# Working Composers - Share Your Stories!



## Chrislight (Apr 7, 2006)

We're getting a nice mixture of working composers and those who are just starting their music careers on the forum now. So in the VI spirit of "musicians helping musicians", all you pros , please share your stories about how you got started with your music business. What suggestions would you have for the newbie in looking for work? What did you do to find work - where did you look and how did you market yourself? What did you do as far as a demo package? How did you deal with the transition from doing other work to working full time on music? Did you do free gigs to build up credits? What do you believe is necessary for a composer to be successful? You know - all that good stuff.  

Thanks for all sharings!


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## Waywyn (Apr 7, 2006)

Hehe cool thread, since so many new members are here it is always cool to get something to know about them. Well, here is my little story.

I started to play guitar at the age of 14 and had several years of private and guitar school lessons.

then i studied music in 1997 to 1998 in Los Angelesen at LAMA. After the study i went back to germany and started to work at a guitar teacher privately.

About the same time i got a call from a young singer if i would like to join the band "Reinvented". The Singer and Bassplayer knew each other before, so they started to do a new band with a new guitar player and a new drummer. Everything went really fast to a certain point. We practised and rehearsed for a long time, did some cool songs and started to win a lot of contests etc.
Then it happened, we won a german contest were VIVA and BMG was involved. So we won a record deal (No, no casting show ) and started to record our album, toured with H-Blocks, Guano Apes, LAW and Reamonn. Also we had some gigs with Die Happy, Fettes Brot (huge band in germany), Fury in the Slaughterhouse etc.

During that time i got involved in the process of studio work and i started to do music on my PC at home, while at the same time looking over the engineers shoulders. A while later we did all preproductions in my little room in our house which was located in the basement. (it was a storage room from my grandma's marmelade. When she didn't that much space anymore i decided to get all stuff out there and build my little project room). That was the day when The CellarRoom was founded 

I got involved in recording, working with samples, plugs etc. and all the money i earned through guitar lessons was completely swallowed by my little studio.

Then i decided to do music for games. Since i was playing games at the age of 9 (got my first Commodore VC 20 back then) i was always curious about how the music was done in there.

When i thought i was fit enough to show off my stuff i started to do a ugly terrible website and was roaming forums like hell :D
I posted in nearly every forum which had something to do with hobby project and started to do some MOD stuff. Most of the stuff went down the hill (like sadly 90% of all mod work for games like Halflife2, Doom, Quake etc.)

A little while later i had my first confrontation with one of these business assholes who are around. He needed a soundtrack for a game, he has all kinds of guys involved etc. and i would of course get paid for it. Also he was is the need of a songwriter for a famous drink company in germany.
Well, i was so anxious and excited to work on that thing that i completely forgot about doing contracts. This guy completely sucked and made it all the time to talk and argue that i was about to believe in (I didn't know it better back then).

After a while and around 800-1000 applications per mail later i got my first major title here in germany, which is called "Railroad Pioneer". Then everything started very slowly but always a step further.

I made some cool contacts in musicians forums, (like i still do ) and had a chat with Pierre, CEO of Dynamedion. Thats how i got involved working with those guys who are doing the majority of major game titles here in germany. It was really kind of luck but also a good example for me, that you won't get far by seeing other musicians as competition (in the negative way, you know what i mean). Now i am inside the team working on some cool titles at the moment.

Also i made some other cool contacts and got involved working on presentation work for Boeing, Nasa etc., doing some tv clips in germany here for the so called "Hollywood Collection" of 20th century fox and so on and besides all that i finally got a job at Adobe as a promoter for Audition 2.0.

... and so it goes on, ... and i am really excited about what the future will bring.

Finally i have to add, that it is really important for a composer/sounddesigner or musician (well finally for everyone ) that you stay with your feet on the ground.

I know what i can do, where i have my strenghts, but i also know where i still have to improve (basically work more and not writing soo much stuff xD) and what are my weak sites. The most important thing is to discover your weakness, know your strenghts and work out all the stuff you are not good at and try to improve to get better.
Also it is good to remind yourself sometimes, like youself started back then, when you see hobby guys and newcomers trying to get their first pieces get together.

So basically what i wanted to say is that you should never give up in what you believe. I did a lot of unpaid work and had weeks of really didn't know how to move on and if there is all sense behind what i am doing. ... but somewhere there was this voice in my head "come on, thats the only thing you can do"  ... and so i dragged on and i still believe that you can have success, you just have to believe in what you do.

well maybe i missed some points here, but i was just letting it flow 

thanks and excited to read some more stories here.


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## Mike Greene (Apr 7, 2006)

Chrislight @ Fri Apr 07 said:


> What suggestions would you have for the newbie in looking for work? What did you do to find work - where did you look and how did you market yourself? What did you do as far as a demo package? How did you deal with the transition from doing other work to working full time on music? Did you do free gigs to build up credits? What do you believe is necessary for a composer to be successful? You know - all that good stuff.



I moved to L.A. because I wanted to be a rock star. During my quest I figured I'd pay the bills by being a session player (read too many Tommy Tedesco articles in Guitar Player.) I failed at both. :oops: 

So I taught math in high school for 3 years, saved enough pennies to buy a Fostex 16-track and mixer, and opened my own little demo studio. I put an ad in Music Connection and used the phrase "killer grooves a specialty." :lol: A few of my clients got record deals and I had some minor successes as a rap and rock producer (ALT, Cypress Hill, David Bowie) as I grew my studio to a full blown 24-track facility.

I was in a weekly poker game where one of the guys was a director. He was doing a Hot Wheels spot and didn't like the composers. He knew I was a "real" rock guy, so he asked me to take a shot. I got paid $1,500 which I thought was huge. The spot won some awards and he (and I) became the darlings at Mattel.

Other producers for Mattel started using me (I've probably done 50 to 100 Mattel spots) and when some of them did other TV projects, they took me with them. Since then, I've had a fairly constant stream of low budget TV duds and flops. Absolute junk, but it pays the bills, so I don't complain.

98% of all my TV/film/advertising gigs can be traced back to the seed of this poker playing director, now a very good friend. Even Bill Nye the Science guy came about because the producers in Seattle doing the pilot didn't know any composers (can you believe that?!?!?), so they asked my director friend (Michael) if he knew anyone. That pilot got picked up, we did 100 episodes and I eventually won an Emmy.

Of the other 24 shows I've done, the only other one I'm proud of was last fall. I'd pitched really hard for a Showtime series called Sleeper Cell. I knew one of the producers, but that was actually a bit of a disadvantage because he knew my work. He didn't want "a Barbie and Oprah guy" doing music for his show about terrorists! So I had to nail my demos, which (in all modesty) I did. I made it to the final 2, but lost. I was really upset and crushed. This was my rare chance to work on something decent and I was out. I can't tell you how upset I was.

But as luck would have it, the head of Showtime didn't like the needledrop song they were using for the theme. He heard one of my demos and wanted them to use that one instead. The funny thing is that it was my friend who was the one arguing against me! He's still a great friend and I respect him for that, believe or not. He's the ultimate client because he's so passionate about music. In the end, the Showtime head pulled rank and I won.  

Re the original questions, I wish I could share some career advice and wisdom, but though I have loads of opinions, not many are based on my actual experiences. I'm basically a work hard and "be in the right place at the right time" guy. I'll be the first to admit that the primary factor in whatever modest succeses I've had has been luck! :mrgreen: 

- Mike Greene


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## Chrislight (Apr 7, 2006)

Waywyn @ Fri Apr 07 said:


> After a while and around 800-1000 applications per mail later...



:shock: Wow! 800-1000? Well, obviously being able to deal with rejection is part of the life of a composer. :lol: 



> So basically what i wanted to say is that you should never give up in what you believe. I did a lot of unpaid work and had weeks of really didn't know how to move on and if there is all sense behind what i am doing. ... but somewhere there was this voice in my head "come on, thats the only thing you can do"  ... and so i dragged on and i still believe that you can have success, you just have to believe in what you do.



I totally agree. I think a strong belief in yourself and believing you can succeed are necessary in order to make it - whether in being a composer or anything else. Belief can get us through the rejections and discouragement. 

Thanks for sharing Alex! I too am looking forward to more stories.


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## Synesthesia (Apr 7, 2006)

Hi All,

Well, I studied piano since I was 5, adding along the way single reeds, guitar (pretty bad) church organ (great pocket money for a teenager!) and various other stuff. I went to college to do Aeronautical Engineering because no-one would take me for music (four Grade 8s including theory but no A level.. go figure) then I got lucky and discovered Stephen Deutsch at Bournemouth, who liked my fledgling efforts at media music done in my student digs on an atari and notator with a little sound canvas - I did the idents for the student TV channel for the princely sum of 50 pounds!. I did my MA there, and left for London.

I got two part time jobs in London, three nights a week I scraped the sh*t out of the veg cabinets at Sainsburys and three days a week I demonstrated pianos in Harrods.. Talk about culture shock..

4 months in, I'm regularly spending my three days off ringing around production companies, and going to meetings to show my basis reel!! - one of my mates at Harrods was a budding songwriter, he introduced me to his friend who had a music prod company in Soho.. I called this guy about 10 times until he eventually met up with me, impressed (or annoyed) by my persistence. I got a sunday 'assisting' session helping him record piano for an ad, and I just hung out and helped out for a few weeks until he decided I was indispensible and gave me a job! (Thanks Mike if you are reading this, you are a gent.)

I did a load of different stuff at this company for 5 years, from PC maintenance of the company diary and database, to engineering, composing (mainly) and publishing stuff - a great learning curve. I also edited loads of USA tracks for toy companies - including... **** HOT WHEELS!**** (Thanks Mr Greene)

Well, I sent off an application to the ASCAP workshop, I got offered a place, and one of the boss guys at my company wasn't happy with me taking 5 weeks off.. one thing led to another and it was time to move on and set up on my own when I got back from the workshop.

That was in 1999. I have done loads of ads, some TV themes, two ITV dramas (one still running) and a fair amount of corporate stuff since then, and also shorts of course! Still chasing the movie dream.

I guess the short version of that long story (if anyones still reading!) is keep doing the crappy jobs (I turned down two full time music-related jobs not in composing) until you break in. 

You make your own luck. Keep hammering away, and you get lucky. I did some terrible corny things. I sent a girl at Air Edel a birthday card saying 'I know its not your birthday but you'll feel like it is when you watch my showreel..' They subsequently repped me for a few years..

We are all on the journey together! Good luck everyone.

Cheers!

Paul


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## Chrislight (Apr 7, 2006)

Mike Greene @ Fri Apr 07 said:


> I'll be the first to admit that the primary factor in whatever modest succeses I've had has been luck! :mrgreen:
> 
> - Mike Greene



Doesn't hurt to have a bit of luck along the way. :wink: 



Synethesia said:


> I guess the short version of that long story (if anyones still reading!) is keep doing the crappy jobs (I turned down two full time music-related jobs not in composing) until you break in.
> 
> You make your own luck. Keep hammering away, and you get lucky.



Agreed! Sometimes what can be attributed to "luck" is just having the right attitude, perseverance, and working hard.  As far as "crappy jobs", I was given the same advice when I started my typesetting/graphics business. I was told to take any and all jobs at first until I got established. Even after that, I got an occasional job I would be tempted to turn down, but I would go ahead and do it (some people's ideas of what would constitute a great looking logo were not so hot. :shock: ) But hey, they paid the bills. :mrgreen: I guess most work/jobs have areas that aren't particularly to our liking. 



> We are all on the journey together! Good luck everyone.



It's great to have support along the path. Thanks all for the stories so far. Keep em coming!


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## Doug Wellington (Apr 7, 2006)

Luck: Where preparation meets opportunity. Keep preparing!

When I get a job working as a composer, I'll come back and tell you my story... :wink:


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## dogforester (Apr 7, 2006)

Folmann @ Fri Apr 07 said:


> Story short... Did it to get laid... DidnÂ´t work....



LOL sounds familiar.


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## Waywyn (Apr 8, 2006)

Chrislight @ Fri Apr 07 said:


> Waywyn @ Fri Apr 07 said:
> 
> 
> > ... :shock: Wow!  800-1000? Well, obviously being able to deal with rejection is part of the life of a composer. :lol:



hehe, yeh definitely! i know people who wrote much more mails in order to get jobs and i think when your demo reel isn't that great, you somehow have to get the peoples attention 


@troels: dude, you kill me 
funny thing is, when you meet some rock guys of famous bands, some of them really started to do music to only get laid, ... but i never met someone who tried it with orchestral stuff :lol:


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Apr 8, 2006)

I got into this business in the following fashion:

bought a cheap electric bass - > wanna be a rock star (13 yr-old Kiss and Sabbath fan) -> got into prog rock -> moved to jazz and classical and decided to go to university -> went from playing to writing music -> got into contemporary and electroacoustic music (and started using computers for writing) -> needed a 'day' job after graduating... teach or write commercial music? Easy choice - for me at least.

The hardest part were the first 4 years. Nobody knows you, therefore no one trusts you, and trust goes a long way in this biz, in my opinion. There's a lot riding on the music choices, so who's going to trust you if you haven't done much? So I did things for very cheap or free, I borrowed money from friends and family. I read books about self-worth, how important it is to believe in yourself when no one is calling about work. I now honestly believe that those first few years are the ones which will determine whether or not this kind of career is for you. Because there will be ups and downs, again and again: after my first lean years, I went through 4 or 5 years of constant work, I did a number of features, a bunch of tv series, etc, to only end up with a 9-10 month stint without a single paying gig (except for experimental music commissions). Having been around a bit now though, I know that for every down period, there is a corresponding high period, where work just rains. 

The biggest lesson I've learned is to hang on, to find ways to ride out the storms, so that when opportunity knocks again, I'm there to enjoy the next gig. I also know that you can't do it alone. I have a loving wife-partner. I also have dear friends and colleagues that can pick me up if I feel down (hello gang!). Finally, I would say that it's important to keep listening to new music, new soundtracks, and to be on the lookout for new work opportunities outside of your usual working environment.


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## Chrislight (Apr 8, 2006)

Thanks for your story Ned.  Some great advice from a wizened 94 year old! :wink: :mrgreen: 



Ned Bouhalassa @ Sat Apr 08 said:


> I got into this business in the following fashion:
> 
> I read books about self-worth, how important it is to believe in yourself when no one is calling about work. I now honestly believe that those first few years are the ones which will determine whether or not this kind of career is for you. Because there will be ups and downs, again and again: after my first lean years, I went through 4 or 5 years of constant work, I did a number of features, a bunch of tv series, etc, to only end up with a 9-10 month stint without a single paying gig (except for experimental music commissions). Having been around a bit now though, I know that for every down period, there is a corresponding high period, where work just rains.



Having a strong sense of self-worth and believing in yourself are definitely helpful whatever self-employment venture you may be involved in, otherwise during lean times it is easy to get discouraged and take things personally.



> The biggest lesson I've learned is to hang on, to find ways to ride out the storms, so that when opportunity knocks again, I'm there to enjoy the next gig. I also know that you can't do it alone. I have a loving wife-partner. I also have dear friends and colleagues that can pick me up if I feel down (hello gang!)...



Someone once told me the smallest number to be successful in business is 2 - even when here is only one working member. Everybody needs a little support!


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## fitch (Apr 8, 2006)

i got into music as a kid .. piano lessons at 6 i think. picked the cello at 14 and learnt that obsessively .. as an orchestral cellist. Even at that age i knew that was the direction for me. I would have gone down the synth route apart from the expense factor .. so i stuck with the cello and noodled around on the piano.. I went to music college.. played in every orchestra and chamber group i could find... and did loads of harmony, orchestration study alongside it .. and then in 1995 i got a fulltime job in an orchestra and have loved that life ever since. it's so varied.. concerts, operas, ballets, cds, films, shows. everything ... but something starting niggling away in the back of my head in 2000 ... the composition thing was still there .. so i knew i had to get back and try it out .. so I went part time in the orchestra :D bold move as it meant half my salary just stopped !

so i started writing and it's been a blast ever since. i've gone out and met the people .. directors, producers and developers .. established friendships that have led to working relationships.. 

i've joined a business cluster .. one that involves loads of other hi tech creative industry guys.. and this has led me to films, games, animation, corporate, interactive stuff and tv work .. 

it's meeting the people thats the most important thing it think .. building up the relationships and meeting more.. 

yes i work over the internet.. cello parts and stuff.. but the real opportunities come from where you are living .. getting out there to network

i'm about to join my local chamber of commerce too .. the networking is going to be invaluable, seeing the other companies that are in it .. 

funny .. i've worked for the national tv provider RTE for the last 10years.. and i know no-one there LOL... because the orchestra is stuck off site .. 


it's joining the cluster and getting the sales and marketing classes done that have made the real difference.

yay! life is good and i know it was the right move. in the last couple of years its taken off marvellously ...

fingers crossed it carries on going  i'm positive it will ..


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## Chrislight (Apr 8, 2006)

fitch @ Sat Apr 08 said:


> ... but something starting niggling away in the back of my head in 2000 ... the composition thing was still there .. so i knew i had to get back and try it out .. so I went part time in the orchestra :D bold move as it meant half my salary just stopped !



Thanks for sharing fitch! I had wondered how you made the bridge from being a cello player to working as a composer. LOL - I've had those back of the head niggles before and every time I've followed their direction, things have worked out. It's always a leap when it involves quitting your 8 year job (in my case) or losing half your salary. That's great everything has gone so well for you!  



> so i started writing and it's been a blast ever since. i've gone out and met the people .. directors, producers and developers .. established friendships that have led to working relationships..
> 
> i've joined a business cluster .. one that involves loads of other hi tech creative industry guys.. and this has led me to films, games, animation, corporate, interactive stuff and tv work ..
> 
> ...



Networking and creating relationships can really be the key. Good advice about real opportunities coming from where you are living. I think that can get overlooked sometimes in the rush to get to Hollywood.


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## José Herring (Apr 9, 2006)

Evan Gamble said that I should write my story here. I told him that my story is boring. I work too hard and harly make enough money meanwhile ploting a master plan to take over Hollywood, bwahahahaha.

Okay. I'll be serious now.

I was playing 3rd clarinet on stage with the Juilliard Orchestra playing Mahler's 9th symphony. It wasn't my best gig during my Juilliard days but being that I had a lot of rest I could spend time listening to the orchestra :lol: 

I think it's the 3rd movement that is a ripping fugue. I had studied fugue 2 years earlier but didn't get much out of the class and couldn't really compose. But somehow listening to Mahler's fugue it all came together. And I had the thought that oh, it's just a bunch of melody lines working together using the rules of counterpoint. duhhh. That's not so hard.

The next semester I also enrolled in the Juilliard evening classes for composition studies. It was a cool class because it wasn't meant for the genereal public so there wasn't much theory and stuff. We just got to write music and it got played by string trios and stuff.

That spring I decided to advertise at NYU filmschool because I wanted to composer for film. My first advertisement read, "I've never scored for film, I want to learn. Will anybody give me a shot at writing music to their film? I'm a Juilliard Student." Or something like that.

Somebody called a few days later and I got my first paying gig. $200. Wooo hooo.

Since then I've done arrangement work as well as filmscoring. I've worked for Toni Braxton, America, Universal Records. I've done HBO films and several other cable films.

I've done a lot of work. Not made a ton of money. I'm working on the money part these days and it's starting to work its self out.

If I had any advice I would say this. Imo it rarely happens by accident. The people that work in this business are working for a reason. It may not be a reason that you agree with but it's evident. The people that get work are really, really good at something. High quality music and production and lots of promotion are what lead to work.

Never judge music by whether or not you think it's good. That's amature. Judge music by how effective it is and how technically well it's put together.

Some composer's music drives me bananas personally. But, I'm professional enough to know that if it made it into a film or on a record and sold that there's something good about it. Listen to Britney Spears music. Like it or hate it it's well produced and is effective at communicating to her audiences.

Always remember that in this town there are academy award winning composers who don't work. So the hustle is just about everything imo. Sending out credits, phones calls, meetings all lead to some sort of work.

When you're starting out never turn down anything(except porn. Nothing will kill you faster than doing unethical work). When I was a student I did a film that ended up winning one of the top prizes at the Berlin Film festival. I thought the film stunk. So I forgot all about it. I didn't find out that it won some huge award until just a few months ago. I did the film back in 1994. Let's just say that you never know where some piece of junk film will end up. So do them all until you get to a point where you don't need to.

Most importantly though. Never stop getting better. Never stop pushing and never stop believing that you can hold and keep good jobs and be successful.


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## TheoKrueger (Apr 9, 2006)

Thanks a lot everyone! Great read... when i get in the biz i'll come back and tell my story too :razz:


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## Chrislight (Mar 8, 2007)

josejherring @ Sun Apr 09 said:


> If I had any advice I would say this. Imo it rarely happens by accident. The people that work in this business are working for a reason. It may not be a reason that you agree with but it's evident. The people that get work are really, really good at something. High quality music and production and lots of promotion are what lead to work...
> 
> Always remember that in this town there are academy award winning composers who don't work. So the hustle is just about everything imo. Sending out credits, phones calls, meetings all lead to some sort of work.
> 
> ...



Lots of good advice Jose! In this business, it's not just about whether you are a capable or even great composer, which of course is important. It's about being able to sell yourself and do the marketing necessary in order to get the work. So yeah, a large part of it is about the "hustle". In fact, in a number of books and stories I have read, being a good salesperson, along with being personable and easy to work with are just as important as being a good composer. 

Thanks to all who have shared their stories so far!  It's always helpful to hear what others have gone through when you are just starting out. Plus, it's just nice to know a little more about each other.


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## Ace Aces (Mar 14, 2007)

I've been lurking on this board for a while, and found a lot of useful information. But this thread just hit the spot today, as I was feeling down about how long it's taking for me to get my music career off the ground. Thanks for sharing your stories! And hopefully I'll have a semi-successful story to tell soon too!

-Boon


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## Brian Ralston (Mar 14, 2007)

well...let's see...

Back in '92 I went to the University of Arizona, was pre-med, declared a biochemistry major and completed it, took the MCAT, did well, conducted research on breast cancer in the lab and ended up working for a Neurologist doing clinical research in Tucson, AZ. Much soul searching led to me deciding that I wanted...I needed...to make music my career and not medicine. I had to follow my dream. Afterall...we only get one chance at life...right?

I knew I wanted to compose for film and that I wanted to attend the USC film scoring program, but they required an undergraduate music degree which my biochemistry degree did not overlap at all. So...I basically had to start over and in my 6th year of college after one Bachelor of Science degree...began taking freshmen level music classes and began to be a music student.

Flash forward 3 years. I completed the core music courses and applied to USC's graduate program...submitting a portfolio of student composistions, etc...and I was accepted. One of 19 that year. 

I moved back to L.A. (where I was born and raised) and did USC's program. I completely immersed myself in the experience for that year. 

Upon graduation I had a choice as I saw it. I could try to become someone's assistant and get my foot in the door that way...or just go it alone and build my name as a composer by forging relationships with directors and producers. 

Briefly I tried the assistant thing. Composer Robert Kral on ANGEL was looking for some extra help (he already had one assistant) in Season 4 of ANGEL because he got another TV show. He went to USC asking for applicants from former students of that year's class. Everyone applied. I got the gig. I scored some scenes that aired. His other show got quickly cancelled...he didn't need the extra help any more...that gig was over. 

I also accepted a gig to work on a staged musical arranging and orchestrating for a songwriter. Many involved in the show were from the Film/TV world. I thought it would be a good opportunity to build more working relationships with those people. So...I took the gig...even though it was not a film. It ran for 6 months in L.A. which is huge. It garnered 5 L.A. Weekley Award nominations and won 2. I learned a lot on that gig. It..."hardened me" so to speak...especially with the politics of the entertainment industry. Get a lawyer first, not an agent.

By that point I had also learned one of my most important lessons. Being someone's assistant has benefits and drawbacks. For me, I strongly felt the drawbacks far outweighed the benefits. Assisting another composer is valid work. You will make a lot of money if you are with a busy composer. You will learn a lot...see how it is done...meet important people, etc... But, you are not building your name as a composer. You are building it as an assistant. This is really a topic for a whole other thread. But even after years of assisting some composer...at some point you will need to stop and focus on your own gigs. At that point you are still really no further than you were before you started assisting. Mainly because it is the on screen credit that really matters. So as someone's assistant, you are building their name as a composer...not yours. Your credit is scoring assistant or programmer or the like. This has been confirmed to me by many Hollywood producers. So...focus on building your own relationships with filmmakers who see you as a composer and not someone's assistant. 

So...somewhere in 2004 I got the opportunity to submit my demo CD for a film I really wanted through a family member in another state. (another long story). I spoke with the producer on the phone (who I did not know was the director's wife at the time) and had my agent send them a demo CD/DVD. This was in June. I never heard back from them...even after following up a couple weeks later. I figured I simply was not chosen. October comes along and I got a call from the director of the film. He said he had been listening to my music for the last few months and loved it. He wanted to know if I was still interested in scoring his film. While he had some other people he was considering...he would love to meet with me. I met him at Panavision and was shown the film in a huge theatre with a few crew members there. The film was 9/TENTHS. The director was Bob Degus...who produced PLEASANTVILLE for Gary Ross. The feature film starred Gabrielle Anwar and Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond on LOST). I was floored. The music in it at the time was Phillip Glass. Of course I was interested. 

To cut to the chase...I got hired and scored the film. I made them very happy. My music (so Bob tells me) actually changed his feeling about the film. For him...it was at a whole other level. He gave me the freedom to pretty much do what I wanted and I worked my butt off to try to make him very happy. Bob was now my biggest fan and cheerleader. 

The trailer for that film is at http://www.9tenths.com. 
Recently, we were at the Park City Film Music Festival 2007 where I won a Gold Medal (Director's Choice) for my 9/TENTHS score. The film is now on the festival circuit and is prepping for a European release first. 

After 9/TENTHS, my writer friend Tim, the writer of the musical, decided he wanted to be a writer/director. So...he needed a film (short) to direct for his reel. Initially I was only going to compose the music, but ended up producing the thing. It was a learning experience for me. I felt that producing a film on 35mm from beginning to end would help me be a better composer because most composers only know their small part of post production. But being a producer, I would be a part of the film from the beginning making important decisions and I hoped that would give me a better perspective over the whole process of making a film. As a composer, I would then know where the director was coming from by the time they get to the music stage of post. 

The film was called THE RECE!PT. We shot on 35mm. It stars Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) who is a friend of ours since she was in our musical and Dina Meyer who was a friend of Tim's from a film he wrote many years ago. We went to a few festivals, won Best Comedy at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival (the largest short film festival in the world), and best short audience award at Breckenridge. Then HBO saw us and invited us to their inagural comedy festival in vegas...blah...blah...17 festivals later. Here we are. The film has played all over the world as far away as Istanbul, Turkey and continues to do so. It will tour L.A., Orlando, New York and London later this year. I was at Cinequest in San Jose, CA with it last week. I was very proud of my work on that short. Because of our wins, we were also on a short list of films that were considered for the short film Oscar in 2005, but made it just short of the top 10. Bob is an academy executive board member and remembers screening it at the academy. That is very cool...just to have my work screened in front of academy voters and some Hollywood legends. Musically, that short allowed me to write in a style I had never done before...electronic music. (The film is a RUN LOLA RUN spoof). 

In 2006, Bob was next producing...not directing for his next feature film. Since he was my biggest cheerleader from 9/TENTHS like I mentioned...he waited for the right time to introduce the thought of using me to the director. There is a lot to the timing of when a composer comes into the "mix" on a hollywood film. Too early and they are not ready to deal with that yet. Too late and they have already hired someone else. The film's director was a first time feature director, so he did not already have an established composer relationship. Bob pushed for me. But it was still the director's choice. I met with the director (Mike Mayer) in January last year and the film editor of all people who was Jane Kurson who edited Tim Burton's BEETLEJUICE and MONSTER, BED OF ROSES, KARATE KID II. I felt we all hit it off. The film's main producers were Jane Sindell who produced SEABISCUIT and Bob Degus. I scored a scene for them on spec. They liked it. I got hired. The film is GRADUATION starring Adam Arkin, Shannon Lucio, Chris Marquette, Chris Lowell and Riley Smith. 

Here is the trailer: CLICK HERE

As for the future...Tim got offered his first feature because of our work and success on THE RECE!PT. It will be a Sony Pictures, Lakeshore comedy film. He has already asked me to score it. With the other two features coming out...that should work out. 

Bob Degus has asked me to partner with him in his company on future films, not just as a composer but possibly producing as well. We like working with each other a lot. Although he knows that composing is my focus. He is deciding now what our next film will be. Bob has been a great mentor to me and continues to introduce me and my music to the Hollywood crowd. He is a good friend and ultimately that makes this job the best in the world. When you are doing what you love and doing it with your friends...it does not seem like work after a while.


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## Chrislight (Mar 15, 2007)

Ace Aces @ Wed Mar 14 said:


> I've been lurking on this board for a while, and found a lot of useful information. But this thread just hit the spot today, as I was feeling down about how long it's taking for me to get my music career off the ground. Thanks for sharing your stories! And hopefully I'll have a semi-successful story to tell soon too!
> 
> -Boon



Hang in there Ace! Hopefully you'll be sharing your story here soon. :D 

Thanks Brian for sharing your story. It's always interesting to hear what people went through to get to where they are today. That was a big sacrifice you made to give up a med career to follow your dream, but I absolutely agree that that is the thing to do. I've known too many who gave up their dream only to regret it over and over until their dying day. I also believe that with the kind of determination you had to make it with your music, that that was at least partially behind your success in getting to the point where you are now. Congrats! :D


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