Annie Awards Nominations Announced

Posted: December 3, 2012 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News
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The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominations for the 40th Annual Annie Awards. Here are the music-related nominees:

Music in a Feature Production

  • Alexandre DesplatRise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
  • Bruce RetiefAdventures in Zambezia – Saltzman Communications
  • Henry JackmanWreck-It-Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
  • Joel McNeely, Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda – Secret of the Wings – DisneyToon Studios
  • John Powell, Adam Schlesinger, Ester Dean – Ice Age: Continental Drift – Blue Sky Studios
  • John Powell, Cinco PaulDr. Seuss’ The Lorax – Illumination Entertainment
  • Mark MothersbaughHotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
  • Patrick Doyle, Mark Andrews, Alex MandelBrave – Pixar Animation Studios Read the rest of this entry »

Ben Lovett is writing a new score for the indie horror thriller Black Rock. The film is directed by Katie Aselton (The Freebie) who also stars in the film alongside Lake Bell, Kate Bosworth, Will Bouvier, Jay Paulson and Anslem Richardson. The movie follows three friends who are going on a weekend getaway to an isolated island in Maine and discover that they are not alone. Mark Duplass (Cyrus, Jeff Who Lives at Home) has written the screenplay and is also executive producing with his brother Jay. Adele Romanski is producing the project. The film premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it featured a different score by Peter Golub as reported earlier this year. Lovett has previously scored a number of movies, including the cult horror film The Signal. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Zambezia’ Soundtrack Released

Posted: December 3, 2012 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music Albums
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Triggerfish has released a soundtrack album for the animated feature Zambezia. The album features the film’s original large-orchestral score composed by Bruce Retief, which was recorded with the Hollywood Studio Symphony. Also included are original songs by Zolani Mohani and Gang of Instrumentals. The soundtrack is now available to download on Amazon. Check out audio clips after the jump. Zambezia is directed by Wayne Thornley and features the voice talent of Jeremy Suarez, Abigail Breslin, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy and Samuel L. Jackson. The South African animated film follows a young flying daredevil falcon who leaves to join the Hurricane defense flyers. The movie is among the 21 animated features submitted for the Best Animated Film category at the Academy Awards and has opened in several international territories. Read the rest of this entry »

Vinny Smith is reuniting with director Lynn Shelton on the upcoming indie drama Touchy Feely. The film is written and directed by Shelton and stars Ellen Page, Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ellen Page, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy and Josh Pais. The movie follows a massage therapist who is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Steven Schardt is producing the project. Smith has previously scored Shelton’s last two features Humpday and My Sister’s Sister and has also served as the sound mixer on both films. Touchy Feely will premiere in competition at next year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Premiering tonight is the Hallmark Channel original movie The Christmas Heart directed by Gary Yates (High Life) and starring Teri Polo, Tess Harper and Paul Essiembre. Shawn Pierce whose scoring credits include such TV shows as Syfy’s Haven and Defying Gravity has composed the film’s music. The movie executive produced by Patricia Heaton, David Hunt, A.J. Morewitz, Norman Denver and Dale Cornick centers on a neighborhood that bands together to save the life of a special teenage boy in dire need of a heart transplant. To learn more about The Christmas Heart, visit Hallmark’s official film website. Read the rest of this entry »

Alberto Iglesias has won the European Film Award for his score for Tomas Alfredson’s thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and Mark Strong in the European Composer category at tonight’s EFA Night 2012 in Malta. The other composers nominated in the music category were Gabriel Yared & Cyrille Aufort for A Royal Pain, George Fenton for Ken Loach’s The Angel’s Share and Francois Couturier for Shun Li and the Poet (Io Sono Li). Iglesias also received an Academy Award nomination for his score earlier this year. The composer’s soundtrack for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is available on Silva Screen America. For the full details of the album including audio clips, check out our soundtrack announcement. For the full list of EFA winners, visit the official European Film Awards website.

Two new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:

Opening in most theaters is the thriller Killing Them Softly directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Scott McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Vincent Curatola, Max Casella and Sam Shepard. While the film doesn’t feature a full score, Marc Streitenfeld (Prometheus, American Gangster) is credited as providing piano pieces and musical ambiances. Lakeshore Records has released a soundtrack album featuring one track by Streitenfeld, as well as the film’s songs by artists including Carl Stone, The Velvet Underground, James Wilsey, Nico, Kitty Lester and The Wreckery. Check out our previous article for audio clips and the full soundtrack details.

Also opening wide is the horror thriller The Collection directed by Marcus Dunstan and starring Josh Stewart, Lee Tergesen, Christopher McDonald and Emma Fitzpatrick. Charlie Clouser (Saw series, Numbers) has composed the film’s original score. No soundtrack album has been released. The movie is a sequel to the 2009 horror film The Collector and is being distributed by LD Entertainment. Check out the film’s official website and our scoring assignment announcement to learn more about the film. Read the rest of this entry »

Heitor Pereira and Pharrell Williams are returning to provide the music for Despicable Me 2, the sequel to the 2010 animated hit film. Pereira is composing the film’s score and Williams is producing and writing new original songs for the project. The movie is directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud who also helmed the first installment. The movie’s voice cast includes Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand and Al Pacino. Christopher Meledandri & Janet Healy (Despicable Me, The Lorax) are producing the Illumination Entertainment production and Ken Daurio & Cinco Paul (Horton Hears a Who, The Lorax) have written the screenplay. Pereira’s and Williams’ music for the original movie was nominated for an Annie Award. Despicable Me 2 is set for a release on July 3, 2013 by Universal Pictures. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Any Day Now’ Score Album Details

Posted: November 30, 2012 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music Albums
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Lakeshore Records will release a score album for the indie drama Any Day Now. The album features the film’s original music composed by Joey Newman (The Middle). The soundtrack will be released digitally on December 11, 2012 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Audio clips can be checked out after the jump. As previously reported, the label is also releasing a separate soundtrack album featuring the film’s songs. Any Day Now directed by Travis Fine and starring Alan Cumming, Garret Dillahunt, Isaac Leyva, Frances Fisher and Chris Mulkey follows a gay couple who takes in a teenager with Down syndrome. The movie will be released in select cities on December 14, 2012 by Music Box Films. Read the rest of this entry »

Cutting Edge Launches Film Score Website

Posted: November 29, 2012 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News
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Cutting Edge Group has launched the new Cutting Edge Film Scores website, which will give media organisations the ability to use and license professional, high-quality film music for secondary usage. According to Variety, the site allows subscribers to upload a piece of music and have it automatically matched to similar music in the database, helping filmmakers to find music, as well as composers with a similar sound to their desired outcome and helping expose lesser known works. Users are currently able to access almost 200 film scores. Among the titles currently available are a number of scores for movies that will be released in 2013, including Antonio Pinto’s score for Snitch starring Dwayne Johnson, John Swihart’s music for Stephen Sommers’ Odd Thomas and David Buckley’s score for Taylor Hackford’s Parker starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez. Read the rest of this entry »