The Soundtrack Project

The Greater Memphis Chamber sought to promote twin, seemingly unrelated aspects of their storied city: its diverse small-business landscape, and an artistic depth in performing arts beyond rock and blues. 

We created The Soundtrack Project, a multi-part video series that profiled engaging entrepreneurs while tapping members of the city’s strong symphony orchestra as partners.

For each, symphony composers took an active role in the creative process, joining our team for interviews and filming. The result is vernacular scores that truly reflected the personalities of each business and business owner, from the laconic outlook of a cattle farmer to the emotional journey to American citizenship.

The project received regional Emmy Awards for writing and editing, a silver national ADDY Award, and an honorable mention from TED Talks’ global “Ads Worth Spreading” competition, honoring the most innovative forms of storytelling in advertising.

 Written and produced by John Hubbell. Filmed and edited by Lance Murphey. Original scores by Jonathan Kirkscey, Robert Patterson and Marshall Fine, performed by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Recorded at Music + Arts Studio, mixed by Kevin Houston.