February 15th, 2011
My cue, “One Man Army,” can be heard in one of the current prime-time TV spots for the upcoming major animated Disney release, Mars Needs Moms, starring Seth Green and Joan Cusack.
In other news, Bygone Behemoth won best short at the Nevermore Film Festival in North Carolina. It has also been picked up for online distribution by IndiePix Films. See it here for just a buck ninety-nine.
December 22nd, 2010
Sushrut Jain, director of Andheri, is headed abroad to film a new project – a feature-length documentary about cricket, shot by several units in India as it plays host for the cricket world cup. More than a straightforward sports documentary, the film will capture India during a time of significant and unprecedented socio-economic change. At some point in the next few months I’ll be heading overseas to join Sush for a couple weeks and get a taste of India’s cricket fever.
In the meanwhile, I’ve recently completed a few shorts, including Brian Scofield’s “Blackbird” (score co-composed with Ben Crippin Taylor) which screened to a overflowing Norris Theater at USC last weekend. Bygone Behemoth was recently written up in Animation Magazine and has continued screening at film festivals domestic and abroad. “No Way to Say Goodbye” had a packed house screening last month at the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival in Florida; there will be another screening at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, January 19th.
Work continues on highly cinematic original orchestral cues for X-Ray Dog. More news, soon.
October 25th, 2010
My cue, “Don’t Look Down,” has been licensed through X-Ray Dog for use in a making of trailer for the upcoming Fox release Unstoppable, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine.
September 26th, 2010
I just returned from a fantastic and inspiring trip to South America where I soaked up the music and cultures of Brazil and Peru. During my time in Brazil I stayed in the city of Salvador, the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. Salvador is home to the world famous Olodum drum corps and the rhythmic martial art of Capoeira, in addition to a flourishing live music scene with all sorts of styles and influences. I also had the fortune of arriving at island paradise Morro de São Paulo (a two hour boat ride south of Salvador) in the midst of the Festival de Primavera, a giant Brazilian music festival. In Peru I was excited to finally get my hands on a genuine charango, a pan flute, and a peculiar rhythm instrument made from goat hooves. I used all of these instruments and influences in putting together a short new cue that you can hear simply by viewing the intro animation to my main site.
This trip was been the most recent highlight of what has already been quite a year. Started off with two trips to Seattle to record live orchestral tracks, and watched films I’ve scored make splashes big and small on the festival circuit. Latest is “Bygone Behemoth,” which has already been selected to play at over 10 festivals after premiering at South By Southwest this past March. In addition to widespread play, the animated short has been racking up awards like “Director’s Award for Best of the Festival” at Trimedia Film Festival in Colorado, “Best Narrative Short” at Animation Block Party in New York, and “Best Film (Purple Monkey Award)” at the Stop Motion Magazine Film Festival in Los Angeles. In related news, “Andheri” has won another award, “Best Foreign Film,” at the Burbank International Film Festival. That brings the total for Andheri to seven awards and over 40 film festival selections. Finally, the 50 minute documentary “No Way to Say Goodbye” has its first screenings coming up at Florida’s Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival in December and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles this coming January.
I’ve got new projects on the horizon – including more orchestral recordings – but nothing I can divulge just yet. I look forward to sharing more soon.
April 13th, 2010
Festival accolades continue to pour in for “Andheri,” winning best short last weekend at the Phoenix Film Festival.
I’m working on a short and wrapping up post-production on my live orchestral X-Ray Dog cues; most of the cues are mixed and near completion.
March 23rd, 2010
Just returned from a second recording session Seattle, this time adding a virtuosic twenty-piece choir to the mix. In the past month I’ve recorded five live orchestral cues with X-Ray Dog, and we are in the final stretch of production with this bunch; recording brass this week. I look forward to sharing these new pieces soon.
Andheri is still playing and winning festivals over 1.5 years since its completion. Most recently Andheri won best short at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.
March 6th, 2010
Just found out that I’ll be heading back up to Seattle in a couple weeks to record a few more cues for X-Ray Dog. Looking forward to that, in addition to a couple upcoming local brass recording sessions for the tracks we laid down in Seattle earlier this month.
March 1st, 2010
Just returned from recording strings for X-Ray Dog at Studio X in downtown Seattle with members of the Northwest Sinfonia. I will be recording brass in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.
February 10th, 2010
Harry Chaskin’s animated short, “Bygone Behemoth,” which I scored last summer, will premiere at the SXSW Film Festival next month in Austin, Texas. Watch the trailer here.
