Like Pros

Participants in ASCAP's Television and Film Scoring Workshop learn what it's like to work in a professional composer's environment

The ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop with ASCAP Board member composer Richard Bellis provides a complete curriculum, covering every aspect imaginable for emerging composers who want to build their careers in the business. For the 2007 workshop, twelve highly skilled composers were selected to participate, coming from as far away as Australia, Germany, Ireland and Spain.

All participants were assigned a scene from a recent feature film and composed a three-minute piece of underscore for a 40-piece orchestra within the first nine days of the workshop. They had the help of Hollywood's finest: RMA musicians, contractor Peter Rotter, mixing engineer Armin Steiner, music preparation by Jo Ann Kane Music Services, music editing by Michael Ryan & Mad 4 Music, orchestrator & score reader David Slonaker, and Fox's Newman Scoring Stage. Some field trips included a visit to a feature film "temp dub" on the Warner Bros. lot, the studios of Remote Control with composers Ramin Djawadi, Trevor Morris, Geoff Zanelli, Jim Dooley, and Jo Ann Kane Music's library services facilities. The program also boasted a diverse range of industry professionals along with director/composer team guest speakers including: Peter O'Fallon (TV director: The Riches, Ghost Whisperer, Prison Break) with composer Toby Chu; Kyle Jefferson & Cameron Hood (directors of the animated short First Flight and the upcoming 2009 Dreamworks animated feature Master Mind) with composer Jim Dooley; and Justin Lin (director) with composer Brian Tyler - of the film Annapolis, which also yielded one of the four assigned cues.

ASCAP's Film & Television Department is fortunate to have the support of those who contributed to the workshop along with the financial help of the ASCAP Foundation. "Without the wealth of resources available in the Los Angeles area, this workshop would not be possible and it is also, one of the reasons you won't find this kind of program at any university across the country," states workshop producer ASCAP's Mike Todd.

The ASCAP Foundation scholarship winners selected from this year's workshop are George Whitty, who will receive The ASCAP Foundation Harold Arlen Film & TV Award; Matthew Margeson, who will receive The ASCAP Foundation Steve Kaplan TV & Film Studies Scholarship; and Scott Routenberg, who will receive The ASCAP Foundation David Rose Scholarship.

THE 2007 PARTICIPANTS AND THE FILM CLIPS THEY SCORED WERE: The Incredibles • Birger Clausen • Andreas Lange • Peter Michael von der Nahmer Dreamer • Richard Altenbach • Matthew Margeson • George Whitty Hidalgo • Ulf Anneken • Roger Juliá-Satorra • Ashley Klose Annapolis • Louise Heaney • Scott Routenberg • Aaron Symonds

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