Hey guys! Wanted to drop in and let you know what I’ve been up to since finishing The Bray Road Beast documentary.
Immediately upon finishing The Bray Road Beast, I was accepted into a film intensive program through MI where six composers were paired with six directors here in LA to score their short films. I was matched with the Orphans Productions short film Black White Read and off we went!
Suffice it to say this was one of the hardest experiences of my career thus far but also one of the most fun. We had to score the film in about a week, so there were multiple sleepless nights…but that’s nothing new! :)
My Director, Justin Morck, was such a pleasure to work with. He was filled with enthusiasm all throughout the process, and really worked with me to create something that feels unique and fitting for their film. The challenge for me was that this film is stylized after the 1920’s silent films so it was black and white and there was no dialogue, but there was this deeper meaning in the film they were trying to get across so I needed to somehow be influenced by that style but also bring in some modern sounds in order to help communicate those ideas.
I have to give a huge salute to my mentors on this project: Tom Villano and Craig Richey. Both were of immense help and were always patient and kind although everything was always chaotic. I learned so much from them during this process, everything from writing, to more readable sheet music for the musicians to play…just too much to put here in words.
We also had the pleasure of being mentored for a day by composers like Rolfe Kent (Legally Blonde, About Schmidt, Wedding Crashers), George Clinton (Austin Powers), and Dave Porter (Breaking Bad). It was really amazing to have their influence and advice on our work as well.
We also had a great recording session with a string quartet, bassoon, flute, clarinet, etc. As always, it was amazing to hear the mockups come to life.
We had the screening last night and it was really incredible seeing all of my fellow composers in the program and how well they did on their films. All around it was just an incredible experience that I’m so thankful to have been apart of it.
By the way, The Bray Road Beast comes out on October 5th! Check back here on that day for some new music and a new post!
B
