LIA Announces Rani Vaz as 2015 Music & Sound Jury President and Reveals the Jury

(London and New York, 19th May 2015) – Rani Vaz, BBDO New York, has been named as the Music & Sound Jury President for the 2015 London International Awards (LIA).

The Music & Sound Jury will consist of a number of the industry’s most respected names, including; Scott Cymbala, Bob Farnsworth, Eric David Johnson, Ramesh Sathiah, Jack Sedgwick and Brian Yessian.

Vaz comments: “At this exciting and evolving time in our business, music consistently has the ability to powerfully and completely transform any media it touches. As the LIA 2015 Jury President for Music & Sound, I can’t wait to join my fellow jurors and debate this years brilliant submissions from around the globe.”

Vaz is Senior Vice President, Director of Music for BBDO New York and is also a pioneer in her field; she is the only woman in the industry running a major agency music department.

During her time at BBDO NY, Rani has produced scores, original songs and acted as Music Supervisor for thousands of projects. She has produced BBDO’s most memorable music for clients like GE, Guinness, Mt. Dew, FedEx, HBO, Starbucks, Visa, ExxonMobil, CVS, Pepsi and American Red Cross. She has worked in the studio with BB King, Britney Spears, Isaac Hayes, Faith Hill, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson, Marlon Brando, Joe Pesci, KISS, Cheap Trick and Kermit the Frog. She has also licensed music from artists such as Beck, The Beatles, Goldfrapp, Queens of the Stone Age and many, many others. Her work has won the industry’s highest honors including two EMMY awards, Gold Lions at Cannes, LIA, New York Festivals, ADDYs, ANDYs, Clios and more.

Vaz is a past winner of BBDO’s prestigious “Founder’s Award,” given only to those who consistently perform above and beyond the call of duty. In 2003, Vaz was inducted into the YWCA’s Academy of Women Achievers and, in May 2014, she chaired the 2nd Annual AMP Awards for Music and Sound.

2015 TV/Cinema/Online Film – Music & Sound Jury:

• Rani Vaz (Senior Vice President, Director of Music, BBDO New York, New York) – Jury President
• Scott Cymbala (Owner/Partner/Executive Producer, MassiveMusic, Los Angeles)
• Bob Farnsworth (President, Hummingbird Productions, Nashville)
• Eric David Johnson (Senior Vice President/Executive Music Producer, McCann Erickson, New York) 
Ramesh Sathiah (Partner/Creative Director, Song Zu, Sydney)
• Jack Sedgwick (Executive Creative Director, Wave Studios, London)
• Brian Yessian (Partner/Chief Creative Officer, Yessian Music, New York)

The LIA 2015 Entry System is now accepting entries through August. Judging will take place from 1st October to 10th October. The shortlists will be announced as each judging session concludes, with winners being announced 10th November. For more information on submissions and eligibility please visit http://www.liaawards.com/enter/eligibility/

To find out more about LIA Awards, visit http://www.liaawards.com/

LIA
London International Awards (LIA) is a global Festival honoring creativity and new ideas in Advertising, Production, Digital, Design, Music & Sound and Technology. The Awards, founded in 1986 by President, Barbara Levy, began by honoring advertising in the realms of Cinema, Television, Print and Radio worldwide, evolving since its inception into 15 unique media types. It was the first truly international advertising awards of its kind to acknowledge all media and methods from all over the world to be judged by a diverse global jury. Every member on each Jury Panel, including the Jury President, judge all entries except their own work, in their respective media. Each jury has the discretion to award a Grand LIA within the media they are judging.