With the film industry changing at warp speed, songwriter Douglas Ray Jaffe and award-winning producer and professor Craig Brandwein make students’ lives smoother with a free catalog of music.
NASHVILLE, TN– This month, songwriter-producer duo Douglas Ray Jaffe and Craig Brandwein, whose Southeastern-based collaboration goes under the umbrella The Douglas Ray Jaffe Project, decided to do something bold. In reflecting upon their own college experiences at the University of Alabama and Long Island University Post (LIU), respectively, they realized how meaningful it would be to make the lives of film students easier. Brandwein, the Professor of Music Technology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been a composer, music supervisor, and editor for over 12 independent film projects. He often had the liberty to give emerging artists some traction by featuring them on the soundtrack. As someone who recently got a song he recorded in the ’80s, by rock ‘n’ roll band Coda, plugged in a Dennis Quaid film, Brandwein knows the power that cinema can have to raise a band’s profile. In thinking about how the pair could contribute to the lives of students, Brandwein bounced a whacky idea off his collaborator one day: “What if we made our catalogue of music available royalty-free for film students to license in any project they like?”
“Similar to how I saw an opportunity to get unsigned artists’ royalties, credits, and exposure by putting their songs on a soundtrack, I realized we could have the same experience by sharing our songs for no sync fee, and getting them plugged into student films, which is essentially a win-win for everyone,” says Brandwein.
The Douglas Ray Jaffe Project flaunts the namesake songwriter’s lyrical prowess and Brandwein’s ability to bring the right singers to the table to channel Jaffe’s lyrics. The Project’s songs range from country and rock ‘n’ roll to adult contemporary, meaning their versatility as far as songs for films go is vast.
Jaffe, a fanatic of classic films, explains how including his new songs in student projects could give them new life, possibly with the next Scorsese: “My songs, which I believe are fresh and relatable, will hopefully spark new ideas for students or advance their lives and careers by providing the perfect backdrop for a scene.”
Brandwein teaches students about streaming, verticals, and other film-related trends, meaning he identifies those who are capable of adapting to a constantly changing landscape. As a professor, Brandwein knows better than anyone that the next big artist could be right around the corner, so why not get on their radar before they blow up? “All we are asking for is credit because there is little cooler than for your creation to be a major part of moving a story along, no matter the size or scale,” says the cinephile who is genre-agnostic.
The songs from the entire Douglas Ray Jaffe catalogue will be available to film students starting in September.