Mychael Danna has been tapped to score the upcoming sci-fi thriller Transcendence. The film marks the directorial debut of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight, Inception) and stars Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, Clifton Collins, Jr. and Morgan Freeman. The movie follows a foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. Jack Paglen has written the screenplay. Andrew A. Kosove & Broderick Johnson (The Blind Side, Prisoners, Insomnia) the Alcon Entertainment production with Kate Cohen, Marisa Polvino, Annie Marter, David Valdes (Mud, The Prestige) and Aaron Ryder (The Green Mile, The Book of Eli).
Tag: Mychael Danna
Mychael Danna Named Film Composer of the Year at World Soundtrack Awards
Mychael Danna was chosen as Film Composer of the Year at the World Soundtrack Awards 2013, tonight’s closing event of the 40th Ghent Film Festival. Danna also received an award for his score for Ang Lee’s Life of Pi in the Best Original Film Score of the Year 2012 category. The composer accepted his awards via a video message. In the Discovery of the Year category, Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer were awarded for their score for the indie drama Beasts of the Southern Wild, which Zeitlin also directed. In the Best Original Song written directly for a Film category, Adele and Paul Epworth received the honor for the title song for Sam Mendes’ James Bond film Skyfall. For the first time since 2002, both score and song awards matched the outcome of the respective categories at the Academy Awards.
Mychael Danna, Bear McCreary and John Lunn Win Emmy Awards
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards were handed out this afternoon at the NOKIA Theatre LA LIVE in Downtown Los Angeles. John Lunn has received his second Emmy for his music for Downtown Abbey in the Outstandig Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) category after last year’s win. Mychael Danna won his first Emmy Award for the mini-series World Without End in the Outstandig Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score) category. Bear McCreary received his first Emmy Award for his main titles theme for Da Vinci’s Demons. In the Original Music and Lyrics category, Adam Schlesinger (music) and David Javerbaum (lyrics) were honored with an Emmy for the song If I Had Time written for the 66th Annual Tony Awards ceremony.
Mychael Danna Scoring ‘Queen of the Night’
Mychael Danna is currently scoring the upcoming psychological thriller Queen of the Night. The film is directed by Atom Egoyan and stars Ryan Reynolds, Mireille Enos, Bruce Greenwood, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson and Kevin Durand. The movie follows a father of an abducted child who finds a series of clues that convince him that the girl is still alive. Egoyan has co-written the screenplay with David Fraser and is also producing the Ego Film Arts and The Film Farm production with Simone Urdl & Jennifer Weiss (Away from Her, Redaction) and Stephen Traynor. Danna has previously scored all of Egoyan’s major features of the last two decades including The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica, Where the Truth Lies, Chloe, Ararat and Felicia’s Journey.
Mychael Danna Academy Awards Press Room Video
Yahoo! Screen has published a video of the press room interview with Mychael Danna following his acceptance of his first Academy Award for his music for Life of Pi this past Sunday. The composer talks about his process of creating the score, his collaboration with director Ang Lee and what winning the award means to him. Check out the video after the jump. Also embedded below is another interview with Danna (via BBC World) about the importance of music in Life of Pi and his thoughts on whether his Oscar win will have any effect on his career.
Mychael Danna Wins Oscar for ‘Life of Pi’
Mychael Danna has won his first Academy Award in the Best Original Score category for his music for Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. The composer was also nominated for the first time. The other contenders in the category were John Williams (Lincoln), Alexandre Desplat (Argo), Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina) and Thomas Newman (Skyfall). All five nominated composers were in attendance at the awards ceremony.
In the Best Original Song category, Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth received the award for the title song of the James Bond film Skyfall.
SCL Hosts Annual Oscar Nominees Reception
This afternoon, the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) hosted its annual reception honoring the Academy Award-nominated composers and songwriters in the Best Original Score and Best Original Song category at the home of composer John Cacavas in Beverly Hills. All five nominated composers in the score category attended the event: John Williams (Lincoln), Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina), Alexandre Desplat (Argo), Mychael Danna (Life of Pi) and Thomas Newman (Skyfall). Among the attendants in the Best Original Song category were J. Ralph (nominated for the song Before My Time from Chasing Ice), Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer & Alain Boublil (nominated for the original song Suddenly from Les Miserables), Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri (who received a nomination for Pi’s Lullaby from Life of Pi), Walter Murphy (nominated for the song Everybody Needs a Best Friend from Ted with Seth MacFarlane) and Paul Epworth (nominated for the title song of Skyfall with Adele).
Oscar-Nominated Composers in Conversation
John Williams was featured today in a news segment on CNN about his 48 Academy Award nominations. The five-time Oscar-winning who is up for the award this Sunday for his score for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln talks about his nomination, his past work and his collaboration with the director. The Academy has also published short videos interviews with three of the nominated composers: first time nominee Mychael Danna who received a nod for Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, Alexandre Desplat who is nominated for his music for Ben Affleck’s Argo and Thomas Newman who received his 11th nomination for Sam Mendes’ James Bond film Skyfall. Check out all videos after the jump.
‘Life of Pi’ Music Featurette
20th Century Fox has published a short video featurette about the music for Ang Lee’s 3D adventure drama Life of Pi. The video features composer Mychael Danna talking about his musical approach and his collaboration with the director, as well as footage from the recording sessions at the Newman Scoring Stage on the Fox lot in Los Angeles. Check out the video after the jump. The composer has received a Golden Globe for his music and is nominated for two Academy Awards for his score and the original song Pi’s Lullaby. The film’s soundtrack is now available on Sony Classical.
Golden Globes Backstage Interviews with Mychael Danna and Adele
NBC has published the interviews from the press room of the 70th Golden Globe Awards. As previously reported, composer Mychael Danna was honored with the award for his music for Ang Lee’s 3D adventure movie Life of Pi. Following his acceptance speech (which can be checked out here), the composer answered questions to members of the international press backstage at the awards show. Danna talked about his work on the film, his collaboration with Ang Lee, his musical influences and his relationship with India. Check out the full video after the jump.