David Y. Ige

Programs Accelerate Growth of Hawaii’s Creative Entrepreneurs
HONOLULU – The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s (DBEDT) Creative Industries Division (CID) announces the participants and coaches for the Music Immersive Program (June 11-15) through the department’s Creative Lab Hawaii (CLH). The program will take place on Hawaii Island, right before the annual Hawaii Songwriters Festival (June 16-18).

“The music immersive program aims to jumpstart the careers of 10 attendees who are all promising songwriters and musicians with a proven track record, including 2016
Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, Kimie Miner, of Hauula,” said DBEDT Director, Luis P. Salaveria. “The department’s Creative Lab Hawaii is building creative entrepreneurs, strengthening the economy and generating future jobs.”

The five-day intensive program focuses on giving participants the opportunity to co-write and produce music for specific film or TV projects with a team of professional mentors. Following the completion of the program, attendees will receive year-round mentoring support, and three of the most promising attendees will be selected by the mentors to participate in networking opportunities with music industry leaders in Los Angeles. In addition to composing songs, participants will learn the finer points of music licensing, publishing, intellectual property (IP) protection, and other aspects of the business from industry experts.

Leading the CLH Music Immersive are  music supervisors, producers, industry execs and songwriters including : Adam Zelkind, “Hookman” Marlin Bonds, Richard Harris, , Christine Ayres, Brian Fennell, Katie Herzig, Adrianne Gonzalez, Todd Wright, Janine Scalise-Boyd, Dave Jordan, Julianne Jordan, Gwen Riley, Heather Anderson, Susan Schwartz and Natalie Wali. https://creativelab.hawaii.gov/music-immersive-mentors/

The CLH Music Immersive program is spearheaded by the Creative Industries Division, under the direction of the president of the Hawaii Songwriter’s Festival, Grammy and Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, Charles M. Brotman and , Jerome Spence VP of Film/TV/Ads & Business Development of Secret Road Music. Admittance to the program was competitive and managed by the Hawaii Songwriter’s Festival executive committee.  Applicants were selected by a review committee consisting of representatives from organizations such as The Recording Academy, The Guild of Music Supervisors, and internationally recognized music publishing, licensing and management company, Secret Road.

“The expansion of Creative Lab Hawaii into music industry development is delivering world class mentors from the music, publishing and media industries to provide new opportunities to monetize songwriter’s works in film and television – a potentially lucrative additional source of revenues for our singer/songwriters,” said Georja Skinner, chief officer for the Creative Industries Division.  “Creative Lab Hawaii’s Music Immersive is the newest module in the program, which will deliver unprecedented opportunities for artists to extend their reach into film and television, while expanding their network of mentors in the mainstream music industry.”

Selected participants in addition to Miner include:  Annie Dingwall (Los Angeles, CA), a songwriter who’s worked with worked with PJ Bianco (Jonas Brothers, Veronicas, LP); Jeffrey Steele (Rascal Flatts, Faith Hill); Jacques Brautbar (Phantom Planet); Brent Magstadt (Keaau, HI), a professionally trained jazz musician and songwriter; Isaac Moreno (Izik) (Kapolei, HI), a musician and songwriter working in pop, alternative R&B genres; Maelan Abran (Hilo, HI), a singer-songwriter whose song, “Irresistible,” was placed on the major network television show, Sleepy Hollow; Nitanee Paris (Malibu, CA), a multi-genre songwriter who has won more than 100 awards; Ryan Higgins (Kamuela, HI),  a singer-songwriter working in the rap, Christian, pop and alternative genres who’s performed in music events in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii; Ryan Hiraoka (Keaau, HI), who won a Na Hoku Hanohano award for R&B album of the year in 2010; Sebastian Hughes (Honolulu, HI) the 2014 John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner for Electronic and 2016 Na Hoku Hanohano Award nominee; Sierra West (Solana Beach, CA), a singer-songwriter who won Best Singer-Songwriter at the San Diego Music Awards and has had songs placed in various television series including BRAVO TV’s “Southern Charm” and ABC TV’s “Resurrection”.

Noting the talents of Hawaii, Charles Brotman shares, “There is a wealth of musical and songwriting talent in Hawaii, and it is exciting to see this kind of talent making more connections with the mainstream music industry.  With the vision and support of the state’s Creative Industries Division, this Music Immersive will not only give a boost to the careers of the participating songwriters, it will also help to move Hawaii’s music community forward.”

Commenting on his excitement over this year’s Music Immersive, Jerome Spence adds, “I am thrilled to help organize such an amazing program with Charles Brotman and the State of Hawaii’s Creative Lab Hawaii. The collaborative writing efforts between Secret Road, Hawaii Songwriting Festival and local Hawaii writers is an attempt to bridge the gap between Hawaii and mainland media projects. Our special guest music supervisors bring years of knowledge and experience to the camp increasing the number of opportunities for the camp’s attendees.”

CLH strategic partners include:  U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA); Innovate Hawaii; High Tech Development Corporation (HTDC); the Writers Guild of America (WGA), West; International Game Developers Association (IGDA); the Producers Guild of America (PGA); The Modern Honolulu; The Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel; Twenty20 Sound; Lava Tracks Recording; GVS/Honua Studios; Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF); and Arthur’sLimousine/SpeediShuttle.

About DBEDT (Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism)
DBEDT is Hawaii’s resource center for economic and statistical data, business development opportunities, energy and conservation information, and foreign trade advantages. DBEDT’s mission is to achieve a Hawaii economy that embraces innovation and is globally competitive, dynamic and productive, providing opportunities for all Hawaii’s citizens. Through its attached agencies, the department fosters planned community development, creates affordable workforce housing units in high-quality living environments, and promotes innovation sector job growth.

About CID (Creative Industries Division)
CID, a division within DBEDT, is the state’s lead agency dedicated to advocating for and accelerating the growth of Hawaii’s Creative Economy.  Through initiatives, program development, and strategic partnerships, the division and its branches implements activities to expand the business development, global export and investment capacity of Hawaii’s arts, culture, music, film, literary, publishing, digital and new media industries.

The Creative Lab Hawaii (CLH) program is designed to accelerate the growth of Hawaii’s creative entrepreneurs through immersive, hands-on training in broadband/new media, producing, screenwriting, interactive media, music and design/fashion.

Funding for the Creative Lab Hawaii program is made possible through the Legislature’s allocations to the Creative Industries Division/DBEDT, supporting the state’s HI Growth Initiative  and is federally funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) to build a pipeline of skills development from the DOE, connecting to University and then to Industry.

Secret Road
Founded in 2007 by Lynn Grossman, Secret Road has managed the career of platinum-selling, indie pop artist Ingrid Michaelson since first discovering her in 2006 and has grown to represent more than 100 artists and their songs for licensing. Aside from management, what began as a boutique licensing company with a handful of employees quickly expanded by launching a publishing division in 2013, as well as a Global music division.

Secret Road has placed songs in successful television shows such as “Girls,” “Nashville,” and “Pretty Little Liars,” and in such films as “Edge of Tomorrow,” “The Last Witch Hunter,” and “This Is Where I Leave You”.  Additionally, Secret Road artists and writers have provided music in commercials for Cricket, T-Mobile, TOMS, and Google, among others. Through the efforts of the licensing and publishing divisions, the company is expanding its reach into all genres of music.  Secret Road currently has representation in Nashville, New York, and the UK, and agents throughout the world.
www.secretroad.com

Hawaii Songwriters Festival
The Hawaii Songwriting Festival’s parent organization is the non-profit The Kauai Music Festival. The organization’s mission is to foster the art and business of songwriting.
www.hawaiisongwritngfestival.com

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Media Contacts:

Christine Hirasa
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism
Phone: (808) 587-9006
Mobile: (808) 286-9017
Email: [email protected]
Website: dbedt.hawaii.gov

Piia M. Aarma  
Pineapple Tweed PR & Marketing (for Creative Industries Division)
Phone: (808) 737.1904
Mobile: (808) 221.2102
Emails: [email protected]

Isabella Hughes
Pineapple Tweed PR & Marketing (for Creative Industries Division)
Mobile: (808) 375.9381
Email: [email protected]