June 25, 2021 – Music clearance expert Deborah Mannis-Gardner — Owner/President of DMG Clearances, Inc. and the “Queen of Sample Clearance” according to Billboard, Forbes, Midem, Music Week, Okayplayer, Variety, and more — has been named Music Supervisor of the feature film Spinning Gold, a biopic of Casablanca Records founder and leader Neil Bogart that was written and directed by his son, Timothy Scott Bogart. It is Mannis-Gardner’s second Music Supervisor credit, following her work on HBO’s Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine docu-series The Defiant Ones, for which she won the Best Music Supervision in a Docuseries or Reality Television award from the Guild of Music Supervisors.
Spinning Gold will include new versions of classic songs from Neil Bogart’s artist roster performed by the cast, which includes Jeremy Jordan as Neil Bogart, Wiz Khalifa as George Clinton of Parliament, Jason Derulo as Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers, Tayla Parx as Donna Summer, Ledisi as Gladys Knight, and Sam Harris of X Ambassadors as Paul Stanley of KISS, as well as Jay Pharoah, Michelle Monaghan, Jason Isaacs, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dan Fogler, Chris Redd, Peyton List, Pink Sweat$, Casey Likes, Alex Gaskarth, Jimmy Wolk, Michael Ian Black, and Vinnie Pastore. Featured tracks include “Last Dance” and “Love to Love You Baby” by Donna Summer, “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)” by Parliament, “Fight the Power” and “It’s Your Thing” by The Isley Brothers, “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & The Pips, “Lean on Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers, “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “Shout It Out Loud” by KISS, and “Oh Happy Day” by The Edwin Hawkins Singers.
“It’s been a joy working with Tim and Evan Bogart, the producers on Spinning Gold, a real labor of love all around,” said Mannis-Gardner. “It’s crucial for the music to live up to Neil’s legacy and that of his artists, and I’m honored they trusted me to help them secure the songs for the right performers at the right moments. Major thanks to [music producer] Evan and [Atlantic Records President] Kevin Weaver for bringing the recordings to life, and to the cast for knocking their performances out of the park.”
Production on Spinning Gold is currently underway in New Jersey, with Capstone planning to introduce the film to market buyers shortly at the Cannes Virtual Market.
Mannis-Gardner, the go-to expert for global music rights clearances, has previously handled music clearances for films by Martin Scorsese, The Coen Brothers, and Richard Linklater; TV series such as Dave and Virginia Grohl’s From Cradle to Stage on Paramount +, as well as The Serpent and #BlackAF on Netflix; ad campaign clearances for Google, Ciroc, and Kmart; podcast music clearances for Dave Chappelle’s The Midnight Miracle, Rick Rubin and Malcolm Gladwell’s Broken Record, and The Actual Stretch and Bobbito Show; video game clearances for Rockstar Games franchises such as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption; Grand Rights clearance for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway sensation Hamilton and music clearances for its release on Disney+; and political campaign clearances for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign.
She is also a legend in the sample clearance space, having cleared releases for artists including Drake, Tyler the Creator, DJ Khaled, Eminem, Pop Smoke, Logic, Justin Bieber, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Frank Ocean, Jay-Z, John Legend, Megan Thee Stallion, Big K.R.I.T., Brockhampton, French Montana, Big Sean, J. Cole, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and more.
For more information on Mannis-Gardner or DMG Clearances, Inc., visit www.dmgclearances.com.