Category Archives: Industry news

Industry news

Laurence Rosenthal to receive lifetime award

Laurence Rosenthal is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 23rd edition of the World Soundtrack Awards, which takes place as the concluding event of Film Fest Gent on Saturday 21 October.

Rosenthal is a seasoned writer who has written music for over a hundred films and television shows. These include George Lucas’ “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” (1992) and its subsequent TV movies.

Photo credit: Matthew Joseph Peak

Nadia Boulanger and Salzburg

Born in Detroit in 1926, Rosenthal began his music studies at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Upon graduation, he moved to Paris to study composition with Nadia Boulanger and to Salzburg to learn conducting at the Mozarteum. After his military service, he went back to New York and began composing for Broadway theatre and motion pictures.

Rosenthal’s early work for feature films includes the scores for Daniel Petrie’s “A Raisin in the Sun” (1961) and Arthur Penn’s Oscar-winning film “The Miracle Worker” (1962). In the 60s, he enjoyed a strong creative partnership with actor-director Peter Glenville, for whom he wrote three original film scores. His first was an exotic score for a Broadway theatrical version of the classic Japanese film of Kurosawa, “Rashomon”.

Sherry! album sleeve
The musical Sherry! on Amazon

Awards for TV

Over the years, Rosenthal has also composed extensively for television, winning seven Emmy Awards and two Academy award nominations . His best-known work for television is the triple Emmy-winning music for “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” and its complementary TV films, along with the iconic “Fantasy Island” (1977).

The World Soundtrack Awards

The World Soundtrack Awards were launched in 2001 by the Film Fest Gent (Belgium). The goal was to promote the understanding of film music and celebrate its auteurs. The event takes place yearly in Ghent, with a ceremony that is accompanied by the Brussels Philharmonic under the baton of Dirk Brossé.

Apart from the three main categories, the World Soundtrack Awards recognize other accomplishments in film music, such as:

  • the Discovery of the Year
  • Public Choice Award
  • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Sabam Award for the Most Original Composition by a Young International Composer
  • Major Contribution to the Art of Film Music and Sound
  • Most Creative Use of Existing Material on a Soundtrack
  • Best Original Score of the Year Not Released on an Album
  • Best Original Film Score of the Year,
  • and Best Original Score for a Belgian Production.

The list of 2022 winners included Jonny Greenwood, Nicholas Britell, Eiko Ishibashi and Bruno Coulais.

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Last minute: video game workshop in Brussels

Games industry body to talk creativity and employment

On November 12 a workshop about the European video game industry will take place at an unusual location: the European Parliament in Brussels. This workshop, organised by Creativity Works,  is a chance to get a glimpse at how Europe’s football and video game industries work and what they need to keep creating jobs throughout Europe and remain engines of innovation.

The meeting will bring together:

Stefan Brost, Head of EU Office, Bundesliga (Germany)
Mathieu Moreuil, Head of European Public Policy, Premier League
Richard Glynn, CEO of Studio Powwow
David Sweeney, Senior Counsel, ISFE
Continue reading Last minute: video game workshop in Brussels →

Industry news

RIP: James Horner

Titanic composer dies in plane crash


Sad news from Southern California: the Oscar-winning composer James Horner died in a plane crash on June 22, 2015.  Horner was the composer of several major movies, notably “A Beautiful Mind”, “Troy”, “Avatar” and “Apollo 13”.  Horner’s soundtrack to the James Cameron movie “Titanic” earned him two Oscars, for the soundtrack and for best song. It also earned him two Grammys and two Golden Globes.

The 61 year-old was flying one of his light planes when it crashed in the early morning. There were no other casualties.  His assistant Sylvia Patrycja commented: “We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart, and unbelievable talent.”

Horner was working on the score to the two sequels that have been planned to Avatar. His next film to be released will be “Southpaw”, a boxing drama starring Jake Gyllenhall and Rachel McAdams. Other projects include “The 33”, a film based on the 2010 Chilean mining disaster, that will be in released in November.


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US Guild of Music Supervisors announces nominees

Guild of Music Supervisors logoIn the US, the Guild of Music Supervisors was founded to act as a valuable, highly specialized resource to further the understanding of the constant evolution of music in media and for related guilds who benefit from our expertise.

As such it tries to ensure that music supervisors are not forgotten in their work and when it comes to awards ceremony. Continue reading US Guild of Music Supervisors announces nominees →

Industry news

What’s it like working with Christopher Nolan?

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Working with Christopher Nolan on Interstellar

As “Interstellar” is sitting very comfortably atop most of the box office charts at the moment (November 2014), I couldn’t help being interested in reading a Quora piece on working with Christopher Nolan. The reply came from none other than Hans Zimmer (photo), the famous soundtrack composer.

Composer Hans ZimmerChris … doesn’t, in any way, get in the way of my imagination. In fact, he works very hard at not having me confined by the mechanics of film-making. So, our process is usually starting long conversations – just riffing on ideas. Then slowly I start writing and experimenting, coming up with sounds, etc., all the while keeping in constant conversation with Chris.

What is perhaps even more fascinating is the way Zimmer got involved in “Interstellar” in the first place. From a separate question: Continue reading What’s it like working with Christopher Nolan? →

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Head of ASCAP to address MIDEM about the future of licensing

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Paul Williams to debate music licensing

Paul Williams music licensing
Paul Williams: “work together to value music “

The President and Chairman of the Board of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Paul Williams, will deliver a keynote interview at next year’s Midem in June 2015.

Williams is know to the broader public as a composer and actor, having written numerous hits for artists as diverse as Elvis Presley and Kermit the Frog. Continue reading Head of ASCAP to address MIDEM about the future of licensing →

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Pitch music at the Berlin Music Week 2014

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Milena Fessman (Cinesong)
Milena Fessman (Cinesong)

URGENT Narip will be bringing their highly-rated music supervisor sessions to the Berlin Music Week on September 4, 2014. The idea is to give composers, publishers and labels a chance to pitch music to  supervisors that are currently working on projects. The limited enrollment of 16 people per session guarantees that they meet and get face-time with the guest music supervisors.

Registrants get a brief of the guest supervisor’s CURRENT music needs, a chance to pitch plus immediate feedback at each session, taking the mystery out of why a piece of music does or doesn’t fit. On-the-spot feedback can help registrants to re-work tracks and perhaps get them licensed – or at the very least brings them valuable market knowledge.

Two events are planned this year:

  • a session with Cinesong’s Milena Fessman (photo) who has worked with Win Wenders and s currently producing a documentary on Conny Planck.
  • a session with White Horse Music’s Gerrit Winterstein

Attendance is free for Berlin Music Week attendants but you must sign up by August 26, 2014. So click through right now.

Details on the Narip site or the Berlin Music Week.

 

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