19 Sep '23 - blog / Event report

LA Sync Mission: “You won’t get a lot of chances like these if you’re working from the Netherlands. You have to meet people face-to-face.”

That’s what LA-based music composer Joep Sporck says. Among his recent projects are trailers for Pixar’s Lightyear, Netflix TV series Wednesday, and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. Last week, entrepreneurs like Joep come to Los Angeles for LA Sync Mission 2023, a mission that connects them with the creative industry of the city.

Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world, a breeding ground for creative industries. With the presence of the largest film and music studios, the creative character of the city makes it an attractive hub for actors, writers, dancers, and musicians from all over the world.

We see or hear a product of Los Angeles on our phone, TV, or in public every day. Being home to more than 244,000 businesses, the economy of Los Angeles is strong. If LA was a country, it would be the 19th largest economy in the world.

Sporck thinks that the LA Sync Mission can be a catalyst in this sector. “These kind of missions are all about contacts,” he said. “I currently get a lot of work for my existing network, but it is always great to have the opportunity to expand this network. I haven’t done a lot in the area of games, so this mission might create an opening for this.”

The Netherlands Business Support Office supports Dutch entrepreneurs in the LA metropolitan area, including creative and talented entrepreneurs from the Dutch media music sector.

Together with Buma Music in Motion, the NBSO LA organized a Sync mission this week for 20 selected Dutch composers, producers, and creatives. Through workshops and meetings, they will connect to the LA music and media sector.

Peter Post, Chief Representative of the NBSO LA, explains why missions like these can be so important. “LA Sync creates the opportunity to open doors and connect with decision-makers in key players such as Amazon, Netflix, Blizzard, Spotify, Fox, Snapchat, just to name a few,” he said. “The objective is to position and promote the talented Dutch media music sector with the ultimate goal to score more music in films, trailers, advertisement, and games.”

Sofia Dragt is also one of the participants. She has released several songs as a solo artist, wrote music for the nature documentary “Grutto!” and is working on the music for the Greendocs documentary “The Green Musketeer.”

The Dutch-based composer looks forward to the mission’s variety of activities. “My first goal is to get inspired,” she said. “By meeting other professionals from the industry I’ll be able to expand my network, but I can also show myself as a European creator. I’m mostly looking forward to the one-on-ones with the different music supervisors. This gives me the opportunity to make that personal connection.”

Asking her about the potential lessons she wants to bring home to the Netherlands, Sofia said, “I don’t believe my work is limited to borders. A lot of it is already used outside of the Netherlands. Looking to the industry from the other side allows me to open up to different viewpoints outside of my own cockpit, so I hope to bring lessons about new working methods back home.”

Interview by The Netherlands and you