JONATHAN McHUGH APPOINTED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FILM, TV & SOUNDTRACKS – ISLAND DEF JAM MUSIC GROUP
(April 12th, 2010 – New York, NY) Jonathan McHugh has been appointed Senior Vice President of Film, TV & Soundtracks, Island Def Jam Music Group, it was announced today by Steve Bartels, President & COO, Island Def Jam Music Group.
McHugh will seek to create opportunities for the IDJ roster through music placements in films, TV and video games. He will also music supervise films and look for soundtracks to produce for IDJ. McHugh, who is based in Los Angeles, will report to Bartels and Antonio “LA” Reid., Chairman Island Def Jam Music Group.
“I’m thrilled to join LA Reid and the Island Def Jam family. I’ve always been a big fan of LA Reid and growing up in New York, both Island and Def Jam Records were the coolest independent labels in the game. Steve Bartels and I started our careers in the business together at A&M Records, so it’s like coming full circle to be working with him again,” said McHugh. I feel like a kid in a candy store having the opportunity to work with the diverse and amazingly talented IDJ roster that LA Reid has put together and using my diverse experience to further their success.”
“L.A. Reid and I share the excitement of welcoming Jonathan to the Island Def Jam family,” said Mr. Bartels. “This exciting position in the ever-growing field of film, television and soundtracks at IDJ promises to be the most fulfilling role of Jonathan’s already stellar career. He has always been an amazing asset in every job he has taken, and we look forward to his greatest success ever at IDJ.”
McHugh comes to IDJ after three years of running Song Stew Entertainment — an independent Film, TV production/music supervision company. As founder of Song Stew Entertainment, he produced and supervised music-oriented projects including the Lionsgate Rock opera “Repo: The Genetic Opera,” “Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror (which he co-wrote), Lifetime’s “Flying By” and the Discovery/Planet Green TV show “Battle Ground Earth,” co-starring IDJ chart-topping rapper Ludacris.
Prior to that, McHugh spent eight years as Vice President of Visual Media at the Zomba Label Group, where he started his production career by helping to launch Zomba Films. There he co-produced the Britney Spears starring film vehicle, “Crossroads” as well as soundtracks for films including Nickelodeon’s “Wild Thornberry’s” and “Jimmy Neutron.”
He also served as Vice President of Soundtracks at New Line Cinema co-producing platinum and gold soundtracks such as “The Wedding Singer,” “Rush Hour,” “Austin Powers” and “Blade.”
McHugh began his music career in record label marketing and promotions positions at Elektra and A&M Records.
As a Recording Academy member, McHugh has served as Los Angeles Chapter President, as a National Trustee, and for the last two years on the NARAS Television Committee. He volunteers his time as a board member of the Neil Bogart foundation which raises much needed funding for Pediatric Cancer Research at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.