What is Late Night & Weekends, and what are your responsibilities there?
Late Night and Weekends is a Creative Agency that makes advertising, television, film, and books. I am the co-founder and Executive Producer.

Are there times when a project calls on you to do the same duties as a music supervisor? When does that happen?
It happens on every project, so far. Andrew and I spend a lot of time thinking about music. This is also always a collaboration with the editors, the clients, and most recently, with Domino records, who have been wonderful about exploring their library while thinking about the campaigns.

What was LN&W’s involvement with Puma on the recent “French ’77” campaign?
We were the agency. We developed the content, found the music, and supervised all the post production. And (LN&W co-founder) Andrew Zuckerman, of course, directed the spots.

Describe the branding goals of that campaign – at what point did you realize that music was going to be important to meeting those objectives?
Music is always central to Puma's spots. Nothing we do for them, so far, has any sync sound, so it's all very much driven by music. We've always used a composer, but on this one, they wanted to feature a band, which we were really excited about. Domino was key in helping us find the right one.

What music did you envision for the spots? How did you arrive at the decisions you made regarding genre, sound and tempo?
Puma's objective is to make you smile, make you feel good--and the Mazarin track does that. We found on set, as we played it over and over, and played other songs we liked, that it has exactly the same BPM as every other track we liked. There's something about 164 that works.

Once you had those criteria in mind, how did you start searching for the right track?
Domino provided us with CD's as well as compilations they made--they also just sent tracks via iChat all the time. They had an endless store of energy that was invaluable. Morgan Lebus was always on the job.

What was the winning track? Why did it fit the bill?
"For Energy Infinite" by Mazarin won out for no very complex reason--it's upbeat, fun, and kick-ass without being aggressive.

Was licensing the track easy or difficult? What were the different licenses you had to clear, and who did you work with to make that happen?
Jim Black at Clearsongs has been a terrific resource. He dealt with all of that stuff. Jeff Pachman at Domino and Robbie Lee at I and Ear were incredible to work with--they were super enthusiastic, professional, and never, for a second, a pain in the ass. It's one of those things you think will be a nightmare, but with the three of them it went very smoothly.

How important was the music to this Puma campaign – why did picking the right track make the right difference for bringing the visuals home?
It's crucial--for a campaign that relies so much on timing, the song drives all the action. This campaign had a lot of graphics and the song really gave them character. Also, all the extras were actually dancing to the music on set while we recorded, as if it were a music video. And I think that helped.

Do you enjoy being a music supervisor? Why is it challenging, and conversely why is it rewarding?
I'm not a music supervisor, but I love music, and am actually making a documentary about Bill Withers right now. Late Night & Weekends always has a big interest in the musical direction of the work we do.