final delivery, as well as the network’s Image Campaigns and trailers for all series. On some Starz Original Programming, such as, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Boyd is the music supervisor for the series. Additionally, Boyd guided Starz into music publishing for all its owned Original Programming and has overseen that for the last eight years.
Lynn Grossman (Secret Road)
As founder of Secret Road Music Services, Lynn has created a multifaceted entertainment company that has introduced artists like Ingrid Michaelson, Walk the Moon, American Authors, Andy Grammer, The Civil Wars, and Fitz and the Tantrums to the film / TV / advertising community. Secret Road’s roster of artists have been featured in numerous television series such as Grey’s Anatomy, Blindspot, The Vampire Diaries, Switched At Birth, Graceland, and various ads by Google, Target, Cricket Wireless, Calvin Klein, Reese’s, Payless and more. As her manager, Lynn has helped Ingrid Michaelson vault from overachieving indie-pop sweetheart to a bona-fide pop star. Ingrid is about to release her sixth studio album while writing songs for film, writing and producing her own sitcom, and starring in an upcoming film. Formerly the music supervisor for HOUSE MD, Lynn is currently supervising two independent films.
Daniel Higbee (Secret Road)
Daniel Higbee is the former Head of Film/TV at Secret Road, a boutique music services company in Los Angeles, and since 2016, oversees artist development and the newly founded label. Hailing from Kansas City, Higbee traded his midwest Triple A radio job for a position at the Los Angeles sync company Sugaroo!, pitching artists like Ani DiFranco and Anti- Records for film, television and ads. On the side he freelanced for music supervisor Jennifer Pyken, assisting her with television projects Las Vegas and LOST. In 2009 he moved to Secret Road, where he helped sign and pitch a small and growing roster of independent acts.
Dave Jordan (Format Entertainment)
Dave Jordan is the founder, CEO and creative leader of Format Entertainment. Jordan began his career in the music industry in 1994 at Atlantic Records but soon transitioned to become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after theatrical music supervisors. Jordan’s music supervision credits include some of the most successful film franchises in the world, including Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Avengers, Transformers, American Pie and many more.
In 2001, Jordan founded Format Entertainment as a collaborative workplace for like- minded music supervisors to share ideas, experience and pool resources. The success of this model has allowed Format to grow and evolve into the largest collection of theatrical and television music supervisors working in the industry. Today, that core supervision group is reinforced by a robust infrastructure of creative, executive and music related resources and individuals allowing Format to prosper and deliver in its current incarnation as a full-service, solutions-oriented sonic creative agency working in all forms of media. Format’s spectrum of clients consists of some of the most recognizable names in entertainment, media, advertising and consumer goods including Marvel Studios, Warner Consumer Products, Mattel and marquee projects such as Captain America: Civil War, Straight Outta Compton, Empire and the Barbie and D.C. SuperHero Girls brand campaigns.
Format’s music supervision efforts have yielded a number of chart topping albums, including number one spots for the Guardians of the Galaxy, Empire, and Pitch Perfect soundtracks and just recently, Format soundtracks occupied an unprecedented four of the top five positions on the Billboard charts. Format has won several Guild of Music Supervisor Awards, received multiple Grammy and Emmy nominations and twice won the American Music Award for Best Soundtrack (Pitch Perfect and Alvin & The Chipmunks).
Format’s brand business is on display with its work helping to conceptualize and create the sonic identities and theme songs for Barbie, Monster High, Dreamtopia, Ever After High and, most recently, DC SuperHero Girls. Format creates new, original music for many of the content ventures created around these brands andhelps brand parent companies identify and execute ideas based off current trends in the music industry. Recognizing a void in the industry and an opportunity he could deliver against, Jordan incorporated a master and publishing business under the Format umbrella. This business is thriving, signing exciting new talent while remaining geared towards providing a seamless and efficient experience for the film, television and brand communities, resulting in major placements on shows such as Better Call Saul, Girls and How to Get Away with Murder and in campaigns for brands such as BMW, Procter & Gamble, and McDonalds. Dave and a number of the members of the Format team serve on the Board of Governors for the Grammy Committee in Los Angeles, contributing to advocacy, education and human services programs to improve the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers.
Julianne Jordan (Format Entertainment)
Julianne Jordan made a vow to make music the center of her life ever since seeing Les Miserables in NYC with her family as a teenager. The emotional scope of this musical had a profound impact on her and three years after graduating from studying the viola at Skidmore College, she decided to try her hand at music supervision. Skip ahead many years, after a slew of successful projects as a music supervisor, Julianne was called upon for the project Pitch Perfect, co-executive produced with Julia Michels. The film was a box office success and boasts the biggest selling soundtrack of 2013; it featured “The Cup Song (You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone)”, sung by Anna Kendrick that went on to sell three million downloads. The soundtrack impressively reached platinum status and won the American Music Award in 2013 for Best Soundtrack.
Juliann and Julia also worked on the sequel, PitchPerfect2, which became the highest grossing musical comedy of all time. The soundtrack went on to receive the American Music Award as well as a Grammy nomination. Other upcoming projects for Julianne and Julia include the animated musical from DreamWorks Animation, Trolls, co-executive music produced by Justin Timberlake, as well as supervising the upcoming Hollywood Bowl musical performance of The Little Mermaid, featuring music by Alan Menken.
Julianne supervised the blockbuster family film Alvin and the Chipmunks in 2007. This project allowed Julianne to really take her creative skills outside of the box, putting a modern and hip spin on that world-recognized chipmunk sound. Alvin and the Chipmunks became a Platinum-selling soundtrack and earned the American Music Award for Best Soundtrack. She followed up with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and her soundtrack album for this film was certified Gold.
Julianne’s first foray into music supervision was in the mid-90’s on the Doug Liman directed cult-classic, Swingers. The soundtrack for the film quickly went Gold. Since then, Julianne has collaborated with Doug Liman on all of the films he has directed, including Go, The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Fair Game, Edge of Tomorrow, and the upcoming, Mena, starring Tom Cruise. Julianne has served two terms on the Board of the Governors for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Recording Academy and has been awarded two Music Supervisor of the Year Awards from the Guild of Music Supervisors: one in 2011 and the co-Music Supervisor of the Year in 2012 for the smash hit Pitch Perfect.
Gwen Bethel Riley (Disney)
Gwen Bethel Riley is the Head of Business Affairs Music at Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. Riley oversees all aspects of music integration and the audio extension of all Disney franchises across products, games, and digital channels. Before her current position, Riley worked as executive studio music supervisor on 60+ feature films, soundtrack album and film score production, and shepherded over 15 music apps to #1 on the app store, developed new music monetization models and licensing structures for digital and console gaming and created integrated content partnerships and promotional opportunities for artists in award winning products and campaigns.
Susan Schwartz (Platinum Rye)
Susan received her BFA from the Hartt School of Music and has worked in various facets of the music and advertising industry since then, starting at Elias Associates, then working in the broadcast music production dept. at Y&R. In 1993, she moved over to EMI Music Publishing where she spent 15 years and last served as VP of Music Resources and Client Service Management. She decided she needed a change and made the jump over to the other side to her largest and favorite client – Platinum Rye Entertainment, LLC. Susan has spent the last 8 years running the music department at the global entertainment consulting and procurement firm, which represents corporate clients such as P&G, Microsoft, Constellation Beverages, T-Mobile, Citibank as well as various ad agencies, where she handles music supervision and licensing. Susan lives in New York City with her husband Derrek and super-cat Phoebe Buffay. Her passions include karate, West African dance, and checking out artists of every kind. Additionally, she volunteers with New York Cares and sits on the executive board of Big House Music Group.
Jerome Spence (Secret Road)
Jerome Spence is the V.P. of Film, Television, Advertising Markets and Business Development at Secret Road Music Services. Based in Los Angeles, Spence has many years of experience in licensing, A & R, and management with previous positions at Peermusic, Position Music, and Arista Records. He oversees all aspects of the licensing team as well as new ventures and report to founder and CEO Lynn Grossman. In his previous position as Senior Creative Director of Film and Television, Spence was responsible for the day-to-day oversight of sync licensing and promotion for film, TV, trailers, videogames, apps and merchandise. One of his most successful catalog placements to date is the usage of “Cups” (From AP Carter’s work, “When I’m Gone’) in the award winning film, Pitch Perfect.
Natalie Wali (Antfarm)
Natalie Wali is a music supervisor born, raised, and based in Los Angeles. She began her exploration of music at the age of 7 with the piano which turned out to be a gateway drug and has been playing (about 14 different instruments), writing (mostly orchestral score), and singing (though mostly in her car now until she makes eye contact with someone) ever since. She kicked off her career in music supervision via television and film working on such projects as Brothers & Sisters, Samantha Who?, Dirty Sexy Money, Nine, Paper Man, The Beginners, Burn Notice, Smallville, Southland, Mike & Molly, The Mentalist, Rizzoli & Isles, Despite The Falling Snow, and many others before making the jump into trailers. She now works at Ant Farm/Industry Creative and mainly on theatrical, video game, and tv promo projects like Burnt, Joy, Transformers, Ninja Turtles, 13 Hours, The Gambler, American Hustle, The Big Short, Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, The Division, Rainbow Six, Mad Max, Watch Dogs, Outlander, Da Vinci’s Demons, Black Sails, The Last Ship, etc. Working in trailers has allowed her to bring together the love of score/songs and the creativity in working with artists, djs, and composers to create custom tracks or remix pre-existing ones from the ground up. It’s an ever changing game and she’s happy to be a part of it!