Days in the Life of a Film Composer

Last month I finished up the single most ambitious liner note project I've yet tackled. La-La Land Records commissioned me to pen roughly 10,000 words for a new 6-CD box set featuring Harry Manfredini's complete scores for FRIDAY THE 13TH PARTS 1-6! This was a little bit like scribing the notes for the PUPPET MASTER box set for Perseverance Records last year but that was capped at 2500 words. The most I've ever written for an album is about 3500 words.

So this was a big deal and a humongous honor for me. I've been a fan of the films for as long as I could remember. They were the "forbidden fruit" I would sneak a peak at on cable while my parents were out or catch at friends houses when I could. To become a very small part of the FRIDAY THE 13TH family is extremely cool and quite high on my "geek meter."

As cool as the assignment was it was a job and a tough one at that. Not only is it a lot of words to write but there is a ton of material to cover. What do I write about? What don't I write about? I was able to interview Harry Manfredini, Sean S. Cunningham (the director of FRIDAY THE 13TH) and Victor Miller (the screenwriter of FRIDAY THE 13TH) who all provided a wealth of interesting insight.

After painstaking revisions, additions, and deletions, the final draft was turned in not too long ago. I am extremely proud of it. It's the best liner notes I've written. I saw the final art work last week and the booklet, covers, and packaging all look amazing. The box set will be released on January 13, 2012. I can't wait to get my copy.

I found out today that I was nominated for Best Original Score in this year's IAWTV Awards (honoring web programming) for my score to CELL: THE WEB SERIES. Wow! What a huge honor. This is essentially the Oscars or Grammys for the web industry. It's pretty surreal to think that this relatively small project I did last year is garnering so much attention for me and others involved with its creation. CELL also received nominations for Cinematography, Writing, Male Performance, Female Performance, and Dramatic Series.

There is an award ceremony in Las Vegas on January 12, 2012. I was slated to go to LA during that time but it looks like I'll be making a quick to Las Vegas before I head out to LA. The plan is to arrive the morning of Wednesday, January 11th so I can sit on a panel discussion about scoring web programs. Then on Thursday evening, January 12th will be the awards ceremony at the Venetian Hotel. The following morning I'll drive to LA to attend an event that night and another event the following day. Then I'll fly back to Austin on Sunday the 15th. Wow, what a whirlwind four days!

For a few hours upon learning of my nomination I genuinely felt the, "it's just an honor to be nominated" feeling everybody talks about.

That wore off pretty quickly though. I want to win.

UPDATE: News of the nominations have spread all throughout cyberspace including articles in Variety and the Wall Street Journal.

I go to Butt-numb-a-thon just about every year. In the thirteen years of its existence, of been to all of them except 1, 2, and 6 making 13 my tenth event. It's a 24+ hour movie marathon hosted by Ain't It Cool News' Harry Knowles in celebration of his birthday. We don't know what we're seeing until just before we see it.

This year was particularly fantastic. Of the twelve movies we saw I liked or loved them all except for one. Here's what we saw:

1. HUGO (2011)
2. LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE (1902) w/ live accompaniment by Graham Reynolds.
3. JUST IMAGINE (1930)
4. TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER SPY (2011)
5. SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (2011)
6. THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946)
7. THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (2011)
8. PORCO ROSSO (1992)
9. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012)
10. GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE (2011)
11. THE GREY (2011)
12. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL (2011) at the IMAX™ theater.

My favorite film of the festival? MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL
My least favorite film of the festival? GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE

Already looking forward to next year!

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