Meet our incredible staff members who are volunteered their time as teachers and mentors at the 2019 Hawaii Songwriting Festival! 

Stay updated about the 2020 conference - subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here

In alphabetical order.....

​Heather Anderson - Principal Counsel, The Walt Disney Company.  A seasoned entertainment attorney with over 20 years experience in various aspects of the media and music business, Heather is currently a digital media, product, and technology attorney specializing in mobile apps, video games, interactive connected experiences, and the Disney Digital Network.  Formerly an attorney in the Business and Legal Affairs department of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Heather handled recording, production and license agreements for artists such as 50 Cent, The Neptunes, and Sheryl Crow.  Prior to Interscope, Heather was Senior Intellectual Property Counsel at Fox, handling copyright and trademark issues - particularly in the digital space - for all Fox companies worldwide (motion picture, television, sports, etc.).  While at Fox, Heather also owned and operated Good Girl Entertainment – her music law practice, artist management company and independent record label – stemming from her desire to assist other artists after her time as an aspiring singer and rapper in middle school, high school, and college.  Heather has also practiced as a TV and short form production attorney, and as a litigator at Thelen Reid & Priest LLP.   She mentors 26 young people, ranging from college students to young lawyers, through four mentoring programs.  She has two sons and received her B.A. from UC Berkeley and her J.D. from UCLA School of Law.

Danny Ayer - Danny Ayer is a 33 year old recording artist, songwriter, composer and producer, represented by Secret Road Music Services in Los Angeles, California since 2015. Having tapped into the zeitgeist of his generation with unique indie electronic music, his credits now include dozens of TV shows, movies, film trailers, web series, commercials and international promos. He is presently working on his self-titled debut album as well as a number of releases through his electronic music project AYER. 

Joshua Bartholomew - Songwriter/producer.  Joshua is an Oscar and Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer, performer, and multi-instrumentalist. He and his wife, Lisa Harriton, form the writing/production team, JoLi. Together, they are responsible for co-writing and producing "Everything Is Awesome" from The LEGO Movie. You can also hear them singing as the featured performers in the movie version of the song. In his native Canada, via Nashville, Joshua cowrote the #1 hit "Let Your Love Speak" by the band Emerson Drive. He has also written and produced songs for several major-network TV shows, commercials and video games, including the theme song for FOX's smash hit show The Masked Singer. As a performer, Joshua has shared stages with some of the world's biggest stars, including Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Slash and Mike Posner. Currently, he and Lisa are in the studio recording for their duo project, littleDNGR, which they debuted live at last year's Hit Makers Concert.

Simone Benyacar - Music Supervisor/composer/producer.  Simone is an award-winning composer/producer who has been living and breathing music his entire life. He began as a classically trained pianist at the age of 4. From Italy he moved to the US to study music composition, where he graduated from UCLA in Composition and Musicology. He has spent the past twenty years making his name in the world of music for film and tv, and is considered an industry leader.  Simone has provided music supervision services and written original compositions for a wide variety of campaigns including: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Transformers, The Wolf of Wall Street, Mission Impossible, Joy, Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed, and has written custom mnemonics for companies like Amazon Studios, Pepsi and many others.

Jeremy Bircher - Songwriter/producer/film/advertising.  Jeremy is an international hit songwriter, film director and serial creative entrepreneur.  He has worked with some of the largest commercial brands in the world including Apple, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, McDonalds, Nike, Adobe, Lyft, T-Mobile and Canon.  Jeremy worked closely with Coca-Cola in creating and writing the global anthem “Taste the Feeling” in their biggest re-brand since 1971 ultimately becoming the most widely distributed song ever reaching 4.2 billion listeners.  As a filmmaker, he became Mark Zuckerberg’s personal editor, and he has worked with Arthur Brooks, Jane Goodall, Jewel, and Kanye West’s GOOD Music.  As a designer and technologist, he has been brought on by the MLB and Intel to design the future of sports playback. He has served as technical director and post production supervisor for international events and conferences for Facebook, Samsung, Beloved Collective, and Instagram. His work in film has garnered international acclaim, winning multiple film festivals, five Emmys, and two Clios. Meanwhile, his creativity incubators and masterminds for entrepreneurs have left audiences and participants inspired, clear and purpose driven. 

Jason Blume - Songwriter​. Jason's songs have been recorded by Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, the Gipsy Kings, Jesse McCartney, Collin Raye, the Oak Ridge Boys, John Berry, and more. His songs are on three Grammy-nominated albums and have sold more than 50,000,000 copies. In the last two years he's had three top 10 singles (all Gold records in Europe), and a #1 on the Dutch R&B iTunes chart, as well as landing a song on Hey Violet’s EP that debuted top-10 on iTunes in (22) countries and #1 in (5) countries. His songs have appeared in films and TV shows including Scrubs, Friday Night Lights, Assassination Games, Kim Possible, First Kid, Next Thing, Taking the Stage, Dangerous Minds, Kickin' it Old Skool, The Guiding Light, The Miss America Pageant, PBS Frontline, and more. Jason authored three bestselling songwriting books: 6 Steps to Songwriting Success, This Business of Songwriting, and Inside Songwriting. He runs Moondream Music Group, teaches songwriting all around the world, and recently contributed to a CNN segment on the state of the music business.

"Hookman" Marlin Bonds - Songwriter/producer.  Hookman Marlin Bonds is a songwriter/producer from St. Louis, MO. Some of his recent work include single "Alive" Lil Jon ft Offset & 2 Chains, Top 10 K-Pop single "Woman" Boa Kwon, commercials and song features with Fox Network, ABC Network, Gatorade, ESPN, EBAY Fashion, Southwest Airlines, and Universal Pictures to name a few. He's also won a BMI award for writing Jason Derulo's platinum single "Marry Me" and a Grammy Nomination for his work on Frankie J's album Faith, Hope Y Amor. Hookman has  worked with artists such as Demi Lovato, Party Next Door, Swizz Beatz, Aloe Blacc, 5th Harmony, Big Sean and enjoys platinum success for his work with Chris Brown and Kevin Gates. Please follow him on instagram for updates on what he's working on next (@Hookmantv).

Jeffrey Brodsky - Songwriter/composer/producer.  Jeffrey is a songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, working extensively with Portland’s Marmoset Music since 2014. Brodsky crafts music for a virtually endless range of mediums, spanning brands, commercials, TV and Film -- not to mention writing and recording the hard-hitting theme song for the award-winning podcast, 2 Dope Queens. His commercial work has been featured during the Super Bowl, The Academy Awards and in several global ad campaigns.  When he’s not writing for TV and music licensing projects, Jeffrey tours the world playing in the Grammy-winning pop band, RAC. He’s collaborated with a number of bands over the years including STRFKR and YACHT, and somehow he still manages to record and release his own music at a superhuman rate under the projects/monikers Painterly True Ripper, Cold Storage Percussion Unit, Curio, Staggering Vistas.  Brodsky is a versatile creator of electronic, dance and big drum driven sounds. A rhythm and percussion wunderkind, Brodsky's core DNA takes shape as asymmetrical electro pop in the vein of Max Tundra… and banging hip hop and trap. He also composed music for the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects.​

Charles Brotman - Composer/producer/indie label owner​. President of KMF and the Hawai'i Songwriting Festival, composer, Grammy award winning producer, and multiple Na Hoku award nominee and winner. He owns and runs the Lava Tracks Recording Studio and Palm Records on the Big Island, where he works with many local artists, including Grammy nominated albums for Sonny Lim and Kahulanui. His music placements in film and TV include Portlandia, Hawaii 5-0, Dateline, The Descendants, All About Steve, Oprah, Nickelodeon, Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, America's Most Wanted, Animal Adventures, Prime Suspect, and more.

Julia Brotman - Attorney.  Julia is an entertainment and intellectual property attorney at Settle Meyer Law, LLLC in Honolulu.  She works closely with legendary music attorney Bill Meyer (see below) to serve an eclectic clientele of music creators, actors, artists, writers, and businesses, including some of the biggest names in the industry, aspiring entrepreneurs and novice creatives who are just getting started, and everyone in between.  Their practice includes: litigation; government affairs; business formation and management; contract drafting and negotiation (including a wide variety of entertainment and music related contracts); and endless protection, enforcement, and licensing matters involving copyright, trademark, patents, trade secrets, and rights of publicity.  Before returning to Hawai'i to work at Settle Meyer Law, Julia spent four years in Los Angeles learning how to navigate the entertainment industry.  Past work experience includes Warner/Chappell, CBS Television Network, Marmoset, NBCUniversal, and Sony/RED.  She graduated from Whittier Law School summa cum laude and is licensed to practice law in Hawai’i and California.   

Ken Caillat - Producer.  Ken is a Grammy award-winning record producer, best known for his work with Fleetwood Mac on their albums Rumours, Tusk, Mirage, Live, and The Chain Box Set.  His production and engineering efforts earned him numerous Grammy nominations including Best Engineered Album, and a Grammy award for Album of the Year for Rumours, which became one of the best selling albums of all time.  His recordings have sold over 50 million copies.  Ken’s credits also include such iconic stars as Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Billy Idol, Frank Sinatra, Pat Benatar, Wilson Phillips, the Beach Boys, Herbie Hancock, David Becker, Alice Cooper, and Christine McVie. He is the father of singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat, and was the executive producer, co-producer and co-mixer for her platinum selling album, Coco, and for All Of You, and Breakthrough, which became #1 on the Billboard charts.  In 2012 Ken founded Sleeping Giant Records to help artists make a career in music, and in 2013, he founded Sleeping Giant Entertainment, creating music for film and TV.  He later partnered with Alcon Entertainment, forming Alcon Sleeping Giant (ASG).  In 2017 ASG released the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack and the album reached #1 on the Billboard soundtrack sales chart.  In 2018 Ken shifted his focus on his new company Artistmax, a Los Angeles based artist development and education enterprise, where he discovers and develops new artists. 

Brandon Colbein - Songwriter.  Brandon is a Los Angeles based singer-songwriter who first garnered attention from the music industry in 2016 when his runaway single, “So Bad” grabbed the attention of nearly 8 million people worldwide. The song received prominent coverage from industry giants including Billboard, MTV, Huffington Post, and Paper Magazine highlighting not only his robust voice and storytelling but also his dedication to the LGBTQ community, mental health awareness, and overall self-care. Later that year, in the summer of 2016, Brandon signed his first major publishing deal under the mentorship of superstar songwriter, Justin Tranter, and world class A&R, Katie Vinten, with Warner Chappell Music Publishing.  Since then he’s focused on opportunities writing songs for other artists including two singles with Hayley Kiyoko - the top 20 Billboard hit “Curious” and the Kehlani featured “What I Need” - and other releases with the likes of Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Bea Miller, Terror Jr, among others.  The future looks bright for Brandon, and he’s only getting started!

John Cruz - A long-time member of the KMF Board of Directors, John performed on Hawai'i's first Grammy award winning album, and has also won multiple Nā Hōkū ​Hanohano awards.  John has distinguished himself as one of the most talented artists that has ever come from Hawaii. He was named the Best Singer Songwriter by Hawaii Magazine in 2008. 

​Katy Davidson - Music Supervisor and Producer.  Katy (preferred pronouns: they/them/theirs) has been a Music Supervisor, Music Producer, and A&R Advisor at Marmoset since 2014, leading many global brand campaigns, original scores and music licensing projects. Outside of Marmoset, Katy has performed in 26 countries, collaborating in a variety of roles and projects for nearly twenty years, including with Gossip, YACHT, Mirah, The Blow, Dirty Projectors, Lloyd & Michael, Key Losers, and Katy’s main project, Dear Nora.  As a songwriter, producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and frequent collaborator, Katy's musical tastes represent a spectrum of styles encompassing classic rock, experimental music, ethereal pop, new age, punk, and R&B.   Katy writes songs with layered meanings and themes that contemplate the vast realms and intersections of wilderness, humanity, morality, technology, late capitalism, and love. In 2016, music critic Casey Jarman hailed Davidson to be “one of the finest songwriters of their generation.”  Best known for indie pop band, Dear Nora, Katy revived the project after an almost 10-year hiatus in 2017 when Orindal Records reissued the band’s quintessential record, Mountain Rock on vinyl. The reissue received widespread acclaim (“Best Reissue” by Pitchfork) and the band toured extensively for the past two years. Spurred by the revival, Katy released the first new Dear Nora material in a decade, Skulls Example, in May 2018.

Michael Eames - President; PEN Music Group, Inc.  Michael is a trained composer, songwriter and pianist with experience in film scoring. He studied music at Cornell University and UCLA Extension, and secured a minor in Business Management from Cornell. At PEN Music Group, celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2019, Michael oversees all aspects of the operation and focuses on pitching the catalogue as well. Prior to starting PEN, Michael oversaw the international activities and film & television department of Don Williams Music Group where he was responsible for song catalogues such as Jimi Hendrix, Chicago, and Roy Orbison, among numerous others. He also worked previously for Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and the management and music supervision firms The Derek Power Co and Seth Kaplan Entertainment. Michael recently completed his second term as President of the Association Of Independent Publishers (AIMP) and serves on the Independent Publishers Advisory Council (IPAC) of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA). Michael recently co-authored a book entitled FIVE STAR MUSIC MAKEOVER: The Independent Artist’s Guide for Singers, Songwriters, Bands, Producers and Self Publishers, co-teaches with Bobby Borg the UCLA Extension class Intro To Music Publishing: A Creative And Business Perspective, and is a frequent guest speaker in classrooms and panel discussions nationwide.

​David Fisher - Music Supervisor / Chief Creative Director; Songs for Film & T.V.   David has over 20 years experience in the music industry. As a recording artist David had record deals with Interscope, Geffen Records, and Big Machine Records and recorded with producers, T. Bone Burnett, Roy Thomas Baker and Nathan Chapman among other prominent musicians.  David released three major label records under the names Big Blue Hearts and Fisher Stevenson, and spent five years as a songwriter for Bluewater Music in Nashville. He has toured domestically and internationally supporting major artists such as Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, Lady Antebellum, Gary Allan, Taylor Swift, and Carrie Underwood.  After his career as a recording artist, David founded Songs for Film & T.V. in 2010, a music services agency specializing in music supervision, music production and music curation. David and his team have secured thousands placements in advertising, film, television and video games for clients such as Airbnb, Reebok, MINI, Sheraton, Massage Envy, REI, Revlon, Blue Moon,
Google, Nationwide, Audi, Mercedes, Gevalia, Under Armour, Hershey’s, Pepsi, PlayStation, Absolute, Phillips 76, Conoco and American Idol. Network television and film studio clients include HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, The Movie Channel MTV, NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, Fox, FX, Bravo, AMC, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., and many more.

Katy Gavillet  - Creative Director, Music; Fox Broadcasting Company.  Supporting the music needs of Fox's marketing division, Katy interfaces with all aspects of music in relation to the Fox network; serving as an in-house music supervisor for promos, overseeing song clearances, and commissioning original songs and re-records. Collaborating closely with her counterparts at TV studios, production companies, major record labels, and publishers, Gavillet identifies and brokers key sync opportunities that create a unique and impactful sound for FOX’s award-winning promotional campaigns.  Prior to joining Fox, she spent several years as Manager of Creative Sync Licensing at Warner Bros. Records. Working with a broad roster of talented artists including Gallant, The Black Keys, Dua Lipa, Muse, and PARTYNEXTDOOR, she pitched WBR releases for strategic placements in film, TV, promos, and trailers.

Rich Goldman -  President; Riptide Music Group.  Rich is President of LA based Riptide Music Group, a leading global publishing/administration company with a keen focus on synchronization and creative services. He’s is a lifelong musician who has amassed a broad range of industry credits as a producer, composer, recording studio operator, manager and publisher.  In the late 70s and through the 80s, Goldman built and operated the legendary Fifth Floor Studios in Cincinnati that became one of the major centers for recording in the Midwest. Rich engineered albums for clients including the Ohio Players and Bootsy Collins and collected gold records for his studio’s work with Prince, Sheila E, Midnight Star and Zapp!  In Goldman’s current role at Riptide Music Group, the company has partnered with Sentric Music in the UK to offer worldwide publishing administration and creative support to artists, writers and catalogs on every level, from baby bands to legacy catalogs and Grammy-winning songs and artists. Our catalog includes songs by artists like Migos, Drake, Selena Gomez, Sting, Foster The People, Fatboy Slim, Grandmaster Flash and many independent artists. Riptide’s media placement credits range from commercials for, “Apple” “Google Chromecast” “, “Chase Bank”, “Pepsi”, trailers of ”Aladdin”, “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw:”, “Mortal Combat 11”; TV shows “”, “Ballers”, “Empire”,”Grown-ish” and “The Flash”.  Rich speaks at various music events including Music Biz 2019, ASCAP: I Create Music, Billboard Film & TV Conference, British Sync Mission, Durango Song Expo, Hawaii Songwriting Festival, Production Music Conference, and he co-organized and moderated the MIDEM “Sync” panels from 2009-2015.

Richard Harris - Songwriter/producer.  Published with Peer MusicLA, Richard has had Billboard, iTunes, and other chart-topping cuts around the world with artists like Katharine McPhee, South Africa’s Idol winner Elvis Blue, Anahi, Boh Runga, Sabrina Starke, Camera Can’t Lie, Shawn Hook, Tyler Shaw, Lead, Felix Cartal, Greg Cerrone, DJ Stonebridge. #1 Billboard hits include "Lie to Me" with Cole Plante and earlier in 2018, "Meet in the Middle" by StoneBridge feat. Haley Joelle (fun fact - Richard and Haley met at HSF!!!) Co-writers include Grammy award winning and multi-million selling writers like Lazonate Franklin, Justin Gray, Erika Nuri, Mark Hudson, Pam Sheyne, Victoria Shaw, Gary Burr, Keith Follese, Jeff Franzel and Boots Ottestad. Richard's music can be heard in commercials and TV shows like Beauty & the Beast, One Tree Hill, Cold Case, Third Watch, The Closer, The Hills, Joan of Arcadia, Critic's Choice, and Cinematheque on CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, The BBC, History Channel, Lifetime, MTV, Discovery Channel, TNT, and many others. Recent film credits include This Means War and Single Moms Club.

Lisa Harriton - Songwriter/producer​​.  Lisa is a Grammy and Oscar nominated songwriter, producer, keyboardist and performer with deep roots in the Los Angeles music scene. The daughter of a film/tv composer father and studio-singer mother, she discovered her passion young. By the age of eight, she was already recording in the studio with industry vets. She's a graduate of both London’s Royal Schools of Music classical piano program and the USC jazz piano program. As a keyboardist, Lisa has toured the world with several top artists including, The Smashing Pumpkins, Kesha, and Adam Lambert. Always a songwriter at heart, Lisa and her writing partner, Joshua Bartholomew, co-wrote and produced the Grammy and Oscar-nominated song “Everything Is Awesome!!!” for The LEGO Movie. Operating under the moniker “JoLi” they have written and produced countless songs for artists, film/tv and video games including the theme song for FOX's #1 show, The Masked Singer. Lisa is currently in the studio working with Joshua on their latest project together, littleDNGR.

Greg Holden - Singer/Songwriter/Producer.  Greg Holden is an ASCAP award winning singer/songwriter from the north of England, most known for co-writing the American Idol winning, Billboard & iTunes chart-topping single “Home”, performed by Phillip Phillips. “Home” sold over 6-million copies in the US and was crowned the most successful song to come out of American Idol, ever. Greg has also written singles for Grammy-winners A Great Big World, Norwegian folk star Marit Larsen and indie-pop darlings Jukebox The Ghost. His songs have featured on shows and movies such as Glee, This Means War, Sons of Anarchy, The Voice, Private Practice, One Tree Hill, Trouble With The Curve, The Good Dinosaur and of course American Idol. Greg is also a successful recording and touring artist, with notable songs such as “Boys in the Street” — described as “the perfect song..” by Tom Hanks —, “The Lost Boy” — a song inspired by a Dave Eggers novel that raised $80,000 for The Red Cross —  and the hit single “Hold On Tight”. Greg continues to write for many pop acts in his hometown of Los Angeles in between touring the world with his own solo project. Greg is set to release his 4th studio album in Spring 2019.

Henry Kapono - Singer/Songwriter.  Native Hawaiian and Grammy nominated, Henry Kapono, is a multiple award-winning vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and composer. He is one of Hawaii’s most popular recording artists and is equally known for his community support and philanthropic endeavors, most recently launching the Henry Kapono Foundation in 2018 with a mission to support the community through music and the arts and by giving with Aloha.

Michael Laskow - Founder and Chief Executive Officer; TAXI.  Michael is in constant contact with top executives at major and top indie record labels, music publishers, as well music supervisors working on film, TV and advertising projects, production music libraries, and video game music executives. While Michael may be best known for pioneering the most effective filter for identifying and connecting the world’s best, independent artists, songwriters and composers with music industry decision makers, his history in the music business dates back to the mid 1970s when he worked as an recording engineer/producer on gold and platinum records with artists such as Neil Young, Firefall, Melanie, Cheap Trick, Eric Clapton, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and many, many more. Laskow is recognized as a leading authority on all aspects of the music industry, and has moderated or spoken on panels at virtually all of the top music conferences and seminars in the U.S.

Kenny Loggins - Kenny Loggins has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy® Awards. His songs have left his musical imprint on “the soundtrack of our lives.”  Over the last four decades, his chart-topping songs have included “This Is It,” “I’m Alright,” “Footloose," “Danger Zone,” and so many more. In addition to his string of successful recordings, both solo and as a member of the famed duo Loggins & Messina, Kenny became the first major rock star to dedicate himself to recording music for children and families. His album Return to Pooh Corner remains the best-selling children’s album of the last 20 years. In 2016, he released his latest children’s project, the book Footloose (Moondance Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA, October 17, 2016), inspired by his 1985 Oscar® nominated and Grammy® Award-winning “Song of the Year.” Last summer, he was a recipient of the ASCAP Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award at the annual Chapin Awards hosted by WhyHunger.  Last month, The Guild of Music Supervisors honored the legendary singer, songwriter and guitarist with the organization’s first-ever Icon Award for his outstanding achievements in film, television, and soundtracks. His gift for crafting deeply emotional music is unparalleled, and it's been a part of his life as long as he can
remember. His generous support of countless local organizations has made a lasting impact on the causes that are close to his heart. Starting with a single donation of toys as the spokesperson for Santa Barbara’s Toys for Tots program in 1987, Kenny is recognized as a Unity Shoppe Shining Star for his work in shaping the organization’s mission. Kenny regularly lends his musical talent and generous heart to support youth-based programs like Make a Wish, Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, and Little Kids Rock. In 2016, Kenny was honored with a Humanitarian of the Year Award from Little Kids Rock, for his extensive commitment to children’s causes and his core belief that “Every child should experience the healing power of music.”

Kayla Masnek -  Director, Film & TV; Secret Road Music Services. ​Kayla Masnek was born in San Diego, California and grew up in Edmond, Oklahoma. Upon graduating with a Music Business degree from Oklahoma City University, Kayla returned to her West (best) Coast roots when she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music licensing. A musician (piano, flute) from a young age, she knew early in life that she wanted to work in the music industry. After reading 100 Careers in the Music Industry at age 14, she set her sights on music supervision.Her path has changed a bit since then, as she’s found a passion in working with and helping independent artists through music licensing, more specifically over the last several years at Secret Road Music Services. She’s responsible for notable music placements in TV shows including The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Lucifer, Grey’s Anatomy, Good Girls and How To Get Away With Murder,  among others. She’s landed music in promos across all major networks, and in trailers for How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Mudbound, The Florida Project, Berlin, I Love You and Manchester By The Sea, to name a few.

Andre Merritt - Songwriter/recording artist. Grammy Award-winning Andre Merritt launched his songwriting career in 2006 with Marques Houston’s “Favorite Girl,” followed by Omarion’s hit single “Entourage.” Shortly thereafter, he co-wrote Chris Brown’s “Down” featuring Kanye West, and topped the charts once more with Chris Brown’s “Turn Up The Music.” In 2011 and 2012 Andre earned a Grammy and Billboard, NAACP, and American Music Award nominations for his work on Chris Brown’s album "F.A.M.E." Other chart toppers are Chris Brown's “Forever,” Rihanna's “Disturbia,” Fifth Harmony's “Don't Want to Dance Alone” and “Going Nowhere,” and “Fight For This Love” by X-Factor judge Cheryl Cole in the UK. Andre has worked with some of the top artists in the world including Katy Perry,  Rihanna, Usher, Cheryl Cole, Natasha Bedingfield, Kanye West, Kelly Rowland, Black Eyed Peas, Willow Smith, Jason Derulo, Mila J, Jack & Jack, Melanie Fiona, Timbaland, Jesse McCartney, Alexandra Burke, Goapele, K-Pop artist XO, and the list continues to grow. In 2014 he launched himself as the artist Apollo Grey, giving listeners the sound R&B has been missing with his debut single “Cause I Want To.”  ​

William G. Meyer III - Attorney.  Bill Meyer began practicing law in Hawai'i in 1979. His practice emphasizes intellectual property law (including copyright, trademark, and right of publicity licensing and registration, entertainment, trade secret, art, and advertising matters); government relations; real estate matters; and related dispute resolution including litigation, arbitration, and mediation. His firm, Settle Meyer Law, is a boutique law firm located in Downtown Honolulu. He is a long-time board member of KMF and has also served on the governing board of HARA (Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts). 

Chris Mollere - Music Supervisor. At an early age, Chris developed a unique appreciation and love for all styles of music. He
attended and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, and in addition to receiving an excellent education in the areas of psychology, advertising and business, he participated in countless music events that the city and state had to offer. Becoming friends with many musicians and music venue owners provided Chris with a unique perspective of the behind the scenes challenges and business aspects of music. To further expand his knowledge of the music business, Chris worked with bands in management, production and promotional capacities. After graduation, Chris moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a full time career in music and entertainment. Chris has worked as a music supervisor on over 700 television episodes and over 30 films, including the CW'sThe Vampire Diaries and The Originals; ABC Family/Freeform Television's Pretty Little Liars, Famous in Love, Greek, Chasing Life, Kyle XY, and 10 Things I Hate About You; and feature films Get Out, Bad Words, The Family Fang, The Box, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, The Haunting of Molly Hartley, and many more. 

Frank Palazzolo - Music Supervisor; Mad Doll Music​. Frank Palazzolo made his way from New Jersey to Los Angeles in 2005, where he began his music supervision career in the Universal Pictures Film Music department. After leaving Universal, he went on to work with KCRW DJ and Music Supervisor Liza Richardson at Mad Doll Music, where he has worked on over 1,000 TV show episodes and 5 films, including a win for "Best Music in Film" at the 2011 Nashville Film Festival. Some of his most notable projects include The Path (Hulu), The Leftovers (HBO), Hemlock Grove (Netflix), Scorpion (CBS), Graceland (Fox), and Rise (NBC). Frank is also a successful songwriter and producer with placements in various television shows, two major motion picture film trailers, the Orange Is The New Black Season 4 announcement promo, and a Toyota commercial that aired during the 2018 Super Bowl.

Nitanee Paris - Songwriter/Director of A&R; ArtistMax.   Nitanee Paris is the Director of A&R at ArtistMax, a Los Angeles based artist development and education enterprise founded by Grammy-winning producer Ken Caillat (Fleetwood Mac; Colbie Caillat). She is an award-winning songwriter whose work has been featured in TV, films, and commercials, and has been signed with multiple publishers, libraries and licensing agencies.  As a collaborator, Nitanee works with notable writers including Grammy-winning musicians, composers, and producers, and Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductees.  Her music has been on the Billboard charts, and has been released by labels including Panda Funk and Interscope, and her song “Lift You Up”, released by Omar Lynx and Jackie Boy Records, has had over a million streams in just a few months.  Nitanee recently won a Positive Music Award and she been nominated for a Global Peace Song Award.  She is the recipient of the Grand Prize and Lennon Award in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, among many other accolades.  She leads the Malibu Chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), where she hosts industry panels and music events, and she is on the advisory council of the Hawaii Songwriting Festival, and the staff of the Durango Songwriters Expo.  Nitanee’s passion is mentoring young writers and helping artists navigate the music industry by building their craft and expanding their networks. 

Chris Pelonis - Owner; Pelonis Sound & Acoustics.  Chris is an award-winning studio designer and owner of Pelonis Sound & Acoustics. In his multi faceted career he has also been a singer-songwriter, recording engineer, mastering engineer, speaker designer/manufacturer, and record producer. In the late 90’s he formed Ramp Records with Jeff Bridges and Michael McDonald, and he is now involved with projects for his new label, Lost Coast Records.  He has designed hundreds of high-end facilities worldwide major recording artists, recording facilities, production houses, mastering studios, performing art centers, theaters, churches, concert venues, night clubs, theaters, mix rooms, foley stages, motion capture stages, sound design rooms, etc.

Chance Peña - Singer/Songwriter/Producer.  Born and raised in Tyler, Texas, Chance Peña is a 19 year old singer/songwriter and producer. Making music from an early age, he has cultivated a unique style of traditional storytelling infused with modern musical influences. After building a following by writing and performing in his hometown, Chance competed on season 9 of the hit TV show, The Voice, at age 15. His experience on the show and working with coach Adam Levine further advanced his knowledge and confidence as an artist. When the show wrapped, he began working with Secret Road Music Publishing as a songwriter and saw immediate success. Peña continues to cultivate his artistry by writing, producing, engineering and performing his own songs. Peña plans to release a full EP in 2019 via Secret Road Records.

​Shannon Quisenberry - Director of Creative Licensing and Artist Relations; THINK Music Inc. Shannon was introduced to the music industry through a collegiate program at The University of Texas at Austin, assisting the producers for the acclaimed live television program Austin City Limits in 2004. After two seasons working on episodes with some of the biggest artists on the planet (Wilco, Etta James, Pixies, Elvis Costello, The Shins, The Flaming Lips, to name a few), she decided that behind the scenes in the music industry is where she belonged. She soon found herself at Brick Wall Management in New York City, supporting their busy management team. For 6 years, she worked with their large roster of artists and producers that included Citizen Cope, Marc Broussard, The Clarks, and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Ari Hest. After moving to LA and working on Ingrid Michelson’s management team, Shannon was quickly drawn to the licensing side of the industry and started working with Platform Music Group in 2015. Now at THINK, Shannon has been an integral part of helping artists land placements, from hit TV shows (The Leftovers, Shameless, Claws, Queen Sugar, Suits, Lucifer) to nationwide Advertisements (Fitbit, Toyota, Comcast) and everything in between. 

Lindsey Ray - Singer/songwriter/producer.  Lindsey's songs have been recorded by outside artists such as Demi Lovato, Mariah Carey, Deana Carter and others. In addition, songs from her own artist projects (Lindsey Ray, Farmdale, Rayelle, Olly Anna) have appeared in several television shows, promos, movie trailers, and commercials for brands such as Target, T-Mobile, Lexus, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Verizon, Samsung, XBOX, Best Buy, and more. Most recently songs from Lindsey’s Olly Anna project have been used in promos for 3 season’s of HBO’s hit show INSECURE, trailer for Netflix original INSATIABLE, as well as international commercials for Special K and Samsung. Songs from Lindsey’s Rayelle project are currently being used in Kohl’s ads in the US and Samsung S10 ads internationally.

Steven B. Ray - Steven started as a roadie for Sammy Davis, Jr.'s summer tours. After college he was Quincy Jones' production assistant and participated on projects like Michael Jackson’s album “Thriller,” “We Are The World,” James Ingram’s solo debut album, Frank Sinatra’s “LA Is My Lady,” and the film, The Color Purple. Steven went on to Capital Records, where he was a senior executive in A&R and the first person of color to run their New York office. He also oversaw recordings for Freddie Jackson, re-mixes for Duran Duran and The Pet Shop Boys, and the signing of Bebe & Cece Winans and MC Hammer. Steven later worked at Windswept Pacific Publishing as a creative executive, staff writer & music supervisor. He signed writer/producers Manuel Seal (co-writer on Mariah Carey and Usher hits), Quincy Jones, III (co-writer/producer for TuPac, Ice Cube and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme) and the co-venture with LA Reid’s publishing company, HitCo Music (which spawned hits for TLC, Anita Baker, Destiny’s Child, and numerous Beyonce solo hits). As a music supervisor, Steven provided support for feature films Havana and Forrest Gump, and was nominated for the Best Film Music Sprit Award for "Hangin' with the Homeboys." His current focus is management for hit songwriter, Andre Merritt (see above - Andre is on the HSF staff too!) and Danish singer/songwriter Viktoria Hansen (co-writer on Brandon Beal's “Paradise” and Krewella's “Calm Down”).

Zach Sorgen - ​Songwriter/Producer.  Zach Sorgen is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Los Angeles.  With over 100 million streams and a variety of film and television placements, his musical career has been marked by an eclectic range of influences and genres.  He received his B.A. in Music from Vassar College where he trained in Classical and Jazz piano.  Now based in Los Angeles, he is the frontman of the nudisco trio Wake the Wild, which is garnering major buzz as they are gearing up to take Los Angeles by storm with their debut EP.   He co-wrote "Come First" by Terror Jr with Avena Savage, which is currently nearing 90 million streams on Spotify.  His band since high school, Thirstbusters, saw success in numerous ways such as seeing their music placed in popular TV shows like CW's 90210.  He has also written songs for Anjali World, Nick Cannon, and Sick Individuals, among others.  But between all his projects Sorgen has never stopped making music.  Zach’s solo work spotlights his spectrum of talent as a producer and prolific songwriter, touching on a range of genres. Trained in classical and jazz piano as well as rhythm guitar, trumpet, and voice, Zach always keeps things exciting and fresh with each new release. 

Amy Stroup - ​Songwriter/Co-Owner; Milkglass Creative. Amy is a Boston born, Abilene, Texas raised independent artist living in Nashville who has had her songs  featured on more than 30 TV shows including This Is US, Parenthood, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Vampire Diaries, & Walking Dead, as well as national ads for Calvin Klein, New Balance, Lexus & more.  Amy has released 3 digital EPs and one nationally distributed full length solo recorded  entitled Tunnel.  She is the newest member of the TEN OUT OF TENN tour where she is one of ten featured artists along side Andrew Belle, Katie Herzig, Trent Dabbs and more. Recently, Amy released a single called 'This Is My Time’ featured on NBC’s hit show This is US that she penned with Mary Hooper, her creative partner and co owner of their design boutique Milkglass Creative. Milkglass does artist branding & design for Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town, Ingrid Michaelson, and Lori McKenna to name a few. In 2012 Trent Dabbs and Stroup released a self titled band project called Sugar & The Hi-Lows. She tours with Sugar and The Hi-Lows and has recently shared this stage with Chris Stapleton, Kings of Leon, Kacey Musgraves, Ingrid Michaelson and more. 

Ryan Wines - Music Producer and CEO; Marmoset.  Ryan Wines is the founder and CEO of Marmoset — a global music agency meticulously curating sounds for brands, ads, TV & Film -- representing wonderfully obscure independent artists, bands and labels. Marmoset’s Creative Team place music in global brand campaigns, Super Bowl commercials and TV shows, including the likes of Apple, Patagonia, Old Spice, VICE, The New York Times, Google, Gimlet, HULU and Netflix.  A fiery advocate of creatives and artists alike, Ryan gave a TED Talk about "leading creatives amidst a modern landscape" and travels far and wide speaking and sharing his experiences on fostering a strong culture, mindfulness and a leadership practice he’s penned as “Nurture Theory.”  Under Ryan's leadership, Marmoset’s accomplishments include the prestigious INC 500 list of fastest growing companies, a Cannes Lion, an Emmy, Clio, Effie, Webby, and are multi-year finalists at the Guild of Music Supervisor awards. Committed to giving 10% of profits to community organizations, in 2019 Marmoset became a certified B Corp -- meeting the highest global standards of verified social, ethical and environmental sustainability, accountability and transparency. (And they launched a record label too.)

Adam Zelkind - Songwriter/producer​. Eight-time award winning songwriter/composer/producer with credits on feature films and over 1,194 hit television episodes, feature films, records, and ads. His awards include ASCAP’s Most Performed Music on Television for two consecutive years. He has worked with artists and writers such as, Amy Stroup, Katie Herzig, Tom Higgenson (Plain White T’s), Chris Gelbuda, Spectre Jones, Kristian Bush (Sugarland), Ashley Gorley, Bret James, Glen Phillips (Toad The Wet Sprocket), Big Al Anderson, Josh Kelley, Walt Aldridge, Darryl Worley, Gary Burr, Meghan Lindsey (The Voice & Steel Magnolia), Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Sara Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion (US Elevator), Will Champlin, Dustin Christensen Marlin “Hookman” Bonds, Jack Tempchin, and Kenny Loggins. His work has become a prominent force on many shows including the hit CW show Hart of Dixie, having had 20 songs featured on this show alone. He co-wrote and produced with The Crazy Z’s “My Favorite Show”, which was an end title feature on the HBO hit series The Leftovers. Some of his wildest composer credits include: Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love Money, Real Chance of Love, The Surreal Life, From Gs to Gents, I Love New York, Charm School, My Fair Brady, Out Back Jack, Next Action Star, Teen Mom,  andThe Steve Harvey Show. Many of his songs can be heard in recent films including the critically acclaimed film Disconnect, Marine Home Front 3, Slumber Party Slaughter, No Manches Frida, Can't Have You, and 8 songs in the new movie London Calling.