By Dominic Bastyra / Wake The Town
When did you first learn about supervision and decide it was something you wanted to pursue?
Astrid and I both worked in indie label Naïve and had many requests for sync licenses. We met a couple of music supervisors. There were only two back then. It was 1998.
What were you doing before?
I was in charge of international licensing at Naïve, before that I had worked for a jazz gig and then for 6 years for a music publisher.
Was there a particular ad/film/tv show that inspired you to explore supervision?
Mary Ramos was in touch with us to use a track for a movie so I looked into her CV and was very impressed to see that she had done the music supervision for Pulp Fiction. Later the Jean-Marc Vallée « Crazy » was very inspiring. Sue Jacobs with Jean-Marc Vallée : simply the best film and music!
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in the job?
We are currently working on a series on Rap music and it’s interesting, by far the most challenging…
What’s your dream project? Are there any particular directors, brands, artists or composers you’d like to work with?
Well, Jean-Marc Vallée because I love everything he does, but he’s off limits obviously. I would love to work with Thomas Newman, I love his work. Always a dangerous temp track to have because so so difficult to replace. A dream project yes a musical where everything is about the music, recording everything before shooting and where music is THE priority. So often music is at the end of the whole process and we suffer from lack of money and time. A film with Damien Chazelle and Nicholas Brittell. I would have loved to work on Moonlight such a stunning film and an amazing soundtrack.
What’s the best/your favourite use of music in a film or advertising?
Absolute favourite is Jonny Greenwood in There Will Be Blood the « open spaces » and « henry plainview » cues are amazing. Advertising is more difficult, it is often disappointing. The Perrier ad with the mad dancing and the percussion if very cool.
What advice would you give someone looking to become a supervisor?
The job is not about one’s taste, it’s about listening and understanding the effect that a director is looking for. It’s about completing the film not overtaking it.