Next Year's Rally Will be Held November 1st - 4th, 2018 in Los Angeles
Registration will begin in July, 2018
See Main PanelsView The 2017 Ballroom Panels
See Class ScheduleDownload The PDF
See Class DescriptionsDownload The PDF
One To One Mentor SessionsDownload The PDF
Panelist, Mentor, & Teacher BiosDownload The PDF
Mentor Specialties Quick ViewDownload The PDF
Mentor Lunch InformationDownload The PDF
Buy Your Mentor Lunch TicketsGet Your Tickets
Listening and Feedback SessionsDownload The PDF
Song/Career/Prod Bar SessionsDownload The PDF
Rally Questions Answered/FAQsDownload The PDF
Road Rally Hotel InfoBook Your Discounted Room
Schedule of Events Main Ballroom
This schedule may have minor changes posted in the coming week, but it is about 95% confirmed!
Thursday, November 2nd
Road Rally Registration - Near the Grand Ballroom on the hotel’s first floor. You must have your photo ID to get your Road Rally badge!
One-to-One Mentor Registration - Grand Ballroom Foyer – After you register for the Rally, proceed to One-to-One Mentor Registration in the Ballroom Foyer. Refer to the Mentor Bios sheet to make your selection. Members only, please. One Mentor per member. First-come, first-served basis. Must already be registered and have your Rally badge with you.
Dinner – Eat at the hotel’s Daily Grill (the food is really good) with all the new friends you’ve made during Road Rally Registration!
Open Mics (2) - Concourse Ballroom (2nd floor) and the Mezzanine Theater (top of escalator). Both Open Mics are on a first-come, first-served basis. Members and guests are welcome to perform at the Open Mics!
Friday, November 3rd
Registration - Continues at the Rally Registration desk near the hotel’s Grand Ballroom on the first floor.
Opening Remarks - Grand Ballroom - Grand Ballroom – Legendary Record Producer Michael Lloyd.
Welcome - Grand Ballroom – TAXI Founder and CEO, Michael Laskow. Michael will draw a ticket stub (between 9:00 and 10:30) and one lucky person will win $500 cash to help pay for their Rally travel expenses. You must be in the ballroom and have your Road Rally ticket stub with you to win!
Lifetime Achievement Award - Steve Dorff - Steve Dorff is a gifted composer in every musical field. The secret to his success is his diversity; from scoring major motion pictures, creating music for television and theater, as well as winning the NSAI Songwriter of the Year award, more than 40 BMI awards, 11 Billboard #1 awards, 3 Grammy nominations, 15 Top Ten Hits, 9 # 1 Film Songs, 6 Emmy nominations, Billboard's #1 Song Of The Year, a BMI 3 Million Performance Award, and songs cut by legends like Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, George Strait, and many others.
Cue Immersion – We’ve got TAXI members who make a few thousand dollars a year in their spare time, as well as members making six-figure incomes from licensing Instrumental Cues. Don’t miss this deep dive into Cues if you’d like to see how they’re used in TV shows, and hear lots of well-crafted examples in the most frequently requested genres! Learn what’s needed and how to create it!
Mentor Lunch #1 - Concourse Ballroom (Mezzanine Level / 2nd Floor) – You must have pre-purchased your tickets to attend. Bring your ticket to the luncheon! Bring CDs if you’d like to give some out.
Music Licensing Pitch & Feedback Panel – Grand Ballroom –Songs and Instrumentals (from TAXI members only) played for some of our favorite Music Licensing friends: Rich Goldman (CEO, Riptide/Pacifica); Bob Mair (CEO, Black Toast Music); Michele Wernick (President, MW Music & Wine); Beth Wernick (CEO, Imaginary Friends). CDs need to be put in the drop boxes between the 2nd and 3rd Grand Ballroom doors from 1pm – 2:30pm. Extra drop boxes will also be in the Mentor Lunch room for people attending the luncheon.
This Is How You Do It – Grand Ballroom – TAXI’s Michael Laskow will give you the straight forward steps to building an income stream with Instrumental Cues and Songs for Film, TV, and Advertising. Easy as A, B, C – 1, 2, 3 if you follow the plan and do the work!
The John Braheny The Songwriting Award - Grand Ballroom – TAXI member Chuck Henry will be presented with the “JB” Award, named after legendary songwriting coach and advocate, John Braheny.
Movie Night With Michael – Grand Ballroom – You’re invited to a private screening of BANG! The Bert Berns Story. Don’t miss this very special event! Q&A with the film’s producers will follow. Popcorn served! Available online exclusively through Apple Music and iTunes.
Dinner Break - On your own. Try the Daily Grill in the hotel. Great food! Stop by the sponsors’ booths and give them the attention they deserve for paying for your Road Rally tickets!
Open Mics (2) - Concourse Ballroom (2nd floor) and the Mezzanine Theater (top of escalator). Both Open Mics are on a first-come, first-served basis. Members and guests are welcome to perform at the Open Mics!
Saturday, November 4th
Transitioning to Contemporary – Grand Ballroom – If you’re an old-school, “strummy” Singer/Songwriter, and you’d like to know how to turn your tunes into contemporary sounding music, don’t miss this presentation. Doug Fenske, Director of Education at Crē•8 Music Academy, will show you how! Plus, drawing for a Big Door Prize! You must be present to win.
Crafting Universal Lyrics to Get More Placements – Grand Ballroom – Universal Lyrics make all the difference when you’re competing for highly coveted slots in TV, film, and advertising. Even chart-topping Pop and Country songwriters now use them to get more placements for their songs! Best-selling author Robin Frederick's Master Class unleashes five proven strategies that have made her book Shortcuts to Songwriting for Film & TV the bible for songwriters who want more placements.
Mentor Lunch #2 - Concourse Ballroom (Mezzanine Level / 2nd Floor) – You must have pre-purchased your tickets to attend. Bring your ticket to the luncheon! Bring CDs if you’d like to give some out.
Spotting: How Supervisors Decide Which Music They Need – Grand Ballroom – Music Supervisor Mason Cooper will walk you through a typical Spotting Session where decisions are made about the type of music each scene needs. 99% of musicians never get to see this. Watch this and be part of the 1% that kicks everybody else’s butt.
Music Supervisor Listening and Feedback Panel – Grand Ballroom – Members (only) get their randomly drawn songs heard by this awesome panel of Music Supervisors: Mason Cooper (Film/TV); Frank Palazzolo (Scripted TV); Jonathan Weiss (Unscripted TV); Susan Dolan (Film/TV/Ads); and Jacob Nathan (Film/TV). CDs need to be put in the drop boxes between the 2nd and 3rd Grand Ballroom doors from 2pm – 3:30pm.
Music Supervisor Q&A – Grand Ballroom – This is your chance to hang out with some Music Supervisors and ask them anything you want! This panel is the organic result of Michael’s conversations with Supervisors that make him say, “Man, I wish our members could hear this!” Now you can! Grab a drink at the lobby bar, come on in, and join us for this open forum with some really smart masters of their craft!
Dinner Break -You should have tons of new friends to dine with!
Open Mics (2) - Concourse Ballroom (2nd floor) and the Mezzanine Theater (top of escalator). Both Open Mics are on a first-come, first-served basis. Members and guests are welcome to perform at the Open Mics!
Sunday, November 5th
Early Birds Get the Worm Listening Panel – Grand Ballroom – Members & Guests; get your randomly drawn Songs and Instrumentals reviewed by a great mixed bag of Executives skilled in Music Supervision, Composing, and Licensing: Russ Howard III (Composer/Music Supervisor); Jeff Freundlich (Co-Owner/COO, Fervor Records/Wild Whirled); Daniel Higbee (Head of Artist Development, Secret Road); Pedro Costa (CEO, InStyle Music). CDs (Songs & Instrumentals) need to go in drop boxes between the 2nd and 3rd Grand Ballroom doors from 8:15am – 9:15am.
How Video Editors Choose and Use Music – Grand Ballroom – Music Supervisors aren’t the only people deciding which music gets used. Video editors choose and use thousands of cues and songs every day. Television Editor Laurel Mick Ostrander will show you how editors audition, pick, edit, and lay in the music you hear on TV every day. Dramatically increase your “sync-ability” quotient by seeing this real-world demonstration, plus Q&A session.
Lunch - No Mentor Lunch today. You’re on your own. Enjoy the Daily Grill. Because there is no Mentor Lunch today, the Daily Grill will be very busy! Plan accordingly, and allow plenty of time to get seated and eat. This might be a good day to try some fast food on Century Blvd.
Screening with TAXI’s A&R Team – Grand Ballroom – TAXI members frequently ask us how the Screeners work, what they’re looking for while they listen, and how they decide what gets forwarded or returned. You ask, and we deliver! Watch two members of our A&R Team (Brooke Ferri and Jonathan Weiss) as they screen member submissions for a current TAXI Listing, right before your eyes! Get insight you can’t get anywhere else, and cast your votes as well!
Success Is No Accident – Grand Ballroom – With Bobby Borg, Gilli Moon, Aventurina King, Sydney Alston, and Mark Steiner. Your image, marketing, and social media, along with streaming, selling, booking gigs, business skills, and persistence are all pieces of the success puzzle. Going from unknown indie to becoming a household name isn’t a matter of luck. Our experts will help you figure out the steps you need to take to get to the top of the ladder of success.
The Happy Ending Pitch Panel – Grand Ballroom – This panel of Music Industry All-Stars will listen to randomly selected songs from TAXI members and guests alike during this Rally-ending Pitch Panel. Michael Lloyd (100x Platinum Producer, Music Supervisor); Tanvi Patel (Music Licensing Executive); Rob Chiarelli (100x Platinum, Grammy-Winning Producer, Mixer); Ron Harris (A&R/Multi-Platinum Producer); and Brooke Ferri (Music Licensing Executive). CDs (Songs & Instrumentals) need to go in drop boxes between the 2nd and 3rd Grand Ballroom doors from 3:30pm – 5:00pm.