Jan 24 2007

Big Wednesday

by Doreen Ringer Ross

We did our composer/director roundtable this morning...two hours...15 film composers and directors and me.  It went really well and we explored a lot of insightful ideas about film music.  As moderator it’s an interesting niche talent I’ve developed...trying to control a conversation with 15 men who get into alpha male dominance behavior patterns after about the first 10 minutes.  I wanted to make sure that everyone involved got equal time talking since they were all so smart and articulate.  I did okay...although with that many people it felt like steering a big cruise ship. The guys were all dynamic and I think the content of our conversation was very informative.  Composers are always trying to protect their musical turf when working on a film but afterwards, Terence Blanchard told me he was really struck by director Mike Cahill’s (The King of California) comment that “Directors have to compromise and give things up all along the way too.” Most composers don’t think about that.

Director Justin Theroux, BMI’s Doreen Ringer Ross, Composer Terence Blanchard, composer George S. Clinton and composer Adam Gorgoni

Mike Cahill, Dave Robbins, Andrew Hollander, John August, Don Davis, Steve Berra, Ed Shearmur, Justin Theroux, BMI’s Doreen Ringer Ross, Terence Blanchard, George S. Clinton, Craig Wedren, Adam Gorgoni, Anton Sanko, Peter Golub, and David Wain

That evening we hosted our “Songwriter Snowball” featuring Viktor Krause, Keb Mo, and Terence Blanchard.  I think it might have been the best musical event we have ever done at Sundance.

Sundance Composers Lab Director Peter Golub; Keb’ Mo; Sundance’s Geoffrey Gilmore; BMI’s Doreen Ringer Ross and Composer Terence Blanchard

Viktor Krauss and his band perform

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