EP. 29: INTERVIEW WITH MUSIC SUPERVISOR JENNIFER SMITH
This week on SyncRiffs, Charles sits down with Jennifer Smith, a Los Angeles based Music Supervisor with over a decade of experience in music and film/TV. Jennifer's impressive career includes working on shows such as America’s Best Dance Crew, Dancing With The Stars, The Ellen Show, and Netflix’s Deadly Illusions. She is also the founder of her own music supervision company, Rat Dance Party, which specializes in Film, TV.
Jennifer's work has been featured on projects produced by Showtime, Paramount+, Netflix, Viacom, Shorts TV, Amazon, Pluto TV, NBC, Voltage Pictures, Indican Productions, Kiss & Tale Productions and many more. When she's not working, Jennifer is teaching as part of the music business faculty at the Los Angeles College Of Music or hanging out with her pet rats.
Jennifer is a board member of The Guild Of Music Supervisors and a member of the Television Academy, Women In Media, Women In Music, and the Recording Academy. Don't miss this episode to hear from a true industry expert!
(Note: At the time of this interview, the WGA-SAG AFTRA strike was occurring. Since the airing of this episode, a deal has been reached.)
Follow Jennifer on IG at: @rat_dance_party
On the web: https://www.ratdanceparty.com/
0:00 Introduction
1:05 Background and work
1:58 Breaking into the Industry
1:26 Working at Kobalt
3:46 American Idol
4:13 Sonic Storytellers
5:31 Understanding all angles of the music industry
7:30 Forming Rat Dance Party Music Supervision
8:52 Mentorship Programs and Jennifer’s work
10:05 Working & Teaching Artists
11:30 WGA - Sag Aftra Strike + Music Supervisors forming a union
12:56 Protections during Covid
13:50 Protections and Equity for Music Supervisions
17:08 Giving Folks the tools for Change
17:27 Relationships with your Show runners & creating change
18:30 A livable wage in the Entertainment Industry
19:33 Working through the studios & Show runner to create change
25:34 Jennifer’s teaching curriculum
26:19 Advise for new artists
27:18 Building your team in the music industry
28:00 Unscripted Television
30:00 Protocol with working with Music Supervisors
36:00 Working with Mark Cherry
38:48 Working on Why Women Kill
39:41 Working on Behind the Music
41:56 What’s on repeat on Jennifer’s playlist?
43:30 Jennifer’s sweet spot for getting work done.
45:35 Etiquette for reaching out to Music Supervisors
48:37 Building authentic relationships with Music Supervisors
49:25 Bending Music to Picture
🎙️ SyncRiffs is a weekly podcast where we discuss sync placements in multimedia (TV/Film/Advertising, etc.), the music industry, pop culture and everything in between including exclusive interviews with musical artists, composers, agents, and music supervisors where we riff about syncs and the state of the music industry.
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This content is for educational purposes. We encourage others to conduct proper research, and if needed, consult an attorney for any legal advice regarding music licensing. (c) (p) 2023