Cindy Mabe and Dawn Gates

Universal Music Group Nashville has started a new TV and film production company, Sing Me Back Home Productions. The company will emphasize storytelling through music integration of UMG Nashville’s roster of past and present artists.

The new division will be helmed by UMG Nashville Chair & CEO Cindy Mabe and SVP of Digital Business and Creative Development Dawn Gates. This new division will develop a content slate for a variety of documentaries, original scripted and unscripted television, feature films and short form content, and will be heavily involved in securing production partners, music supervision and distribution.

“Country music has always been the home of the richest storytellers in music. Storytellers like Merle Haggard, whose song ‘Sing Me Back Home’ helped frame the intent and name behind our production company,” says Mabe. “Songs and stories can transport people and literally sing them back home no matter where they are in the world. Creating a new canvas for our storytellers to paint was a natural next step for our artists to talk to their fans in a new way.

“With several productions underway, this new endeavor fits prominently into what we are sustaining and building as a music company: roots, legacy, music discovery, and storytelling. We are finding faith, family, and heartland are at the core of our business and we are making sure we are building generational content for different mediums across a variety of platforms and shepherding it into the homes of our audience.”

Sing Me Back Home Productions has partnered with ITV America’s Thinkfactory to develop and produce a new docuseries that will follow Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, the Grammy-nominated husband-and-wife duo The War And Treaty. Thinkfactory’s CEO Adam Reed will follow the couple to show how they work together to navigate their careers and home-life. The War And Treaty docuseries, which is already in the works with a broadcast partner, is the first among many projects in development via Sing Me Back Home Productions’ broader collaboration with Thinkfactory Media.

“Country music and its community of artists, past and present, offer such a vast and rich world to explore for content,” shares Reed. “As Thinkfactory doubles down on work rooted in the Heartland, we’re incredibly bullish on the projects we’re developing with Sing Me Back Home, and we admire what Cindy and her group are building at a time when the genre and its hitmakers are flying higher than ever.”

Coming up for the company will also be the release of documentary Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive via partnership with Storyville Entertainment. Emmy-nominated Betsy Schechter produced the film which follows the journey of music icon Gloria Gaynor. The documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was the official opening night film at the Nashville Film Festival, where it also won the Audience Award. The film also won the Best Feature Documentary Award at La Femme Women’s International Film Festival in Los Angeles and most recently won The Palm Springs International Film Festival audience award “Best Of Fest.”

“We are thrilled to have the expertise of Cindy, Dawn, and the Sing Me Back Home team to partner on producing Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive,” shares Schechter. “Just like her iconic song ‘I Will Survive,’ Gloria’s life is equally inspirational and this film has the power to impact audiences around the world for years to come.”

Bobby Bones & The Raging Idiots‘ seventh annual “Million Dollar Show,” benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is set for April 3 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

The group will perform during this year’s show, along with Sam Hunt, Jon Pardi, Megan Moroney, Nate Smith, Ben Rector, Mat Kearney, Ian Munsick, Edwin McCain and Lauren Watkins, with appearances from special guests.

Bones as well as The Bobby Bones Show have raised more than $24.5 million for St. Jude, in addition to funds for other charitable causes.

Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday (March 1). The BTeam presale and The BIG98 presale will take place today (Feb. 27) and tomorrow (Feb. 28). For more information, click here.

Nic Dugger

TNDV Founder and 14-time Emmy winner Nic Dugger has been named Executive Director for the Midsouth Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), or the Emmys.

In his new role, Dugger will report to the Board of Directors—of which he was previously the President—and evolve the chapter’s mission of recognizing artistic, educational and technical achievements of professionals and students throughout the region. The Midsouth Chapter encompasses Tennessee, North Carolina and the television market of Huntsville, Alabama.

Dugger formed TNDV: Television in 2004 and led the company through substantial growth over nearly two decades. The TNDV business today is part of Live Mobile Group which includes 35 HD and 4K mobile production trucks and audio facilities, as well as production and secondary services for broadcast TV, live entertainment and AV-related productions. He has served the Midsouth Chapter for 26 years. Dugger also oversees the technical production of numerous ceremonies and broadcasts for the national NATAS organization, including the Daytime Emmys and News and Documentary Emmys and the Technical Emmys.

Dugger takes the reins as Executive Director after a nearly five-year run leading the Board of Directors and following the recent passing of longtime executive director Geneva Brignolo, with whom Dugger interned as a college freshman in 1996 at MTSU.

“Nic Dugger has dedicated himself to the service of our Academy and our industry every day of his professional career,” says Adam Sharp, President & CEO of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “His rise over the past three decades from the student ranks to president of the Chapter parallels his achievements building one of the most successful production services companies in the country — a capacity in which he has personally overseen the technical execution of numerous national Emmy telecasts for NATAS. Nic bleeds gold and is uniquely well-suited to inherit the mantle of Chapter leadership from the iconic Geneva Brignolo.”

“The Nashville Midsouth Chapter of the National Television Academy has been tightly woven into Nic Dugger’s life for three decades,” says Ellen Pryor, former President of the Midsouth Chapter and former Trustee of the National Television Academy. “His entire career has been shaped and defined by his many contributions to the profession and by the tremendous generosity of time, spirit, leadership, and talent for which he is equally well known and respected. We are elated to welcome him into his new position as he leads the Nashville Midsouth region into our next exciting chapter.”

Primary among the chapter’s missions is its annual Midsouth Emmy Awards ceremony and broadcast, which televises the presentation of 73 Emmy categories to chapter members. Among his future goals, Dugger will work to evolve the Midsouth Regional Student Production Awards, which recognizes the achievement of high school students—an initiative close to Dugger’s heart—and bring more visibility to the Silver and Gold Awards, which recognizes long-term industry achievements.

“To date we have inducted many members into the Silver Circle, which requires 25 years of significant industry contributions in the region,” says Dugger. “We have not yet inducted anyone into the Gold Circle, which requires 50 years of notable service. We will be working to identify our first eligible members of the Gold Circle in the coming years.”

LeAnn Rimes. Photo: Norman Seeff

Currently a coach on The Voice Australia, LeAnn Rimes has expanded her coaching role by joining The Voice UK for 2024. Her dual position represents a notable moment in the singing competition’s history.

“What an honor and rare opportunity it is to be asked to coach on both, The Voice Australia and The Voice UK,” says Rimes. “I’m looking forward to discovering new voices across these nations, mentoring the next generation of talent and sharing my heart, not only with these gifted vocalists, but with the Australian and U.K. fans. I have experienced so much love from both countries throughout my  career and I look forward to deepening that connection during my time on The Voice.”

On The Voice Australia, Rimes is coaching alongside Adam Lambert, Kate Miller-Heidke and returning coach Guy Sebastian. Those accompanying her on The Voice UK include returning coaches Will.i.am and Sir Tom Jones as well as new coaches Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher of McFly.