2010 Development Deals
With thanks to our key Record Label partners Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner, we are able to offer something very different and highly rewarding for a select group of aspiring musicians. These are development deals, and they are awarded to a select few Dream Inc attendees that show amazing promise, talent, hard work and their incredible end-of-day performances at our event in September 2009 and August 2010. We're proud to announce that we will be offering development deals and encouragement awards at both the Sydney and Melbourne workshops this year.
The previous recipients of the awards in 2009 and 2010 are outlined below, and they have been lucky enough to work with the creative folks at Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner. The Development Deals provided each winner the chance to record their own songs in a recording studio, with an experienced engineer and overseen by professional A&R executives. They finish with a professional demo and invaluable experience and contacts.
Michael Parisi of Michael Parisi Management, and former president of A&R for Warner Music Australia said:
“These deals will provide a young artist with a unique opportunity to develop their craft with the help of professional A&R people. It's like finding a gold ticket in a chocolate bar for any aspiring artist!”
To be in the chance to receive one of these Development Deals and new Encouragement awards in 2011 you must first purchase your ticket and be at the Dream Inc Master Class Series 2011 and perform for our Industry Panel.
2010 Development Deals
Harrison Craig
Winner of the Sony Development Deal
Harrison is just 16 years old.... and his greatest passion is singing and music. Harrison began singing with the Victorian Boys Choir in 2002, joining the David Jaanz school of singing in 2005 and has been performing whenever he can ever since. Harrison has appeared in many school and amateur productions including Grease, Oliver, The Pirates of Penzance and Bye Bye Birdie... he's also won a number of entertainment industry awards including the Dream Inc Sony Development Deal in 2010. In 2007 he sang the National Anthem in front of 42,000 people at the NAB Cup which is a huge achievement for someone so young. More recently in 2010 Harrison was voted Rotary's Citizen of the Year for the Bayside area of Melbourne.... a great honour for this young man.
Jack and Jess
Winner of the BOOST UP Development Deal
Jack and Jess met at Dream Inc. The song writing chemistry between them was evident from the start. Jack from Queensland, after growing up in a musical family and writing songs from a young age, left high school to pursue music studies and never looked back. He is currently playing in the worship band at Forerunners International on the Gold Coast. He has been, and continues to be inspired by David Jaanz, Dan Hannaford and his new found partnership with Jess. Jess from Melbourne, winner of the 2008 Teen Idol competition has been attending learning her craft for almost 9 years. She was inspired by 2009's Dream Inc Workshop and from there began writing and performing her songs around Melbourne. Jack and Jess' chance meeting proved to be a big success, and you can hear a copy of the song they recorded as the Boost UP winners for 2010 on the Boost website.
Natasha-Eloise
Winner of the www.twentysix.com.au Development Deal
Singer, song writer and multi-instrumentalist and has what it takes to be a performing artist that engages and entertains with an on stage performance that brings her music to life. She has performed at numerous community festivals and many venues in Sydney in conjunction with the Singer Songwriters' Association of Australia. At only fifteen years of age Natasha-Eloise's music and lyrics pack commercial punch with emotion, passion and the experience of the transition of becoming a young woman and performing artist.
Fatai Veamatahau
Winner of the EMI Development Deal
"Receiving the EMI Development Deal was such an awesome experience and I look forward to make the most of this opportunity. I went into the Dream Inc. Workshops with a positive attitude, confident in myself and believing in what I have learned and am able to achieve. In the early years of my training, I entered lots of competitions including the Australian Got Talent, won just a few, but most of the time I came runner up, third or no place at all. I stopped thinking about winning and focussed more on learning and growing. I want to say this to my fellow students, and all those young singers wanting to make it out there, not all of us will win competitions, not everyone will get a record deal - it doesn't mean that you cannot be a great singer and be successful...it doesn't mean you cannot achieve your goals and dreams...it doesn't mean you're less unique than those who receives awards. So never give up, stay focus on learning and growing, and keep on dreaming."
Ted Rennie
Winner of the Warner Development Deal
Ted Rennie is a 16 year old singer songwriter from Melbourne who won a development deal with Warner Music after participating in the Dream Inc Workshops in 2010. He has since recorded with Jan Skubiszewski (Producer) who has help recorded the likes of Cat Empire, Bliss n Eso, Owl Eyes, Illy and recorded the score of 'Two Hands'. They together recorded three tracks, Dream, Own This Lie, and Where In The Woods.
Charlotte Gemmill
Winner of the Universal Development Deal
Charlotte Gemmill (Lottie) has been working and co-writing songs with Melbourne producer Jaimie Jiminez and A&R executive Christine Deifenbach (Universal). She (Lottie) is set to start recording and hopefully release her first LP soon. Charlotte is 14 years old and you can hear her beautiful music at www.charlottegemmill.blog.com. Charlotte performed at this year's Peaches and Cream Festival in Cobram to 2000 people. She regularly gigs at the famous Beach Cafe in Cobram, Victoria and she is a dedicated student majoring in music and performing arts.
2009 Development Deals
Dan Hannaford
Winner of the Sony Music development deal
"Dream Inc gave me the opportunity to sing my songs to some big players in the music business (Seymour Stein, Ross Fraser, Michael Parisi, Eskimo Joe). I received some career defining advice and was stoked that the record labels liked what they heard. Since Dream Inc I have recorded at Sony Studios in Sydney, with this recording receiving radio airplay and major record label interest. The workshops helped me heaps and super coach David Jaanz brought out the best in me - big thanks and appreciation to the Dream Inc team."
Brooke Addamo (Owl Eyes)
Our Dream Inc 2009 Ambassador
Brooke Addamo was spotted by Seymour Stein and Michael Parisi as an artist with huge potential. Brooke signed on with MPM and teamed with producer Jan Skubiszewski, and together they wrote and recorded five tracks which will become her debut EP under the name of Owl Eyes. Brooke has begun gigging around Melbourne and has scored coveted support slots with Mark Sholtez and Little Birdy's Katy Steele. Brooke has also signed a world wide publishing deal with Mushroom Publishing. Owl Eyes' debut EP will be out in July 2010.
Sarah Aarons
Won Dean Turner / APRA Song Writing Award
Sarah Aarons won the Dean Turner $3000 Song Writing Award sponsored by APRA. The award was a cash prize given to a songwriter who showed potential to help them develop their craft. Sarah was chosen for the award by Magic Dirt guitarist, lead singer and songwriter Adelita Srsen. Sarah used some of her grant money to purchase a new keyboard, and since Dream Inc 2009 she has been to Tambourine Mountain in Queensland to record two original songs with Brian Sutton at Music & Lyrics Studio and has also recorded a song with Sarah Godden at Twentysix.
Amy Ciancio
Winner of the Universal Music development deal
Since Dream Inc Amy has been working with A&R Christine Diefenbach from Universal Music, workshopping her songs and developing her songwriting style. Christine has been preparing Amy to do some co-writing and demo recording with Australian songwriter/producers. Amy has started gigging more regularly and recently scored a support gig with Damien Leith.
Ian Rickard
Winner of the Warner Music development Deal
Ian has been writing and working with the Warner A&R team to develop his demos and find the right producers for them to work with. He went into the studio in early 2010 to record and continue to develop his own unique style as a musician.
Brianna Carpenter
Winner of Warner Music development deal
Brianna has been writing and working with the Warner A&R team to develop her demos and find the right producers for them to work with. She went into the studio in early 2010 to record a demo and continue to develop her own unique style as a musician.
Bernie Harrison Goudge
Winner of EMI Music development deal
Bernie has been working closely with A&R Executives from EMI Music. She continued to develop her own unique style as a musician through 2010 and beyond.
Shane & Brad price (Haelien)
Winner of Universal Music development deal
Universal teamed Healien up with producer Jan Skubiszewski to records demos in 2010, and since then the Healien boys went back in the studio to record more songs for consideration by Universal Music.