Music Director (Pictured left, in background)
Recent projects: 

• Launching the Esquire Network in 2013
• New digital/social initiatives on E!
• Unlocking opportunities across all the NBCU platforms with new cohesive projects

Recent accomplishments:

• The birth of his daughter Caragh Paige on April 1, 2014!

Although we missed him last year, Chris is a familiar face at KMF and he said he enjoys watching attendees progress and develop, especially when he can find a way to help them continue on their path. "Some of the most meaningful moments come from working with an artist when you can make a real and tangible difference in their career," he said. "Knowing that I can contribute in some small way to someone's new or continued success is what keeps me motivated. 

At KMF this year, he hopes to "connect with old friends, meet some new ones, and discover some new talent that's willing to work within basic cable budgets," he joked. The continuing downward pressure on fees and revenue streams, he said, is his biggest challenge right now because of how much harder it's become to source, negotiate, and exploit the use of music in their content. 

Chris's advice to artists: You'll have to find him at KMF to get advice, that's what he's there for! 






Source: Chris Jackson

Music Supervisor

Biggest contribution to KMF: The desire to pay it forward, introduce "unknown" artists to the world and offer his assistance in any way that he can. "I've been blessed with the opportunity to work in the 'major league' of the music business," Frank said. "I'm willing to take a chance for someone else's dreams the way that someone once took a chance for mine."

Recent projects: Acting music supervisor on the following:

• Hemlock Grove (dark, unique and aggressive music)
• Graceland (old R&B and blues rock influenced)
• About a Boy (lively, upbeat, fun, and youthful without being "kiddie.")

Frank Palazzolo came to us last year via Liza Richardson, music supervisor for a number of shows including Hawai'i Five-0. Fortunately for our local musicians, he said after last year's KMF he was "delighted to see how much great music there is coming from the islands," and he hopes to gather as much music from Hawai'i as possible to "spread the love" on season 5. 

Frank has become a talented and successful music supervisor, especially with the projects (listed above) he's taken on since he first graced our presence last year. His work does come with challenges; he said one of the biggest is working with a producer or director falls in love with a song they can't afford. 

Despite any hurdles, he reports that he loves his job. "I hang out with Liza Richardson and Marc Mondello every day and we nerd out on awesome music we've heard and awesome bands we've seen," he said. "We then stick them in scenes on TV and in movies and show you how awesome they are, all the while helping those musicians make careers out of what they love. The best job ever!"

Frank's advice for artists:

• Keep working on bettering your music and building your contact list. 
• If you have the right relationships, you will be able to get your songs pitched.
• Learn how to properly pitch your music without being too aggressive, while at the same time, avoiding being forgotten. 
• Remember, there is a time and place for every song. For the scenes we work on, we generally only pitch about 10 songs per spot. While this is a small number of songs, if your song is in that pitch, you have a 1 in 10 chance of winning the spot!
  

Source: Frank Palazzolo

Music Supervisor
http://www.dondibastone.com
Biggest contribution to KMF: Giving folks a little peek into the world of music supervision, providing insight on the process and lending guidance on how you might best position yourself to get your music used. If you see him roaming the grounds, feel free to stop and say hi!

Recent projects and accomplishments:

• "Scrapbook moments" that accompanied a Grammy nomination for The Descendants soundtrack and attending the festivities with his daughter, Ella.
• Working on Low Down, a biopic of legendary jazz pianist Joe Albany, alongside his old friend and fellow jazz enthusiast Flea.

Dondi Bastone is a true music lover. Though different projects lead him to different types of music, he is always searching for "a record that has elements that elevate it beyond just a background source cue," he said. "Something that can help underscore a desired emotion." 

For Dondi, music supervision combines music and film, his two passions. "It gives me the opportunity to be creative in my own way, have a meaningful impact on a film, while working directly with the filmmakers," he said. He loves what he does, though he said his level of involvement and the people he works with make each project different. The biggest challenge he comes across working with music is dealing with budgets that are getting tighter and tighter all the time. "Working with independent labels, publishers and artists is a boon to the process," he said. 

He and his daughter, Ella, are both joining us at KMF for a second time. After their first visit, he said his favorite thing about Kaua'i was hands down "the people, the people, the people." His biggest highlight since we saw him in 2012 was seeing Ella graduate with honors from UC Berkeley in May (congratulations, Ella!!)

Dondi's advice for artists:

• Plant as many seeds as you can and move on.  It can take some time for them to germinate so be patient and stay the course.  
• Remember it can often be as much about the relationships as the music.
  

Source: Dondi Bastone

Songwriter/Producer/Creative Master-mind
http://www.ruperthine.com
Biggest Contribution to KMF: Bringing seasoned and in-depth perspectives coupled with fresh and innovative sensibilities to new or aspiring songwriters - built on 50 years of understanding how to find and reach an audience with an art-form as essentially abstract as music. 
Recent Projects: 

• Developing his own publishing company, Auditorius, with partners (BMG).
• Recording and producing videos with new artists Jameson and Ed Prosek, available later this year.
• Co-founded REBOOT with Alan Graham: the world's first UGC (user-generated content) licensing system. http://rebootit.squarespace.com/

Rupert Hine has seen it all, and he's still constantly looking for more! He has been involved with writing and/or producing for Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Bob Geldof, Kate Bush, Suzanne Vega, Howard Jones, The Fixx, Rush, Chris de Burgh, The Thomson Twins, Underworld, and many more! He also masterminded "One World One Voice" with Kevin Godley and the "Art of Peace" project for the Dalai Lama. See his website (above) for the full list of accomplishments.

Rupert said he feels lucky to have spent a lifetime doing what he loves. He made his first album when he was just 16 years old, and hasn't stopped since! The biggest challenge he comes across working in music today, he said, is "trying to clear out the destructive influence that the TV-talent show virus has had on young writers and artists around the world." 

Aside from the great climate, scenery, atmosphere, and people on Kaua'i (and the coconut shrimp at Shrimp Station!) he said this year he is looking forward to seeing and hearing completely new and fresh 'unsigned' artists and their ideas. The coolest thing he's done since we last saw him, he said, was becoming one of two patrons of the United Kingdom's "Songwriting Charity" which works to introduce "the power and fulfillment of communication through music to children who are, by either circumstance or disability, less fortunate than ourselves."

Rupert's advice for artists:

• For a start - don't think of it as 'an industry!' We are a global village of individuals and groups.
• Remember that the world of music is as wide as this planet and is as many millennia old. Music is constantly developing and unfolding. My job is to monitor when new creators start getting it right, not by any existing rules but by reaching out and touching the very essence of us - the always-willing and always musically-hungry audience. 

Source: Rupert Hine and REBOOT