“It’s exciting to be involved in these early stages and have a say in the fundamentals of how the business works.” Creative sync manager Emily Richardson explains what her role entails.
Name?
Emily Richardson
Place of work?
Job?
Creative sync manager.
How long have you had the job?
Eight months. Before this I was on the sync team at Warner/Chappell.
What does a typical day involve?
Music libraries are the rights holders to a catalogue of music written specifically to be put to picture (as opposed to being commercially released to the public). Sync and licensing is where we work with media producers to put music to picture and negotiate the legalities of licensing that music.
Film and TV producers, advertising creatives and music supervisors will contact me every day with briefs for projects that they are working on and it’s my job to pitch the Dynamic Music catalogue and bespoke compositions by our writers. So the first thing I’ll do is check my emails to see if there’s anything urgent to pitch for, and then try and organise my day around that. I’m also responsible for promoting the business to new potential clients, so I am out and about a lot meeting people for coffee and taking people for lunch – classic wining and dining! I’ll also attend industry events and conferences every now and then.
Highs of the job?
The satisfaction of being at home watching TV and seeing a finished project like a movie trailer or an ad pop up and knowing that I played a part in the creative process behind it. Recently we’ve worked on an ad for Barclays, and a trailer for Film4.
Lows of the job?
The job can be quite ‘sales-y’ which, to my knowledge, no one really enjoys, but you’ve got to do the rounds to get the business in.
Who are the people who’ve had the biggest influence on your career?
When I was younger my dream was to write film scores and I was influenced by people like Stephen Warbeck, Hans Zimmer (obvs!) and Dario Marianelli. It was only when I interned at Air Edel that I met Matt Biffa and found out that music supervision existed! Matt was working on Harry Potter when I met him and it just sounded like the coolest job in the world. He then went on to help me get my first job in music.
How did you get the job?
I was doing something very similar at Warner/Chappell and decided I needed a change and a bit more responsibility. Dynamic Music is a start-up so it’s exciting to be involved in these early stages and have a say in the fundamentals of how the business works.
How can we get your job?
Intern, create a network of contacts, work hard and impress people! I am where I am because in the beginning I was happy to work for basically nothing just for the opportunity to learn about the industry and get in front of influential people. I’m still in touch with the people I met when I was a 16-year-old on work experience. People will always remember you if you’re genuinely interested and have something to offer. The rest is just right place right time.