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Deva Anderson is an award-winning Music Supervisor and Executive with unparalleled range and depth. Over the course of her career, she has worked on more than 40 feature films with some of the most esteemed filmmakers in the industry, as well as more than 30 original series for television. Deva excels at facilitating collaboration and envisioning music that brings a director’s vision to life.
She is the Head of Music for Tom Hanks’s production company, Playtone, where she has overseen music for all their productions for 25+ years, including the Oscar-nominated film Greyhound, Band of Brothers, and The Pacific.
Outside of her work at Playtone, Deva has worked with some of Hollywood’s most prolific directors, including Denis Villeneuve (Dune) and Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs). She’s also a music consultant and music-supervised Columbia Pictures’ Blade Runner 2049, and Netflix’s upcoming 2024 film The Piano Lesson.
Ari and Deva discuss the role of supervisors in film and TV, her approach to finding and obtaining music for productions, the process of clearing said music, and discusses the variety of projects she has worked on at Playtone, Tom Hanks’ production company.
Deva Anderson also highlights the role of music representatives in ensuring that all rights are cleared and that the business side of music is properly understood. She touches on the changing landscape of streaming networks and the budgets and fees associated with music placements. Finally, she concludes by discussing the use of library music and the potential impact of AI on music creation and production.
Chapters
00:00 The Path to Becoming a Music Supervisor
08:02 Spotting Sessions: Collaborating with Composers and Directors
13:58 Public Domain Music: Using Historical Songs
28:41 The Role of Indie Artists in Music Licensing
34:19 Music Supervision and Playtone
48:20 The Value of Library Music
50:42 The Influence of AI in Music Creation and Production
54:26 Breaking into the Music Supervision Field
Edited and mixed by Ari Davids
Music by Brassroots District
Produced by the team at Ari’s Take
