Tell us a bit about your organization and what your specialty is in the film and video space.

“Stop the Iron Pipeline” is an initiative to bring about awareness and policy change surrounding the issue of illegal gun trafficking in the state of Maryland (and the surrounding DMV area). Three years in the making, the campaign has generated thousands of petition signatures which have in turn helped catalyze important legal and legislative action around illegal gun trafficking. The centerpiece of the campaign is a galvanizing short film that tells the story of a gun trafficker traveling up the Iron Pipeline (I-95), concluding with him selling a gun to a teenager. The film is soundtracked by a personal and powerful original song by Maryland-born hip hop superstar Logic, produced by Maryland native 6ix, and featuring The Baltimore Resonate Children’s Choir. The Music Playground was brought on as a partner in this project for live action production, post-production, music supervision, artist and choir casting, music strategy and creative direction, music production, clearances, licensing, and day-to-day facilitation with artist management, as well as a 360° PR, and social media liaison and strategist.

Finally, The Music Playground oversaw the release of the track as a single on streaming platforms, as an extended version featuring a guest verse from fellow Maryland native hip hop artist Oddisee. The release of the track supercharged the campaign and led to thousands of additional petition signatures and additional policy action around the issue of illegal gun trafficking, as well as an outpouring of support from both artists’ fan communities.

What is your organization’s ethos and how does it set you apart from industry competitors?

We are driven by a team of producers, composers, music supervisors, up and coming indie bands & artists, singers, and A&R creatives. We have recently partnered with a few labels as well, expanding our band and artist catalog to over 12,000 tracks in a wide variety of genres and across global territories. We pride ourselves on creating or finding what is new, trending, or just the perfect soundtrack for any media project need. We know that great creative must always be matched by great service.

We have been collaborating with our creative partners for over 20 years to source, license, produce, and create the sound you love. Acting as a creative hub for both artist licensing and original music enables us to foster a collaborative spirit with bands, artists, and composers who often work together, side-by-side, tightly integrating all of our talent to provide a comprehensive creative approach and provide the best creative options possible.

How can people join or learn more about what you do?

People can contact The Music Playground for original and custom music by contacting custom@themusicplayground.com. For artist and band music supervision, contact syncteam@themusicplayground.com. To join the band and artist TMP roster, visit our website.

Tell us about your Telly Award winning piece. What’s the story behind it?

“Stop the Iron Pipeline” is a long-term advocacy campaign tackling illegal gun trafficking in Maryland and the greater DMV area. The initiative has mobilized thousands of petition signatures, fueling critical legal and legislative progress.

The Music Playground partnered on the project as a full-service creative force—providing music supervision, live action production, post production, and serving as a 360° PR and social media strategist to amplify the campaign’s impact.

What are you most proud of about this piece? What was your biggest challenge during production and how did you solve it?

That the ultimate goal was reached: Policy change. Because of this campaign and partnership with LifeBridge Health and Grammy-nominated artist, Logic bringing about national awareness to this issue, SB 443 is being signed into law in the State of Maryland, which reclassifies the trafficking of regulated firearms as a felony and strengthens penalties for those who bring illegal guns into our state. It’s a major win for public safety and community health.

The biggest challenge this production faced was casting the artist to be the voice behind this message. This process took 4 months as it was not only key to find an artist with a large reach, but someone from Maryland who grew up and/or experienced gun violence. This talent search involved reviewing the music, image, and background of hundreds of artists, from DIY to Platinum-selling, household names, as well as discussing terms with various management companies and publishers given that a single release was part of the project. It was a miracle to have gotten in touch with Logic’s team and almost immediately gain his trust and approval of the project.

Do you have any advice to other filmmakers based on your career or your team’s approach to work?

Create the art you want to exist in the world.

Can you share a behind the scenes story or fun fact about the making of your piece?

The children’s choir sessions proved to be the highlight of this project for all involved. The kids ranged from age 7-14 years ago and brought so much energy, joy and above all, endurance, to the project. The choir recording session went on for 3 hours, which took place after a full school day for these children, which you can only imagine how tough it is to maintain their attention span and stamina. That’s where periodic snack breaks and downtime helped out. In the end, their excitement and passion is carried over to everyone working on this project, as we all tuned in remotely to the choir session.

Tell us about the most memorable response you got from this work.

The most memorable response from this experience was receiving a voicenote from Logic when the campaign launched, where he expressed his admiration and respect for the work we did on this project. He went into great detail about every element we executed and how proud he was to be associated with it and collaborate with us. Coming from an artist of his stature, we didn’t take that for granted.

Complete this sentence: ‘Great video storytelling is…’

… evident when the viewer can emotionally connect in some way to the story and visuals. It can be impactful in giving a voice to people, or experiences or stories who need a voice.