Karyn Rachtman | |
---|---|
Born | Van Nuys, California, U.S. | February 19, 1964
Occupation(s) | Music supervisor, film producer, soundtrack executive producer |
Years active | 1989-present |
Employer(s) | Mind Your Music (US), Mind Your Music NZ LTD. (Founder and CEO) |
Known for | Pulp Fiction Reservoir Dogs Clueless Romeo + Juliet |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Riki Rachtman (brother) |
Website | www.mindyourmusic.com |
Karyn Rachtman (born February 19, 1964) is an American music supervisor and film producer. One of the "most influential music supervisors of all time," [1] she has music supervised and/or served as the executive soundtrack producer on albums that have sold over 75 million copies worldwide. [2]
With Pras Michael and Ben Patterson, Rachtman produced the 2015 film Sweet Micky for President, a documentary about Michel Martelly's path to the Haitian presidency. [3] [4] She executive produced Archie's Final Project, a film about a teenage student who decides to kill himself on-camera as his final high school project, [5] and created the children's "read and rap-along" book series Hip Kid Hop. [6]
Karyn Rachtman was born in Los Angeles, California, to Peter Rachtman, a music manager, and Sheila Watson, an educator. Her parents divorced when she was a child, and she and her brother Riki lived mainly with their mother. Growing up, she was "obsessed" with music, and would go to her father's house on weekends and listen to his records. [7] Rachtman was first exposed to the film industry through the actress Karen Black, who her father dated in the 1970s. [8]
At 15, Rachtman—a "wayward" teenager—was sent to live with her father, who had moved to New Zealand. She dropped out of high school, and remained in New Zealand for a year. [9] [7] She attended cosmetology school when she returned to Los Angeles. [10]
Rachtman moved to New York in 1982. She worked at a clothing store, where she met Paula Erickson, then the head of music for Cannon Films in LA. Learning that Erickson "got paid to put cool old songs in movies," she begged to be her assistant, and moved back to Los Angeles. [11] At Cannon, Rachtman learned how to prepare cue sheets, clear music, and negotiate music rights, and worked on films including Rappin' and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. She left Cannon to work as a plugger for Island Music, and then cleared music for established music supervisors, working independently. In 1990, she was hired by Peter Bogdanovich to music supervise Texasville , and received her first credit as a music supervisor on a major film. She founded her company, Mind Your Music, later that year. [1]
In 1992, producer Stacey Sher introduced Rachtman to Quentin Tarantino, who was working on his feature-length debut, Reservoir Dogs. [1] He was determined to use the Stealers Wheel song "Stuck in the Middle With You" for a pivotal scene, and the music supervisor on the film had been unable to secure the necessary rights. After a complicated negotiation, Rachtman acquired the song, and Tarantino hired her as the music supervisor for Reservoir Dogs. [12] Rachtman brought the soundtrack album to MCA, [13] and the resulting record deal paid for the music that was ultimately used in the film. [14] The music used in Reservoir Dogs—particularly "Stuck in the Middle with You" -- "would change cinema thereafter." [15]
In 1994, Rachtman worked on 15 films, including two, simultaneously: Reality Bites , with director Ben Stiller, and Pulp Fiction with Tarantino. [12] The Reality Bites soundtrack was one of the biggest records of the year; its lead single, Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)," was the first song by an independent artist to hit #1 on the Billboard Pop Charts. [16] The use of music in Pulp Fiction was a "milestone in creative music supervision" [17] that "dramatically changed how most movie producers thought about the music that accompanied their films." The Pulp Fiction soundtrack has sold four million copies since its release. [18] [19] [20]
By the end of the 1990s, Rachtman had music supervised or executive produced soundtracks for Clueless , Get Shorty, [21] The Basketball Diaries , Romeo + Juliet , Grace of My Heart , Boogie Nights , Bulworth and The Rugrats Movie, among others. [22] She had worked closely with Amy Heckerling, Baz Luhrmann, Paul Thomas Anderson, Warren Beatty, Allison Anders and Robert Rodriguez, and become one of the most sought-after music supervisors in the film industry. [23]
In the mid-1990s, as the relationship between the film and music industries became more synergistic, the role of the music supervisor "became far more important as the potential economic benefits of soundtrack albums continued to grow," [24] and Rachtman was pursued both by filmmakers and record companies. In 1994, she was named vice president of soundtracks and A&R for Capitol Records, [25] and in 1997—engineered in part by Beatty—she was appointed head of soundtracks for Interscope Records. [26] [27] [28] At Interscope, she music supervised and/or executive soundtrack produced Moulin Rouge! , Office Space , the Rugrats Movie , Bulworth, and Mystery Men (the latter of which help put Smash Mouth’s All Star as the lead single to the soundtrack, and on the map). She was also given her own imprint, Gazillion Records. [29] After leaving Interscope, Rachtman once again worked independently, subsequently music supervising films including Laurel Canyon , North Country , Holes and the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie . [30]
In 2002, Rachtman went to Scholastic with an idea for a series of children's picture books called Hip Kid Hop. Inspired by the read-along books of her childhood, as well as the similarities between hip-hop's language and the language of books for children, [31] Hip Kid Hop was geared toward readers aged 4–10. The first books in the series, by LL Cool J and Doug E. Fresh, were "morality tales and stories about developing personal strength." Each book came with a read-along CD. [32]
She music supervised and executive produced Archie's Final Project (originally released as My Suicide) in 2009, a dark comedy about a teenager who becomes the most popular kid in his high school when he announces he is going to kill himself on camera for his final video class project. [33] The film won the 2009 Best Feature at the Berlin Film Festival, in addition to other awards. [34] She produced Sweet Mickey for President with Pras Michael, who she first met while working on Bulworth. She began the project as an executive producer, and became a producer as she got more involved in the hands-on production of the film. A documentary about Michael Martely, a colorful musician who ran for president of Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country, it was a selection for film festivals including the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Slamdance Film Festival where it won the juried award for Best Documentary as well as the audience award. [35]
Rachtman began to split her time between New Zealand and Los Angeles in 2016. In addition to the US-based Mind Your Music, she is the founder and CEO of Mind Your Music NZ LTD, a resource for filmmakers, advertisers, and brands to assist with spotting, pre-recording, on camera performances, composer selection/negotiation, song creation and selection, licensing, marketing tie-ins, and soundtrack release. Mind Your Music's clients have included Anonymous Content, Hasbro, Levi Strauss & Co. , Activision, CNN and Vice Media. In 2023, she music supervised her first major studio film in many years. The movie Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken got her an uncredited role as a supervisor for the music. [2]
Rachtman lives in Los Angeles and Waiheke Island, near Auckland. She was married to film producer Lloyd Levin. She has two sons, Otis and Arlo. [10]
Year | Project | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | Warm Summer Rain | Musical director | |
Big Man on Campus | Music coordinator | ||
1990 | A Girl to Kill For | Music supervisor | |
Texasville | Music supervisor | ||
1991 | Shout | Music supervisor | |
Dutch | Music coordinator | ||
1992 | Used People | Music supervisor | |
Dr. Giggles | Music supervisor | ||
Ladybugs | Music supervisor | ||
Reservoir Dogs | Music supervisor | ||
1993 | Judgment Night | Music supervisor | |
Bakersfield P.D. | Music supervisor | "The Imposter" episode | |
Freaked | Music supervisor | ||
Gunmen' | Music supervisor | ||
Bodies, Rest & Motion | Music supervisor | ||
1994 | Reform School Girl | Music supervisor | |
Cool and the Crazy | Music supervisor | ||
Timecop | Music supervisor | ||
Shake, Rattle and Rock! | Executive music producer | ||
Girls in Prison | Music supervisor | ||
In the Army Now | Music supervisor | ||
Rebel Highway | Music supervisor | "Runaway Daughters" episode | |
Motorcycle Gang | Music supervisor | ||
Confessions of a Sorority Girl | Music supervisor | ||
Roadracers | Music supervisor | ||
Pulp Fiction | Music supervisor | ||
The Last Seduction | Music Supervisor | ||
Fresh | Music consultant | ||
Reality Bites | Music supervisor | Lead single by Lisa Loeb hit #1 | |
Trevor | Music supervisor | ||
1995 | Fallen Angels | Music supervisor | 6 episodes |
Get Shorty | Music supervisor | ||
Four Rooms | Music supervisor | ||
Clueless | Music supervisor | 43 weeks on the Billboard charts, reissued on vinyl in 2015 | |
Desperado | Music supervisor | ||
The Basketball Diaries | Music supervisor | ||
1996 | Romeo + Juliet | Executive soundtrack producer | 5× platinum |
Grace of My Heart | Executive music producer | ||
Boys | Music supervisor | ||
1997 | Boogie Nights | Music supervisor | |
Good Burger | Music supervisor | ||
1998 | The Rugrats Movie | Music supervisor | Soundtrack included Beck Patti Smith, Iggy Pop |
Bulworth | Executive soundtrack producer | ||
1999 | Mystery Men | Music supervisor | |
Office Space | Music supervisor | ||
2000 | What Planet Are You From? | Music supervisor | |
2001 | Moulin Rouge! | Executive soundtrack producer | 4.5× platinum worldwide |
2003 | Holes | Music supervisor | |
Laurel Canyon | Executive soundtrack album producer/music supervisor | ||
2004 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie | Executive music producer | |
2005 | Stay | Music consultant | |
North Country | Music supervisor | ||
2006 | Barnyard | Executive music producer/music supervisor | |
2008 | An American Affair | Music supervisor | |
2009 | Archie's Final Project | Executive producer Executive music producer | Best feature and Golden Bear Berlin Film Festival |
2015 | Sweet Micky for President | Film producer, executive soundtrack producer | Audience Award and Jury Award Slamdance Film Festival |
2017 | Skylanders Academy (TV Series) | Music supervisor | 25 episodes |
2024 | Bookworm | Film composer | [36] |
Eve Jihan Cooper is an American rapper, singer, and actress from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her debut studio album, Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady (1999) peaked atop the Billboard 200, received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned the hit singles "What Ya Want", "Love Is Blind", and "Gotta Man". That same year, she guest featured on the Roots' Grammy Award-winning single "You Got Me", as well as Missy Elliott's single "Hot Boyz", both of which peaked within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Jackie Brown is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on the 1992 novel Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard. It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who smuggles money between the United States and Mexico. Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, and Robert De Niro appear in supporting roles.
James Iovine is an American entrepreneur, former record executive, and media proprietor. He is best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. He became chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M, an umbrella music unit formed by Universal Music Group in 1999.
Prakazrel Samuel Michel, known professionally as Pras, is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, which he formed with fellow New Jerseyans Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill in 1990.
Bulworth is a 1998 American political satire black comedy film co-written, co-produced, directed by, and starring Warren Beatty. It co-stars Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Don Cheadle, Paul Sorvino, Jack Warden, and Isaiah Washington. The film follows the title character, California Senator Jay Billington Bulworth (Beatty), as he runs for re-election while trying to avoid a hired assassin. The film received generally positive reviews and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay yet narrowly failed to break even on a $30 million budget. However, Beatty was praised for tackling race, poverty, dysfunction in the health care system, and corporate control of the political agenda, with eminent legal scholar Patricia J. Williams noting the film examined "racism's intersection with America's deep, and growing, class divide."
"Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" is a song by American rapper Pras, featuring rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard and R&B singer Mýa. Produced by Pras and Wyclef Jean, with co-production from Jerry 'Wonda" Duplessis and Che Pope, it interpolates Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's 1983 single "Islands in the Stream", as written by the Bee Gees, and samples "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved" by James Brown. Also featured on the soundtrack for the 1998 film Bulworth, the song was released as Pras' debut solo single and the second from his debut solo album Ghetto Supastar on June 6, 1998.
Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction is the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction, released on September 27, 1994, by MCA Records. No traditional film score was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll, surf music, pop and soul. The soundtrack is equally untraditional, consisting of nine songs from the film, four tracks of dialogue snippets followed by a song, and three tracks of dialogue alone. Seven songs featured in the film were not included in the original 41-minute soundtrack.
Behind the Front is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Black Eyed Peas released on June 30, 1998, through Interscope Records and will.i.am Music Group.
Roadracers is a 1994 made-for-television film directed by Robert Rodriguez, his second feature film following the success of his 1992 debut, El Mariachi. The film originally aired on Showtime Network as part of their Rebel Highway series that took the titles of 1950s-era B-movies and applied them to original films starring up-and-coming actors of the 1990s and directed by established directors such as William Friedkin, Joe Dante, and Ralph Bakshi. Rodriguez was the only young director to participate in the series. The series was produced by the son and daughter of Samuel Z. Arkoff, the co-founder and producer of American International Pictures (AIP), the distributor of the films this series takes its titles from.
Mya is the debut studio album by American singer Mya. It was released by University Music Entertainment and Interscope Records on April 21, 1998, in the United States. The recording of the contemporary R&B album was overseen by University Records CEO A. Haqq Islam after he signed the singer when she was at the age of 15. The production on Mya was primarily handled by Swing Mob member Darryl Pearson with additional contributions from Daryl Simmons, Alex "Cat" Cantrall, Joey Priolo, and Nokio the N-Tity. Guest appearances include Dru Hill frontman Sisqó, and rappers Silkk the Shocker and Missy Elliott.
Rockland Records was an American record label founded by singer, songwriter and record producer R. Kelly in 1997. It was launched as an imprint of Interscope Records, a division of Universal Music Group. The label signed Chicago-based musical acts including singer Sparkle, hip hop duo Boo & Gotti, and rapper Strings, among others.
Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA) is an American umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, owned by Universal Music Group. It currently consists of record labels Interscope Records and Geffen Records.
Bulworth: The Soundtrack is the soundtrack to Warren Beatty's 1998 film Bulworth. It was released on April 21, 1998 via Interscope Records and consists of hip hop music. The album is composed of fourteen songs and features performances by the likes of B-Real, Canibus, Dr. Dre, Eve, Ice Cube, Kam, KRS-One, LL Cool J, Mack 10, Mýa, Pras, Prodigy, Public Enemy, The Black Eyed Peas, Witchdoctor, Youssou N'Dour, and Wu-Tang Clan's Cappadonna, Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard and RZA, among others.
In the Movies is the fourth compilation album by American rapper and actor Ice Cube. It was released on September 4, 2007, through Priority Records. The collection is composed of 16 previously released songs from several films and film soundtracks in which Ice Cube have contributed, from his acting debut in the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood to 2005's xXx: State of the Union.
Chester French was an American indie pop band consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter David-Andrew 'D.A.' Wallach and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Maxwell Drummey. They met as college students at Harvard University, naming their band after sculptor Daniel Chester French, who designed the statue at the Lincoln Memorial, the John Harvard statue, as well as the Minuteman statue at the Lexington/Concord battlegrounds in Massachusetts. Milwaukee-raised Wallach and Boston native Drummey quickly found a lot of shared ground in musical tastes and philosophies and before long formed a band with three other classmates, playing various campus functions, eventually moving in a direction heavily influenced by classic British Northern Soul. Over the summer both stayed in Cambridge, working hard at songwriting. But when school resumed, they realized that the material went way beyond the basic guitar-bass-drums-piano format of the band, and the duo continued the work themselves, Wallach handling most of the vocals, Drummey performing much of the music on multiple instruments, supplemented with the occasional special guest – and both taking production and engineering duties for recordings.
Desperado: The Soundtrack is the film score to Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado. It was written and performed by the Los Angeles rock bands Los Lobos and Tito & Tarantula, performing traditional Ranchera and Chicano rock music. Other artists on the soundtrack album include Dire Straits, Link Wray, Latin Playboys, and Carlos Santana. Musician Tito Larriva has a small role in the film, and his band, Tito & Tarantula, contributed to the soundtrack as well.
Howard Paar is a British Grammy Award nominee music supervisor who has worked on over sixty films and television series, most notably Monster, Dogtown and Z-Boys, Bully, and The L Word (television).
Southpaw (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) is the official soundtrack to the 2015 film of the same name. The album, performed by various artists, was released on Shady Records and Interscope Records on July 24, 2015.
"Summer Bummer" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey featuring American rappers ASAP Rocky and Playboi Carti featured on her fifth studio album Lust for Life. The song was released for digital download on July 12, 2017, alongside "Groupie Love" featuring ASAP Rocky, as a promotional single with the pre-order of the album. The song was written by the artists, alongside producers BigWhiteBeatz., Boi-1da, Jahaan Sweet, and T-Minus, with additional production credits going to Rick Nowels.
"Supermodel" is a song by American singer-songwriter Jill Sobule from the soundtrack to the 1995 film Clueless. Following the release of the soundtrack, Sobule's self-titled second studio album was reissued with the addition of "Supermodel". The song was released to radio as the third single from the soundtrack and the second single from Sobule's album on August 22, 1995, by Lava Records. The song was written by David Baerwald, David Kitay, Brian MacLeod, and Kristen Vigard, while production was helmed by Brad Jones and Robin Eaton. Lyrically, the song discusses a teenage girl's desire to be a supermodel, which was inspired by excerpts from the teen magazine Sassy.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite news}}
: |last=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)