Ashby
Julian
22 Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.
British-born art director Julian Ashby started his career as an interior designer in the early ‘80s after studying design at the former Berkshire College of Art and Design in Maidenhead, England. While he enjoyed his work, a recession hit and jobs became scarce, so when Ashby saw an ad for a one-year film course, his interest was piqued, and he decided to jump into new possibilities and take the course. The rest, as they say, is history. After completing the course, Ashby got a placement as an art department assistant on the 1994 made-for-TV film MacGuyver:
Lost Treasure of Atlantis, and for his firstever paying job was baptized by fire alongside some art department greats. For the project, he worked with production designer Tim Hutchinson—who got his start on the film Dr. Zhivago—and Tony Reading, who can claim 2001: The Space Odyssey as one of his first projects.
“When I look back, I learned so much on that particular job,” shares Ashby. “We were basically making Raiders of the Lost Ark on half the budget and with half the time, and we were building some incredible sets like an underwater volcano.
And it was a very small art department, and I was working with people who had these incredible film backgrounds, so I was continually learning from those greats.” Specifically, Ashby says Hutchinson taught him how to be calm in a crisis, while Reading taught him that as an artist in film, the images you create need to tell the story and you should never rely on written side notes to convey your message. Ashby laughs, “No one reads the notes, so you can’t rely on them!”
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After his initial job, Ashby went on to work on another two films with the team from MacGuyver and continued to hone his craft as he joined projects such as Sleepy Hollow, Troy, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, World War Z, Beauty and the Beast, and many Marvel films including Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: End Game, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. His work on Sleepy Hollow, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Beauty and the Beast, and Endgame all earned him Art Directors Guild
nominations, which he won for Sleepy Hollow, Guardians, and Endgame. When you bring up this honor with Ashby (or any accolades about his work, really) he will admit that it is lovely to receive the recognition, but then quickly downplay it and change the subject in what one later would learn is his typical modest fashion.
“What I will say is, similar to Black Panther winning Oscars, when these contemporary action movies get the recognition they deserve, it’s great to see, because a lot of work goes into them, and it’s wonderful when that is acknowledged,” he says.
Despite the decades of experience and awards Ashby has under his belt, he rejects the word ‘mentor,’ when it’s suggested that he may be passing on pearls of wisdom to younger crew members who are working alongside him now, just as he learned from others at the beginning of his career. “I just feel like I’m still learning,” he humbly shares. However, his coworkers would disagree. Set designer Noah McCormick was quick to reveal some such knowledge he gleaned from Ashby: “[He] taught me about shadow gaps, and it’s insanely cool how you can change something from looking
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flat to looking dynamic and real.” Shadow gaps, of course, refer to the practice of placing a tiny gap where two surfaces meet, so that when you stand back and look at the final product, the shadows create an illusion of greater realism. A bit of wisdom Ashby has gleaned along the way, and he, himself, will admit to happily sharing with others, is the practice of blowing up drafts to scale before a build. “Even if something looks good on a page or screen, it can be hard to judge the scale, and then when it comes to life, it just isn’t right,” he says. “So if you try three different sizes, small, medium, and
large, one is bound to be exactly right.”
And while you might not picture members of an art department carefully taping together sheets of paper and affixing them on the wall like a puzzle to see a to-scale version of a set element, then now you know a little more about behind-thescenes production.
As a creative, Ashby draws inspiration from the world around him, always taking a mental note of his environment and observing everything, from nature to the buildings he passes.
He also possesses an active imagination and the innate ability to think creatively
about any situation, which has helped him find continuous success in his industry. “A production designer once told me that he likes working with me because no matter what he asks for, I always give him a little something extra and make it better,” says Ashby. “I now have experience under my belt and have seen and learned from the work of many talented people, but beyond that learned skill, you also have to be willing to push yourself and not just accept the first solution.” You also don’t have to talk to Ashby for long about his work to see that he is also fueled creatively by his projects themselves,
Dr. Strange - Chamber of Relics
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as well as working collaboratively with fellow artists to bring worlds to life. He gets excited talking about the process and about how it’s often the intricate details that take a set from looking like a concept to an imitation of real life. “Initially, during the pre-production period, I’m working with the Production Designer and Illustrators to research and design each element of the set, and then get the construction drawings complete and have the Production Designer, the directors, and producers all happy with it,” he says. That initial conception and development period is a very exciting part of the job for Ashby, but then taking those approved drawings to the carpenters and seeing things get built and actually come to life is an especially thrilling time for him. As
the teams of carpenters and detailers - like plaster makers and sculptors - work to bring the initial drawings to life, Ashby oversees the process to ensure each component is perfect. “There are a certain amount of decisions you have to make as you go,” he explains. “Sometimes you don’t have time to think of finishes and those final minute details on the front lines, so you make those final calls at the point of building, and I love that. It’s a wonderful period of my job.”
So what does a man aspire to when his work has already taken him to the serene shores of Malta to create the fictional streets of Troy, to a sound stage in England where he and his team created
the Tree of the Dead and a huge forest for the Headless Horseman to come to life in Sleepy Hollow, to bringing to life the Sanctum Santorum for Doctor Strange right here in Atlanta? A classic western film. “After doing so many big budget films with explosions and debris, it might be fun to do a little romcom,” laughs Ashby. “But my dream job at this point would be a Western. It’s a genre I’ve never done, and I’d love to spend time somewhere like Utah under the stars with horses around, creating a Western town.”
But while he may dream of working out West, the South has had a call of its own on Ashby. It was the film The Fifth Wave that first brought him to Georgia to work in 2015. Since then, he has left to work on other projects, but for the past
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Ashby's daughters, Lexi (L) and Lylah (R), steal the scene on set of Infinity War, Trilith Studios
Troy - Main square set build in Malta Dr. Strange 2 NYC backlot build
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seven years, he’s had more jobs in the Atlanta area than anywhere else in the world (thanks, in large part, to his work on Marvel films). Currently, Ashby is back at Trilith Studios working on a Russo Brothers project from Netflix and AGBO Productions called The Electric State, starring Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci and Michelle Yeoh. He’s been in pre-production since June, and the film is set to wrap after the beginning of 2023. This time around, Ashby has also relocated his family here. “My wife Rebekah and I have two girls, and we’re quite lucky in the fact that Rebekah is an artist, so she can work anywhere,” shares Ashby. “The girls were born in Los Angeles and have traveled all over the country since they were little. We loved being able to expose them to different cultures, foods, and people.” Now in their early teens, Ashby’s daughters have settled into Atlanta life, utilize remote education for online schooling, and the family will now call Georgia homebase. “My family loves it here,” says Ashby. “They love the food and the diversity and the BeltLine and all the parades. Often with this job you are basically homeless, hopping from job to job, so it will be good to have them settled in, and while they may come see me for long weekends if I were to get work elsewhere, they will stay put in Atlanta and just come for visits.” And just like that, the Hollywood of the South gets to call another industry heavyweight its own.
"Sometimes you don’t have time to think of finishes and those final minute details on the front lines, so you make those final calls at the point of building, and I love that. It’s a wonderful period of my job.” - Julian Ashby
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Archer imagess courtesy of Floyd County Productions
ANIMATION AND ITS LIVELY IMPACT ON GEORGIA’S ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
By: Lisa Ferrell
Georgia’s film industry is consistently celebrated for its successful international reach. However, it is no secret that, outside of local independent filmmakers, the state does not actually create or greenlight its own original content -- unlike Georgia’s lesser-discussed animation industry. As quiet as it’s kept, there is a surprising amount of original content and animation being done locally in studios, including Awesome Incorporated, Bento Box, Floyd County, Primal Screen and School of Humans, to name a few,
premiering on a national stage. Atlanta also has other studios doing work for video games (Hi-Rez Studios/Alacrity Arthouse) and commercial work/ motion graphics (Primal Screen, DVI Group, etc.) as other options to keep them in production during off-seasons.
“Atlanta has become a hub for this type of work,” said Asante Bradford, Senior Industry Engagement Manager with the Economic Development Georgia Center of Innovation. Bradford has helped to secure the expansion of several creative businesses looking
to locate in Georgia and says several similar deals are in discussions.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that Georgia is home to the nation’s fifth largest population of animators and multimedia artists.
The state is number two in the nation for production tax incentives, and according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the state is home to more than 30,000 working professionals in the entertainment industry alone.
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, animation jobs (specifically special effects artists and animators) are expected to grow 16% from 2020 to 2030. With developing technology, animation now encompasses gaming, VFX, anime, and traditional linear animation. This expansion opens new storytelling avenues and growing job opportunities. Adult animation is also an area that is growing in the U.S. Animation jobs also tend to pay very well, averaging $72,400 nationwide according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau’s numbers for Georgia are a bit lower, though, hovering in the mid-$50,000s.
Atlanta enjoys a prominent position in the animation industry due, in part, to its incredible history in animation, according to Jeremy SpeedSchwartz, the founding Director of the Museum of Animation. He argues that it is difficult to say that Atlanta had an animation industry or community prior to the establishment of the Turner networks.
“One could look at, like, CNN as a way of saying, here’s a 24-hour News Channel that relies very heavily on graphics and animated graphics and the need for that to be kind of foundational to what they're doing,” Speed-Schwartz stated. “But when Turner purchased the MGM library and ended up with all these cartoons and then purchased Hanna-Barbera and ends up with this even larger cartoon library and is forming kind-of a television network and basing that in Atlanta, that really sets up Atlanta as having a history of animation, forcibly shoved into it to a certain degree.”
For years, most of Georgia’s animation business came from Turner Broadcasting’s animation giants, Cartoon Network and its late-night, adult-oriented programming block Adult Swim. Although the state’s animation industry has grown and evolved, it can still be traced back to Turner or Williams Street.
“The reason that I’m here is Adult Swim,” Matt Thompson, executive producer of FX’s Archer and co-founder
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of Floyd County Productions (FCP) has said in previous discussions. Before Archer, Thompson and his business partner, Adam Reed, ran 70/30 Productions, which produced Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo for Adult Swim. FCP is a multiple Emmy® awardwinning animation studio located in Atlanta. Founded in 2009 by writers and executive producers Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, FCP has grown from a crew of eight artists into a family of nearly 200 creatives. It is a fullservice animation studio that strives to create the highest quality in animation and digital entertainment. They are currently working on their original action-spy comedy Archer (returning for its 13th season) as well as pilots for more adult animated comedies. Adding just one show to production could easily create 50 new positions.
Awesome Inc., founded in 2006, can also trace its roots back to Williams Street with their first two shows, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies
“I had a partner when Awesome started. He was a creative director at Turner Classic Movies, and in 2013, he went on to do other things. We were mostly doing promos and packaging
at that time,” said Ashley Kohler, Awesome Inc. Founder/Owner. “And in 2011 Awesome started doing their first series, Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”
“The show originated out of Williams Street,” Kohler continued. “The creators were from Adult Swim, obviously, and it had another studio first, Radical Axis, but we then took over the production from them and that was our first foray into series production, on those two shows. We spent almost 10 years working on Squidbillies, which was amazing. We worked for 10 years on Squidbillies, from 2011 to 2021, which was a long run, and it even had a longer history from before us, but we spent a lot of years working on that show. Working on those two shows led to us working on other productions for Adult Swim. We worked on Birdgirl, Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell… “
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Ashley Kohler
From those early days to today, Kohler’s studio continues to inject its distinctive character into the local and international animation space. As they state on their website:
“We are Awesome Incorporated. And we are distinctly badass. We are inclusive and inquisitive, diverse and deft, and always, unapologetically, Awesome."
Our reputation has been built out of our contagious enthusiasm for all things animated, our curiosity for learning, and our determination to deliver.
We’re woman-owned and led, Atlanta-based, and exceptionally proud of both.
Kohler has had a front row seat on the rise of the animation industry in Atlanta and credits it to a number of things.
“The rise of the Atlanta market has a lot to do with the tax credit, obviously, but so much has changed in the last 15 years because of technology. We’ve seen digital media, social media come into play. But when we started, we were putting everything to tape and we only had one aspect ratio to deal with, and we were sending things out. We had to put things to tape and make CDs for everyone, and we had very, very long render times and very little access to things like FTP uploads.”
Georgia offers Interactive Entertainment companies a tax incentive, provided through the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act. This legislation provides for an up to 30 percent transferable tax credit for film, television, television commercials, and interactive entertainment productions in Georgia.
The amount of the credit is based on the qualified expenditures incurred by the production company in Georgia. The credit may be used by the production company against Georgia income tax, Georgia employer withholding taxes, or sold to a third party to be claimed by the purchaser as a credit against the purchaser’s Georgia income tax liability.
The training and education provided by Georgia’s colleges and universities also are essential to attracting companies and growing the state’s entertainment industries. As part of the professional recruitment process, Bradford will often arrange meetings between prospective companies and state schools to ensure that a good working relationship is established early in the process. “That relationship is crucial to pretty much
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every company I’ve been bringing in,” he says. “Companies want to have a relationship with colleges.”
ASIFA-South, the Southeastern U.S. Chapter of ASIFA’s (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) international animation network is also instrumental in attracting and training talent for the local industry. According to Marisa Ginger Tontaveetong, ASIFASouth President, the organization’s aim is to better the industry through communication and collaboration.
Most recently, ASIFA-South, a 501c3 nonprofit headquartered in Atlanta, accepted ASIFA International's offer to be the main communication hub from the International to other US chapters. ASIFA was founded in 1960 in Annecy, France as an association of individual animation artists. Today, ASIFA can be described as an international network
of numerous local ASIFA Chapters, which have developed their own local identities and special activities.
Students benefit from these studios’ and organizations’ relationships with their colleges.
Georgia State University’s Creative Media Industries Institute works with industry partners such as Primal Screen, School of Humans/Trioscope, and the Georgia Film Academy to ensure that their students have industry experience and portfolio projects prior to graduation. Bento Box is currently working with Georgia Tech students to develop interactive apps, and Floyd County Productions works with SCAD to make sure its courses include instruction in emerging animation technologies. These partnerships help ensure that students graduate with directly applicable
experience and in-demand skills, while teaching students about employment options in Georgia.
“I am excited to see where the future of animation in Georgia is going,” said Speed-Schwartz. “There are real opportunities, and very few places have the infrastructure necessary to make an industry like that thrive like we do in Atlanta. I doubt even that your other animation hubs, you know, Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York have the same opportunity that Atlanta does in that kind of regard. The kind of high technology concerns, the base of talent. The production that's already been driven here and the room for growth. Not just room, but incentives for growth that are here. I think there are very few other places in the country that have that necessary combination.“
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BY: LISA FERRELL
We’ve long known that Atlanta’s culture – from hip-hop, to movies, to fashion –dominates on a global scale, and most everyone is clamoring to share in what that influence brings, whether it be its economic impact or visibility. The realm of e-gaming is no different. When it comes to the creative sectors, the gaming industry is the largest industry by far, according to Asante Bradford, industry engagement manager at the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD).
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Video games in Georgia have generated $37.5 million in taxes at the state and local levels and another $60.8 million in taxes for the federal government. As global esports growth has exploded, Georgia has become a winner, and Atlanta is being called the nation’s esports capital by some enthusiasts, including the GDEcD. According to the GDEcD, digital entertainment is a $550 million industry in the state, responsible for more than 12,000 direct and indirect jobs.
“A lot of people don’t know that digital entertainment–video gaming more specifically–makes more money than the film industry,” said Bradford. Bradford and his team at GDEcD have been working hard to cultivate Georgia’s digital entertainment industry since passage of the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act of 2008.
“I think even if you combine film and music together, gaming still makes more than that. When one of these AAA game titles comes out, they are making a billion dollars in a couple of days,” said Bradford. “You know, I think Top Gun Maverick made a billion this year, which was amazing. You get one movie every few years that makes a billion, but that's common in the gaming industry.”
Though entertainment tax credits were introduced in Georgia in 2005, the 2008 update made them easier to understand for investors and businesses alike. Now, it’s a straightforward calculation: qualifying projects with an investment of at least $500,000 receive a 20 percent tax credit, plus another 10 percent if their project includes a promotional Georgia logo.
It’s a simple program,and it’s proven to be quite effective. For video game development alone, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) estimates that the industry added $102.7 million to Georgia’s economy in 2012. The ESA also reports a job growth rate of 17 percent from 2009 to 2012, adding roughly 110 full-time positions with an average salary of nearly $88,000.
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“In 2005, there were only eight video game studios in Georgia, including my own,” said Andrew Greenberg, President of the Georgia Game Developers Association (GGDA). “And now, we have more than 160. Georgia currently ranks in the top 10 in the gaming world. The existence of great talent, some visionary leaders, and the tax credits are direct factors leading to that explosive growth. Atlanta also has the most ethnically diverse game development community in the world,” Greenberg continued, “and we have a home for developers who may not find one elsewhere.”
The state’s growing roster of gaming companies is just as diverse as the players and developers. In addition to entertainment-focused video games like first-person shooters, sports games, and massive multiplayer online role-playing games, Georgia is at the forefront of several gaming subsets, including gaming for health, exergaming, and serious gaming.
Speaking of great talent, Georgia is growing and promoting its own in the gaming industry. The state currently has 12 college and university video game programs. The gaming industry requires a steady flow of highly-skilled, highlyqualified talent, and in the early days of the industry, Georgia was seeing a lot of its talent leaving for opportunities elsewhere. Extending the entertainment credits to digital media was one way to combat this growing problem, according to Bradford, while also attracting new companies to the state.
“A big part of it was, ‘How can we keep this talent here?’” he said. “Talent is always [at] the top of the list for these guys–just
knowing that they have a pipeline of workers. If they’re going to move here, they want to make sure that they have that pipeline.”
There are currently more than 2,000 students in Georgia colleges and universities studying game-related degree paths thanks, in part, to higher education programs created to train the next industry leaders. In 2020, the Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) at Georgia State University began offering two new bachelor’s degree programs designed to prepare students for careers in the growing fields of game design and development. The new degree programs, a Bachelor of Arts in game design and a Bachelor of Science in game development, were created through a collaboration between CMII and regional game development industry partners, including the Georgia Film Academy.
“Our mission at CMII is to educate, train, and prepare students to become the next generation of digital storytellers through emerging technology, and gaming is a key area for us to focus on,” said Brennen Dicker, director of the Institute.
“With more than 160 companies in Georgia, the gaming industry is poised for significant growth both regionally and nationally over the next decade,” Dicker said. “The skills students acquire with coding, animation, and immersive world creation will serve them well, not only in the gaming industry but for additional careers in emerging technologies in entertainment.”
The B.A. in game design focuses on preparing students for work in animation, TV, film production, virtual special effects, and graphic design. One of the new courses
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features a partnership between CMII, the Georgia Film Academy, and Skillshot, an esports company that organizes amateur and professional video game competitions.
The international gaming community has already begun to recognize the city’s leadership, as evidenced by the choice of Atlanta as the U.S. home of DreamHack, the world’s largest digital festival. Following the inaugural U.S. festival in 2017, DreamHack has set dates for the 2022 event, which will draw gamers from all over the world from November 18 –20 at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center. DreamHack hosts a series of events around the world and attracts over 300,000 gaming and esports enthusiasts annually.
“We produced the concerts, all of the entertainment for the first DreamHack held in Georgia,” said Mel “Mel-Man” Breeden. Breeden, CEO of Radar Live / Big Cat Records, announced co-ownership of Atlanta Premier Esports–a professional esports organization in Atlanta that combines ATL culture with esports, gaming, and Hip-Hop music–with Chase Peterson, founder of Atlanta Premier, in February of 2022. Breeden is well-known for launching successful artists including Gucci Mane, Eminem, Foreign Jade, Pretty Ricky Love & Hip Hop’s Rasheeda, and Gospel Grammy winner Canton Jones.
He also sits on the board of advisors for the Atlanta Esports Alliance, a private division of the Atlanta Sports Council. “You can’t call yourself an Atlanta organization without embracing the culture the South provides: the larger art, music, film, and business community,” said Breeden. “This is a marriage between
esports and the music industry, and my focus is to make Atlanta Premier an esports organization the city of Atlanta can truly be proud of.”
“The first concert I did for DreamHack, I had Waka Flocka and I got a crazy photo of him in the middle of the crowd performance. It's dope. He’s a friend of mine, you know, of course, coming from the music world, right? But he's into gaming, so really, it was a natural for him [to perform]. Once that [DreamHack] was here in Atlanta, we had like 30 to 40,000 people. Wow. The first one. And that really opened my eyes to really say, ‘Okay, what's going on in this gaming world?’,” added Breeden.
Waka Flocka, who has been a staple of the Hip-Hop scene since 2009, performed on the main stage at the inaugural DreamHack Atlanta on July 21, 2017 at the Georgia World Congress Center. This collaboration is a direct example of the power of two of Georgia’s greatest cultural exports: Hip-Hop and gaming.
So, how do we keep this momentum going? It’s all about collaboration! According to Bradford, we are already seeing major partnerships within the tech industry here with the support of incubators, co-working spaces, mentorship programs, and capital investment. As new technologies such as esports and Virtual Reality grow, having our existing industry set up innovation centers and hubs will only help grow the digital entertainment industry.
As Bem Joiner, culture curator and co-founder of the creative consultancy brand AiE, would say, “Atlanta Influences Everything,” and that includes the very lucrative gaming industry. However, it can
and should do more.
“We need for the public sector-–meaning the City Council, Mayor’s Office–to buy-in and promote these industries on a consistent basis–not just when they are talking about the economics of that industry to that industry. We need for them to present that same energy for esports that they have for other parts of our creative community. That’s how you get public buy-in and have more than just the folks in the gaming industry excited about it.”
“I’m very excited about the future. I think we’re really starting to train and educate high-schoolers,” said Bradford. “A lot of them now, who wouldn’t have been looking at majoring in this before, are now looking at it as an opportunity, and better yet their parents are finally understanding that … their kids can actually make money doing this.”
“That kind of tells us that people are starting to understand the world of the esports community and the influence,” Breeden added. ”And I say this every now and then, but remember, there are more people who cannot play traditional sports that play video games. Everybody can't jump, everybody can't run a mile, you know, everybody can't tackle. But guess what? Many of them CAN play video games and so it is way more of us than it is of them.”
“Georgia, at least in my mind, [is] going where nobody has been yet,” Bradford stated. “And now gaming and film and TV are coming together. We’ve been waiting on this moment.”
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By: Sydnee Mutuku
F ew people can say they have been the leading music producer in the World of Cheer. With over 75 World Championships, a catalog of thousands of tracks, and a history of working with artists like T-Pain, Lil’ Jon, Missy Elliott, Akon, and Bonecrusher. Level 77 Music pioneering producer Patrick Avard built his reputation by bringing a new generation of cutting-edge production music, sync licensing, and original scoring into the cheer industry. Growing up in Thomasville, Georgia, Patrick has always been a creative person at heart.
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My love of music began in my early childhood. I remember going on road trips with my family, singing songs while flipping through the radio,” says Patrick. “In high school, I participated in a group called ‘The Thomasville Music and Drama Troupe’ directed by Fred Allen. I learned to sight read and sing harmonies. Looking back, I would say this is where it all started,” he shares.
In high school, the cheer coach introduced Patrick to the cheerleading world. This is where his passion for the competitive sport started to blossom. In college, Avard became a competitive cheerleader and joined the 1999 NCA National Championship Team for Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. He started coaching for an all-star team, and he began editing cheer music. At the time, there were no producers for cheer music, so the coaches were responsible for making music themselves.
“One day, a teammate and friend of mine told me there are these computer programs that you can use to edit music,” Patrick says. “I bought the computer programs and began to teach myself to produce music. I was fascinated by the process and got to be pretty good at it. I was working three jobs then, and it dawned on me that I could make a career out of producing music if I focused all my attention on it,” he recalls.
As Patrick perfected his craft in music production, he caught the attention of others in the cheer industry. Before he knew it, cheerleading teams lined up asking him for custom mix tracks for their routines. Avard’s energetic and unique mixes rapidly gained popularity in the community. His cheer mixes became so widely successful that in 2004 Avard developed and branded himself CheerMusicPro.
CheerMusicPro changed the course of music production in the cheer community ever since. For 20 years, CMP’s fast-paced tracks and competitive sound have been used by over 191 teams, and 72 were crowned world champions. Patrick’s recognizable sound has pushed
the limits of cheer music as its own genre and has received national recognition from listeners globally. Avard’s art has been heard across platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and Netflix. With CheerMusicPro on the rise, they created their own production company in 2011, New Level Music, which is comprised of highly experienced producers creating custom mixes.
“I put my heart and soul into being the best I could be as a music producer and entrepreneur,” Avard shares. “I always dreamed of being part of the mainstream music industry, but I just wasn’t sure how it would happen. Only in the last four or five years did the path become clearer. I’ve been on a long, steady road. I definitely didn’t have immediate success, but I stayed the course and worked my way through until doors started to open,” says Patrick. “I believe you should never stop learning and growing both in life and in your career.”
Patrick now focuses on building his independent production music company, Level 77 Music. Founded by Avard in 2016, Level 77 is a Georgia-based production company that brings innovation and creativity to the ever-changing music industry.
“I realized that people in the cheer world were starting to catch on and duplicate some of the mixing techniques I was using,” says Patrick. “So, I responded by creating more original content. I brought in writers and producers and produced my first album. We finished that album and continued creating more original content. We’ve produced many great songs over the years, and at one point, I realized we weren’t utilizing them enough. We would use them once in a mix, and then they just sat on the shelf. So, we decided to start building a catalog,” he recalls.
With the help of experienced artists, Level 77 Music has built a diverse catalog for platforms like TBS, ESPN, Fox Sports, Hulu, and Paramount+. Avard has awardwinning custom music on Netflix’s Cheer, America’s Got Talent, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Patrick doesn’t produce as much music as he used to: however, his most recent song, “Be Mine,” which wasfeatured on the production music library’s album G.I.R.L. just won the top honor for the Pop Track of the Year at The Production Music Association’s 7th Annual Mark Awards.
“We released Playlist Pop in August, and I’m very proud of it. It’s meant to
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sound like mainstream pop and have a very commercial sound, hence the album title,” recalls Patrick. “It crosses over to many usages and verticals, both the vocal and instrumental parts. It’s a ten-song album featuring composer Caleb Tillman’s talent and three additional songwriters. We all collaborated on the concepts, the sound of each song, and the message we wanted the project to carry,” he shares. “I think the results speak for themselves and show the strength of Level 77 Music which is our vocal music.”
Being an entrepreneur isn’t always straightforward. Patrick has had his share of challenges that he’s dealt with, one of the most recent being the Covid19 pandemic. In 2020, people had to put their jobs on hold due to the pandemic. Like other businesses, Level 77 Music experienced one of its most significant hardships during the Covid lockdown. “We were coming off the best year we’d ever had in 2019, and then all at once, the world stopped and shut down,” recalls Patrick. “We set up payment plans with all our clients who were also challenged by the pandemic, and we had no new business coming in. I know many businesses were hit even harder than mine, so I feel very fortunate, to be honest. At the moment, I wasn’t sure what to do or how long the lockdown would
last, so I focused all my energy trying to plan and find ways to reduce costs while still taking care of my employees,” he shares. “Fortunately, I had enough reserves built up in the company that we could survive the uncertainty and continue to grow the business the following year. It was the most stressful thing I’ve had to go through as a business owner.”
With 2023 just around the corner, Patrick is fueled with new inspirations and goals for Level 77 Music. The independent production music company launched a top-tier film scoring division, Sonic Score. The new division features award-winning composers Mark Kueffner and Luke Truan, both with experience that spans across film and television.
A 25-year industry veteran, Kueffner has written music for shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Fatal Attraction, Fear Factor, American Greed, and Homicide Hunter. Kueffner believes that Sonic Score could reverse the trend where Georgiabased productions go to the West Coast for scoring. Kueffner’s track “Pathos to Praise” was nominated for 168 Film Festival’s Best Original Score Category. The 168 Film Festival is coming to Atlanta November 4-5, 2022, at Trilith Studios Town Stage in Fayetteville, GA.
Truan is well known for cinematic scores, soundtracks, and arrangements in Swipe Club, No Words, Just Love that Man, Chic Nu Legacy, and the series The Hidden Truth, Shark Week, and Sydney Harbor Force. Announced in October, Truan’s track “Phagocytosis” has been nominated for the 2022 Hollywood Music In Media Awards™ (HMMA) in the Documentary category.
Sonic Score aims to provide scoring for film, television, documentaries, games, and other entertainment projects. Patrick plans to take advantage of Georgia’s film and television boom and the state’s tax incentive program, which offers credits of up to 30 percent for work produced in Georgia.
“We’re starting to get some amazing opportunities. Our music has been used in films and is being pitched for bigger projects. I expect our library to double in size over the next couple of years. We are currently pursuing acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and publisher relationships to help us reach that goal. When you turn on Netflix or click through Spotify playlists, you will find Level 77 music,” says Patrick.
Left - Jason Rudd, Claude Ismael, Patrick Avard, Jitze de Raaff - CTM Entertainment
November / December 2022 43
Over the course of six days, the 2022 BronzeLens Film Festival screened 124 unique films. From those, ten were selected by the judges to win BronzeLens Awards in the following categories: Feature, Documentary, Short, Short Documentary, Dance Video, Student, Web Series, Music Video, Reel South, Best of Festival, Best Actress, and Best Actor. Directed by Marchelle Thurman and Casey Nelson, “Black White and the Greys” took home the most hardware, winning both Best Feature and Best of Festival Awards.
Additionally, the festival granted special awards to James Anderson who won the BronzeLens Chairman’s Award and WarnerMedia SVP Enterprise Inclusion for Marketing and Communications, while the BronzeLens Founder’s Award went to White House Senior Advisor for Public Engagement, Keisha Lance Bottoms.
44 Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.
Pictured (L to R): James Anderson, Chairman’s Award Recipient; Mosiah Moonsammy; Casey Nelson; Marchelle Thurman; Keisha Lance Bottoms, Founder’s Award recipient; Chelsea Hicks; Ashley Wilkerson; Jahmil Eady; and Roderick Lawrence
“We
“It is
• Best DocumentaryIncarceration Nation Directed by Dean Gibson • Best Documentary Short“Art Chooses Us” Directed by Tomas Kamphuis • Reel South - “Fannie” Directed by Christine Swanson • Best Dance Video - “Like Water” Directed by Mthuthuzeli November • Best Music - “Dollar 2 The Rich” Directed by Lewis T. Powell • Best Student Film - The Bond Directed by Jahmil Eady • Best Web Series“Last Bodega in Brooklyn” Directed by Mosiah Moonsammy and Jared Glenn • Best ActressAunjanue Ellis in “Fannie” • Best Actor - Roderick Lawrence in “Silent Partner” • The remaining winners include: Best Short - “Contraban” Directed by Chelsea Hicks BronzeLens is a qualifying festival for short films at the Academy Awards, so “Contraban” is now eligible for consideration.
intentionally sought to provide our attendees with the opportunity to engage and be inspired by not only what was taking place during the festival, but to also experience a segment of Atlanta’s creative community,” said Kathleen Bertrand, the BronzeLens Founder and Executive Director.
important to us that we continue to provide an opportunity for world-class independent filmmakers to showcase their work.”
Marchelle Thurmond and Casey Nelson with BronzeLens Founding Artistic Director, Deidre McDonald (center)
Chelsea Hicks
Kathleen Bertrand, Founder & Executive Producer of BronzeLens and Keisha Lance Bottoms, Founder’s Award recipient
Shandra McDonald, Presenter; Marchelle Thurman and Casey Nelson Jahmil Eady
W. Imara Canady, Chairman of BronzeLens Board of Directors and James Anderson, Chairman’s Award Recipient
Charity Jordan, Actress and Roderick LawrenceMosiah Moonsammy
November / December 2022 45
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