THE DAILY VARIETY
Composers reflect on ASCAP workshop
Participants look back on 'fantastic' experience
By MELINDA NEWMAN
Three weeks of their lives came down to this: For the final session of the 21st annual ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop on July 31, the composers sat in a Sony Studios screening room, watching the movie clips they'd scored earlier in the week.
It was a scene they all hope to repeat for years to come.
"It was quite overwhelmingly fantastic," said Dan Baker, who attended the workshop from Sydney. For Baker, part of the appeal was the scope of the Hollywood composing scene. "I was excited at the possibility of standing in front of an orchestra with a huge screen in front of me."
For Rhett Nelson, who was accepted to the program after applying three times previously, the workshop left him with the resolve to "set my sights higher," he said. "Sometimes when you're working on your career and you're down in the trenches, you lose sight and you lose vision of what the goal is."
As soon as London-based Maurizio Malagnini landed in Los Angeles for the workshop, he learned that he'd won a BBC commission to score a 26-episode series starting in September. "The composers helped you to improve your approach with the producer, director, production company and the networks," he said. "That was even more useful for me knowing I'm going to do it."
For Miles Hankins, the dose of business reality mixed with the musical lessons was refreshing. "I'm glad [workshop leader] Richard [Bellis] is so candid, especially with regard to the financial state of composers and the idea that music budgets are shrinking," he said. "You expect to hear that this is all going to be idyllic, but it was very real and very honest."
Bellis, who conducted the workshop for the 12th time, considers his work done if the participants remember that music comes from the heart and mind, and not a soulless computer. "I told them at the onset, you need to put a period of time between viewing the film [you're scoring] and going to the computer in which the only thing you can do is something you can do with your eyes closed: You have to imagine. Then go to the toolbox and get out the tools you need."
And perhaps not surprisingly, Bellis ended up learning something, too. "I get energized and I get a fresh view and fresh ideas" from the students, he said. "It's natural for us old timers to get jaded about the state of the industry. No matter how difficult the challenges are for [the participants], it doesn't seem to faze them. It's a good lesson."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006944.html?categoryid=3673&cs=1&query=rhett+nelson
ASCAP bows in Los Angeles
Workshop offers composers helpful sanctuary
Today's film and TV composers face stiffer competition amid tougher circumstances than ever. Despite the daunting odds, the mood was optimistic at the opening night of the 21st annual ASCAP Television & Film Scoring Workshop July 7.
Comprised of 12 eager and young composers, the workshop members gathered around a conference table at ASCAP's Sunset Blvd. headquarters to hear what was in store for them over the next three weeks.
"This is a very strange time to be involved in [composing]," said Emmy-award winning composer/arranger and ASCAP board member Richard Bellis.
Struggles include too many composers vying for too few jobs. Meanwhile, competition and economics have driven down music budgets for many productions. In 1999, a film's budget range was often $55,000-$60,000; today, it may be less than $14,000.
"You're embarking in a business right now that is in cattle-call mode," Bellis said. The composer, who is leading the seminar for the 12th time, said the workshop is designed to teach aspiring composers how to be "spotted in the herd."
The workshop's participants, who were chosen from hundreds of applicants from all over the world, will write and score a three-minute cue complete with orchestration between now and July 31. Toward the end of the free workshop, which includes hands-on sessions with top composers, arrangers, editors, orchestrators and copyists, the dozen will each conduct their score with a 60-piece orchestra on the Clint Eastwood Scoring Stage on the Warner Bros. lot.
Many of the composers come to the workshop with experience scoring documentaries, indie films, video games and television program Rhett Nelson, who had applied three times previously, scored the trailer for Will Ferrell's "Land of the Lost" and composes for the Disney series "Aaron Stone," but is hoping to increase his activity in Hollywood. "Right now I work everywhere but Los Angeles," said the Texas native. The Los Angeles resident added that he is "close" to being able to make a living from his composing.
While Bellis and his colleagues will teach musical skills to the participants, they will also pass on practical tips. For example, Bellis pointed out the value of a little detective work. If you're hoping to work with a particular director, Bellis advised, find out his or her age. That way, the initial meeting could include discussion of the music that ushered them through puberty the music, Bellis said, that would likely remain sacred in their lives. He also suggested modeling the director's clothing style.
While this might seem to be stalkerish behavior, Bellis said it was "creating comfort zones." Composers, he said, must learn how to speak to directors in their own language. "You have to be in the film business," he said. "The director is not going to be in the music business."
The success of the program can be measured in the work its graduates garner, Bellis says. Alumni include Emmy-winning composers Trevor Morris and Jim Dooley and Oscar-nominated scorer Mateo Messina.
ASCAP's Mike Todd and Jennifer Harmon also help facilitate the workshop. Sponsors include Avid, Ole Music, Screen Actors Guild, Recording Musicians Assn. and the ASCAP Foundation.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005845.html?categoryid=3673&cs=1&query=rhett+nelson
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