Film is an excellent way for you to get your music heard and more and more opportunities are available. In fact the Duke City Shootout is happening this month and we (ABQ Music Assoc) will be working with them on selecting the music for these extremely short films. Below though is a cautionary tale.

This is a re-print from my friends the Annex Projekt on myspace.com:


"Watch out for independent filmmakers!

We see them on sites like Craigslist, Myspace and more sorted "indie music & film sites" with the sob story of no money, no budget, nothing at all.

They are so confindent that this is the next "big thing" that they'll do revenue sharing w/ you and you'll get paid! This type of contract usually comes out looking like a bad record deal with fuzzy terms.

About two months ago the Annex Projekt was approached by a good friend to produce some music for an independent filmmaker/director. For the company Liqid Filmworks. This artist boasted to us that the this "director" had so much experience and has worked on a lot of big projects. Or so he was told. The film would be distributed worldwide through Universal.

Our artist friend was already being pressured by this company to deliver music asap... with no budget at all even though they knew that the artist had to record the material in order to deliver final product. We began work and worked our asses off. Beginning w/ no contract... ah, the plot thickens.
I had bad vibes about these guys from the get go. No contract?... "well at least you'll have a contract before you hand over the final mixes?"
No... in four days, four songs were done. One of which they actually kept... Although advised by us not to give these guys music before a contract was agreed upon, our artist friend thought it would be okay to give them his music - he trusted the filmmaker completely.

The artist made the first mistake of handing over the final product without having a contract.

All of the sudden this "director" had big computer problems.... sure!
Didn't return phone calls and ignored our friend...

It's well known that there are some really great indie filmmakers to work with. I've had the pleasure of doing some music licensing deals with a few, and they were great and extremely professional. Which they should be, but when someone is unprofessional from the get go... attenas go up. This guy and assistant, pressured our friend to the extreme to do things on their terms even though he was really doing them a favor and then like many indie film guys, held the distribution through Universal over his head and made it seem like this was such a big break for him....

Ok, so about two months have gone by. Our friend didn't fill us in on any other details of when the DVD was coming out or keep us up to date on what was happening.

Since we have ties with Universal we found out the DVD was already been shipped for a release date on July 4th and our friend still had not got a contract. We called up our friend to explain the urgeny. Still this filmmaker was giving our artist friend the run-around.

I called this "professional" to talk to him about the contract. He immediately started yelling and screaming on the phone and hung up on me - hung up on me twice. For all he knew I could have been our artist friend's legal representation on the matter. They had already placed the music in the movie and the product had been shipped.... where's the contract.... oh that pesky computer!!! We know that's bullshit!!! do we?

Yes, no excuse. Any real company with professional experience would have had a contract ready upon inception of the work agreement. This company then got this contract to our artist friend yesterday 7-3-06... the day before the product formal release was set... funny stuff huh.


So they wanted the contract to be signed on that date... so what happened between all that time?... between delivery and release date??? Deals could have been made, money could have exchanged hands and our artist friend could have been written out of any profits. Athough it seems like a long shot to get paid anyhow, after they recoup their costs and such... yeah, a long shot.

This is a huge trend, craigslist is a great site for these film losers to attract desperate artists to "place" or "license" their music, without actually paying for it. As soon as you ask some real questions you seem to get bypassed for less savy artists or a band and even composers. Why do they want to use the music side for all they can fleece? Who has lessened the value of music to newbie filmmakers?

We know a bit about how the budgeting is done for a feature and it's music. So you get the sob story of Low Budget!!! Ok, so what is your budget? ..... no budget... but your low budget feature of 800,000 has no music money allocated?.... .......???????? Yes, this is considered low budget, not so low huh?????.....haha..............Ok artists/bands/composers, don't believe this hype. It's usually a ploy to use you for nothing. I've seen it done first hand and how they talk about making the deals. It's true and it happens all the time.

You're work is worth something, and just cause some guy couldn't put one over on you for a song that they want to "use" doesn't mean it's the end of the world. In fact, take it as a compliment and push for your own placement in real companies that will negotiate with you and give you a real contract. Your time and work is worth something, please remember that.

Ok, so did I mention the company was "Liqid Filmworks"... yes, that's them. They are extremely unprofessional and just like we commented, a lawyer friend also commented "wow, for a project that has dist. through Universal, I'd expect a better contract than the one they gave him. This is rediculous".
We agree.

So to recap, Liqid Filmworks= completely unprofessional - bad and questionable business practices. Unfriendly to artists!!!
Just letting you all know in case you get approached by these guys. They do put up a good front."

quote:

This is a huge trend, craigslist is a great site for these film losers to attract desperate artists to "place" or "license" their music, without actually paying for it.

I think it is time for them to call Ron Bell.

right on WM.

Now, it's time to call you guys who want a shot at having your music in the Duke City Shootout or 48 Hour Film Fest's extremely short films. These are presented by the Digital Film Institute. The websites are:
http://www.dukecityshootout.com/ and http://48hourfilm.com/

This is a one-time deal and you retain ALL rights to your music. It's also a non-paying gig and no one is looking to "buy" any music, BUT there will be many film industry reps around who will see these films and hear your music. You know the saying - you can't win if you don't play. It's a good opportunity to maybe get some exposure.

If you're interested, please email an mp3, or a url to your mp3 to me at abqmusicassociation@yahoo.com by July 9.

Unless you request otherwise, all submission urls will be kept on file for future reference and again, nothing will be used without your permission - a release form must be completed in order for your music to be used.

If you've got questions, please contact me directly.

here's some more info

http://filmmusicworld.com/mag/index.php?PHPSESSID=02ab2...archfield=&reviewid=

Again, thanks WM - you rock!

If you are interested in being involved in the 48 Hour Film Project, here's some info for you:

"There are still some spaces left for teams in the 48 Hour Film Project, being held July 21-23. We're holding a happy hour so that potential team members can meet. Please come on down, and also let people know about this event by passing on this e-mail.

Are you thinking about making a 48 Hour Film? Want to meet other filmmakers in town? Want to be on a team?

Well then come on down to the....

48 Hour Film Project Happy Hour

Monday July 10 5pm - 7:30pm

On the weekend of July 21, teams of New Mexico filmmakers will make a film in 48 hours! If you want to form or join a team you are invited to a Happy Hour to network with others who are also interested. People with many skills are needed - from acting, to camera work, make-up, driving a car, or getting coffee!

For more information see: www.48hourfilm.com/newmexico.
Harlow's, 3523 Central Avenue SE, (Corner of Carlisle & Central) from 5 to 8. For more info e-mail Liz@48hourfilm.com.

Thanks!


Liz Langston
New Mexico 48 Hour Film Producer"

This from BMI -
cheryl


How To Score as a Film Composer
Category: Music


How To Score as a Film Composer

As with most pursuits in the music business, building relationships is key to a successful career in film composing.

By Kevin Zimmerman

"There is no one guaranteed way to success for people who want to get into writing for film," says composer Graeme Revell. "Theyre now picking people from bands or recording projects, or people who have been doing orchestrations or from music schools."

Or, in the case of the composer for such films as Aeon Flux, Sin City, The Crow and The Saint, his composing work grew directly out of the rock group he formed while working as an orderly at a mental asylum in his native Australia.

The group, SPKwhich grew out of a music therapy course Revell had started at the facilitybecame something of a minor sensation in Australia, but when he set off for Europe to broaden his horizons, "the other members couldnt follow, obviously," he chuckles. Returning to Australia, Revell found himself sitting in his music publishers office when producer/director George Miller called up to ask if there was anyone the publisher had who could compose a score for his 1989 chiller Dead Calm.

After a couple of false starts, Revell was able to adapt SPKs hit single "In Flagrante Delicto" into the films score. "The piece had been written between 83 and 85 as Music for Impossible Films, oddly enough," he recalls, "so writing for films was definitely something Id considered before."

Not so for Mychael Danna, a Canadian-born composer whose credits include Capote, Vanity Fair, The Ice Storm and several scores for Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, including The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica.

"I didnt think [film scoring] was anything that was particularly interesting to me," he says. "Obviously Id been to films and heard the music, but it didnt grab me or leave me with the feeling that this was what I wanted to do."

Instead, he says, "I really got involved with it by accident. I was learning composition at the University of Toronto and got involved with the drama department, doing music for theater."

Thats how he met Egoyan, who also started out in theater. "We kind of drifted into film, and learned about it together, which was a fantastic way to do it," Danna continues. "Neither of us was in a pressure setting as far as, This is what film is and what film music should do. At that time the Canadian government gave grants to young artists working in film, which was a tremendous way to learnwe did what we wanted to do based 100% on artistic decisions."

Both composers are now equally at home with small, independent features and Hollywood blockbusters, and quickly acclimated themselves to the time constraints involved with each. "Typically, a composer is brought in during the last 8-12 weeks of the editing process," Danna says, "and youre expected to come back with concrete ideas anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.

"I love reading scripts," he adds, "but it almost never gets you to what the film is going to look like."

Revell agrees: "With the rise of CGI, a film can ultimately look vastly different from its script. In a couple of instances, Ive wasted my time just writing from the script."

Revell also warns that those who feel a composer works solely with the films director can be in for a shock. "There can be a lot of agendas in a roomthe director, the producer, the studio, sometimes the sub-studio which has brought the film to the studioeveryone has a different idea of how it should be, and that requires your bringing all your skills indiplomatic as well as creative."

"With bigger films you can run into a situation where theres more uncertainty as to what they want," Danna concurs, "and they often make up for that by wielding more control. A lot of times people dont have the level of trust to let the process happen; they want the answer right away."

Films are often presented to composers with a "temp track" already in place; that is, a previously recorded piece of work that the filmmakers may like so much that they find it difficult to accept something new. "That, and the rise of digital editing that allows you to tweak an entire film a couple of weeks before its opening, have really become the banes of my existence," Danna says. "So much money is at stake that the high level of stress involved is understandable, but as a result theres a tendency towards micro-management that doesnt necessarily serve the films best interests."

Revell maintains that there are three basic situations in composing for film: "You hope to go in with an idea similar to the filmmakers; theyre far enough along in the project that theres a temp track in place where they want something that sounds like that; or they love your music so much from another movie that they want something in the same vein. Thats the approach I enjoy least, actuallyit can be most expedient, I suppose, but its also quite distressing, because the music from before usually doesnt fit the other movie, and I find its impossible not to copy myself in such a situation."

Danna agrees that stereotyping can be just as frustrating for composers as it can for actors who are constantly offered the same types of parts. "The nice thing that I heard from the people working on Surfs Up, which is an animated feature, was that they loved my approach on other films. Theres nothing in my work that would necessarily suggest an animated project, but I was very flattered when they approached me and said, We love the heart you gave to such and such a movie, we want you to do this."

Fledgling film composers should also be aware that the job isnt over when everyones agreed on the score. "Theres change all the time," Danna says. "Reshoots, movies running too late or too early . . . inevitably youre working on two things at once, which is like having two full-time jobs at once. Sometimes you have nothing to do when you thought you were going to be busy, and other times youre swamped with work when you thought youd have time off.

"Thats one thing about this gig," he laughs. "The hours suck."

As with most pursuits in the music business, building relationships is key to a successful career in film composing. "Particularly for people who are young and just getting started, seek out young filmmakers who are at the same stage as you are," Danna says. "They have no budget and are just learning their craft themselves. Thats definitely the time to hook up with them. In 10 years time theyll be making real films, and have real budgets."

Revell agrees. "Rolfe Kent, someone I very much admire, took that approach and has since done work with [director] Alexander Payne," including Sideways and About Schmidt.

In some cases a new composer can find success by approaching established names. "You can do that, because [established composers] are always looking for help," Revell says. "Boris Elkis came up to me at a panel and gave me a CD, and of the hundreds Ive received, it was just instantly great. Hes now doing programming and arranging for me."

Danna takes a somewhat dimmer view of the practice. "I dont have the time or the inclination to give critiquesthats what school is for," he says. "But you can work for a composer as an intern, often for nothing or for very little, but it can be worth its weight in gold. You can move up from being chief bottle washer to editing and arranging. Several people whove worked for me are now film composers in their own right."

In addition to Surfs Up, Danna is also at work on Lonely Hearts (starring John Travolta and James Gandolfini) and Breach, director Billy Rays follow-up to Shattered Glass, starring Laura Linney.

Revell recently completed Harsh Times, the directorial debut of Training Day screenwriter David Ayer, with Christian Bale and Eva Longoria, and is now recording the first Hollywood/Bollywood collaboration, featuring "a lot" of Indian music.

"Life could be worse," he laughs.

Songwriter101 exclusive by Kevin Zimmerman