From inception to execution, our client Cutting Edge Group is an international one-stop shop for music publishing, financing, supervision, licensing, royalty tracking and soundtrack releases. With a combined experience of almost 20 years, Cutting Edge Group’s Tara Finegan, North American Chief Operating Officer, and Michael Kurtz, Head of Music, are committed to preserving the art of the cinematic score.
“For us, it starts with identifying interesting film and television projects,” Tara explained. “We deeply value the relationships with our producer and filmmaker partners with whom we continue to work with time and time again.”
For Cutting Edge, those partnerships have led to recent films that have set the box office on fire, including the John Wick trilogy, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and both Sicario films.
The company is engaged with many projects throughout the year, so they look for diversity when choosing what to add to its slate, she explained. Cutting Edge gets involved in projects early in the process with reading scripts, reviewing casting, looking at director choices and will often make a deal as the film is assembling its financing. Tara illustrated the importance of getting involved in the preliminary stages, “Once we are involved in a project, we focus on making the music the best it can be and delivering on the vision of the filmmaker,” she said. “That means working with the most innovative and varied range of talent, spanning a wide range of music styles.”
“Once we are involved in a project, we focus on making the music the best it can be and delivering on the vision of the filmmaker. That means working with the most innovative and varied range of talent, spanning a wide range of music styles.”
– Tara Finegan, North American COO, Cutting Edge
After the music and the film are complete, Cutting Edge’s Head of Music Michael Kurtz explains, “We add the tracks to the company’s one-stop licensing catalog, Music.Film.” In the span of a year, Cutting Edge will work with some of the world’s top composers over the course of approximately 30 investment projects. Those artists have included the talents of Rupert Gregson-Williams for Hacksaw Ridge, Cliff Martinez’s synth-electronica score for Drive, Justin Hurwitz’s jazz-based work for Whiplash and Jóhann Jóhannsson’s visceral blend of sound design for Sicario. All the scores are added to the Music.Film catalog, which currently boasts over 500 soundtracks from films with over 41 Academy Award Nominations.
The next stage for Cutting Edge begins as the film approaches its release date, and the project moves to the Music.Film Recordings team, which focuses on marketing and distributing music to the general public through its in-house label.
“We have a core audience of people obsessed with film and TV scores,” Tara explained. “But, we also market to anyone who loves the film itself, so there is a multiplicity of approaches, including working with the marketing team at the film and distribution companies, promoting to the composer’s fans and music lovers in general.”
“We have a core audience of people obsessed with film and TV scores. But, we also market to anyone who loves the film itself, so there is a multiplicity of approaches, including working with the marketing team at the film and distribution companies, promoting to the composer’s fans and music lovers in general.”
– Tara Finegan, North American COO, Cutting Edge
Cutting Edge’s soundtracks can be found everywhere, from digital formats, such as Spotify and Apple Music, to CD releases and vinyl. Last year, Cutting Edge released Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, a special from the 70s, with previously un-released music from the famed composer and songwriter Paul Williams.
Once both the film and music have been released, Michael spends his time envisioning interesting and innovative ways to continue the life cycle of the music. He engages trailer editors, advertising agencies, music supervisors, and documentary filmmakers with the opportunity to utilize the company’s music catalog for their specific purposes.
Cutting Edge receives requests to use the music in every arena imaginable, from virtual reality to live ballet. A good example is a recent inquiry to use Carter Burwell’s score from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in a Martin McDonagh play.
“Our goal is to make everyone aware that our catalog of film scores is accessible and available for any interesting project.”
– Michael Kurtz, Head of Music, Cutting Edge
Michael explained that many people do not believe they can touch the film scores from these great composers. “Our goal is to make everyone aware that our catalog is accessible and available for any interesting project,” he said. “We receive many requests from ad agencies, music supervisors, and trailer houses, who want to license a track from our catalog, or who ask us to customize/remix a piece.”
This involves tailoring the music from the catalog to fit the new project’s needs. The company has customized tracks for Netflix, Apple, Amazon and Disney. Michael said the company loves marrying incredibly high-quality music with ground-breaking productions in new and exciting ways, which has included a Sicario cue for the Mowgli trailer, a remixed cue from Carol for Ferrari, and a cue from Drive for a trailer for Amy. Having all the stems for these scores allows for remixes, re-edits (and sometimes re-imaginations) that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. Recently, Michael has also been responsible for producing fully custom pieces for trailers, as well as brands such as Toyota and StubHub.
A large part of his job is convincing companies that Cutting Edge’s music is very easy to clear, Michael explained. He said frequently people will see notable composer names, such as Justin Hurwitz or Jóhann Jóhannsson, and think the company’s music is difficult to license.
“Whether for one-off individual needs or for annual blanket deals, we have a one-stop, non-union, award-winning catalog of film scores that are eminently licensable.”
– Michael Kurtz, Head of Music, Cutting Edge
“With creative and licensing teams in both London and Los Angeles, as well as a custom arm, Music.Film offers unparalleled quality and rapid responses to briefs and licensing queries around the clock,” Michael said. “Whether for one-off individual needs or for annual blanket deals, we have a one-stop, non-union, award-winning catalog of film scores that are eminently licensable.”
