1) What was the biggest creative challenge posed to you by a recent project? Tell us about the project, why the challenge was particularly noteworthy or gratifying to overcome, or what valuable lesson you learned from it. *

2) What work in 2017 are you most proud of and why? Or what work (advertising or entertainment)--your own or others--has struck a responsive chord with you this year and why? *

3) How has your role--or that of your business or company--evolved over the years? What do you like most about that evolution? What do you like least? *

4) What trends, developments or issues would you point to thus far in 2017 as being most significant, perhaps carrying implications for the rest of the year and beyond?

5) What’s your take on the potential of VR/AR in terms of business and creative opportunities? What have you done in the emerging fields of VR and/or AR? What’s been the biggest learning curve (nuances of spatial sound, etc.) in this arena?

David Wittman
Partner/Creative Director
New Math Music

1) The creative team on the agency side was so passionate about the work that they didn’t confine themselves to the whole “fixed length” thing in the edit. They were sending over :63s, :57s, :72s... We knew it would eventually end up as a :60 for broadcast, but of course we obliged their requests to make it work a bunch of different ways. At the end of the project there was a feeling of accomplishment that came from more than just long hours... I think what we really learned was more of a reminder... that taking the long way around, raising the bar, pushing past a familiar set of confines can ultimately loosen things up and allow the creative process to flourish. It’s good when people care about things.

2) The North Face “Neverstop” spot was special to work on. Mainly because so much of the music was written in real time and in person... and because our client really believed in what we were doing. I also thought that license of “Fantastic Man” by William Onyeabor was great in the Apple “Barbers” spot. We had nothing to do with that, but it worked!!! Hats off to stuff that works.

3) I think music shops function best as partners. Dedicated, committed... not just to writing and creating but to communicating about one of the most subjective and visceral parts of the creative process. An evolution I’d say has been a tendency (for reasons that totally make sense) for people to cast wide nets... and while wide nets keep you safer, they don’t actually write music. People do. Finding something nobody hates isn’t as cool as creating something somebody loves. I think the evolution of the music shop is to focus on that.

4) What year is it again?

5) Despite one of my partners and several of our composers being gaming maniacs, we haven’t done many projects within the VR/AR space yet. we have friends who do, though. outside of the gaming world - and even within the gaming world - we haven’t sensed the kind of demand for content that would necessitate us entering the space. We’re very much intrigued by it, however.

MySHOOT Company Profiles