LA Music Academy students can now hear the handiwork of instructor Philip Giffin at the movies with the recent release of MGM's Soul Plane in theatres. The Emmy winning music producer teamed up with Wu Tang Clan founder and member Rza for the urban take on the Airplane comedies, starring Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Mo'nique, and Tom Arnold. Giffin said, "MGM music editor Carlton Kaller called and asked me to come in and meet Rza. Which I did, and I immediately loved the guy. He's a complete sweetheart and a gentleman and a phenomenal artist. I was familiar with Wu Tang Clan, but I couldn't...start reciting their lyrics, you know? I didn't know them that well, but I certainly knew of them. But Carl thought it would be a good collaboration, and I think it was, and they [MGM] are really happy. It was a gas." How did the experience differ from past film scoring projects? "It was a really great experience in that there was a first-time director and basically a first-time composer — and that added a freshness and a certain level of excitement and that glimmer of this being a novelty in the air," Giffin explains. "They were filled with questions. And really appropriate questions. I liked the fact that they came to the table with no preconceived notions of how it should be done. It was a lot of fun because I was working with people who weren't jaded or soured by a previous experience." However, the LA Music Academy has no reason to fear Giffin going completely "Hollywood" anytime soon as his thrill lies in the give-and-take between the teacher and the student — no matter what the scenario. "Inevitably, it doesn't matter how green someone is. I always look at them [in a sense] as my teacher. That's kind of how I look at it even when they are literally my students because, while I know there is something they can learn from me, I definitely am counting on learning something from them, too. And I definitely learned some stuff from Rza. And the director Jessy Terrero — I learned from him too. It doesn't matter how experienced or less experienced you are; it only takes one good idea to hit the target." How does the school manage when Giffin is called on for a film or television scoring job, such as the underscoring work he is doing for the WB series "Summerland"? Giffin says, "When you can get someone like a Mike Shapiro or a Jeff Richman, who are incredible in their own rights, to substitute for you [it makes it more than possible]. The LA Music Academy has a wealth of talent in their teaching staff." However, no one should be getting too comfortable in Giffin's spot at the LA Music Academy, either. He concludes: "When I'm working with one of the students at the school, I get the same thrill as when I'm working with someone like Rza. The same amount of intensity is there. I take it just as seriously. I try equally hard...[and] take the same approach because I don't know any other way to do it."