hear a song you like, if you stop and remember how it makes you feel.
Did it make you feel sad or happy? What kind of scene could you see it
in? Remember feeling, the song title, and the album. Start compiling CDs
and make a separate place for songs you love."
Professional Profile: Barklie Griggs,
Music Supervisor/Owner, Tilted World Music
It would be hard to decide which Barklie Griggs loves more: films or
music. As a teenager, the two consumed all his time and money. "I was
always a music fan and a movie buff. I loved going to see movies and I
loved listening to music. I paid attention to the music used in films. `I'm
Alright' by Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack, Simple Minds' `Don't You
Forget About Me' in The Breakfast Club, `Get Into the Groove' in
Desperately Seeking Susan by Madonna; the sound track to Diner was a
favorite. I began to buy sound tracks and just started learning more and
more about music."
After high school gradua-
tion, Griggs moved from New
York to Los Angeles and
worked as a waiter while
trying to decide what to do
with his life. Talking with a
regular customer one day, he
discovered the man was a film
music supervisor. The idea that
someone was paid to organize
the music for a film had never
occurred to Griggs, but now
that it had, he realized this was
a way to combine his two great
loves into a career. Offering to
quit his job on the spot and
work for free to learn the busi-
ness, he was politely turned
down. Undaunted, he formu-
lated a plan.
Griggs began frequenting
record stores daily, reading
album covers and making a list
of the names and titles of all
the music people involved
with film sound tracks.
What do you like
least about your job?
"There is a certain
amount of ego in the
movie business, and some
of those with bad egos can
ruin the business because
they make everything so uncomfortable and
limiting. You're not inspired by somebody
trying to impose their will just because they
can, not because that is the best creative
choice."--Barklie Griggs
What do you love most
about your job?
"Being able to have control over or having a
big part of the emotion of a scene that makes
people feel a certain way. There is nothing
greater than sitting in a screening of a movie
and a scene comes on that you know the
music is going to start turning people inside
out emotionally. They start to feel love or
scared or conflicted; that's really the best part
of this job. You get to have a creative impact
on a movie."--Barklie Griggs
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
User Comments Add a comment…