Lindsey Z.

Evan Kropp
TELE 3110
25 September 2012
Documentary Treatment Assignment
Title: Alexandra Patsavas: A Look into the Life of a Music Supervisor
Format and Length: Feature Length Documentary, 60 minutes
Objective: The primary objective of this documentary is to manifest the successful career of Alexandra
Patsavas as a music supervisor. The film informs and entertains the audience of the role of the music
supervisor by looking into the life of Alexandra Patsavas and how she has revolutionized this career.
Prelude/ Exposition: (Intertitle): Music supervision is the art of synchronizing music and picture to
evoke emotion from the audience. In film and television production, the music supervisor is the
gatekeeper of this phenomena. Acting as a bridge between the business and creative ends, the music
supervisor is responsible for clearing and placing songs. He or she decides what music will go with
which scene, while also making sure it fits within the project's budget. With the development of the
internet and decreasing CD sales, music placement has become more important as a business tactic.
This has motivated the trend of using independent music in commercials, television, and film.
Alexandra Patsavas is a key player in starting this major change, by promoting unknown bands with
potential through television and film. Not only did this create a whole new business model of
marketing, it also created a new soundtrack experience for the audience. Alexandra Patsavas has
revolutionized the role of the music supervisor. Here is her story.
Treatment: The documentary, Alexandra Patsavas: A Look into the Life of a Music Supervisor,
utilizes the technique of the narrative documentary. The life of Alexandra Patsavas is illuminated
through the biographical approach, telling her story with a beginning, middle, and end. Since she is still
alive, the "end" of her story is her current endeavours. Narration is provided by a narrator using third
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person point of view, talking over picture montages and video clips to inform and entertain the
audience of Alexandra's life. The narrator acts as an "all-knowing" observer, conveying the facts of her
career experiences. Alexandra Patsavas' voice-over and video clips from her interview act as firstperson point of view throughout the film, informing and entertaining the audience first hand about the
duties of her job and her success with her career. The setting of her interview, used as clips in the film,
is her Chop Shop Records office in Los Angeles, California. The intended audience is males and
females within the age range of 18 to 35. The age range is relatively limited because her career jump
started in 1998. This style of documentation greatly resembles the style used in Behind the Music
documentaries featured on VHI, which focus on the the careers and rise to fame of successful people in
the music industry.
The opening scene of the documentary starts in Alexandra Patsava's office in the afternoon. A
long shot of Alexandra at her desk is seen, along with rows of records, CD's, and paperwork lining the
shelves behind her. A man sits at a chair by her desk, pointing at sketches and scripts while using
exaggerated hand motions and film jargon explaining a movie scene. The audience has now assumed
he is a director.The camera zooms in slowly as Alexandra turns her chair to play a song on her
computer. Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel, a song featured on one of her soundtracks,
fades in as the director smiles and mouths the word, Perfect. The camera zooms in more to
Alexandra turning back to him and signing her signature at the bottom of a licensing agreement. Fading
to black, the title Alexandra Patsavas: A Look Into the Life of a Music Supervisor is seen over a
black screen, as the song continues in the background. A voice-over of Alexandra is heard proclaiming,
I am Alexandra Patsavas, and I am a music supervisor.
In order to fully captivate the audience, the documentary starts off with a list of achievements
Alexandra has accomplished. The narrator lists off titles she has earned as a montage of pictures of her
featured in magazines and posing for paparazzi are shown. These titles include, Advertisement Age's
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"Entertainment's Marketer of the Year 2006", one of Billboard's "Top Women in Music", and
MUSEXPO's "International Person of the Year". The audience's attention is grasped, making a smooth
transition to her biographical history.
The content of the documentary is split within a sixty minute period, including a fifteen minute
segment of Alexandra's early years. This portion highlights her childhood and monumental steps
towards her career. Some of these highlights include her life as a music obsessed girl from the suburbs
of Chicago, her college years booking bands at the University of Illinois, working for the agency "Triad
Artists" and BMI, and being hired by director Roger Corman for her first film, with fifty more to
follow. Throughout this narration of her early years, interviews with Roger Corman, her parents, and
early acquaintances are featured as voice-overs and clips. Music from bands she booked as a college
promoter tie scenes together, such as Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, and Jane's Addiction.
Her early years flood into her fast rise to success, by transitioning to the formation of her own
music company, Chop Shop Music Supervision. Music featured in the beginning of this portion
includes Coldplay, Dido, and the Doves as Alexandra's interview explains how she was able to sense
unknown bands at the time with potential for the first shows she worked on, such as Roswell. Third
person narration will explain her claim to fame with working as music supervisor for the O.C. and
Grey's Anatomy. This fifteen minute segment will focus on her golden years of changing the music and
film industries. Clips from Alexandra's interview will be featured in this portion, explaining how she
was able to use lesser-known bands in big television series, ultimately gaining them exposure and
changing the soundtrack experience. Interviews with producers such as Josh Shwartz of the O.C. and
Gossip Girl, Shonda Rhimes of Grey's Anatomy, and Matthew Weiner of Mad Men are featured as
examples of producers who trust Alexandra's work completely. These producers explain how they have
rehired Alexandra countless times, with full trust that she has an ear for the perfect song for the right
scene. Also, interviews with bands such as Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers, The Fray, and Modest
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Mouse are featured as bands promoted through her shows in soundtracks and live performances. They
explain how their careers benefited as a result. The end of this segment features her work on movies
such as the Twilight saga, known for their unique indie soundtracks with high sales.
The third fifteen minute portion focuses on her current company Chop Shop Records.
Alexandra and the narrator explain how the company provides unsigned artists featured in her work
with a record label. These artists are then promoted also by her company. Chop Shop's signed artists
such as Anya Marina, The Republic Tigers, and Milo Greene act as the musical transitions throughout
these clips. Interviews with co-workers and music coordinators Kasey Truman, Ginger Whitman, and
Brittany Whyte explain the influence of Alexandra Patsavas on their lives and what every day work is
like with her. Her most recent endeavour, working on the soundtrack for the adaptation Perks of Being
a Wallflower, will be the very last topic. She discusses how the musical references featured in the book,
set in the late 1980's, influenced her soundtrack decisions. This leaves the audience excited with a new
movie they can see including her work.
The last remaining fifteen minutes is the scattered amount of time needed for clips of scenes
from movies and television where her music placement moved audiences significantly. In these
featured clips, Alexandra gives an inside view of what she was thinking at the time when she chose the
song and how she grasped the emotions of the scene before adding music. Throughout the entire
documentary, voice-overs of Alexandra explains the roles and duties of being a music supervisor. This
includes a very simple overview of the business side of her job, which encompasses working with
licensing companies and signing agreements to be able to place songs in film and television. These
scenes are located at her Los Angeles office and are embedded with the scenes of her rise to fame.
Alternating between Alexandra's history of success and her everyday work with directors and
musicians keeps the audience on their toes.
The last scene of the documentary ends where it began, in Alexandra's office. This time, the
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scene is a long shot of her desk at night, clearly shown by the dark windows overlooking the Los
Angeles car headlights and buildings. A dim lamp is the only light in the room, shining on a concert
ticket. Alexandra shuts off her computer and grabs her black leather jacket off a hook as the chorus of
the song most associated with her work, "California" by Phantom Planet, is playing. The lyrics
"California here we come" is heard as she picks up her concert ticket and shuts off the lamp to her
desk. The screen fades to black as she says, "I am Alexandra Patsavas and I changed music supervision
forever." The credits roll in as the song continues to play, leaving the audience reflecting over the
power of the individual they experienced.
This documentary defines our age today through an inspiring inside look at two businesses that
control much of what we think and do. The subjects of music and film are the basis of many successful
documentaries in the past. These subjects combined make one inspiring experience. Success stories
have always inspired audiences, especially those of females in the business world in recent years. This
documentary touches all bases of adoration, by ultimately telling a story that has never been told.