 |
ASCAP and an A-list roster of Hollywood professionals celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the TELEVISION AND FILM SCORING WORKSHOP |
|
|
|
2008 marked the 20th anniversary of the ASCAP Television and Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis, a prestigious program that cultivates the next generation of emerging TV and Film composers. 2008 featured an international group of twelve young composers selected to participate, coming from as far away as Austria, Germany, the UK and Korea. As part of the Workshop, these talented participants received advice, hands-on experience and insiders' access to state-of-the art facilities and an A-list roster of Hollywood professionals. They also benefited from the mentorship of Emmy Award-winning composer and ASCAP Board member Richard Bellis, who has coached the Workshop for the past ten years.
Initiated by ASCAP in 1988, and led for many years by Academy and Emmy Award-winning film and television music composer Fred Karlin (co-author of On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring), the intensive month-long program is widely known as a major educational and networking opportunity for aspiring composers. At its 20th year, the Television and Film Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis remains one of the most successful educational programs offered by ASCAP.
The highlight of this Workshop was the one-of-a-kind opportunity for the participants to record their own music with virtually the same resources afforded Oscar-winning composers. Early in the program, the participants were randomly assigned a three-minute scene from a well-known feature film (the 2008 clips included Dreamer, Bruce Almighty, Hidalgo and The Incredibles. They were given nine days to compose an original score to fit the scene. They were then taken to the famous Alfred Newman Scoring Stage on the Fox lot where their scores were recorded by musicians from the elite RMA-LA, most of whom performed on the original soundtracks for the selected film clips. During the scoring session they had the luxury of working with a team of professionals, including a music editor and Pro Tools operator, recording engineer and booth recordist, music librarian and prep service, and a musicians contractor. On the last day, ASCAP screened all of the clips, complete with effects and dialogue, in a theater room at the Directors Guild of America. In the end, each composer walked away with an impressive top-of-the-line demo and a tremendous head start on a successful career in scoring to picture.
The Workshop culminated with the presentation of three ASCAP Foundation awards. This year's honorees and their awards were: Jeff Kryka with the David Rose Scholarship; Patrick Murray with the Steve Kaplan TV and Film Studies Scholarship; and Sascha Peres with the Harold Arlen Film & TV Award. In addition, the RMA L.A. awarded a grant to Jeff Kryka. Each award was given to selected Workshop participants based on their excellence and professionalism, musical ability and career potential.
