Brian Tyler, composer of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” was named a BMI Icon at Wednesday night’s 38th annual Broadcast Music Inc. Film, TV and Visual Media Awards in Beverly Hills.
Tyler is among the top 10 highest-grossing film composers of all time. His other films have included “Iron Man 3,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Rambo,” “Charlie’s Angels” and the recent reboot of “Scream.” His TV credits include “Yellowstone,” “1883,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Transformers: Prime.” He also wrote the Formula One racing theme and, as his alter ego Madsonik, has written and produced several songs with a contemporary edge.
“It’s just mind-blowing to now be included in that pantheon of talent,” Tyler told Variety, referring to the many previous recipients of the performing-rights organization’s highest accolade, including John Williams, Alan Silvestri, James Newton Howard, Alexandre Desplat and Terence Blanchard.
Tyler is among the top 10 highest-grossing film composers of all time. His other films have included “Iron Man 3,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Rambo,” “Charlie’s Angels” and the recent reboot of “Scream.” His TV credits include “Yellowstone,” “1883,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Transformers: Prime.” He also wrote the Formula One racing theme and, as his alter ego Madsonik, has written and produced several songs with a contemporary edge.
“It’s just mind-blowing to now be included in that pantheon of talent,” Tyler told Variety, referring to the many previous recipients of the performing-rights organization’s highest accolade, including John Williams, Alan Silvestri, James Newton Howard, Alexandre Desplat and Terence Blanchard.
- 5/12/2022
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Laura Nyro, one of the most revered singer-songwriters of the 20thcentury, will be the subject of an upcoming documentary from Vistas Media Capital.
Ben Waisbren and music producer Bonnie Greenberg (Rbg) will produce the documentary about a talent who burst onto the scene in the late 1960s. Nyro made a breakthrough performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival at the age of 19, possessing a multi-octave voice that could move easily through folk, jazz, soul and blues.
Nyro’s songs included “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Wedding Bell Blues” (covered by The Fifth Dimension), “And When I Die”, and “Stoney End” (recorded with soaring vocals by Barbra Streisand). She was David Geffen’s first client as a music manager and he helped secure her a recording contract with Clive Davis at Columbia Records. Nyro’s music and activism turned...
Ben Waisbren and music producer Bonnie Greenberg (Rbg) will produce the documentary about a talent who burst onto the scene in the late 1960s. Nyro made a breakthrough performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival at the age of 19, possessing a multi-octave voice that could move easily through folk, jazz, soul and blues.
Nyro’s songs included “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Wedding Bell Blues” (covered by The Fifth Dimension), “And When I Die”, and “Stoney End” (recorded with soaring vocals by Barbra Streisand). She was David Geffen’s first client as a music manager and he helped secure her a recording contract with Clive Davis at Columbia Records. Nyro’s music and activism turned...
- 5/11/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Composer Brian Tyler is set to receive BMI’s top honor, the Icon Award, as the BMI Film, TV and Visual Media Awards resume the tradition of in-person ceremonies with a dinner in May in Beverly Hills.
Also being bestowed as part of the 38th annual awards will be a BMI Impact Award given out to six female composers and lyricists — Amy Andersson, Isolde Fair, Lolita Ritmanis, Miriam Cutler, Penka Kouneva and Starr Parodi — who collectively scored “Women Warriors: The Voices of Change,” a project about women activists.
The honorary awards are in addition to dozens of competitive medallions, whose winners will be announced on the night of May 11.
The resumption of BMI’s screen awards will take place in Beverly Hills one night after the BMI Pop Awards,. Earlier this week, the performing rights organization announced that Mike Stoller and Carole Bayer Sager will be receiving Icon Awards on...
Also being bestowed as part of the 38th annual awards will be a BMI Impact Award given out to six female composers and lyricists — Amy Andersson, Isolde Fair, Lolita Ritmanis, Miriam Cutler, Penka Kouneva and Starr Parodi — who collectively scored “Women Warriors: The Voices of Change,” a project about women activists.
The honorary awards are in addition to dozens of competitive medallions, whose winners will be announced on the night of May 11.
The resumption of BMI’s screen awards will take place in Beverly Hills one night after the BMI Pop Awards,. Earlier this week, the performing rights organization announced that Mike Stoller and Carole Bayer Sager will be receiving Icon Awards on...
- 4/14/2022
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Surprises dotted the visual media categories at Tuesday morning’s Grammy Awards nomination announcements, with television dominating the original-score category but new movies ruling the compilation-soundtrack list.
As expected, H.E.R. was nominated for best song written for visual media for “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah,” which won the Oscar earlier this year. Her fellow Oscar nominee, Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami,” was also nominated.
H.E.R. and her fellow “Fight for You” songwriters Dernst Emile II (aka D’Mile) and Tiara Thomas also notched a song of the year nomination, and H.E.R. earned a nod in the traditional R&b performance category for that song.
Three of the six song nominees were from television projects: the Emmy-winning “Agatha All Along” from “WandaVision,” “All Eyes on Me” from “Inside Bo Burnham” and “All I Know So Far” from the Pink documentary by that title.
As expected, H.E.R. was nominated for best song written for visual media for “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah,” which won the Oscar earlier this year. Her fellow Oscar nominee, Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami,” was also nominated.
H.E.R. and her fellow “Fight for You” songwriters Dernst Emile II (aka D’Mile) and Tiara Thomas also notched a song of the year nomination, and H.E.R. earned a nod in the traditional R&b performance category for that song.
Three of the six song nominees were from television projects: the Emmy-winning “Agatha All Along” from “WandaVision,” “All Eyes on Me” from “Inside Bo Burnham” and “All I Know So Far” from the Pink documentary by that title.
- 11/23/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
When Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical adaptation of Sunset Boulevard premiered in 1993, it became a major hit. But few people then, or even now, are aware of a much earlier attempt to bring the classic film to the stage—by Gloria Swanson herself.
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz, explores how Swanson, five years after her star turn as Norma Desmond in the 1950 Billy Wilder drama, threw herself into the adaptation project with a pair of unknowns. Her collaborators: handsome young composer Dickson Hughes and even more handsome young lyricist Richard Stapley.
“[Hughes and Stapley] were creative partners and also life partners,” Schwarz noted Tuesday night at the world premiere of his documentary at the Outfest film festival. The event took place—where else?—on Sunset Boulevard, at the DGA theater in West Hollywood.
The tale takes as many twists and turns as the celebrated road through Los Angeles. Swanson sought...
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz, explores how Swanson, five years after her star turn as Norma Desmond in the 1950 Billy Wilder drama, threw herself into the adaptation project with a pair of unknowns. Her collaborators: handsome young composer Dickson Hughes and even more handsome young lyricist Richard Stapley.
“[Hughes and Stapley] were creative partners and also life partners,” Schwarz noted Tuesday night at the world premiere of his documentary at the Outfest film festival. The event took place—where else?—on Sunset Boulevard, at the DGA theater in West Hollywood.
The tale takes as many twists and turns as the celebrated road through Los Angeles. Swanson sought...
- 8/19/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The film scoring community continues to find new ways to support emerging composers — especially women and people of color — to the tune of more than $100,000 annually, according to announcements this week by Reel Change: The Fund for Diversity in Film Scoring and the Society of Composers & Lyricists.
Reel Change, a project of Sesac and composer Christophe Beck (“WandaVision”) and administered by New Music USA, has announced the first four recipients of grants averaging $20,000 each for “film projects currently in production, providing additional funding and mentoring to assist composers at a pivotal moment in their careers.”
They are Sultana Isham, a New Orleans-based violinist and ethnomusicologist working on “The Neutral Ground,” a documentary about the removal of Confederate monuments to air on PBS; Cali Wang, Taipei-raised “best score” winner at the L.A. Live Score Film Festival, for “The Island of Lost Girls”; Emer Kinsella, Dublin-born composer (“Sense8”) currently scoring “She...
Reel Change, a project of Sesac and composer Christophe Beck (“WandaVision”) and administered by New Music USA, has announced the first four recipients of grants averaging $20,000 each for “film projects currently in production, providing additional funding and mentoring to assist composers at a pivotal moment in their careers.”
They are Sultana Isham, a New Orleans-based violinist and ethnomusicologist working on “The Neutral Ground,” a documentary about the removal of Confederate monuments to air on PBS; Cali Wang, Taipei-raised “best score” winner at the L.A. Live Score Film Festival, for “The Island of Lost Girls”; Emer Kinsella, Dublin-born composer (“Sense8”) currently scoring “She...
- 5/5/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Cutting Edge Group, a leading music financier and services provider for film, TV and advertising, has acquired Lakeshore Records, a top independent soundtrack label.
Their partnership will provide Cutting Edge with an in-house label, while Lakeshore will continue to operate as an independent, doing albums for such high-profile projects as “Marriage Story,” “Moonlight,” “Stranger Things” and “Narcos.”
Cutting Edge COO Tara Finegan cites Lakeshore’s “intensity and passion and desire to get things absolutely right for the fans of soundtrack music, and for the composers and filmmakers who are on the other side, creating this art.”
Says Lakeshore Records President Brian McNelis: “The combining of Cutting Edge and Lakeshore is an extension of the business that we had already been in. We had a working relationship and they were looking to complement their other services.” Lakeshore had been licensing albums from Cutting Edge as far back as 2005, and in...
Their partnership will provide Cutting Edge with an in-house label, while Lakeshore will continue to operate as an independent, doing albums for such high-profile projects as “Marriage Story,” “Moonlight,” “Stranger Things” and “Narcos.”
Cutting Edge COO Tara Finegan cites Lakeshore’s “intensity and passion and desire to get things absolutely right for the fans of soundtrack music, and for the composers and filmmakers who are on the other side, creating this art.”
Says Lakeshore Records President Brian McNelis: “The combining of Cutting Edge and Lakeshore is an extension of the business that we had already been in. We had a working relationship and they were looking to complement their other services.” Lakeshore had been licensing albums from Cutting Edge as far back as 2005, and in...
- 2/24/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Much has been written about “Joker” composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, the Icelandic cellist who may well walk off with the Oscar Sunday night, making her only the third woman to win an Academy Award for best original score.
But she’s not the only woman who has composed scores for Oscar-nominated films. In fact, five others are in contention in the documentary feature, documentary short subject and animated short categories.
Three of the five nominated films in the doc shorts category were scored by women (and one of the other two has no score): Sasha Gordon for “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” Amanda Jones for “St. Louis Superman” and Laura Karpman for “Walk Run Cha-Cha.”
Music for the documentary feature “For Sama” was composed by London-based Nainita Desai, and Japanese composer Karen Tanaka scored the nominated animated short film “Sister.”
The number is...
But she’s not the only woman who has composed scores for Oscar-nominated films. In fact, five others are in contention in the documentary feature, documentary short subject and animated short categories.
Three of the five nominated films in the doc shorts category were scored by women (and one of the other two has no score): Sasha Gordon for “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl),” Amanda Jones for “St. Louis Superman” and Laura Karpman for “Walk Run Cha-Cha.”
Music for the documentary feature “For Sama” was composed by London-based Nainita Desai, and Japanese composer Karen Tanaka scored the nominated animated short film “Sister.”
The number is...
- 2/7/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Quick. Name a female film composer. Right… a woman.
Who? Fanny… Mendelssohn? No sorry, she was Felix’ sister and pre-dated the cinema industry by about two generations.
The fact is, you may not know any by name. Because while women in the entertainment industry have made historic gains in representation both on and off camera, the percentage of film composers who are women has remained dismal. According to a study published Wednesday by USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative, female composers worked on just 1.4% of the 100 top-grossing films for each of the last 12 years. And the last woman to win an Oscar for a movie score was Anne Dudley for 1997’s “The Full Monty” — more than two decades ago.
It’s a sad statistic for any industry, let alone one that prides itself on diversity.
Also Read: Women Nabbed More Lead Roles in Top 2018 Films - But Still Less Than a...
Who? Fanny… Mendelssohn? No sorry, she was Felix’ sister and pre-dated the cinema industry by about two generations.
The fact is, you may not know any by name. Because while women in the entertainment industry have made historic gains in representation both on and off camera, the percentage of film composers who are women has remained dismal. According to a study published Wednesday by USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative, female composers worked on just 1.4% of the 100 top-grossing films for each of the last 12 years. And the last woman to win an Oscar for a movie score was Anne Dudley for 1997’s “The Full Monty” — more than two decades ago.
It’s a sad statistic for any industry, let alone one that prides itself on diversity.
Also Read: Women Nabbed More Lead Roles in Top 2018 Films - But Still Less Than a...
- 9/4/2019
- by Richard Stellar
- The Wrap
Thanks to the advocacy of composer Miriam Cutler, the TV Academy finally added a separate category for original documentary scores (series and specials) this season, and she promptly was nominated for both “Rbg” and “Love, Gilda.” It’s a very competitive field with Oscar winner “Free Solo” (Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts); “Game of Thrones: The Last Watch” (Hannah Peel); “Hostile Planet” and “Our Planet”, and Cutler couldn’t be more thrilled. “The enthusiasm for the category has been huge with all the submissions and some really good nominees,” she said. “It just opens it up.”
Cutler’s been working as an award-winning doc composer for 25 years, but up until now has never gotten close to winning a Primetime Emmy. “Look what happened: the very first time, two nominations,” she added. “I think it acknowledges how interest in docs has really [grown].”
It took many years of lobbying the TV Academy...
Cutler’s been working as an award-winning doc composer for 25 years, but up until now has never gotten close to winning a Primetime Emmy. “Look what happened: the very first time, two nominations,” she added. “I think it acknowledges how interest in docs has really [grown].”
It took many years of lobbying the TV Academy...
- 8/29/2019
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
The director of the Emmy-nominated documentary Love, Gilda says a previously unknown film script written by the late Gilda Radner could soon make the rounds in Hollywood.
“She left behind a screenplay which I have that nobody seems to have even known about,” filmmaker Lisa D’Apolito tells Deadline exclusively. “I’m actually working with my agents to see who would be interested in producing it.”
D’Apolito revealed some plot details to Deadline.
“It’s about a woman looking for love and she’s torn between these two guys. And then at the end she decides she just is going to be on her own. Not to sum it up in that sort of way, but it’s physical comedy,” she explains. “Hopefully once the word gets out [about the script]…her work can go on.”
Radner’s life and work—before, during and after her time as one of the original...
“She left behind a screenplay which I have that nobody seems to have even known about,” filmmaker Lisa D’Apolito tells Deadline exclusively. “I’m actually working with my agents to see who would be interested in producing it.”
D’Apolito revealed some plot details to Deadline.
“It’s about a woman looking for love and she’s torn between these two guys. And then at the end she decides she just is going to be on her own. Not to sum it up in that sort of way, but it’s physical comedy,” she explains. “Hopefully once the word gets out [about the script]…her work can go on.”
Radner’s life and work—before, during and after her time as one of the original...
- 8/10/2019
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Beyoncé and Sara Bareilles could add Emmy trophies to their awards shelves this year, having been nominated in key music categories Tuesday by the Television Academy.
Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” special on Netflix was nominated in six categories, and four of those include a nod for the pop superstar herself. Only one of those is in a music category; she’s nominated for music direction of a variety special alongside co-music director Derek Dixie (a first-time nominee). Her other nods are as a producer, co-director and writer of the special.
Bareilles, nominated last year for her performance as Mary Magdalene in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” was cited this year as co-songwriter of a new song on CBS’s Tony Awards, “This One’s for You.” Her co-host on that show, Josh Groban, shares the nomination and is up for his first Emmy.
They were the most high-profile performers cited by Emmy voters in the seven music categories.
Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” special on Netflix was nominated in six categories, and four of those include a nod for the pop superstar herself. Only one of those is in a music category; she’s nominated for music direction of a variety special alongside co-music director Derek Dixie (a first-time nominee). Her other nods are as a producer, co-director and writer of the special.
Bareilles, nominated last year for her performance as Mary Magdalene in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” was cited this year as co-songwriter of a new song on CBS’s Tony Awards, “This One’s for You.” Her co-host on that show, Josh Groban, shares the nomination and is up for his first Emmy.
They were the most high-profile performers cited by Emmy voters in the seven music categories.
- 7/16/2019
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
For years, music in documentary and nonfiction programming competed alongside the music for fictional narratives, but this year, music composition for a documentary series or special is getting its own category — the Emmys’ seventh music category overall. It is a change that couldn’t have come soon enough for many veterans in the space.
“So many documentaries are being made,” says composer Miriam Cutler, who lobbied for the change that was approved late last year. “There are so many outlets for them, cable and streaming, and so much more interest.”
Although docu scores won the Emmy three out of the past 12 years they competed against scores for fictional fare, now the projects are on equal footing in their own category and seeing a surge in submissions: 48 scores are competing in nomination-round voting. One of the reasons this new category was approved, Cutler believes, was the Academy’s “growing focus on increasing diversity in our membership.
“So many documentaries are being made,” says composer Miriam Cutler, who lobbied for the change that was approved late last year. “There are so many outlets for them, cable and streaming, and so much more interest.”
Although docu scores won the Emmy three out of the past 12 years they competed against scores for fictional fare, now the projects are on equal footing in their own category and seeing a surge in submissions: 48 scores are competing in nomination-round voting. One of the reasons this new category was approved, Cutler believes, was the Academy’s “growing focus on increasing diversity in our membership.
- 6/13/2019
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Starr Parodi was elected new president of the Alliance for Women Film Composers on Sunday, succeeding Lolita Ritmanis.
Parodi — who first came to prominence as a member of the “Arsenio Hall Show” house band — has extensive television credits including “The Division,” “The Starter Wife,” “G.I. Joe: Renegades” and “Transformers: Rescue Bots,” along with film credits including “Conversations With Other Women” and music for hundreds of movie trailers.
Her version of the James Bond Theme, created for the “GoldenEye” trailer with composing partner Jeff Eden Fair, was widely acclaimed and earned gold-record status in 2004 as part of the “Best of Bond” CD collection.
Parodi was the first woman to compose orchestral music for the 85-year-old Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, where she continues to be a featured composer. Her recent neoclassical album “The Heart of Frida,” celebrating the spirit of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, won Solo Piano Album of...
Parodi — who first came to prominence as a member of the “Arsenio Hall Show” house band — has extensive television credits including “The Division,” “The Starter Wife,” “G.I. Joe: Renegades” and “Transformers: Rescue Bots,” along with film credits including “Conversations With Other Women” and music for hundreds of movie trailers.
Her version of the James Bond Theme, created for the “GoldenEye” trailer with composing partner Jeff Eden Fair, was widely acclaimed and earned gold-record status in 2004 as part of the “Best of Bond” CD collection.
Parodi was the first woman to compose orchestral music for the 85-year-old Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, where she continues to be a featured composer. Her recent neoclassical album “The Heart of Frida,” celebrating the spirit of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, won Solo Piano Album of...
- 3/3/2019
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
For many years, Oscar “shortlists” narrowed down the choices in a preliminary round that would eventually lead to the five nominees for original song and score. Academy executives discontinued that practice after the 1979 awards, but have brought it back for the 2018 honors.
It was problematic then and it remains so now. Not everyone agrees that the shortlist concept is a good idea, primarily because it forces music-branch members to see and evaluate dozens of films before the first round of voting in early December. Previously, they had until early January to wade through all those “for your consideration” screeners and CDs.
In May, Academy executives insisted that the shortlist “gives smaller or lesser-known films a better chance to be nominated.” Speculation at the time focused on music from films released in the first half of the year, which have often been ignored in favor of end-of-year releases, generally deemed more “important.
It was problematic then and it remains so now. Not everyone agrees that the shortlist concept is a good idea, primarily because it forces music-branch members to see and evaluate dozens of films before the first round of voting in early December. Previously, they had until early January to wade through all those “for your consideration” screeners and CDs.
In May, Academy executives insisted that the shortlist “gives smaller or lesser-known films a better chance to be nominated.” Speculation at the time focused on music from films released in the first half of the year, which have often been ignored in favor of end-of-year releases, generally deemed more “important.
- 1/5/2019
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
“The Wife.” “Eighth Grade.” “Rbg.” “Sicario: Day of the Soldado.” “Mary Shelley.”
Those are just a few of the 2018 films scored by women, but when the shortlist for best original score was announced last month, all of the 15 scores whittled down by music branch members for the first round of Oscar consideration were composed by men.
“It shows that women are not getting the top films,” says Laura Karpman, a composer (“Paris Can Wait”) and governor of the music branch. “And that there is a continued invisibility.”
Karpman pushed hard for the shortlist — this is the first year since 1979 that the music branch has had one, joining a third of the other branches in the practice — explicitly in the hope that it would widen the field. She feels that if there had been a shortlist last year, Michael Abels (“Get Out”) and Tamar-kali (“Mudbound”) would certainly have been on it.
Those are just a few of the 2018 films scored by women, but when the shortlist for best original score was announced last month, all of the 15 scores whittled down by music branch members for the first round of Oscar consideration were composed by men.
“It shows that women are not getting the top films,” says Laura Karpman, a composer (“Paris Can Wait”) and governor of the music branch. “And that there is a continued invisibility.”
Karpman pushed hard for the shortlist — this is the first year since 1979 that the music branch has had one, joining a third of the other branches in the practice — explicitly in the hope that it would widen the field. She feels that if there had been a shortlist last year, Michael Abels (“Get Out”) and Tamar-kali (“Mudbound”) would certainly have been on it.
- 1/4/2019
- by Tim Greiving
- Variety Film + TV
When Rbg, the documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, its crew made up "an entire row full of women. It was pretty special," recalls editor Carla Gutierrez.
"The main crew were women," she says of Magnolia Pictures and Participant Media's hit doc, which earned $14.3 million at the domestic box office before airing on CNN. In addition to director-producers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, the core team included, among others, director of photography Claudia Raschke, composer Miriam Cutler and Gutierrez. The film also features an ...
"The main crew were women," she says of Magnolia Pictures and Participant Media's hit doc, which earned $14.3 million at the domestic box office before airing on CNN. In addition to director-producers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, the core team included, among others, director of photography Claudia Raschke, composer Miriam Cutler and Gutierrez. The film also features an ...
- 11/9/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When Rbg, the documentary about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, its crew made up "an entire row full of women. It was pretty special," recalls editor Carla Gutierrez.
"The main crew were women," she says of Magnolia Pictures and Participant Media's hit doc, which earned $14.3 million at the domestic box office before airing on CNN. In addition to director-producers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, the core team included, among others, director of photography Claudia Raschke, composer Miriam Cutler and Gutierrez. The film also features an ...
"The main crew were women," she says of Magnolia Pictures and Participant Media's hit doc, which earned $14.3 million at the domestic box office before airing on CNN. In addition to director-producers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, the core team included, among others, director of photography Claudia Raschke, composer Miriam Cutler and Gutierrez. The film also features an ...
- 11/9/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The Hollywood Music in Media Awards, recognizing music in film, TV, video games, commercials, and trailers, today announced nominees for its 2018 edition. Among the nominates films are Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut “A Star Is Born,” “Black Panther,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Quincy,” and more.
The ceremony will feature presentations, performances, and a special achievement award. Past honorees include Diane Warren, Smokey Robinson, and Glen Campbell.
Hmma nominations are selected by an advisory board and selection committee which includes journalists, music executives, music-media industry professionals comprised of select members of the Society of Composers and Lyricists, The Television Academy, the AMPAS Music Branch, Naras, and performing rights organizations.
The awards will be held at the Avalon Hollywood on Wednesday, Nov. 14. A portion of proceeds benefit Education Through Music – Los Angeles.
A list of the visual media nominees are below:
Original Score – Feature Film
Alexandre Desplat – “The Sisters Brothers” (Annapurna)
Carter Burwell – “The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs...
The ceremony will feature presentations, performances, and a special achievement award. Past honorees include Diane Warren, Smokey Robinson, and Glen Campbell.
Hmma nominations are selected by an advisory board and selection committee which includes journalists, music executives, music-media industry professionals comprised of select members of the Society of Composers and Lyricists, The Television Academy, the AMPAS Music Branch, Naras, and performing rights organizations.
The awards will be held at the Avalon Hollywood on Wednesday, Nov. 14. A portion of proceeds benefit Education Through Music – Los Angeles.
A list of the visual media nominees are below:
Original Score – Feature Film
Alexandre Desplat – “The Sisters Brothers” (Annapurna)
Carter Burwell – “The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs...
- 10/16/2018
- by Rachel Yang
- Variety Film + TV
Legendary composer John Williams accepted a new award, named after him, “in recognition of his incomparable status as one of the greatest film and television composers of our time,” at Wednesday night’s Film, TV and Visual Media Awards of Broadcast Music Inc. (Bmi) in Beverly Hills.
The creator of such iconic movie themes as “Jaws,” “E.T.” and the musical signatures of the “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones” and “Harry Potter” franchises had already received the organization’s top honor (the Bmi Icon) in 1999, so the performing-rights society invented a new one, which the 86-year-old composer said he would “humbly accept, with a little embarrassment but a lot of gratitude.”
Speaking exclusively to Variety before the ceremony, Williams acknowledged that “in the last year or two, awards seem to be coming along,” cracking, “It must have something to do with being so old, they must think now is the time.
The creator of such iconic movie themes as “Jaws,” “E.T.” and the musical signatures of the “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones” and “Harry Potter” franchises had already received the organization’s top honor (the Bmi Icon) in 1999, so the performing-rights society invented a new one, which the 86-year-old composer said he would “humbly accept, with a little embarrassment but a lot of gratitude.”
Speaking exclusively to Variety before the ceremony, Williams acknowledged that “in the last year or two, awards seem to be coming along,” cracking, “It must have something to do with being so old, they must think now is the time.
- 5/10/2018
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
It’s only fitting that Sundance Film Festival darling “Rbg,” which hits theaters May 4 via Magnolia Pictures, was put together by female filmmakers stretching across multiple generations. Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, the documentary chronicles the life and career of octogenarian Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a driving force for equal rights in America.
“When you have this many women working together, there’s a certain type of trust and respect for each other, especially with this kind of subject matter,” says editor Carla Gutierrez, who sifted through hundreds of hours of archival footage and new material shot by cinematographer Claudia Raschke to shape the narrative. There’s a caseload of fascinating facts about the justice, from her undergrad days at Cornell, to her time at law school where she made the Harvard Law Review, to President Carter appointing her to the U.S. Court of Appeals...
“When you have this many women working together, there’s a certain type of trust and respect for each other, especially with this kind of subject matter,” says editor Carla Gutierrez, who sifted through hundreds of hours of archival footage and new material shot by cinematographer Claudia Raschke to shape the narrative. There’s a caseload of fascinating facts about the justice, from her undergrad days at Cornell, to her time at law school where she made the Harvard Law Review, to President Carter appointing her to the U.S. Court of Appeals...
- 4/27/2018
- by Daron James
- Variety Film + TV
Composer John Williams will be honored for his 60-year career by Broadcast Music Inc. (Bmi) at its 34th annual Film, TV and Visual Media Awards. The event is scheduled for May 9 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Williams will receive “a special award, bearing his name, in recognition of his incomparable status as one of the greatest film and television composers of our time,” the performance rights organization announced.
Said Bmi Vice President, Creative Doreen Ringer-Ross: “By continuing to create and add to his prolific body of work, he’s made a lasting impression on music lovers around the world, and an entire community of composers who he continues to inspire. Because of this, and for all that he has given the world of music and beyond, we felt it was appropriate to honor John with this special award.”
Williams, 86, recently received his 51st Oscar nomination, for scoring “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Williams will receive “a special award, bearing his name, in recognition of his incomparable status as one of the greatest film and television composers of our time,” the performance rights organization announced.
Said Bmi Vice President, Creative Doreen Ringer-Ross: “By continuing to create and add to his prolific body of work, he’s made a lasting impression on music lovers around the world, and an entire community of composers who he continues to inspire. Because of this, and for all that he has given the world of music and beyond, we felt it was appropriate to honor John with this special award.”
Williams, 86, recently received his 51st Oscar nomination, for scoring “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
- 4/9/2018
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Music is an integral part of filmmaking, moving the story and touching the audience. Where would iconic movies such as Star Wars, Avatar, The Godfather, or Gone with the Wind be without its music? Would Downton Abbey, Dexter, or House of Cards be the same and have audiences glued to their TVs without music? Would gamers immerse into Final Fantasy or Legend of Zelda if they were silent? Movie music has moved us all to cheer, cry, and fall in love for more than 100 years. Yet the vast majority of composers hired to create this vital part of Hollywood’s cultural landscape have been men. Well, that musical glass ceiling is about to crack!
Grand Performances, the “Best Free Outdoor Summer Concert Series” in Los Angeles and the Alliance for Women Film Composers team up celebrate the music of women composers in film, television, video games and interactive media at...
Grand Performances, the “Best Free Outdoor Summer Concert Series” in Los Angeles and the Alliance for Women Film Composers team up celebrate the music of women composers in film, television, video games and interactive media at...
- 8/3/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
'The Peanuts Movie': 2016 Best Original Score Oscar contender along with 111 other titles. Oscar 2016: Best Original Score contenders range from 'Mad Max: Fury Road' to 'The Peanuts Movie' Earlier this month (Dec. '15), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made public the list of 112 film scores eligible for the 2016 Oscar in the Best Original Score category. As found in the Academy's press release, “a Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.” The release adds that “to be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must...
- 12/24/2015
- by Mont. Steve
- Alt Film Guide
Z For Zachariah
The list of films eligible for Best Original Score at the Oscars, which was released earlier today, has shone a light on the struggle faced by female composers trying to build careers in the film industry. Of the 112 films deemed eligible for the award, just two are scored by women: The Hunting Ground (Miriam Cutler) and Z For Zachariah (Heather McIntosh).
The list has emerged just three months after the The Alliance for Women Film Composers launched an online directory aimed at making women's compositions more visible to producers and the public. It reflects a problem that is far less prominent in the television and theatre industries, where female talent has been on the rise.
To join the list, a score must be "a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer.
The list of films eligible for Best Original Score at the Oscars, which was released earlier today, has shone a light on the struggle faced by female composers trying to build careers in the film industry. Of the 112 films deemed eligible for the award, just two are scored by women: The Hunting Ground (Miriam Cutler) and Z For Zachariah (Heather McIntosh).
The list has emerged just three months after the The Alliance for Women Film Composers launched an online directory aimed at making women's compositions more visible to producers and the public. It reflects a problem that is far less prominent in the television and theatre industries, where female talent has been on the rise.
To join the list, a score must be "a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer.
- 12/17/2015
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 112 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2015 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 88th Academy Awards.
The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:
“Adult Beginners,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“The Age of Adaline,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“Altered Minds,” Edmund Choi, composer
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
“Anomalisa,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Ant-Man,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Beasts of No Nation,” Dan Romer, composer
“The Big Short,” Nicholas Britell, composer
“Black Mass,” Tom Holkenborg, composer
“Bridge of Spies,” Thomas Newman, composer
“Brooklyn,” Michael Brook, composer
“Burnt,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“By the Sea,” Gabriel Yared, composer
“Carol,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Cartel Land,” H. Scott Salinas and Jackson Greenberg, composers
“Chi-Raq,” Terence Blanchard, composer
“Cinderella,” Patrick Doyle, composer
“Coming Home,” Qigang Chen, composer
“Concussion,...
The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:
“Adult Beginners,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“The Age of Adaline,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“Altered Minds,” Edmund Choi, composer
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
“Anomalisa,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Ant-Man,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Beasts of No Nation,” Dan Romer, composer
“The Big Short,” Nicholas Britell, composer
“Black Mass,” Tom Holkenborg, composer
“Bridge of Spies,” Thomas Newman, composer
“Brooklyn,” Michael Brook, composer
“Burnt,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“By the Sea,” Gabriel Yared, composer
“Carol,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Cartel Land,” H. Scott Salinas and Jackson Greenberg, composers
“Chi-Raq,” Terence Blanchard, composer
“Cinderella,” Patrick Doyle, composer
“Coming Home,” Qigang Chen, composer
“Concussion,...
- 12/17/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The American Film Showcase will host its first annual International Filmmaker Exchange Program in Los Angeles from June 6-18.
The event, a partnership between USC’s School Of Cinematic Arts and the U.S. State Department, will enable 12 documentary filmmakers from all over Europe, Asia and Africa to visit the Us.
They will participate in a wide range of workshops led by industry veterans such as Mark Jonathan Harris, Richard Pearce, Kate Amend and Miriam Cutler.
The selected filmmakers will also attend meetings with executives from the Academy, the Sundance Institute and the International Documentary Association.
The visitors were selected by a collective of international documentary filmmakers in concert with various Us Embassies throughout the world.
In other news, the UCLA School Of Theater, Film and Television will honour producer Michael DeLuca, Acme Filmworks founder Ron Diamond and Oscar-winning screenwriter Graham Moore at its 24th Annual Film Festival in Los Angeles from June 5-10.
The event, a partnership between USC’s School Of Cinematic Arts and the U.S. State Department, will enable 12 documentary filmmakers from all over Europe, Asia and Africa to visit the Us.
They will participate in a wide range of workshops led by industry veterans such as Mark Jonathan Harris, Richard Pearce, Kate Amend and Miriam Cutler.
The selected filmmakers will also attend meetings with executives from the Academy, the Sundance Institute and the International Documentary Association.
The visitors were selected by a collective of international documentary filmmakers in concert with various Us Embassies throughout the world.
In other news, the UCLA School Of Theater, Film and Television will honour producer Michael DeLuca, Acme Filmworks founder Ron Diamond and Oscar-winning screenwriter Graham Moore at its 24th Annual Film Festival in Los Angeles from June 5-10.
- 6/4/2015
- ScreenDaily
Take a look at the end credits of any given Sundance preemed title, and you’ll more than likely find the name of Michelle Satter in the “special thanks” portion. Just how all encompassing is the Sundance Institute support in helping spread filmmaker’s wings? With a whopping fifteen yearly labs, it goes without saying, that there are many folks that got a leg up thanks to Satter and co.
Fittingly and not surprisingly, the month of September is when the festival portion (programming) gets into high gear, and it’s also when the 2014 Sundance Institute Music & Sound Design Labs (Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound) help out with the docu branch. Now in its second year, lucky folks Marc Silver, Mike Day, Anna Sandilands and Ewan McNicol, Bill Ross and Turner Ross (see pic of duo above) are being paired with some audibly cool folk.
Here is the press release...
Fittingly and not surprisingly, the month of September is when the festival portion (programming) gets into high gear, and it’s also when the 2014 Sundance Institute Music & Sound Design Labs (Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound) help out with the docu branch. Now in its second year, lucky folks Marc Silver, Mike Day, Anna Sandilands and Ewan McNicol, Bill Ross and Turner Ross (see pic of duo above) are being paired with some audibly cool folk.
Here is the press release...
- 8/20/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The Sundance Institute will conduct 15 labs this year with the goal of helping emerging talent to improve their storytelling skills. The Institute and Skywalker Sound have chosen the filmmakers and composers for their second documentary music and sound design lab at Skywalker Sound in Northern California to be held this September. These residential Sundance labs collectively represent 20 weeks of residency support and mentorship for promising new independent film and theatre projects and artists from the United States and around the world. At the Music and Sound Design Lab, a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program, composers, sound designers and directors will learn how to collaborate on designing a film soundtrack via workshops and creative exercises, under the tutelage of experienced film composers and music professionals. Creative Advisors this year include: composers Todd Boekelheide and Miriam Cutler; re-recording mixer...
- 8/20/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound have announced the directors and composers selected for the second of two Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs at Skywalker Sound.
The second Music and Sound Design Labs will take place at the Skywalker Ranch in northern California and is one of 15 residential Labs Sundance Institute will host this year.
The Lab is a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program in which composers, sound designers and directors explore the collaborative process of designing a soundtrack for film.
Fellows also participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of creative advisors including composers Todd Boekelheide and Miriam Cutler, re-recording mixer Lora Hirschberg and editor Vivien Hillgrove.
The Composers Lab for narrative films took place in July and was hosted by the Film Music Program and Feature Film Program.
In addition to the Music and Sound Design Labs, the Institute...
The second Music and Sound Design Labs will take place at the Skywalker Ranch in northern California and is one of 15 residential Labs Sundance Institute will host this year.
The Lab is a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program in which composers, sound designers and directors explore the collaborative process of designing a soundtrack for film.
Fellows also participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of creative advisors including composers Todd Boekelheide and Miriam Cutler, re-recording mixer Lora Hirschberg and editor Vivien Hillgrove.
The Composers Lab for narrative films took place in July and was hosted by the Film Music Program and Feature Film Program.
In addition to the Music and Sound Design Labs, the Institute...
- 8/20/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound have announced the directors and composers selected for the second of two Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs at Skywalker Sound.
The second Music and Sound Design Labs will take place at the Skywalker Ranch in northern California and is one of 15 residential Labs Sundance Institute will host this year.
The Lab is a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program in which composers, sound designers and directors explore the collaborative process of designing a soundtrack for film.
Fellows also participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of creative advisors including composers Todd Boekelheide and Miriam Cutler, re-recording mixer Lora Hirschberg and editor Vivien Hillgrove.
The Composers Lab for narrative films took place in July and was hosted by the Film Music Program and Feature Film Program.
In addition to the Music and Sound Design Labs, the Institute...
The second Music and Sound Design Labs will take place at the Skywalker Ranch in northern California and is one of 15 residential Labs Sundance Institute will host this year.
The Lab is a joint initiative of the Institute’s Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program in which composers, sound designers and directors explore the collaborative process of designing a soundtrack for film.
Fellows also participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of creative advisors including composers Todd Boekelheide and Miriam Cutler, re-recording mixer Lora Hirschberg and editor Vivien Hillgrove.
The Composers Lab for narrative films took place in July and was hosted by the Film Music Program and Feature Film Program.
In addition to the Music and Sound Design Labs, the Institute...
- 8/20/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Last year I posed the question, “Where are all the female composers?” The answer was not as dire as the question may have suggested. Yes – it may now be a year later and the majority of well-known composers are still male, but female composers such as Rachel Portman, Anne Dudley, and Miriam Cutler are pushing their way through, creating the music for films such as Never Let Me Go, The Full Monty, and Ethel. So why has it been nearly two decades since a woman was the lead orchestrator for a major studio release? First, it’s important to clarify just what the differences are between a composer and an orchestrator. Composers write the score for a film, but do not always have the time to break down the specific instrumentation for the orchestra, leaving that job to the orchestrator. Understandably enough, composers don’t usually trust this job to just anyone and often turn to someone...
- 9/5/2013
- by Allison Loring
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its 276-member-strong class of 2013.
The list, published by The Hollywood Reporter, includes actors, cinematographers, designers, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, "members-at-large," musicians, producers, PR folks, short filmmakers and animators, sound technicians, visual effects artists, and writers.
Jason Bateman, Rosario Dawson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Jennifer Lopez, Emily Mortimer, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, and Michael Peña are among the roster of actors, while "The Heat" and "Bridesmaids" helmer Paul Feig made the directors' cut.
"We did not change our criteria at all," says Academy president Hawk Koch of this year's larger-than-usual class. "Yes, this year there is a tremendous amount of women, a tremendous amount of people of color, people from all walks of life. This year, we asked the branches to look at everybody who wasn't in the Academy but who deserved to be.
The list, published by The Hollywood Reporter, includes actors, cinematographers, designers, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, "members-at-large," musicians, producers, PR folks, short filmmakers and animators, sound technicians, visual effects artists, and writers.
Jason Bateman, Rosario Dawson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Jennifer Lopez, Emily Mortimer, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, and Michael Peña are among the roster of actors, while "The Heat" and "Bridesmaids" helmer Paul Feig made the directors' cut.
"We did not change our criteria at all," says Academy president Hawk Koch of this year's larger-than-usual class. "Yes, this year there is a tremendous amount of women, a tremendous amount of people of color, people from all walks of life. This year, we asked the branches to look at everybody who wasn't in the Academy but who deserved to be.
- 7/4/2013
- by Laura Larson
- Moviefone
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today the 276 members of the entertainment industry invited to join organization. The list includes actors, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, producers and more. Of those listed below, those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2013. "These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today," said Academy President Hawk Koch in a press release. "Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy." Koch also told Variety, "In the past eight or nine years, each branch could only bring in X amount of members. There were people each branch would have liked to get in but couldn't. We asked them to be more inclusive of the best of the best, and each branch was excited, because they got...
- 6/28/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Academy just added 276 Oscar voters.
That’s 100 more than last year, and part of an easing of a longstanding cap on the number of new members allowed to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences each year.
AMPAS usually adds between 130 and 180 new members, replacing those who have quit or passed away. The membership now stands around 6,000.
Jason Bateman, Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emmanuelle Riva, and Chris Tucker are among the actors who have been invited to join, the organization announced today.
Other interesting additions: the musician Prince, Girls and Tiny Furniture writer/director/actress Lena Dunham,...
That’s 100 more than last year, and part of an easing of a longstanding cap on the number of new members allowed to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences each year.
AMPAS usually adds between 130 and 180 new members, replacing those who have quit or passed away. The membership now stands around 6,000.
Jason Bateman, Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emmanuelle Riva, and Chris Tucker are among the actors who have been invited to join, the organization announced today.
Other interesting additions: the musician Prince, Girls and Tiny Furniture writer/director/actress Lena Dunham,...
- 6/28/2013
- by Anthony Breznican
- EW - Inside Movies
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 276 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2013.
“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Hawk Koch. “Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy.”
The 2013 invitees are:
Actors
Jason Bateman – “Up in the Air,” “Juno”
Miriam Colon – “City of Hope,” “Scarface”
Rosario Dawson – “Rent,” “Frank Miller’s Sin City”
Kimberly Elise – “For Colored Girls,” “Beloved”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Lincoln,” “The Dark Knight Rises”
Charles Grodin – “Midnight Run,” “The Heartbreak Kid”
Rebecca Hall – “Iron Man 3,” “The Town”
Lance Henriksen – “Aliens,” “The Terminator”
Jack Huston – “Not Fade Away,” “Factory Girl”
Milla Jovovich – “Resident Evil,...
“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Hawk Koch. “Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy.”
The 2013 invitees are:
Actors
Jason Bateman – “Up in the Air,” “Juno”
Miriam Colon – “City of Hope,” “Scarface”
Rosario Dawson – “Rent,” “Frank Miller’s Sin City”
Kimberly Elise – “For Colored Girls,” “Beloved”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Lincoln,” “The Dark Knight Rises”
Charles Grodin – “Midnight Run,” “The Heartbreak Kid”
Rebecca Hall – “Iron Man 3,” “The Town”
Lance Henriksen – “Aliens,” “The Terminator”
Jack Huston – “Not Fade Away,” “Factory Girl”
Milla Jovovich – “Resident Evil,...
- 6/28/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
VI Issue 1
Join us twice weekly. Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.
We are happy to add a new feature to SydneysBuzz! Mitchell Block who, specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. Mitchell will post his commentary on docs and shorts twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. Stay Tuned!
Ethel a documentary by Rory Kennedy
Ethel is a feature length documentary about the remarkable life of Ethel Kennedy, told from the point of view those who know Ethel best: her family. Produced and directed by Rory Kennedy, the film features candid interviews with Ethel and seven of her children. The film is a personal portrait of Ethel’s political awakening, the life she shared with Robert F. Kennedy, and the years following his death when she raised their eleven children on her own. Ethel offers a personal look inside the political dynasty that helped shape America.
Beautifully directed by Emmy Award winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy, this is her best work to date. Powerful, moving and deeply personal it was short listed for the Documentary Oscar. Produced by Jack Youngelston, smartly written by Mark Bailey, stunningly shot by Buddy Squires, elegantly scored by Miriam Cutler and edited by Azin Samari, this is that rare work that is perfectly crafted and feels like the director did not have to compromise one frame. Compressing an extraordinary life into this one and half ‐ hour work, the film both shares the life of Ethel Kennedy and covers the career of Robert Kennedy who was fatally shot in 1968 leaving Ethel alone to manage her family of eleven children. Never seeming to tire she shows continued strength, intelligence, sensitivity and love for her family and the Kennedys. This work is a tribute to an amazing mom.
The film aired on HBO in 2012.
Credits:
Director, Producer & Narrator: Rory Kennedy
Producer: Jack Youngelson
Writer: Mark Bailey
Cinematographer: Buddy Squires
Editor: Azin Samari
Original Score: Miriam Cutler
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins
Producer: Nancy Abraham
Salar a short film by Nicholas Greene
In an isolated Bolivian village, on the edge of the vast Uyuni salt flats, two lives collide: Marc, a jaded American doctor looking to leave, and Carlos, a fiery Bolivian salt miner who's just been stabbed in the hand.
In this stunning fiction short student filmmaker Nicholas Greene has made a film worthy of an Oscar nomination. This 19 minute film has great production values, strong acting, an amazing cast and, with the Red camera, a clarity of image that gives a great look. Solidly produced by fellow Columbia University classmate Julie Buck and shot by Hilary Spera this work like many of the thesis films coming from Columbia shows how a solid original story can become a solid film. Short listed for an Academy Award, this thesis film is outstanding.
Director/ Writer’s Bio:
Nicholas Greene is a British writer/director. In 2010 he made the short film Salar in Bolivia, working with La Fabrica Escuela, the country's only film school. The film won the international competition at the Clermont‐Ferrand Film Festival. He holds an Mfa in Film at Columbia University. He works as an editor for non‐profit documentaries in New York.
Producer Bio:
Julie Buck is a New York‐based producer and currently works for Rabbit Bandini, James Franco’s production company, where her co‐producer credits include Child of God and Black Dog Red Dog. She has an Mfa from Brigham Young University, a certificate in film preservation from George Eastman House, and an Mfa from Columbia University.
Credits
Written and Directed by: Nicholas Greene
Produced by: Julie Buck
Co-Producer: Roberto Lanza Lobo
Director of Photography: Hillary Spera
Editor: Faisal Azam
Composer: John Plenge
Columbia University School of the Arts in New York
The Film Mfa Programs
Columbia University’s film program has distinguished itself over the last decade by its students winning more Student Academy Awards in fiction than any other training program in the Us. Its entries are consistently well written, beautifully produced and strongly directed.
There are two Mfa programs in filmmaking, Screenwriting/Directing and Creative Producing, which share a common first year. The course of instruction combines producing, directing, and writing with technical training and even some history and theory to provide students with a deep understanding of all the principles and practice of dramatic filmmaking. All the courses within this unique, integrated curriculum focus on film as a medium for the telling of stories. The graduate programs average 25 students in each class. While Columbia does not “own” the student works they are produced under Columbia’s egis. Since the program is not training camera, sound, editors and other craft areas student films are crewed by friends, colleagues and others interested in working on them rather than the projects being required to use other Columbia University students.
The faculty combines veteran and new members of the New York and Hollywood film communities in both production and writing.
Web site: http://arts.columbia.edu/mfa‐programs
mwblock@gmail.com
Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).
"Poster Girl," produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the "Best" Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series "Carrier,” a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program.
______________________________________________________________________
©2012Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited. All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.
Join us twice weekly. Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.
We are happy to add a new feature to SydneysBuzz! Mitchell Block who, specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. Mitchell will post his commentary on docs and shorts twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. Stay Tuned!
Ethel a documentary by Rory Kennedy
Ethel is a feature length documentary about the remarkable life of Ethel Kennedy, told from the point of view those who know Ethel best: her family. Produced and directed by Rory Kennedy, the film features candid interviews with Ethel and seven of her children. The film is a personal portrait of Ethel’s political awakening, the life she shared with Robert F. Kennedy, and the years following his death when she raised their eleven children on her own. Ethel offers a personal look inside the political dynasty that helped shape America.
Beautifully directed by Emmy Award winning filmmaker Rory Kennedy, this is her best work to date. Powerful, moving and deeply personal it was short listed for the Documentary Oscar. Produced by Jack Youngelston, smartly written by Mark Bailey, stunningly shot by Buddy Squires, elegantly scored by Miriam Cutler and edited by Azin Samari, this is that rare work that is perfectly crafted and feels like the director did not have to compromise one frame. Compressing an extraordinary life into this one and half ‐ hour work, the film both shares the life of Ethel Kennedy and covers the career of Robert Kennedy who was fatally shot in 1968 leaving Ethel alone to manage her family of eleven children. Never seeming to tire she shows continued strength, intelligence, sensitivity and love for her family and the Kennedys. This work is a tribute to an amazing mom.
The film aired on HBO in 2012.
Credits:
Director, Producer & Narrator: Rory Kennedy
Producer: Jack Youngelson
Writer: Mark Bailey
Cinematographer: Buddy Squires
Editor: Azin Samari
Original Score: Miriam Cutler
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins
Producer: Nancy Abraham
Salar a short film by Nicholas Greene
In an isolated Bolivian village, on the edge of the vast Uyuni salt flats, two lives collide: Marc, a jaded American doctor looking to leave, and Carlos, a fiery Bolivian salt miner who's just been stabbed in the hand.
In this stunning fiction short student filmmaker Nicholas Greene has made a film worthy of an Oscar nomination. This 19 minute film has great production values, strong acting, an amazing cast and, with the Red camera, a clarity of image that gives a great look. Solidly produced by fellow Columbia University classmate Julie Buck and shot by Hilary Spera this work like many of the thesis films coming from Columbia shows how a solid original story can become a solid film. Short listed for an Academy Award, this thesis film is outstanding.
Director/ Writer’s Bio:
Nicholas Greene is a British writer/director. In 2010 he made the short film Salar in Bolivia, working with La Fabrica Escuela, the country's only film school. The film won the international competition at the Clermont‐Ferrand Film Festival. He holds an Mfa in Film at Columbia University. He works as an editor for non‐profit documentaries in New York.
Producer Bio:
Julie Buck is a New York‐based producer and currently works for Rabbit Bandini, James Franco’s production company, where her co‐producer credits include Child of God and Black Dog Red Dog. She has an Mfa from Brigham Young University, a certificate in film preservation from George Eastman House, and an Mfa from Columbia University.
Credits
Written and Directed by: Nicholas Greene
Produced by: Julie Buck
Co-Producer: Roberto Lanza Lobo
Director of Photography: Hillary Spera
Editor: Faisal Azam
Composer: John Plenge
Columbia University School of the Arts in New York
The Film Mfa Programs
Columbia University’s film program has distinguished itself over the last decade by its students winning more Student Academy Awards in fiction than any other training program in the Us. Its entries are consistently well written, beautifully produced and strongly directed.
There are two Mfa programs in filmmaking, Screenwriting/Directing and Creative Producing, which share a common first year. The course of instruction combines producing, directing, and writing with technical training and even some history and theory to provide students with a deep understanding of all the principles and practice of dramatic filmmaking. All the courses within this unique, integrated curriculum focus on film as a medium for the telling of stories. The graduate programs average 25 students in each class. While Columbia does not “own” the student works they are produced under Columbia’s egis. Since the program is not training camera, sound, editors and other craft areas student films are crewed by friends, colleagues and others interested in working on them rather than the projects being required to use other Columbia University students.
The faculty combines veteran and new members of the New York and Hollywood film communities in both production and writing.
Web site: http://arts.columbia.edu/mfa‐programs
mwblock@gmail.com
Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).
"Poster Girl," produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the "Best" Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series "Carrier,” a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program.
______________________________________________________________________
©2012Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited. All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.
- 12/13/2012
- by Mitchell Block
- Sydney's Buzz
The Oscars are a little over two months away, and with so many fantastic films released throughout this year, the anticipation surrounding the announcement of the nominations next month is running on high.
So far, we’ve had the shortlists for the Best Animated Feature, the Best Visual Effects, and the Best Documentary categories.
Now the Academy has announced the list of 104 films that are eligible in the Best Original Score category, and it’s going to be very interesting to see what makes the final cut come nominations time next month.
I think Hans Zimmer’s score for The Dark Knight Rises is, hopefully, a lock, because it is amazing. I also loved James Horner’s score for The Amazing Spider-Man, but can’t decide whether or not I think it will earn a nomination.
Alexandre Desplat has three films in the running this year, with Argo, Rise of the Guardians,...
So far, we’ve had the shortlists for the Best Animated Feature, the Best Visual Effects, and the Best Documentary categories.
Now the Academy has announced the list of 104 films that are eligible in the Best Original Score category, and it’s going to be very interesting to see what makes the final cut come nominations time next month.
I think Hans Zimmer’s score for The Dark Knight Rises is, hopefully, a lock, because it is amazing. I also loved James Horner’s score for The Amazing Spider-Man, but can’t decide whether or not I think it will earn a nomination.
Alexandre Desplat has three films in the running this year, with Argo, Rise of the Guardians,...
- 12/11/2012
- by Kenji Lloyd
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Indian composer A.R. Rahman is in the Oscar race once again for the original score at the 85thAcademy Awards. His composition for the film “”People Like Us” has found place in the long list of 104 composers vying for the nominations.
Rahman composed for the Alex Kurtzman directed “People Like Us” starring Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Rahman won two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009 for “Slumdog Millionaire”.
104 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category.
The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 10, 2013.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on February 24, 2013. The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” Henry Jackman, composer “After the Wizard,...
Rahman composed for the Alex Kurtzman directed “People Like Us” starring Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Rahman won two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009 for “Slumdog Millionaire”.
104 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category.
The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 10, 2013.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on February 24, 2013. The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” Henry Jackman, composer “After the Wizard,...
- 12/11/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
One hundred four scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 85th Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. As noted by various online Oscar pundits, most noticeably missing is Moonrise Kingdom. A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award. Click Here for the complete rules.
In February, Ludovic Bource won the Oscar for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) for The Artist at the 84th Academy Awards.
The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below...
In February, Ludovic Bource won the Oscar for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) for The Artist at the 84th Academy Awards.
The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below...
- 12/11/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
As far as I'm concerned, the two most memorable scores of the year belong to Cloud Atlas and Beasts of the Southern Wild. That said, I made an egregious and unforgivable mistake when filling out my Critics' Choice nominations and forgot to include not one of them, but Both of them! Shame. I feel it. Now I have to hope my fellow Bfca members came through where I failed. However, we will discuss Critics' Choice nominations more on the upcoming episodes of the RopeofSilicon podcast, for now we're talking Oscar as the Academy has released a complete list of all 104 original scores competing for Best Original Score at the 2013 Oscars. I have not yet posted my predictions for Best Original Score and while I am making a fuss above concerning Cloud Atlas and Beasts of the Southern Wild, I think both of those stand a very strong chance at a nomination this year.
- 12/10/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Sundance Institute pairs together four documentary projects and composers to participate in the tenth annual Composers + Documentary Lab, which takes place at their Utah resort October 26 - November 1. The Lab, which focuses on the role of music and sound design in docs, is part of the Institute’s Documentary Film Program and Fund (Dfp) and Film Music Program. Among this year's advisors are Rob Epstein ("Howl," "Celluloid Closet"), Vivien Hillgrove ("In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee") and Dfp Director Cara Mertes, as well as music editor Adam Smalley and composers Todd Boekelheide ("Blessed is the Match"), Miriam Cutler and Film Music Program Director Peter Golub ("Wordplay," "These Amazing Shadows"). Director of the Film Music Program Peter Golub says: “Composers for documentaries face unique challenges yet there are few opportunities for them to work with documentarians and focus specifically on...
- 10/19/2012
- by Sophia Savage
- Thompson on Hollywood
After exploring the lack of ladies when it comes to the world of composing, I decided to go directly to the source and ask a composer who is currently (and actively) working in the business, and who also happens to be a woman. Miriam Cutler is best known for her work in documentaries such as Thin, Lost in La Mancha and Ethel (which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January.) I spoke with Cutler not just about her background in music and composing (which is both impressive and extensive), but also about her perspective on the industry as a whole and as a woman working in it. While there may not be many well-known female composers at the moment, they are certainly on the rise. With veterans like Cutler paving the way, it sounds like many composers coming into the industry now are not just men, and it will be interesting to see how...
- 3/22/2012
- by Allison Loring
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Seems like there are a lot of ways to spend your money these days, often more money than may be coming in. What are the right choices to move your career forward? Here are a couple of contrasting ideas, both worth considering in their own context.
More bits
To start with, here I am wearing my "technical guru" hat. Let's review some things about digital and computer audio; there's a new technical trend and product you should be aware of.
You probably know that digital audio, in the files we create and the way in the signals can flow from one piece of equipment to another, can be in a variety of different sample rates (44.1KHz, 48KHz, etc.) and word lengths (usually 24-bit for most professional applications). (If you need a refresher, check my article "Technical Guidelines for Film and TV Scoring — Part 1".) Recently there has been a lot of...
More bits
To start with, here I am wearing my "technical guru" hat. Let's review some things about digital and computer audio; there's a new technical trend and product you should be aware of.
You probably know that digital audio, in the files we create and the way in the signals can flow from one piece of equipment to another, can be in a variety of different sample rates (44.1KHz, 48KHz, etc.) and word lengths (usually 24-bit for most professional applications). (If you need a refresher, check my article "Technical Guidelines for Film and TV Scoring — Part 1".) Recently there has been a lot of...
- 2/22/2010
- by noreply@blogger.com (Les Brockmann)
- SCOREcastOnline.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.