Joel Evans wrote the music and Adryan Russ penned the lyrics to their song “Is It Me?,” which was recently placed by MusicSupervisor.com in the acclaimed film Doubt starring Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Joel’s San Francisco-based company Cinemasters has music placed in over 250 television episodes and over 60 films including Wedding Crashers. Cinemasters’ library of custom music spotlights swing, jazz and big band. Adryan conceived and wrote music and lyrics for Inside Out, an award-winning  off-Broadway musical, co-written with playwright Doug Haverty. The show has played in New York and around the world. She also has had many covers including Barry White’s recording of her song, “The Better Love Is, the Worse It Is When It’s Over.”

What did you think about the usage of your song “Is It Me” in the film Doubt?

Joel: I was laughing because the actors were too boisterous in the scene and they were masking our music!

You are a true songwriter and musician. Those darn actors!

Adryan: And so rowdy too!

How did you both meet and come to write “Is It Me?”

Joel: We met at an industry event at the Society of Songwriters and Lyricists. Adryan was a row behind me.

Adryan: Actually we went out to get some water at one of the breaks, and we found each other.

Joel: I said I came to this thing to look for lyricists.

Adryan: And I’m here to look for composers! So Joel sent me a couple pieces of music and I instantly fell in love with his music. There was no doubt in my mind I wanted to write lyrics to this great music.

Joel: “Is it Me?’” came about because I was working on a project to replace 50′s pop. We listened to old records, picked out some songs to emulate. This song was somewhat in the vein of “Strangers in the Night.” Our vocalist Michael Dees is such a great singer, his vocal really inhabits the recording

Adryan: I also believe “Is it Me?” was selected in part because of the title. Obviously the music was perfect for that time period, and Michael Dees vocal is great. But because of the questions raised in the film (about a priest accused of child molestation), maybe the title helped, although the song is just about love.

What do you think of musicsupervisor.com or other companies like us?

Joel: I have some pieces with music libraries, in those cases you don’t participate in all the revenue streams. One of the great things about musicsupervisor.com is that we keep all our publishing. I was very pleasantly surprised to look online at my revenue stream from you and see that there were more than just a couple of zeroes behind the licensing fee! Sometimes even the very well known libraries will throw things in films for gratis or a couple hundred bucks. We all do that on occasion –  you never know if we might have the next Little Miss Sunshine.  With Doubt, you got us a reasonable fee, and our (100%) backend participation. Very nice! I’ve used Taxi and other services, and over time you learn where you want to gravitate towards. It’s important that you do as much research as possible, and try to meet as many people. You get the best advice from your peers.

How do you two work together as composer and lyricist?

Joel: Because I’m in San Francisco and Adryan is in Glendale, we do a lot of collaborating over the internet. I’ll dub mp3′s, and she’ll email back lyrics.

Adryan: Usually we’ll explore possible titles and go back and forth then pick something that seems the most appropriate.

Joel: Whenever I’m in L.A. we do get together around Adryan’s grand piano and map things out. Generally we don’t finish in one day like the guys in Nashville.

What is your opinion about film/tv music today?

Joel: It seems to me everyday I see another article about how important film/tv music is and how to get it in. With the advent of downloading and loss of sales of CD’s, everyone is now focusing on getting these placements. We’ve seen bands use it to further their careers and even to get gigs. I thought about doing it here in San Francisco; going down to a bar and make a sign: Songs as heard in: you name the film or tv show!

Adryan Russ has a new album of her songs on LML Records called Everyone Has a Story,” featuring a great lineup of singers, and available at Lmlmusic.com.