Film composers Craig Wedren and Mark Orton have been announced as performers at the annual Snowball, presented by BMI, on January 22, 2014 at the Sundance House in Park City, Utah. The event will also feature performances by Scottish singer/songwriter KT Tunstall and vocalist and folk songwriter Kris Orlowski. The Snowball will begin at 8 p.m. and is open to Festival Credential holders. Wedren who is best known as the frontman of Shudder to Think has composed the music for numerous films by David Wain, including Role Models, Wanderlust, Wet Hot American Summer and most recently the comedy They Came Together starring Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd, which is premiering at Sundance. His other scoring credits include Richard Linklater’s The School of Rock, HBO’s Hung and Showtimes’s United States of Tara. Orton who is a member of the acoustic chamber music group Tin Hat has recently scored Alexander Payne’s critically acclaimed Nebraska and has previously written the music for Miguel Arteta’s The Good Girl among other projects.
Tag: Craig Wedren
Jose Gonzalez’s ‘Stay Alive’ from ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’
The original song Stay Alive performed by Jose Gonzalez from Ben Stiller’s fantasy comedy drama The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will be released as a single. The song is composed by the movie’s composer Theodore Shapiro (Tropic Thunder, Marley & Me) and Craig Wedren (Wet Hot American Summer, The School of Rock). They have also penned the original song Step Out, which is already available to download. The Stay Alive single will be released on December 3 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon, where you can also listen to an audio clips. As previously reported, Universal Republic will release a soundtrack album for the film featuring both songs, as well as more music from the movie on December 17. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty starring Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn and Sean Penn will be released nationwide on December 25, 2013 by 20th Century Fox.
Jose Gonzalez’s ‘Step Out’ from ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ Released
The original song Step Out performed by Jose Gonzalez from Ben Stiller’s upcoming dramedy The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has been released. The song is composed by the film’s composer Theodore Shapiro (The Devil Wears Prada, Tropic Thunder) and Craig Wedren (The School of Rock, Role Models). To download the single, visit Amazon. The song is also used in the film’s trailer, which is embedded after the jump. Universal Republic will release a soundtrack album for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty on December 17, 2013 (click here to pre-order the CD). The full album details will be posted on this site soon. The movie starring Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn and Sean Penn is based on James Thurber’s classic story and follows a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (August 30, 2013)
Three new movies are opening wide this week:
Already in theaters since Wednesday is the thriller Closed Circuit directed by John Crowley and starring Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall, Riz Ahmed, Jim Broadbent, Kenneth Cranham, Anne-Marie Duff, Ciarán Hinds and Julia Stiles. Back Lot Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score digitally earlier this week. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details, more information about the movie and to listen to audio clips.
Opening wide today is the concert documentary One Direction: This Is Us directed by Morgan Spurlock about the British/Irish boy band One Direction, consisting of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. Simon Franglen who collaborated with James Horner on his scores for Avatar, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Karate Kid has composed the film’s original score. No soundtrack album has been released, but the songs featured in the film are available on the band’s records. To learn more about the documentary, which is being released by Sony Pictures, visit the official movie website.
‘Thanks for Sharing’ Soundtrack Details
The details of the soundtrack album for the comedy drama Thanks for Sharing have been revealed. The album features the songs from the film, including Let Me Tell You About Her by Elvis Costello, Year Of The Tiger by St. Vincent, Parentheses by The Antlers, Tender Comrade by Billy Bragg and Hero by Family of the Year. Also included is a track by composer Craig Wedren (Role Models, The School of Rock). The soundtrack will be released on September 17, 2013 by Milan Records and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Also featured on the song album is a suite from the film’s original score composed by Christopher Lennertz. As reported earlier this week, the label will also release a separate album featuring the composer’s score. Thanks for Sharing directed by Stuart Blumberg and starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Josh Gad, Joely Richardson, Patrick Fugit and Alecia Moore is set to be released on September 20 by Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate. 
Craig Wedren Scoring ‘Lucky Them’
Craig Wedren is the composer of the upcoming indie comedy Lucky Them. The film is directed by Megan Griffiths (Eden) and stars Toni Collette, Thomas Haden Church, Ryan Eggold, Oliver Platt, Nina Arianda and Ahna O’Reilly. The movie follows a rock journalist who is given the impossible assignment to hunt down a long-unseen revered local musician, and is joined on the road by a music-hating, aspiring documentarian. Huck Botko (The Last Exorcism) and Emily Wachtel have written the screenplay. Wachtel is also producing the Mymy Productions project with Adam Gibbs and Amy Hobby (Secretary, 2000’s Hamlet). Lucky Them will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month.
BMI Sundance Roundtable Videos
BMI has published several videos from last week’s film composer/director roundtable Music & Film: The Creative Process at the Sundance Film Festival. Participants include composer Terence Blanchard, composer Mark Isham and director George Tillman, Jr. whose drama The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister And Pete premiered at the festival, composer Ludwig Goransson and writer/director Ryan Cogler whose feature Fruitvale received the top Sundance honor and was picked up for distribution by The Weinstein Company, composer Rob Simonsen and director James Ponsoldt whose coming of age drama The Spectacular Now was acquired by A24 for a theatrical release (Simonsen also scored the comedy The Way, Way Back, which was picked up by Fox Searchlight as the biggest sale at the festival), composer Abel Korzeniowski and director Randy Moore who worked together on the controversial Disney theme park-set Escape from Tomorrow, composer Dustin O’Halloran who scored the indie drama Breathe In, his second project for Drake Doremus following Like Crazy and composer Craig Wedren and director Jill Solloway who collaborated on the comedy Afternoon Delight.
‘Afternoon Delight’ to Feature Music by Craig Wedren
Craig Wedren is composing the score for the indie comedy Afternoon Delight. The film is written and directed by Jill Soloway and stars Kathryn Hahn as a bored housewife who puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Juno Temple, Josh Radnor and Jane Lynch are co-starring. Jen Chaiken (Big Eden) and Sebastian Dungan (Transamerica) are producing the project. Afternoon Delight is set to premiere in competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Premiere.
Craig Wedren to Score David Wain’s ‘They Came Together’
Craig Wedren is reteaming with writer/director David Wain on the upcoming comedy They Came Together. The film stars Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Ed Helms, Max Greenfield, Cobie Smulders, Christopher Meloni, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Ian Black and Michael Shannon. The movie has been described as a parody of romantic comedies and follows a corporate businessman whose company is threatening to shut down a small store. Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter) has co-written the script with Wain and is also producing the comedy.
Craig Wedren Scoring ABC’s ‘Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23’
Craig Wedren is writing the score for the new ABC comedy Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23. The composer has taken over scoring duties on the show on the third episode, which aired this past Wednesday. The pilot featured music by Daniel Licht (Dexter), Erica Weis and Michael Cassady and the score in the second episode was credited to Weis and Orr Rebhun. The comedy’s title song All I Know is She’s a Bitch is written by Steve Hampton, John Adair & Brad Hamilton and performed by Katie Hampton. Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 is created by Nahnatchka Khan and stars Krysten Ritter, Dreama Walker and James Van Der Beek. The show follows a wide-eyed Midwestern girl who moves to New York City to pursue her dream job only to find herself living with an outlandish con artist and party girl.