Manhattan Producer’s Alliance

Welcome to the ManHatPro website. We invite you to find our more about our membership and education programs. Please subscribe our mailing list so we can keep you updated with ManHatPro news and events!

The Manhattan Producers Alliance is a media education, professional mentoring and networking community comprised of Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Emmy award-winning musicians. We are dedicated to advancing the art of music composition, performance and recording. With the help and support of our members, we create unique professional development trainings for the music industry, as well as educational music/music technology initiatives for kids K-12.

Testimonials

Here’s what some of our members have to say about their experience with ManhatPro.

Composers and their plugins, left on their own to enhance virtual worlds created by others, often lead a surprisingly lonely and insulated existence. My membership in the MPA has resulted in me venturing out of my luxurious cave to meet some if the most talented, extraordinary, thought provoking, knowledgeable and seriously cool folks who, like me, have been looking for an activist (and i mean that in all the good ways) organization like this for a long time! Need help finding an Gamelan virtuoso? … A great studio with an even greater piano? … A conductor in Prague? …a Logic Pro expert? As a member of MPA these and many other resources are just a click away. Then there’s the excellent member-driven workshops which make being a MPA member a no-brainer! I’m glad I joined.
–Steve Horelick

I had the questions, and Manhattan Producers Alliance had the answers. Since joining this exceptional group of professionals I have learned as much from having these industry experts answering other members questions as I have from getting answers to my own questions. As an Artist, Musician and Producer I couldn’t be in a better environment than this focused community of talented and dedicated individuals. The past 3 years have shown me what the right team can accomplish and I look forward to achieving the growth potential presented by the vision of this group.
–Lee Demers

The MPA has given me the opportunity to spend countless hours with experts discussing the nuances of composing for picture. I find groups like the Film Music club to be the most rewarding aspect of the MPA. Knowledge sharing at it’s best.
–Nate Shaw

As a composer and musician, MPA has provided me with a unique and creatively stimulating professional community with which to share ideas about music, film scoring, music production and the business of music.
–Frank Ferrucci

Our Management Team

Joe Carroll

President & Founder

As a producer, composer, ad executive and serial entrepreneur, Manhatpro founder, Joe Carroll has spent a lifetime innovating and challenging boundaries in music, media and education.

An award-winning composer, songwriter and lyricist, Carroll’s work is known for its eclecticism and humor. He specializes in music for kids and is Composer/Lyricist for the Emmy nominated Kermit’s Swamp Years (Columbia Tristar/Jim Henson: 2002) and Music Director for the TV series Zoom (PBS/WGBH: 1998-2003). As a producer, his work is characterized by technological sophistication and a willingness to work in unconventional settings. He’s written and produced hundreds of songs for TV and film including award-winning projects for Disney, Nickelodeon, PBS, Sesame Workshop and The Jim Henson Company.

Born into the entertainment business and literally raised in a booking agency, Carroll grew up in the midst of the New York music scene. Surrounded by a Broadway Danny Rose cast of musicians, comedians, singers and entertainers he first performed professionally at age 12.

“I’m fortunate to have been involved in a number of successful collaborations that combine education and entertainment in innovative and compelling ways. In working with Jim Henson, Sesame Workshop, and WGBH, I have had the opportunity to work with an extraordinary group of people and learn the trick of balancing intensely personal creativity with the broadly collaborative process of film and television.” – Joe Carroll

In 1981-1982, Carroll was a member of the highly innovative Timmy and the Ken Dolls. A hideous commercial failure, they were known for their complex multimedia performances that included a projectionist, tape operators and sound effects personnel.

As a music producer at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising (1982-1987), Joe earned a reputation for going to great lengths to create the sound for a project, recording in a church in Montreal, a cattle ranch in Oregon and in London at studios made famous by Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles. Projects included Toyota, L’eggs, Wendy’s, Helene Curtis, Wrangler, General Mills, Nabisco and Proctor and Gamble. He launched his own music production company in 1988 and continued to produce commercial music for Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann-Erickson, Foote, Cone & Belding, Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy & Mather. Numerous awards including The London International Advertising award and several Clio nominations.

In 1996-1997, he was Supervising Sound Editor for Nickelodeon’s “The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss” (1996). Seuss used a variety of groundbreaking techniques to achieve complex integration of dialog, sound effects and music. In addition to serving as principal composer and musical director for the show, he supervised all audio post production in a 12-person music and sound department. The work included supervision of sound effects, dialog editing, music, sound design, foley, dialog replacement and final mix supervision for 20 unique half hour shows. Seuss won Writer’s Guild, Bronze and Silver Telly awards and was nominated for several Emmys including Outstanding Children’s Program.

His career highlights include performing with Zippy the Chimp, a tuxedo-clad chimpanzee whose skills included drinking bourbon and roller-skating, sometimes simultaneously. He was once offered a job to play guitar wearing a pig suit and sing songs about bacon in shopping malls.

Matt Grippo

Vice President

As an entrepreneur, musician and technologist, Matt Grippo has pursued an eclectic career that has led him to his current position as CEO of the Manhattan Producers Alliance. Grippo is also building a reputation as a leading voice on how traditional media companies can effectively integrate New Media development into their organizations.

After graduating from the University of California at Santa Cruz (home of the famous Banana Slug mascot) with a double honors degree in Computer Science and Psychology, Grippo moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and began a career in software development. His first job, in 1997, was with Peoplesoft as a member of their top-secret “Sonoma” R&D program. In the subsequent years, Matt would ride the Internet bubble while working as a Software Architect for the early stage companies Workday, ePropose and Classroom Connect. During this time, Grippo learned software development and management inside and out from some of the industries top minds and developed a passion for entrepreneurial ventures.

In 2004, Grippo moved to London to pursue an MBA at the top-5 internationally-ranked London Business School (LBS). His time at LBS coincided with the boom of “Media 2.0″ and sparked his interest in the media industry. He co-chaired the 2005 London Media Summit which hosted the CEOs of Harper Collins (UK), Channel 4 (UK) and Arts Alliance Media as well as the UK Chairman for Media Arts and Culture. In 2005, Grippo consulted for Emap Consumer Media (a UK media powerhouse with properties in Television, Radio and Print) on some of their new media initiatives.

After receiving his degree from LBS, Grippo moved to NYC where he was introduced to Joe Carroll, founder of the Manhattan Producers Alliance (ManHatPro). Three months later, Grippo accepted the position of CEO at ManHatPro where he is in charge of general strategy, growth and financial management. Matt also continues to build his presence on the NYC media scene as a seasoned technologist and consultant focused on helping traditional media companies integrate new media successfully through process transformation.

Grippo is also an accomplished drummer and composer who has performed professionally since his teens. He has shared the stage with Maceo Parker, the Black Eyed Peas, KRS1 and Digital Underground. While still in high school, Green Day opened for his band, The Louies – who, interestingly, were more popular at the time! Grippo has played with his own quintet, The Grippo Collective, as well as New Sun Born, Kotoja, Five Point Plan and the SF Jazz Mafia. In 2003, Matt released his first solo album, Grippo – Circuits featuring musicians who have worked with Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Boz Scaggs and Anastacia.