John Williams Honored With Special Award at 34th Annual BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards

Previous year’s top film, TV and visual media composers also honored, along with composers Laura Karpman, Miriam Cutler, Lolita Ritmanis and Rick Baitz at Beverly Hills ceremony.

Posted in News on May 10, 2018
Pictured: BMI President & CEO Mike O'Neill, Honoree John Williams, BMI Vice President Doreen Ringer-Ross
Pictured: BMI President & CEO Mike O'Neill, Honoree John Williams, BMI Vice President Doreen Ringer-Ross Photo: Lester Cohen/Getty Images for BMI

BMI proudly held its 34th annual Film, TV & Visual Media Awards last night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The private ceremony was hosted by Vice President Creative – Film, TV & Visual Media, Doreen Ringer-Ross and BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill, who honored prolific composer John Williams with the John Williams Award in recognition of his incomparable status as one of the greatest film and television composers of our time.

Earlier in the evening, award-winning composers Laura Karpman, Miriam Cutler and Lolita Ritmanis received the BMI Champion Award for their commitment to supporting fellow women media composers through The Alliance of Women Film Composers, which they founded in 2014. Composer Rick Baitz was also presented with BMI’s Classic Contribution Award in appreciation for creating and leading BMI’s successful “Composing for the Screen” workshop for the past ten years.


Throughout the evening, additional notable composers were honored for music featured in the past year’s top-grossing films, top-rated primetime network television series and highest-ranking cable and streamed media programs. They included celebrated composers James Newton Howard, Alexandre Desplat, Brian Tyler, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, Ludwig Göransson, Tyler Bates, Christopher Lennertz and Fil Eisler, among others.

John Williams was previously honored with The Kirk Award in 1999, which later became the BMI Icon Award, for composing some of the most popular and recognizable scores in cinematic history, such as the Star Wars series, Jaws, Schindler’s List, the Indiana Jones series, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the list goes on. Since then, the multiple award-winning composer has created an equally impressive catalogue of scores for acclaimed films such as the first three Harry Potter films, Memoirs of a Geisha and Lincoln, among others, while continuing to score the Star Wars series, including the forthcoming Star Wars Episode 9. In his unparalleled and illustrious career that spans more than six decades, John Williams has scored more than 100 films and garnered 5 Academy Awards, 51 Oscar nominations, 5 Emmy Awards, 4 Golden Globe Awards, 24 GRAMMYs, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 2016. Other notable honors include the National Medal of Arts (2009), Kennedy Center Honor (December 2004) and Olympic Order (2003).

BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards

BMI John Williams Award
John Williams

BMI Classic Contribution Award
Rick Baitz

BMI Champion Awards
Miriam Cutler
Laura Karpman
Lolita Ritmanis

Academy Award® Winners

THE SHAPE OF WATER
Alexandre Desalt

“REMEMBER ME” FROM COCO 
Kristen Anderson-Lopez
Robert Lopez

BMI Film Music Awards

BLACK PANTHER
Ludwig Göransson

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
John Williams

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
Tyler Bates

THOR: RAGNAROK
Mark Mothersbaugh

JUSTICE LEAGUE
Danny Elfman

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Alan Silvestri

READY PLAYER ONE
Alan Silvestri

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT
Steve Jablonsky

GIRLS TRIP
David Newman

PETER RABBIT
Dominic Lewis

PITCH PERFECT 3
Christopher Lennertz

DADDY’S HOME 2
Michael Andrews

FIFTY SHADES FREED
Danny Elfman

A WRINKLE IN TIME
Ramin Djawadi

THE POST
John Williams

THE MUMMY
Brian Tyler

THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD
Atli Örvarsson

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE
Theodore Shapiro

A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS
Christopher Lennertz

RAMPAGE
Andrew Lockington (SOCAN)

GAME NIGHT
Cliff Martinez

THE SHAPE OF WATER
Alexandre Desplat

THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE
Mark Mothersbaugh

BAYWATCH
Christopher Lennertz

TOMB RAIDER
Tom Holkenborg

ATOMIC BLONDE
Tyler Bates

BMI Streaming Media Awards

FULLER HOUSE
Jeff Franklin Bennett Salvay

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
Chris Bacon
Daniel Handler
James Newton Howard
Nick Urata

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
Gwendolyn Sanford
Regina Spektor

IRON FIST
Trevor Morris

SHUT EYE
Leslie Bohem
Ben Decter

GOLIATH
Tim Graves
Jeremiah Zimmerman

THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE 
Dominic Lewis

SNEAKY PETE
Nathan Barr
Edward Braillif

BMI Network Television Music Awards

THIS IS US
Siddhartha Khosla

NCIS
Brian Kirk

YOUNG SHELDON
Steve Burns

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT
Jos Jorgensen
Andy Love

BLUE BLOODS
Rob Simonsen

NCIS: NEW ORLEANS
Tree Adams
John Lee Hooker

GREY’S ANATOMY
Carim Clasmann (PRS)
Galia Durant (PRS)

HAWAII FIVE-0
Keith Power (SOCAN)
Brian Tyler

CHICAGO MED
Atli Örvarsson

CHICAGO P.D.
Atli Örvarsson

CHICAGO FIRE
Atli Örvarsson

SEAL TEAM A.
Patrick Rose
Snuffy Walden

9-1-1
Mac Quayle

S.W.A.T.
Barry De Vorzon

CRIMINAL MINDS
Mark Mancina

MADAM SECRETARY
Mike Fratantuno
Terence Yoshiaki

LAW & ORDER: SVU
Mike Post

DESIGNATED SURVIVOR
Sean Callery
Robert Lydecker

MACGYVER
Keith Power (SOCAN)

EMPIRE
Jim Beanz
Fil Eisler

WISDOM OF THE CROWD
Paul Haslinger

SCORPION
Tony Morales
Brian Tyler

LIFE IN PIECES
Rob Simonsen

THE BACHELOR
Rob Cairns

SCANDAL
Chad Fischer

THE FLASH
Nathaniel Blume
Blake Neely

BMI Cable Television Music Awards

ANIMAL KINGDOM
Samuel Jones
Alexis Marsh
Atticus Ross
Claudia Sarne

THE GUEST BOOK
Benjamin Jaffe
John E. Low
Suzanne Santo

THE SINNER
Ronnie Kirchman

HENRY DANGER
Michael Corcoran
Zack Hexum

GAME OF THRONES
Ramin Djawadi

AMERICAN HORROR STORY
Charlie Clouser
César Dávila-Irizarry
Mac Quayle

RAVEN’S HOME
Andy Love
Bert Selen

ALASKAN BUSH PEOPLE
Jacob Shea

RICK AND MORTY
Ryan Elder

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD
Paul Haslinger
Atticus Ross

Subscribe

The Weekly

Each week, Learn, Listen, Watch, Discover and Share with BMI! From must-see videos, to creative inspiration and dynamic playlists we’re excited about, BMI’s The Weekly is dedicated to delivering specially curated content designed for music creators and music fans alike!

Join BMI Live

BMI Live
Back to Top