MUSIC FOR FILM: THE COLLABORATIVE PROCESS BETWEEN THE COMPOSER AND THE DIRECTOR
This discussion will focus on what makes a successful composer/director relationship. How did these two extraordinary artists come to work with each other? What was their creative process like? How do they communicate? Where do musical ideas come from? What determines instrumentation? What purpose does the score for a film serve? What is unique about scoring an animated film vs live action?
MODERATOR:
Doreen Ringer Ross, Vice President Film, TV & Visual Media Relations at Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), where she directs all activities serving composers for screen. She has established key programs for composers, including the Sundance Composers’ Lab and the BMI Film/TV Composers Conducting Workshop. She oversees BMI’s film scoring scholarships at USC, UCLA and Berklee College of Music, and has created artist development platforms with the Sundance Film Festival, IFP Filmmaker Labs, IFP Filmmakers Conference, Los Angeles Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, and the Woodstock Film Festival. Ringer-Ross serves as vice chairman of the board for The Holland’s Opus Foundation, is a member of the Peabody Awards Board, Advisory Board of the American Youth Symphony, Advisory Board for the IFP Filmmaker Labs, and is on the board of the World Soundtrack Award.
PANELISTS:
Chris Wedge is an Oscar® winning film director, producer, and co-founder of Blue Sky Studios. Beginning his career as a stop-motion animator, Wedge later joined MAGI/SynthaVision, where he was one of the principal animators for the groundbreaking Disney movie TRON (1982). He directed the character animation sequences for the Warner Bros./Geffen Films production JOE'S APARTMENT (1996), and served as creative supervisor on numerous feature films and commercials. Wedge wrote and directed Blue Sky’s first film, the touching short, BUNNY (1998), which won an Academy Award® for best animated short film, and over 25 international awards for animation excellence. Wedge went on to direct Blue Sky’s first feature length film, ICE AGE (2002), which was nominated for an Academy Award® for best animated feature film, followed by ROBOTS (2005). He directed EPIC (2013).
Wedge was executive producer of ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN (2006), DR. SEUSS' HORTON HEARS A WHO! (2008), ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (2009), ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (2012), RIO (2011), RIO 2 (2014) and ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE (2016). Wedge directed the science fiction adventure film MONSTER TRUCKS for Paramount Pictures (2017).
Wedge is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase film department. He received his Master of Arts degree from the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and at Ohio State University.
Danny Elfman is a composer, with notable credits such as THE SIMPSONS, DONNIE DARKO, HULK, STRANGER THINGS, CHARLOTTE'S WEB, CHARLIE IN THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
MUSIC FOR FILM: THE COLLABORATIVE PROCESS BETWEEN THE COMPOSER AND THE DIRECTOR
This discussion will focus on what makes a successful composer/director relationship. How did these two extraordinary artists come to work with each other? What was their creative process like? How do they communicate? Where do musical ideas come from? What determines instrumentation? What purpose does the score for a film serve? What is unique about scoring an animated film vs live action?
MODERATOR:
Doreen Ringer Ross, Vice President Film, TV & Visual Media Relations at Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), where she directs all activities serving composers for screen. She has established key programs for composers, including the Sundance Composers’ Lab and the BMI Film/TV Composers Conducting Workshop. She oversees BMI’s film scoring scholarships at USC, UCLA and Berklee College of Music, and has created artist development platforms with the Sundance Film Festival, IFP Filmmaker Labs, IFP Filmmakers Conference, Los Angeles Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, and the Woodstock Film Festival. Ringer-Ross serves as vice chairman of the board for The Holland’s Opus Foundation, is a member of the Peabody Awards Board, Advisory Board of the American Youth Symphony, Advisory Board for the IFP Filmmaker Labs, and is on the board of the World Soundtrack Award.
PANELISTS:
Chris Wedge is an Oscar® winning film director, producer, and co-founder of Blue Sky Studios. Beginning his career as a stop-motion animator, Wedge later joined MAGI/SynthaVision, where he was one of the principal animators for the groundbreaking Disney movie TRON (1982). He directed the character animation sequences for the Warner Bros./Geffen Films production JOE'S APARTMENT (1996), and served as creative supervisor on numerous feature films and commercials. Wedge wrote and directed Blue Sky’s first film, the touching short, BUNNY (1998), which won an Academy Award® for best animated short film, and over 25 international awards for animation excellence. Wedge went on to direct Blue Sky’s first feature length film, ICE AGE (2002), which was nominated for an Academy Award® for best animated feature film, followed by ROBOTS (2005). He directed EPIC (2013).
Wedge was executive producer of ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN (2006), DR. SEUSS' HORTON HEARS A WHO! (2008), ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (2009), ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (2012), RIO (2011), RIO 2 (2014) and ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE (2016). Wedge directed the science fiction adventure film MONSTER TRUCKS for Paramount Pictures (2017).
Wedge is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase film department. He received his Master of Arts degree from the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and at Ohio State University.
Danny Elfman is a composer, with notable credits such as THE SIMPSONS, DONNIE DARKO, HULK, STRANGER THINGS, CHARLOTTE'S WEB, CHARLIE IN THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
