Bill Baumgart

Sacramento, California native Bill Baumgart began his career in the music industry as a studio engineer while attending Long Beach State University in southern California. His early work on various mainstream projects included record labels like MCA, A&M, Motown and RCA. It wasn't long before Baumgart was actively involved in the L.A. music scene. Throughout the 1980s, Baumgart worked with several contemporary Christian artists, producing projects for Crystal Lewis, Mark Farner, Idle Cure, Benny Hester, Liason and Jon Gibson.

By the early 1990s Baumgart moved his family to Nashville, Tennessee. From 1993 to 2001, Baumgart spent a collective total of eight years as A&R director for Benson Records (Zomba/Music Entertainment Group) and Sparrow Records (EMI CMG). During that time he worked with a wide range of  music's top performers including Steven Curtis Chapman, 4HIM, NewSong, Bob Carlisle, Jump5, Al Denson, Dallas Holm, Bruce Carroll, East to West and many more. His creative efforts earned him two Grammy nominations, a regional Emmy Award and numerous Gospel Music Association Dove Award nominations.

In pursuit of new innovative ideas, Baumgart stepped out on his own, leaving his full-time position at Sparrow Records in the beginning of 2000. That same year, Baumgart reconnected with longtime friend and television/video producer Tim Ellis.  Together they founded several companies including Rivet TV, a full service production company specializing in script development, copy writing, visual design, full production, post production, audio production, visual effects, motion graphics, and moving graphics.  

Baumgart oversees the company's operations in its Nashville headquarters and serves as Strong Planet’s Executive Producer for its media and music productions. He currently lives in Thompson Station, Tennessee, with his wife, Jane, and their children Christin , Kelsey , Madeline and Billy.