Sync Friendly Songwriting Retreat A Success!
Casablanca Media Publishing Inc. hosted a songwriters’ retreat at the Deerhurst
Resort in Huntsville Ontario. Co-sponsored by SOCAN, fifteen songwriters from Casablanca,
Universal, Sony, EMI and the independent songwriting sector, collaborated over three
days to create and record sixteen amazing, diverse and synch-friendly songs (listen
to some of them in our Featured Audio Clips section).
In addition to the songs born out of collaborating with like-minded, talented people,
the songwriters were also given the choice of writing to task for specific upcoming
commercials, network television series episodes and promotions that Casablanca had
received through discussions with music supervisors from the US and Canada. "The
songwriters were excited that there was a sync-driven focus to the retreat", said
Jana Cleland, Director of Music Publishing at Casablanca. "It really helped to fuel
and focus their creativity, and as a result they wrote some really fantastic songs
that will have a long life in commercials, TV and film and will also be covered
by artists."
The event was wrapped by live performances, as well as some hot dancing moves, at
an industry showcase in Toronto at the Gladstone Hotel. The incredible collaborations
marked the beginning of some great writing teams that will be creating more future
chart toppers.

Photo credits: Back row (from left to right): Joel Parkes, Jaylene Johnson, Matt
DeMatteo, Charles F., José Miguel Contreras, Brandon Chandler, Joseph Janisse, David
Markham Front row: Jeff Dalziel, Jana Cleland (Casablanca Media Publishing) Skye
Sweetnam, Amy Eligh (Casablanca Media Publishing), Josh Schroeder, Andrea de Boer,
Mandippal Jandu, Peter Copp, Hannah Georgas Missing: David Martin