This past Saturday evening, Varese Sarabande hosted their 35th Anniversary Holiday Gala at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, California. The concert was hosted and produced by Robert Townson and performed by the Golden State Pops Orchestra (GSPO) and Chorale. The event was highlighted by music from Jon Favreau’s Elf, which was performed for the first time with a full choir and orchestra and was guest conducted by the film’s composer John Debney (The Passion of the Christ, Iron Man 2). Also featured was a special performance of the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas Classic prepared by composer and orchestrator William Ross (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ladder 49). Check out videos of both the Elf and Charlie Brown performances after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Varese Celebrates 35th Birthday with Holiday Concert Gala
Posted: December 24, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music EventsTags: John Debney, Varese Sarabande, William Ross
‘Son of God’ Soundtrack Announced
Posted: December 23, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music AlbumsTags: Son of God, Soundtrack
Word Entertainment will release a soundtrack album for the biblical drama Son of God. The album features songs from and inspired by the film by Christian artists including Meredith Andrews, Chris August, Big Daddy Weave, for KING & COUNTRY, Jason Castro, Everfound, Love & The Outcome, Dara Maclean, Sidewalk Prophets, Point of Grace, and Group 1 Crew. Also included is the original song Oh, Son of God performed by Francesca Batistelli. The soundtrack will be released on January 7, 2014 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Son of God produced by Mark Burnett & Roma Downey and their production company LightWorkers Media is based on their hit mini-series The Bible, which premiered on the History Channel earlier this year to record ratings. The movie features music by Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe and will include segments from the series, as well as unused scenes. The drama will be released nationwide on February 28, 2014 by 20th Century Fox. Read the rest of this entry »
Jeff Russo Scoring FX’s ‘Fargo’
Posted: December 23, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in TV Scoring AssignmentsTags: Ethan Coen, Fargo, FX, Jeff Russo, Joel Coen
Jeff Russo has been tapped to score the upcoming FX limited series Fargo. The 10-episode series inspired by the Coen Brothers’ Academy Award-nominated 1996 film features an all-new “true crime” story, following a new case and new characters. The show written by Noah Hawley (The Unusuals) stars Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Colin Hanks, Oliver Platt, Bon Odenkirk, Kate Walsh, Glenn Howerton & Joey King and will follows a rootless, manipulative man who meets and forever changes the life of small town insurance salesman. Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) are executive producing the FX Productions and MGM Television production with Hawley, Warren Littlefield (My Generation) and Geyer Kosinski (Magic City, School for Scoundrels, Bad News Bears). Read the rest of this entry »
Awards Contenders in Conversation
Posted: December 23, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in Composer InterviewsTags: Alan Silvestri, Christophe Beck, Hans Zimmer, Henry Jackman, Steven Price, Thomas Newman
The Hollywood Reporter published its yearly roundtable conversation with a number of film composers in contention for the major awards. This year’s participating composers include Hans Zimmer (Rush, 12 Years a Slave), Thomas Newman (Saving Mr. Banks), Alan Silvestri (The Croods), Steven Price (Gravity), Christophe Beck (Frozen) and Henry Jackman (Captain Phillips). The composers talk about the biggest musical challenges on their films this year, their own personal favorite scores of their career and whether they look at box office numbers of the movies they scored. Check out the full 45-mintutes video after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Andrew Feltenstein & John Nau Scoring IFC’s ‘The Spoils of Babylon’
Posted: December 22, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in TV Scoring AssignmentsTags: Andrew Feltenstein, IFC, John Nau, Matt Piedmont, The Spoils of Babylon
Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau are composing the music for the IFC comedy mini-series The Spoils of Babylon. The six part-series is created by Matt Piedmont and Andrew Steele and stars Will Ferrell, Jessica Alba, Val Kilmer, Tobey Maguire, Haley Joel Osment, Michael Sheen, Tim Robbins and Kristen Wiig. The Funny or Die production is a parody of an “epic” mini-series about a war-torn oil dynasty, in the vein of The Thorn Birds and Winds of War. Piedmont and Steele are also executive producing the project with Ferrell, Adam McKay (Talladega Nights, The Other Guys) and Nate Young. Feltenstein and Nau have previously written the music for Piedmont’s Casa de mi Padre and McKay’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which just opened in theaters this weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
Weekly TV Music Roundup (December 22, 2013)
Posted: December 22, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in TV Scoring AssignmentsTags: Marvin Hamlisch, Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love, Matthew Sklar
Premiering on Friday, December 27 as the season finale of American Masters on PBS is the documentary Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love written, directed and produced by Dori Berinstein. The episode explores the prolific life and career of the Academy Award-, Grammy-, Tony- and Pulitzer Price-winning composer whose best known songs include The Way We Were, Nobody Does It Better and who written the scores for such movies as The Sting and Sophie’s Choice. The special features interviews with Hamlisch’s family, friends and collaborators including wife Terre Blair Hamlisch, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Steven Soderbergh, Quincy Jones and Woody Allen. The documentary features music by Hamlisch, which was arranged and adapted by Matthew Sklar. To find out more about the American Masters episode, visit PBS’ official website.
Gabriel Mann to Score ‘Friends With Better Lives’
Posted: December 21, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in TV Scoring AssignmentsTags: CBS, Friends With Better Lives, Gabriel Mann
Gabriel Mann has been hired to score the upcoming CBS comedy Friends With Better Lives. The show is created by Dana Klein (Friends, Becker) and stars Kevin Connolly, Majandra Delfino, James Van Der Beek, Zoe Lister-Jones, Brooklyn Decker and Rick Donald. The series follows six friends at different stages in their lives – married, divorced, newly engaged and single – who are outwardly happy, but secretly questioning if their friends have it better. Klein is also executive producing the 20th Century Fox Television production with Aaron Kaplan (Terra Nova, The Neighbors, Back in the Game). James Burrows (Will & Grace, Friends) has directed the pilot episode. Friends With a Better Lives is set to premiere on March 31, 2014 and will air every Monday night on CBS. Read the rest of this entry »
Weekly Film Music Roundup (December 20, 2013)
Posted: December 20, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music NewsTags: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Andrew Feltenstein, Arcade Fire, Ben Sollee, Evgueni Galperine, Her, John Nau, Maidentrip, Owen Pallett, Paul Leonard Morgan, Sacha Galperine, The Past, Walking with Dinosaurs
Two new movies are opening wide this week:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the comedy sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, James Marsden and Kristen Wiig. The film’s original score is composed by Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau (Casa De Mi Padre, Bachelorette). The duo has also composed the film’s original songs, including Doby (co-written with Ferrell and McKay), which is up for an Academy Award nomination in the Best Song category (click here to listen to the track). Republic Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the film. For the full album details, check out our soundtrack announcement.
Also opening wide is the 3D family action adventure Walking With Dinosaurs directed by Neil Nightingale & Barry Cook and which follows two brothers looking to follow in their father’s footsteps, which leads them to a showdown with dinosaurs in the Arctic. Paul Leonard-Morgan (Limitless, Dredd) has composed the film’s original music. A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score is in the works and expected to be released in 2014. Check back on this page for the album details. To learn more about the movie, check out our previous news article. Read the rest of this entry »
Scoring ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Production Diary
Posted: December 20, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in Composer InterviewsTags: Conrad Pope, Howard Shore, Peter Jackson, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Peter Jackson has published his final production diary of the year for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug focusing on the music for the fantasy epic. The video features interviews with composer Howard Shore who is joined at his writing studio by Doug Adams, author of the book The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films. Also interviewed are Jackson himself, conductor/orchestrator Conrad Pope and a number of musicians who performed on the score. The video also features footage from the score’s recording sessions, which fully took place at the Wellington Town Hall in New Zealand for the first time. Check out the full production diary after the jump. The soundtrack for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is now available on WaterTower Music and the movie is playing in theaters nationwide. Read the rest of this entry »
Clinton Shorter Scoring CBS’ ‘Intelligence’
Posted: December 20, 2013 by filmmusicreporter in TV Scoring AssignmentsTags: CBS, Clinton Shorter, Intelligence
Clinton Shorter is composing the music for the upcoming CBS drama Intelligence. The show stars is created by Michael Seitzman (North Country, Here on Earth) and stars Josh Holloway, Meghan Ory, John Billingsley, PJ Byrne, Michael Rady and Marg Helgenberger. The series centers on a high-tech intelligence operative enhanced with a super-computer microchip in his brain who is the first human ever to be connected directly into the global information grid and have complete access to Internet, WiFi, telephone and satellite data. Seitzman is also executive producing the ABC Television Studios and CBS Television Studios production with Tripp Vinson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Number 23) and David Semel (Person of Interest, No Ordinary Family) who also directed the pilot episode. Read the rest of this entry »
