In Jim Batts’ review of the new film LUCA, he says, “The music score from Dan Romer never overwhelms or dominates. This is primo Pixar, a glorious feast for the eyes and heart, as satisfying as a family pasta Sunday supper. Bravo and brava to all involved in creating one of the year’s best films, the triumph that is LUCA.” Read our review here.
Walt Disney Records releases Disney and Pixar’s Luca Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, available now (https://disneymusic.co/Luca). Score is composed and produced by Dan Romer (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”). A story about two teenage sea monsters who experience a life-changing summer, Disney and Pixar’s “Luca” is now streaming exclusively on Disney+ (where Disney+ is available).
The score was recorded with an 82-piece orchestra at the Newman Recording Stage, and was orchestrated and conducted by Mark Graham. Romer performed on accordion and acoustic guitar.
“Luca” director Enrico Casarosa turned to Romer to help set the stage and convey the youthful point of view of the main character, Luca. “I love his style—his accordion skills—and his ability to blend his style with the nuances of Italian music for this score,” said Casarosa.
The film is set on the Italian Riviera during the late 1950s, early 1960s. However, said Romer, “Enrico wanted something that felt like more of a nod, or a memory, than something that felt historically accurate. He told me what he really wanted was a more Italian-sounding version of the style of music I already make, which was very exciting and freeing!”
The composer especially liked working on the film’s dream sequences where Luca soars to great heights—feeling the freedom he craves. “They called for the most lush instrumentation, and usually the most wild rhythms,” he says.
Romer added, “It was an absolute joy getting to make such a melodically driven score and I’m excited for everyone to see the film.”
Dan Romer is an award-winning composer, songwriter and music producer based in Los Angeles. Romer’s scores include Disney and Pixar’s feature, “Luca” (Disney+) coming out Summer 2021, four-time Oscar®-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (Searchlight),” “Maniac” (Netflix), “The Good Doctor” (ABC), “Beasts of No Nation” (Netflix), “Atypical” (Netflix), “Ski” (A24) “Wendy” (Searchlight) and Emmy® award-winning series “Ramy” (Hulu). In 2018, Romer composed the music for Ubisoft’s flagship video game “Far Cry 5.” In addition to his scoring work, Dan produced several worldwide hit singles for numerous acclaimed artists including, A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera’s Grammy®- winning “Say Something,” and Shawn Mendes’ “Treat You Better.
Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar’s original feature film “Luca” is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay) shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, Alberto (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer), but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface. Directed by Academy Award® nominee Enrico Casarosa (“La Luna”) and produced by Andrea Warren (“Lava,” “Cars 3”).
Featuring 30 score tracks, the digital Luca Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is now available
The 2021 ASCAP Screen Music Awards kicked off today on @ASCAP and @ASCAPScreen Instagram with the reveal of this year’s ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards. The rollout began a social media celebration through Thursday, May 20 of ASCAP Screen Music Award winners featuring acceptance speeches, exclusive photos, videos and other surprises from the music creators who scored the on-screen entertainment that comforted and inspired the world throughout 2020.
With an expanded number of categories and a diverse set of nominees, the ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards recognize winners chosen by the ASCAP composer and songwriter community. The 2021 recipients share a common thread in that each of their projects tells a story of humanity’s triumph over adversity. They include this year’s Oscar-winning animated film, a landmark documentary on climate change, a horror drama examining racism in America, an Emmy-nominated sci-fi series and an action-adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic United States:
● Film Score of the Year: Soul – Jon Batiste & Trent Reznor
● Documentary Score of the Year: David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet – Steven Price (new category)
Grateful for @DavidALifeFilm's tireless advocacy and @SteveBPrice's wonderful talent. May we all work towards a sustainable future! Congrats to Steven on being honored with Composers' Choice Documentary Score of the Year 🏆 #ASCAPAwardspic.twitter.com/kPUsyROP0M
● Television Score of the Year: Lovecraft Country – Raphael Saadiq (previously TV Composer of the Year)
● Television Theme of the Year: Tales from the Loop – Philip Glass & Paul Leonard-Morgan (new category)
● Video Game Score of the Year: The Last of Us Part II – Gustavo Santaolalla
The Instagram reveal included acceptances from Batiste, Price, Glass, Leonard-Morgan and Santaolalla, in addition to special performances from Batiste, Leonard-Morgan and Santaolalla. ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams will kick off the event with a video introduction.
In other categories, David Vanacore was the top winner for Most Performed Themes and Underscore for his work on shows including Survivor and Biggest Loser. Bear McCreary took Top Cable Television Series for HBO’s critically acclaimed TheWalking Dead; Matthew Hawkins, Maurice “m.O” Jackson and Neil Martin won Top Network Television Series for their main theme for long-running CBS hit NCIS; and Rupert Gregson-Williams received the Top Box Office Film honor for The Eight Hundred.
This year’s ASCAP Screen Music Awards also included winners in a new category, Top Streaming Films, and an expanded number of awards presented for streaming series, reflecting changes in consumer viewing habits.
Composer and educator Tom Holkenborg returns this Spring for another season of his free online educational series, Studio Time. Studio Time gives viewers unparalleled access to one of Hollywood’s most unique composers and a peak into Tom’s work on some of this year’s most anticipated movies including ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE, GODZILLA VS. KONG, and Army of the Dead.
To enhance through music the new worlds director Adam Wingard envisioned and then, with his incredible team of artist, realized, the director turned to Tom Holkenborg for the score to GODZILLA VS. KONG.
The composer revealed, “I’m a huge fan of Godzilla and Kong, I’ve watched over 35 Godzilla movies over the years, so geeking out with Adam over this film came naturally. Kong is such an iconic character with over 90 years of scoring history behind him, and this was a perfect project for me to flex the retro monster orchestral scoring side of my brain mixed with my very contemporary electronic side, in this case `80s sequences and baselines in the vein of John Carpenter.
“In this score,” he continues, “I was trying to emphasize the insanity of Godzilla and the humanity of Kong. In the spirit of the film, it was fun to get my mad scientist coat on and make some monstrous sounds out of a custom five-foot bass drum and 13- foot-tall guitar amp!”
“What we worked to show thematically via the film’s visuals—technology versus the natural world, the exploration of the future or the past, the bond humanity does (or doesn’t) feel with nature—Tom was able to evoke through his incredible score,” Wingard states. “Since we’re both such big fans of these Titans, I was really excited to partner with him to pay homage to their cinematic history and also hear his entirely new and unique musical interpretations specific to the story we’re telling today.”
Every season of Studio Time is produced by Tom and free to watch on his YouTube channel (161k subscribers, 13M views). Studio Time Season 4 will be full of in-depth tutorials and practical demonstrations, touching on topics that include maximizing value from a budget studio setup, hardware x DAW connectivity, Tom’s favorite synth plug-ins and insert effects, as well as Sound Design classes. Tom will also answer viewer submitted questions and tutorial requests, tour you around his new streamlined studio set-up and provide detailed breakdowns on the key themes of ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE and GODZILLA VS. KONG.
With a colossal 4+ hours of brand new music, Justice League stands as the Mount Everest of Tom’s compositional career, combining his full spectrum of experience in rock, electronic, world and classical music in one score.
Tom Holkenborg is a musical polymath, a Grammy nominated platinum producer, educator, creator and composer. Known as a Full Contact Composer, Tom is hands-on at every stage of his creative process – from mixing, mastering, and sound design to instrumentation and conducting an orchestra. His credits have amassed billions of dollars at the box office, and include Deadpool, Mad Max: Fury Road, Alita, Black Mass, Terminator: Dark Fate and many more. He has worked with some of Hollywood’s leading directors including Peter Jackson, George Miller, James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez, Tim Miller and Zack Snyder.
WaterTower Music is excited to announce the March 18 release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), which features a completely brand-new score to accompany Snyder’s vision for the film, created by Grammy nominated multi-platinum producer, musician, composer and educator Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL (Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, the upcoming Godzilla Vs. Kong).
The album features Holkenborg’s music from Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the filmin which, determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. Now united, Batman (Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be made available worldwide day and date with the US HBO Max debut on THURSDAY, MARCH 18 (*with a small number of exceptions). The feature film will be available internationally to rent, buy, stream or watch via HBO services, local TV providers, or a range of digital platforms. And the soundtrack releases worldwide the same day.
Tom Holkenborg calls Zack Snyder’s Justice League (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) his “Mount Everest of Scores.” Indeed, the album’s nearly 4 hours of music showcases his colossal output on a project which was a massive and deeply personal undertaking for him, given his and Zack Snyder’s years-deep connection on the film. The two worked together on Snyder’s original musical vision for the film in 2016; and have now come back together to see that vision come to fruition.
“Scoring Zack Snyder’s Justice League has been a project like no other in my career,” explains the composer. “It’s a four-and-a- half-hour movie. I wrote so much music! The score is, at times, fully electronic, and at other times fully orchestral. It included many global elements, rock and even trap. And it was all written during Covid, so it was an incredibly hands on, isolated and intense experience; and I think that comes out in the score. This project demanded so much on so many levels, and all of us involved owed it to the fans and Zack to give it everything we had.”
Unquestionably, the album does showcase the best of Tom Holkenborg, who was inspired to put everything he had into the opus. The soundtrack highlights hisfull spectrum as a composer, and draws on his experience as a rock producer, electronic music producer, his world music collaborations, and love of classical orchestration and classical film scoring. Yet even with that wide ranging stylistic mix, this body of work brilliantly illuminates a passionate cohesiveness amidst a more aggressive and more dramatic offering than anything the composer has previously put forth.
Song to the Siren Performed by Rose Betts A Hunter Gathers Migratory Things Fall Apart Wonder Woman Defending / And What Rough Beast World Ending Fire Middle Mass Long Division No Paradise, No Fall The Center Will Not Hold, Twenty Centuries of Stony Sleep As Above, So Below No Dog, No Master Take This Kingdom by Force A Splinter from the Thorn That Pricked You Cyborg Becoming / Human All Too Human The Path Chooses You Aquaman Returning / Carry Your Own Water The Provenance of Something Gathered We Do This Together The Will to Power Smoke Become Fire I Teach You, the Overman A Glimmer at the Door of the Living How We Achieve Ourselves The Sun Forever Rising Underworld Superman Rising, Pt. 1 / A Book of Hours Beyond Good and Evil Monument Builder Monument Destroyer Urgrund So Begins the End The House of Belonging Earthling Flight Is Our Nature Indivisible And the Lion-Earth Did Roar, Pt. 1 And the Lion-Earth Did Roar, Pt. 2 Superman Rising, Pt. 2 / Immovable At the Speed of Force My Broken Boy That Terrible Strength An Eternal Reoccurrence of Change We Slay Ourselves Your Own House Turned to Ashes All of You Undisturbed Cities The Art of Preserving Fire The Crew at Warpower The Foundation Theme (from Zack Snyder’s Justice League) Batman, a Duty to Fight / To See Batman, an Invocation to Heal / To Be Seen Wonder Woman, a Call to Stand / A World Awakened Flash, The Space to Win / Our Legacy Is Now Hallelujah Performed by Allison Crowe
Milan Records today releases Ammonite (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with music by Dustin O’Halloran and Volker Bertelmann. Available everywhere now, the album features music written by the duo for director Francis Lee’s critically-acclaimed film starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. Continuing a fruitful creative partnership, the nine-track album features music co-composed by O’Halloran and Bertelmann, who previously teamed on the Academy® Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe® Award-nominated score for 2016’s Lion, A Christmas Carol and more.
Following its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), NEON opened the film in select theaters on November 13.
Please watch the film safely in theatres, but don’t worry if not, it comes out digitally in the US December 4th. I hope you and your loved ones are well ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ewWAVAuoNx
Of the soundtrack, composers O’Halloran and Bertelmann say,
“Writing music for Ammonite was a smooth and natural process. We already knew from director Francis Lee’s previous work this would be a score full of emotion and restraint. Because the film is a period piece, it also meant finding a tone and instrumentation that would work in this world. The overall length of music recorded is somewhat shorter than our other scores; therefore, we used many natural sounds, so when the pieces arrive, it feels meaningful. We decided for a small chamber group of strings and piano as our palette and worked from there. Francis’s original idea was to find a single piece of music playing in parts and come to a full suite at the end. In some ways, this was how we approached it, save for a few moments of score specific to the scene. We found the strong acting that both Kate and Saoirse brought meant we needed to offer space, and try not to overstep. The last piece of music in the film, during the museum scene, represented a full understanding of the emotions that played out between the two characters.”
Ammonite tells the story of acclaimed self-taught paleontologist Mary Anning, who works alone on the wild and brutal Southern English coastline of Lyme Regis in the 1840s. The days of her famed discoveries behind her, she now hunts for common fossils to sell to rich tourists to support herself and her ailing widowed mother. When one such tourist, Roderick Murchison, arrives in Lyme on the first leg of a European tour, he entrusts Mary with the care of his young wife Charlotte, who is recuperating from a personal tragedy. Mary, whose life is a daily struggle on the poverty line, cannot afford to turn him down but, proud and relentlessly passionate about her work, she clashes with her unwanted guest. They are two women from utterly different worlds. Yet despite the chasm between their social spheres and personalities, Mary and Charlotte discover they can each offer what the other has been searching for: the realization that they are not alone. It is the beginning of a passionate and all-consuming love affair that will defy all social bounds and alter the course of both lives irrevocably.
You can listen to the lead single “Fossils”here, and the full album on all major streaming platforms.
AMMONITE (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)TRACKLISTING –
Fossils
Strong Enough
Dig
Leave
Boat
Post
Beach
End
Aria – Peter Gregson
Dustin O’Halloran is an American pianist and composer with four acclaimed solo albums under his own name, and is a member of the band A Winged Victory for the Sullen with Adam Wiltzie. He released his first EP for renowned classical musical label Deutsche Grammophon in 2019, with a new album currently in the works, and A Winged Victory For The Sullen released their latest album, The Undivided Five, on Ninja Tune the same year.
O’Halloran’s film career began with Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006), and since then he’s worked on multiple films and TV shows, including Like Crazy (2011) and Breathe In (2013), directed by Drake Doremus and both starring Felicity Jones. He also scored Marc Turtletaub’s Puzzle (2018), for whose closing song he collaborated with veteran Scandinavian chart-topper Ane Brun, and George Tillman Jr.’s critically acclaimed The Hate U Give (2018). He’s the winner of a 2015 Emmy Award for his main title theme to Amazon’s comedy dramaTransparent (2014–2017), and was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and a Critics Choice Award for his score to Lion (2016), written in collaboration with Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka). He also collaborated with Bertelmann to score A Christmas Carol (2019) starring Guy Pearce, Ammonite (2020) starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, and The Old Guard (2020) starring Charlize Theron. Other collaborations include with Bryan Senti on the Sky TV series Save Me (2018–).
Volker Bertelmann is an internationally-acclaimed pianist, composer and experimental musician. His score for Garth Davis’ Oscar-nominated film Lion, which he composed in collaboration with Dustin O’Halloran, was nominated for multiple awards: for the 2016 Oscar for Best Original Score, for the 2016 Golden Globes for Best Original Score, for Best Score at the 2016 Critics’ Choice Awards, for Best Original Score-Feature Film at the 2016 Hollywood Music in Media Awards, and for Best Film Music at the 2016 British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTAs. Since then, Bertelmann has provided music for several leading films and television series. He composed the score for Patrick Melrose, Showtime’s Emmy-and BAFTA nominated mini-series, and for Gunpowder, the HBO mini-series starring Kit Harington. He also composed film scores for Adrift, the 2018 romantic drama directed by Baltasar Kormákur, and, again in collaboration with O’Halloran, for The Art of Racing in The Rain, which is based on the best-selling novel by Garth Stein. In 2018, he accepted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Bertelmann, who in his solo work goes by the name Hauschka, is a uniquely innovative pianist; he is renowned both for his trademark sound, which he achieves by preparing the piano with various small objects, and his ability to improvise entire performances.
Varèse Sarabande Records has announced the upcoming CD release of Dracula 2000 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Academy Award®-nominated Marco Beltrami. The limited edition soundtack will be released on July 24, as a standalone record for the first time ever—with only 1,000 copies available. With the announcement of this exciting upcoming release, pre-order is available now on varesesarabande.com.
Dracula 2000 made its official CD debut in Varèse Sarabande’s sold-out 2016 box set, “Little Box of Horrors.” The album was mastered by James Nelson from sources provided by Marco Beltrami. The CD booklet includes extensive liner notes by film music journalist Daniel Schweiger.
Marco Beltrami has received Academy Award®-nominations for his iconic scores to 3:10 to Yuma and The Hurt Locker. He has also lent his voice to such hit films as Live Free or Die Hard, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, I, Robot and the Scream series.
In this loose reinvention of the classic Bram Stoker novel, the Count (Gerard Butler) is transplanted to the present day, after a brief prologue where Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) captures Dracula and conceals him in Carfax Abbey, where he remains for many years. In the future, Carfax Abbey is contained within an office building where Van Helsing’s been using Dracula’s blood to stay alive in order to guard the evil secret. After a band of thieves, led by the malevolent Marcus (Omar Epps), attempts to seize Dracula’s remains, the Count escapes to New Orleans, where Mary Van Helsing (Justine Waddell) currently resides. Mary is eventually persuaded to fight Dracula with the aid of a reluctant Simon (Jonny Lee Miller), one of Van Helsing’s employees, all while trying to escape the newly made vampires of Marcus’ gang and a zealous TV reporter (Jeri Ryan). The film also features Lochlyn Munro, Jennifer Esposito, Vitamin C and Danny Masterson in supporting roles.
ASCAP raises the curtain on its second virtual celebration of annual award winners today through June 25, recognizing its top film, television and video game composers as recipients of 2020 ASCAP Screen Music Awards.
The accolades will take place with the hashtag #ASCAPAwards on ASCAP’s Facebook, Twitter, and on Instagram @ASCAP and @ASCAPScreen. Each winner will be honored in a post that enables fans, friends and peers to join in congratulating the music creators that bring their favorite onscreen entertainment to life. ASCAP will share exclusive photos and videos from the winning composers — and special celebrity guests — as part of the event.
Top Box Office Film goes to Hans Zimmer for The Lion King.
Other Top Box Office winners include Pinar Toprak (Captain Marvel), who will appear on video on ASCAP social media providing a tour of her home studio, and Lorne Balfe (Gemini Man), who created a special video documenting the receipt of his award.
David Vanacore, the top winner in the Most Performed Themes and Underscore category and whose work includes music for CBS’s Survivor and NBC’s Deal or No Deal, will accept his award on video and receive special shout-outs from the shows’ hosts Jeff Probst and Howie Mandel. Other Most Performed Themes and Underscore winners were Michael Giacchino, Cat Gray, Jared Gutstadt, Russell Howard, Didier Lean Rachou, Ed Robertson, Mark Snow, Hans Zimmer andASCAP composer Board member Joel Beckerman, who will express gratitude for his award by video.Actor Dennis Quaid will appear by video in a personal congratulatory message for Gutstadt, with whom he collaborates on the Bear and a Banjo podcast.
The Top Network Television Series Award is presented to Siddhartha Khosla who will accept his award for NBC’s This Is Us by video. Also winning in the Top Television Series category and expected to appear by video are ASCAP composer Board members Dan Foliart for The Conners and Bruce Broughton for The Orville. Composer Ruth Barrett will accept the award for Top Cable Television Series for PBS’s Victoria with a celebratory video message for all her collaborators.
The ASCAP Composers’ Choice Awards, voted on exclusively by the ASCAP composer and songwriter community, are presented to John Powell for Film Score of the Year for How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World; to Bear McCreary for TV Composer of the Year; and to Gordy Haab for Video Game Score of the Year for his work on Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. Haab, McCreary and Powell will all thank their peers by video on @ASCAP social media.
ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams has provided a video introduction to this year’s ASCAP Screen Awards: “…The more I watch and listen, the more I believe that screen music today is the best it’s ever been… Congratulations to all of this year’s winners for your wonderful musical achievements. We are faced with a challenging moment right now. But we believe that your music — and the stories accompanied by it — will meet this moment by giving us hope, and inspiring change.”
On June 25, ASCAP will also host special programming on ASCAP Experience: Home Edition with two of its top 2020 Screen Awards winners: “Maverick: Hans Zimmer in Conversation with Mitchell Leib,” Walt Disney Studios’ head of music; and “This Is Us: A Conversation with Siddhartha Khosla.” The latter panel will feature Khosla with Chris Sullivan, who plays Toby on This Is Us and is also a musician/singer-songwriter.
Inspired by true events, the film stars Academy Award nominee Hugh Jackman and Academy Award winner Allison Janney. The story follows Frank Tassone (Jackman) and Pam Gluckin (Janney) who reign over a popular Long Island school district on the verge of the nation’s top spot, spurring record college admissions and soaring property values. But when an embezzlement scheme surfaces that threatens to destroy all they’ve built, Frank is forced to maintain order and secrecy — by whatever means necessary.The Bad Education score, by composer Michael Abels, is a vital part of the film’s fabric; a brilliant and intense telling the story through his music. https://www.hbo.com/movies/bad-education
“The score is an homage to great classical concert music, evoking the rigorous world of competitive academia, and its high level of training and discipline,” explained Abels about his approach to the composition. “But as this structured world begins to unravel in the film, the score also includes stark, minimalist cues driven primarily by percussion.
Michael Abels is a composer/producer best known for his scores for writer/director Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning film GET OUT, and highly anticipated follow-up US, for which Abels was awarded “Discovery of the Year” at the 2019 World Soundtrack Awards. Abels’ score for US was also shortlisted for the 2020 Oscars, received a Critics’ Choice nomination, an NAACP Image Award nomination, multiple critics’ awards, and was named “Score of the Decade” by online publication The Wrap. As a concert composer, Abels has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet The Composer, and the Sphinx Organization, among others. His orchestral works have been performed by the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and many more. As guest conductor of GET OUT IN CONCERT, Abels has led orchestras including National Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. Several of his orchestral works have been recorded by the Chicago Sinfonietta on the Cedille label, including Delights & Dances and Global Warming. Abels is co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, game and streaming media. Abels’ first ballet, FALLING SKY, commissioned by Butler University, premiered on February 6, 2020. Following its Toronto International Film Festival 2019 premiere, the Hugh Jackman film BAD EDUCATION will premiere on HBO on April 25, with the soundtrack set to be released through WaterTower Music. The film ALL DAY AND A NIGHT, written and directed by Black Panther scribe Joe Robert Cole, starring Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) and Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), will stream on Netflix from May 1st. Upcoming projects include a diverse mix of concert work, film, and an opera.
Two-time BAFTA nominee Henry Jackman has won multiple American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) Awards for his work on top box office films like ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service,’ ‘Captain Phillips,’ ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation,’ ‘Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,’ and ‘X-Men: First Class,’ as well as animated features such as ‘Monster vs. Aliens,’ ‘Puss in Boots,’ and ‘Wreck-It-Ralph’ for which he also won an Annie Award. His other diverse credits include ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,’ ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ ‘Big Hero 6,’ ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet,’ and ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle,’ also recently composing for ‘Pokemon Detective Pikachu’ and The Russo Brothers’ produced action crime-drama ’21 Bridges.’
In theaters now, Henry returns to the magical board game-turned-video game adventure world of ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ and this summer, he is rejoining The Russo Brothers for their new drama feature ‘Cherry.’
In Jumanji: The Next Level, the gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as they expect. The players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game.
This past weekend ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ brought in an
astounding $60.1 million at the box office.
As the film debuted to audiences worldwide, Henry and I spoke over the phone about the sequel as well as his score for last summer’s ‘Predator’, his thoughts on working on franchises and the holistic approach on the melding of film and music.
Henry Jackman: I don’t often work on two movies of the same
franchise. I took the “Jumanji” DNA and came up with new themes. I had great
fun with the combinations of crazy fun and a stealthy vibe, while re-conceptualizing
for a new adventure.
WAMG: One of the tracks
“A Fond Farewell” is a lovely final piece of music after the frantic pace of
the rest of the movie. It’s an adagio, quiet theme.
HJ: Most of the movie is full of excitement, with complex
action sequences, and I had to come up with this final cue that calmed it all
down at the end and let the audience breathe. It’s great for a composer because
it’s fun doing music for an action movie but its nice to able to do the quiet
and touching pieces of music.
WAMG: I have to go back when we first spoke in 2014 where we discussed the score for 1987’s ‘Predator’ film and how we both loved Alan Silvestri’s score. Jump to 2018 and it’s Henry Jackman composing the score for ‘The Predator’. I was truly excited to see your name as composer and while watching Shane Black’s film, you could hear the original theme cleverly running throughout the new movie.
HJ: You couldn’t make that up. I had a strictly classical education and I saw the original movie when I was about 14 or 15 and I heard this really cool score that made my ears pick up. I’m not claiming the movie was Shakespeare but the music was really sophisticated and I thought I’m going to remember that name, Alan Silvestri. And then jump 20 something years ahead and I’m composing for “The Predator’.
I jumped into this franchise and tried to resurrect various them from Silvestri’s original score. Tonally the two movies were very different. The original had the very patriotic type of theme, which fits with that movie. ‘The Predator’ is very different and I was on the phone to the producers telling them, “Alan Silvestri is a hero of mine, I have this musical obsession with the original movie and I’m going to come up with new cues that have similar language and sound and harmony where I can start weaving in the music so that they can be heard on top of each other.”
A deadly Predator escapes from a secret government compound in Twentieth Century Fox’s THE PREDATOR. Photo Credit: Kimberley French.
WAMG: You score was
so exciting because you really went out of your way to include the original
theme for the fans of the 1987 movie. You found a way to cleverly pay tribute
to Silvestri’s music. It was thrilling to hear your score in the cinema last
summer.
HJ: Funny thing is, he’s a genius and so humble. When I
finished it I really felt that I had done something to pay tribute to him and
that it sounded cool, so I called him up and wanted him to listen to my music.
We got into this conversation and I told him, not to sound like a fanboy, “Alan
your score is so original and what so cool about it is that up until 1987, I
can’t think of any other score that uses that kind of harmony.” I asked him what made him use those themes
because its brilliant.
He was so funny. He said, “Ohhhh ‘Predator’ – I didn’t know what I was doing! The only thing I remember is that I was floundering around, I didn’t think I was film composer or an arranger.” I said, “hold on a minute, you wrote ‘Back To The Future’ by then!” He said, “Yeah but that was the first and it was orchestral, with ‘Predator’ I really didn’t know what I was doing.” I was like WOW… if that what happens when you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, then that’s some natural talent. It’s still so original.
WAMG: That’s a great
story! But how do you go from a Predator movie to ‘Pokemon Detective Pikachu’
and ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’? How do you shift composing gears from sci-fi
to two animated features?
HJ: You have to be a bit of a shape-shifter. (laughs) I’m
lucky enough to be able to compose for the different genres so it’s really a
blessing instead of a curse. One of the great things about that is that I don’t
compose for the same type of film year after year. I had to leave the Predator
behind and wrap my head around ‘Detective Pikachu’. You have to leave the other
film behind and muddle your way into the new characters. By the time you join a
project you’re seeing a first cut of a movie – so you have to forget the
previous film, forget it even existed. The funny thing is that sometimes you
can go really quickly from one film to the next and it very noticeable. The
first few cues of ‘Pickachu’ has a hangover from the orchestrations of ‘Predator’.
I hadn’t quite taken off the ‘Predator’ clothes and you can hear it. It’s a natural
process. Far from annoying it keeps everything interesting. After the ‘Jumanji’
movie I’ll be doing a movie with the Russo brothers called ‘Cherry’ which is
wildly different.
WAMG: I also loved
your score for ‘Kong: Skull Island’ and the recent ’21 Bridges’. That one was
very edgy and intense.
HJ: I was on that one from the get go. ’21 Bridges’ was produced by the Russo brothers. I worked with Alex Belcher on that and we tried to go for an intimate theme, not a boring electronic one. We really enjoyed that one. https://open.spotify.com/album/0E5Q7isRCDwXmlZKAbVQfG
WAMG: I was glad to see you working with the Russo Brothers again. Certain filmmakers tend to go with certain composers time and time again. Steven Spielberg and John Williams, James Cameron worked many times with the late James Horner. Do you find this to be true?
HJ: I think you’re right. When you’re a filmmaker you’re in
a precarious, nerve-racking business to try and find the music. There is a bit
of magic to it, but when you look at the history of filmmaking, the director
and composer are music companions so it’s no surprise. Look at Cameron and
Horner, their films together shows how the music is such a big part of the
movies. Sometimes the score doesn’t work with a movie, so it’s no surprise that
a director goes back to the same composer.
WAMG: How was the
premiere for ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ – you were on the red carpet?
HJ: Oddly enough it was a blue carpet (laughs). It was great fun. When you compose music you spend so much of your time locked away in a room like a hermit but you know ultimately it will help the movie that will be seen by many. It is a very hermetic experience so when you go to a premiere you get to see all these people, the production crew and the actors but it’s a good way to remind yourself that while you were locked away like a madman in a laboratory ultimately it’s a shared experience and everyone did a great job on the film.
Listen to Jackman’s ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ on Apple Music HERE, Amazon HERE and on Spotify HERE.
Just in time for the
holidays is Disney+ original new movie LADY AND THE TRAMP.
In Disney+’s “Lady and the Tramp,” life is good for Lady, an overachieving American Cocker Spaniel who resides in an upscale suburban neighborhood. Her owners, Jim Dear and Darling, spoil her daily and her neighbors, Jock, an outspoken Scottish Terrier and Trusty, a world-weary Bloodhound, are always within barking distance. But when a baby enters the picture, Lady is no longer the center of attention, and the arrival of cat-loving Aunt Sarah only complicates matters. Lady soon finds herself alone on the streets in an unwelcoming part of town. Fortunately, Tramp steps in, and the streetwise mongrel is quick to teach her the ways of the world. Before long, the prim and proper purebred and the fast-talking mutt are partaking in moonlight strolls in the park and romantic spaghetti dinners by candlelight. Tramp savors the independence of a world without leashes or fences alongside his roguish friends Peg and Bull, but Lady misses the comfort and safety of a family, and soon both must decide where – and with whom – they belong.
A heartwarming romantic
adventure that seamlessly combines live action and photorealistic animation,
“Lady and the Tramp” stars Tessa Thompson as the voice of Lady, Justin Theroux
as the voice of Tramp, Kiersey Clemons as Darling, Thomas Mann as Jim Dear,
Janelle Monáe as the voice of Peg, Yvette Nicole Brown as Aunt Sarah, and Sam
Elliott as the voice of Trusty. The film is directed by Charlie Bean from a
screenplay by Andrew Bujalski and Kari Granlund, and is produced by Brigham
Taylor. “Lady and the Tramp” is available to stream on Disney + now.
The score was composed and executive produced by composer Joseph Trapanese.
Trapanese is best known
for his sleek score work for blockbuster films like “Tron: Legacy,” “Straight
Outta Compton,” “The Greatest Showman,” “Oblivion” and the “Raid” series. As a
composer, arranger, and producer for film, television, theater, and video game
music, he has collaborated with a number of mainstream musical acts such as
Daft Punk, M83, Mike Shinoda, and Dr. Dre.
Solo work includes films
such as “Lady and the Tramp,” “Stuber,” “Arctic,” “Robin Hood,” “Only The
Brave,” “Earth to Echo,” and two installments of the “Divergent” series.
Born in Jersey City,
Trapanese earned his BM in classical composition from the Manhattan School of
Music. He went on to study at UCLA for his MA and taught electronic music
composition at the school from 2008-2011. In 2016, he became a member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2013, alongside a tenacious group
of composers, artists, and musicians, Trapanese founded The Echo Society.
Aiming to inspire each other and the community around them, the group creates
and performs new music showcasing the unique talents and environments of Los
Angeles.
Recently I spoke with Trapanese where we had a lively conversation about his previous scores, his love of composing for films and how the filmmakers brought him onto the project to create an original score for the darling LADY AND THE TRAMP.
WAMG: I love film scores and it’s always the first thing I listen for when watching a film. Your new score is such a vibrant part of the movie.
Joseph Trapanese: We all
worked very hard to give it a reason to exist. It’s so easy to look at a film
like this and think, “oh, they’re just dipping into old ideas,“ but I think we
really gave it a reason to exist in 2019. We got it to place where it feels
relevant and both old and new. A lot of hard work went into it.
WAMG: Your score feels both nostalgic and contemporary at the same time. You truly captured the essence, especially with the vocals, of the classic Disney film.
JT: It was a true honor
to be entrusted with the musical legacy of Disney’s LADY AND THE TRAMP. We wanted to
capture the emotionality and the warmth of the original movie.
The music goes deeper
into the time period and the beginning of jazz. Charlie Bean and I worked
diligently to celebrate the original film by maintaining the spirit of the
classic songs, while being unafraid to explore the benefits of modern
production and scoring to create an updated musical identity for today.
WAMG: Much of the music has those jazzy type of cues.
JT: It’s like a time
capsule of the 1950’s. Music of the time was very alive. The early 20th century
American setting inspired us to incorporate traditional New Orleans music and
Americana into the fabric of the film. Alongside the artistry of Janelle Monae,
trumpet soloist Nicholas Payton, and our 125-piece Hollywood orchestra, band,
and choir, we aimed to create a signature sound for this generation’s LADY AND THE TRAMP. We wanted it to
have a real presence.
We recorded “He’s a
Tramp” in New Orleans and it was so exciting to have that opportunity. We didn’t
want to be limited by modern technology.
WAMG: There are some very endearing moments in the film where your score just adds to the moment, such as in the track “He Has A Home,” it’s very orchestral and lovely. You’ve worked on “Tron: Legacy,” “Straight Outta Compton,” “The Greatest Showman,” “Oblivion”. What’s your favorite kind of music to compose?
JT: I have a very
diverse background. I grew up listening to Hip-Hop, I grew up listening to film
scores. I played in jazz bands and learned about a wide range of music. I’m a
fan of Duke Ellington’s saying. “There are two kinds of music… good music and
bad music.” What’s cool about film scoring is when I get asked by a filmmaker
to compose for their movie, we sit down and discuss the characters, the time
period… I try to understand the DNA of the film so that the music has a unique
integrity only for that film. I’m very passionate about the music being a part
of the narrative of a film.
I’m a fan where the score has a seat at the table. As in STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON I loved being influenced by Hip-Hop. After it was announced that I was doing the film, my friends called me up saying, “this is so cool, you’re writing a Hip-Hop score!” I was like, are you kidding me!? I’m going to write a Hip-Hop score next to the music of Dr. Dre?! Those guys are like the Beethoven of Hip-Hop! What I tried to bring was the emotionality that was happening behind the studio scene and within their families. Hip- Hop is so full of bravado and energy and such powerful music and I was trying to provide the vulnerability and something new with the score.
The album features new
versions of classics such as “Bella Notte” and “He’s a Tramp,” the latter
performed by multi-talented actress, singer and songwriter Janelle Monáe. Monáe
performs one of the animated film’s most iconic songs (written and originally
performed by Peggy Lee), “He’s a Tramp.”
Another classic song
from the film, “Bella Notte,” is performed this time around by F. Murray
Abraham and Arturo Castro, as Tony and Joe, respectively.
WAMG: How much were you involved with these new versions?
JT: I had the great
pleasure working directly with her. She’s amazing. Plus I worked on the new Cat
Song “What A Shame.” That was written and performed by Nate “Rocket”
Wonder, Roman GianArthur. They’re brothers and they also produced the song. It
was very much a team effort. We all worked so closely together so the score and
songs have this musical palette that really blends together. I helped them
record some of the band music for the Cat Song and they would come to listen to
score being recorded, so we would have conversations during the break on how
both parts were influencing each other. It had a huge impact of the final
product. It was huge collaborative effort.
WAMG: Speaking of the “Cat Song,” how did the conversation start with redoing the Siamese Cat Song and the racial overtones of the original song in the original movie?
JT: We came to the table
saying we need new cats. The director Charlie Bean said the names of the cats
are Devon and Rex (Nate Wonder, Roman GianArthur) and they’re really funny. It was basic… we asked ourselves how
are we going to do a new song, whose going to sing it, who will write it. They
turned in a demo and Charlie said, “they are the cats!” I don’t think they
thought they were going to sing the song. By the end of the day, we felt we had
a great new song.
WAMG: It works really well! It was another great and hilarious way to update the cats.
JT: You don’t want to change the original films. It’s
like a time capsule of the good and the bad. You have to approach it head on so
from the beginning we knew we had to come up with something new.
WAMG: How did your enthusiasm for writing music come about?
JT: My friends in high school started playing in the
band and I thought it was so cool. I joined the band and went to summer music
camps. I noticed STAR WARS and other film scores. I wanted to go to school for music
education to learn how to arrange and compose. My parents also encouraged me
and I knew I wanted to make a living from composing. I always wanted to make
music and I went to Hollywood where film scoring is so much alive. You need to
have a great understanding of how cinematic sound works and I developed a skill
set. I played in a Latin jazz band so I have great understanding and appreciation
for musicians. I feel very lucky to have composed for so many different films.
WAMG: What’s coming up next for you?
JT: I worked on the PBS kids series “Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum” over the summer. It’s something I’ve never done before and I had a great time working on that.
I’m doing a film called HAPPILY with BenDavid Grabinski. It’s unlike any movie I’ve ever seen. It’s insane. The score is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I’m also working on a film called SPONTANEOUS with Brian Duffield. Its super fun and goes hand in hand with what I was saying before where the music has a unique viewpoint.
I’m having a great time right now going from all these different types of films. For me it’s about the collaboration and the art. I feel so very lucky. All these projects are so meaningful and it’s quite a journey I’m having.
