Just got back from a week working with Filmmakers and Composers as an advisor at the Documentary Film Composers Lab at the Sundance Institute.  Had a fantastic week watching films in progress, hearing music in process, and taking in the incredible beauty surrounding the Institute.  Ambitious projects, inspiring filmmakers, and wonderful composers.  Can't wait to do it all over again!  Nothing like spending time with filmmakers, exploring how to work with a composer to enhance storytelling and increase production value in documentary films

 

Advisors Peter Golub, Miriam Cutler, Tod Lending, Cara Mertes, Danny Anker

 Robin Zimmerman, Greg Pliska, Paola Prestini, Ted Reichman, Michele Stephenson, Danny Anker, Scott Johnson, Peter Golub, Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, Miriam Cutler, Cara Mertes, Rachel Libert, Dara Kell, Kristin Feeley, Chris Nizza, Tod Lending, Joe Brewster, Tony Hardmon, Corey Brill

Discussing music ideas for their film

Sometimes we get outside

not always.....

This is my third year advising at the Sundance Lab, and I finally got to take a hike!

 

 

Documentary Music Virtual Symposium on May 23rd

ALL YOUR DOC FILM MUSIC QUESTIONS ANSWERED! We're covering Doc Music A to Z with the top people in the Doc Music Industry! Sunday, May 23rd, 2010, 2-5pm PST Join us for the Doc Music Virtual Symposium and get informed and inspired! Plan on saving yourself tons of grief and money with what you will learn, and set yourself up for a really great time with one of your most important collaborators. Here's what's on tap: •How To Find the Best Composer for Your Project •When to Bring on Your Composer •How to Use Temp Music in the Most Effective Manner •How to Collaborate with Your Composer for a Superior Score •How to Negotiate a Win-Win Contract with a Composer •How to Budget for an Original Score •How to Budget for Stock Music •When You Need a Music Supervisor •How to Work with a Music Supervisor •What kind of Licenses You'll Need to Secure (Master, Sync, etc...) •What Essential Rights You Need to Negotiate when Licensing •Where & How to Get the Best Royalty Free Music •PLUS: SAMPLE AGREEMENTS! •AND, we'll be taking your questions! OUR GUESTS: MIRIAM CUTLER: One of the most renowned documentary composers in the business today, Miriam has scored such doc hits as Lost in La Mancha, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, and Thin. Her newest film which she also co-produced, One Lucky Elephant, is premiering at the LA Film Fest in June. Miriam is talented, amiable, forthright and highly experienced and will provide essential information about how to successfully find and collaborate with the right composer for your film. JAMES WESLEY STEMPLE: Jim is a truly gifted and versatile artist, with whom we've had the great pleasure of collaborating on our filmShakespeare Behind Bars. He is comfortable in many different styles, and although up on all the new technology, he prefers handcrafting some manuscripts on paper. Always one to go the extra distance for excellence, on his latest film, Walt and El Grupo, he traveled extensively in South America, absorbing the flavors of the culture and music and infusing those into the score. James will dialogue with filmmaker Ted Thomas, director of Walt and El Grupo in a case study about the collaborative process between filmmaker and composer. TED THOMAS: Ted was the Director/Writer of Walt and El Grupo (Kuniko Okubo produced). Working with Jim Stemple, he guided the score for Walt and El Grupo which embodies musical styles from Brazil, Argentina, the Andes and vintage American Swing. The original soundtrack was recorded in several locations with 35 musicians. BROOKE WENTZ: Brooke is an award-winning music supervisor and seasoned intellectual property rights executive with more than 20 years experience working in the television, cable, film and recording industries. She has a diverse and extensive list of credits, including work in television (ESPN, HBO, Discovery) and film (The Devil and Daniel Johnston,American Hardcore, Ballets Russes, and Academy Awards®-nominated documentary The Weather Underground). Brooke is also the author of the book "Hey, That's My Music: Music Supervision, Licensing and Content Acquisition", a guide to music licensing and copyright issues. MUSIC DEALERS.COM: A full-service global music licensing website that connects independent artists and music producers to clients and brands. Staff includes music licensing and publishing veterans, qualified and musically-literate in-house cataloging experts, and a team of A&R reps. Artists have the ability to upload and manage their music in our catalog, create a simple profile for themselves, as well as stay informed of all new licensing job opportunities. Clients have the ability to quickly and efficiently find the perfect track for their purposes using a fully-optimized searchable database. Join us on May 23rd for all you'll ever need to know about Documentary Music!

It's official!
After ten years of following Flora and David's journey we are so 
proud to announce that we are premiering at the Los Angeles Film 
Festival!
Check out our website at: http://oneluckyelephant.com/

FAMILY AFFAIR by director|producer chico colvard Atlanta Film Festival - Documentary Feature Jury Award Winner:
FAMILY AFFAIR – Director: Chico Colvard

http://atlantafilmfestival.com/component/option,com_myblog/show,2010-Atlanta-Film-Festival-Jury-Award-Winners.html/blogger,Charles+Judson/Itemid,48/

Atlanta Film Festival 365 - 2010 Atlanta Film Festival Jury Award Winners

atlantafilmfestival.com

Atlanta Film Festival 365 - Leading the community in creative and cultural discovery through the moving image.

FAMILY AFFAIR by director|producer chico colvard FAMILY AFFAIR wins Audience Award for Best Documentary at IFFBoston. Thanks to everyone who ripped #5 on the ballots.

After exciting screenings at E Tudo Verdade (It’s All True, the largest doc fest in South America in Brazil) and Madison Wisconsin, we are heading to Sonoma tonight, then Atlanta Apr 20 & 22, Palm Beach Apr 23 & 24, New Port Beach Apr 27 & 29, Doc Aviv in Israel May 12-16 and Beijing June 22-30.

Check out the exact screening time atwww.desertofforbiddenart.com/screenings

Tell your friends, spread the buzz.

Thank you for your continuous support.

Amanda and Tchavdar

How does art survive in a time of oppression? During Soviet rule, artists who stay true to their vision are imprisoned or executed.

Their plight inspires Igor Savitsky who daringly rescues 40,000 fellow artists' works and creates a museum in Uzbekistan's desert, far from the watchful eyes of the KGB.

Described as "one of the most remarkable collections of 20th century Russian art" and located in one of the world's poorest regions, today these paintings are worth millions.

   

Just spent 2 days at the Max Helfman Institute Retreat where I was one of about 20 composers invited to explore creating music for Jewish prayer and community events.  It was really amazing to learn more about my heritage -  it's spirituality and traditions.  Our goal as a group is to create new music for a concert later this year, and beyond.  I am very excited about this project and will post more as it evolves.  For more info:  http://www.jmcla.org/

FESTIVAL SCREENINGS:

FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL April 8-11:  Just saw that Liz Garbus and Rory Kennedy of Moxie Firecracker, with whom I have done a number of films, are getting a career achievement award at Full Frame Documentary Festival in April.  Congratulations Moxie!

They are screening a number of their films including some that I have scored: Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Shouting Fire, The Fence. Also screening, Family Affair, which Liz produced and I also scored.  YAY!

This year's festival was even more fun for me than usual, as I had 2 films premier in competition: FAMILY AFFAIR (Dir. Chico Colvard) and THE FENCE (Dir. Rory Kennedy/HBO). THE FENCE screened on opening night as part of a lively and well attended shorts program, introduced by Robert Redford, who himself is a strong supporter of the short form. It was really fun to see Rory's documentary about the politics and failures of the famously costly border fence with Mexico juxtaposed with an unusual robot driven piece by Spike Jonze, an animated satire about US corporations by French filmmakers, and a black comedy from Sweden.

The next day, FAMILY AFFAIR premiered in US Documentary Competition. This is a powerful personal documentary about Chico's family's struggle to overcome and heal from predatory sexual abuse and violence by their father. In my experiences, Sundance audiences have proven to be especially sensitive and receptive to documentaries that explore difficult subjects, and the way the characters in this film were received during the Q&A was tender and respectful. Some audience members tearfully recounted their own experiences which led to emotional discussions between the director, his sisters (who are in the film) and the audience. It was powerful to experience the potential this film has for outreach and healing of those affected by this kind of abuse . It made big news when towards the end of the Festival, OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network) picked up FAMILY AFFAIR as it's first documentary acquisition.

In addition to my screenings and the great other films I was able to see, wonderful parties, and the business of schmoozing, the BMI programs and personnel made sure to provide welcome support and hospitality to all us composers, while keeping film music highly visible at the Festival. Doreen Ringer Ross, Ray Yee, Linda Livingston, Anne Cicere, Hannah Pantle are always there to cheer our accomplishments and help us build on them. It felt great to receive an email from Doreen after she saw Family Affair and let me know how much it moved her.

Guests enjoy BMI’s annual Zoom dinner during the Sundance Film Festival.

Of course all of this culminates in the annual BMI dinner at Zoom. I always look forward to this event - the food is great, the wine is flowing, and you never know whose napkin you might end up with. It's a great experience to bring my filmmakers into our world and they really get a kick out of it. The guest list is a crazy mix of music and film people - from Hollywood to Indies - veterans to first timers, celebrities, activist documentary filmmakers, rock stars, ethnic virtuosos, you just never know who you'll meet there. And Doreen makes sure we mingle by making us change tables after every course.

Family Affair composer Miriam Cutler and director Chico Colvard prepare for the BMI Composer/Director Roundtable with BMI’s Doreen Ringer Ross.

This year they changed the schedule and the dinner was held the night before the Composer Round Table at Kimball Art Center. As I was one of the participants in the Round Table this year, I was still feeling the effects of the flowing wine in the morning. Judging by appearances, I wasn't the only one, but true to composer form, we all rose to the occasion and the panel went really well. I for one enjoyed hearing from all the other directors and composers with films in the festival, as well as some seasoned veterans and am already looking forward to Sundance 2011.

reprinted with permission from the BMI website