Goodnight Kiss Music

A MUSIC SUPERVISOR'S STORY - - -
by Rexanne Mancini

I am insanely passionate about music. The music business, however, leaves me lukewarm and mostly confused. I am wildly passionate about the film business. Films are great, however, I am not insanely passionate about them as an art form. The combination of film/music and being a music supervisor has turned out to be a perfect gig for me. :)

The feature film "Yard Sale," which I am currently working on, wrapped location production in September 2003 and was initially slated to include 22 source songs. We ended up licensing 38 songs for the film, which I swear has to be a record. I listened to more than 2000 songs to compile a list of approximately 200 for the director to approve/disapprove. My ears were bleeding ... well, not really but ya know, there are some pretty sorry songs out there! There are also some amazing songs and songwriters in our world. I can't thank you wonderful musically talented individuals enough for your submittals, professionalism and inspiration, not to mention your brilliance. Some of these great songs made it into the final cut of "Yard Sale." Some did not.

The job of music supervisor is a dream gig however working with directors placing songs in their films is a nightmare. There hasn't been one film I've worked on where the director and I agreed 100 percent on which songs should go where or which songs fit rhythmically into specific scenes. While I am hired for my contacts and "expertise" in music, I am usually eventually relegated to the position of go-between for the songwriters and the director and/or producer on a film. Invariably, the director will pick songs that I wouldn't choose or vice-versa ... a frustrating experience, however, a common occurrence in this business. One learns to get over it or survival as a film music supervisor is questionable. Screaming matches with directors will get you nowhere ... except barred from the mixing studio and with a reputation you'd rather not have.

The hours are long, the work is hard and the circumstances are sometimes brutal, yet the opportunity to be a music supervisor is a blessing for which I am eternally grateful. It has allowed me to be a part of the magic that is music without having any real musical talent other than "great ears." In my next life, I wanna come back as a rock star. ;-)

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