by Mark E. Waterbury

While he was in college, he made a friend who worked in Human Resources at a television production company called Bunim-Murray that produced MTV's "Real World" and "Road Rules" among other shows. With her help, he landed a job at the company starting on the ground floor as a PA or basically a runner. "I had to go get people lunch and coffee and get called at five in the morning to do crazy stuff," Louis remembers. "But I went into that company with the intention of being the music supervisor for the "Real World". I learned a lot from the casting people. When I became a logger, I realized what I wanted to do." As a logger, Louis began to learn much more, not just about all the elements of creating the stories happening in the shows, but the intricate role that music played in them. He further broadened his horizons in musical knowledge, especially when he was given another promotion, this time to music coordinator. "You hear a lot of good music and bad music, and with the shows I work with, you have to bring in all styles of music. You have to be knowledgeable of all facets. As the music coordinator, I had to actually go out and find these bands and license the music."

As a music coordinator, Louis worked closely with the music supervisors in the edit bays, learning important facets about the timing of music placement and building relationships with the editors. "It was a learning experience as I went since I didn't go to school for any of this and almost everybody here did. So I was a bit behind with the basics, and a lot of the editors helped me with that. It's also been great to watch our department grow and watch people from different areas of the music business come in. We gain knowledge from them and they gain it from us." The education and hard work finally paid off when Louis realized his dream and became the music supervisor for "Real World" as well as other Bunim-Murray shows."To be a music supervisor, you need a well-trained ear and a good knowledge of current and past music. You need patience and you have to love it because it can be a grind, and if you don't love it, you shouldn't be doing it."

Along with the two MTV stalwarts, Bunim-Murray also produces "The Simple Life" and "Starting Over". They are working on another project with Virgin Entertainment and the music department itself has grown from a staff of three when Louis first started to its current staff of nine. Louis enjoys the combination of working with both the music and television sides of the entertainment field, and looks forward to a bright future for himself and Bunim-Murray. " Bunim-Murray has obviously been around for several years now and we are growing. I want to be here and be part of that growth and move up within the company and maybe get into film scoring. I love that aspect of working both sides, although I really consider myself a TV person. If I had my druthers I would work in TV or film from this day on, but with keeping that piece of the music business intact."

Louis Clark's advice for musicians: "If you are trying to get your music placed, make sure the music is polished and the production value of your album is the best that you can make it. Make sure that whatever you send is in its final version, because I get CDs all the time that I can just look at and tell if they are going to be good or not without listening to it. Presentation is a big deal. The main thing is make sure it is polished and don't send crap, because crap ends up in the trash can."