Music and Sound Design Lab 2015Credit: Lauren Janney
Music and Sound Design Lab 2014
Credit: Brandon Joseph Baker
Music and Sound Design Lab 2015
Credit: Rob Williamson
Los Angeles, CA - Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound today announced the composers and directors selected for the Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs at Skywalker Sound . This will be the fourth year the Music and Sound Design Labs take place at the Skywalker Ranch in northern California. Half of this year's composing Fellows are women, extending the Institute's commitment to female artists to a creative branch of filmmaking with an especially low percentage of women represented.
The Music and Sound Design Labs provide a space for composers, directors and sound designers to collaborate on the process of providing music and sound for film. Fellows participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of leading film composers and film music professionals acting as Creative Advisors. Each composer/director team will have their original scores for new independent film scenes performed live by a chamber orchestra. The Music and Sound Design Lab for narrative feature films (July 7-20) is a joint initiative of the Institute's Film Music Program and Feature Film Program, and the Music and Sound Design Lab for documentaries (July 22-30) is a joint initiative of the Film Music Program and Documentary Film Program. The Labs are part of 24 residential labs the Institute hosts annually to discover and foster the talent of emerging independent artists in film, theatre, music, new media and episodic content.
Peter Golub, Director of the Sundance Institute Film Music Program, said, Like an unseen but essential character, music is vital to the craft of filmmaking. We are thrilled to be working with these multi-faceted, outstanding composers, directors and sound designers, allowing them to flex their creative muscles to match sound to image, bringing music to the forefront and setting the tone for how an audience will experience film.
Josh Lowden, General Manager of Skywalker Sound said, Collaborating with the Institute to host these Labs at Skywalker allows us to deepen our commitment to independent filmmaking. Twenty-five years ago Skywalker was founded by a filmmaker for filmmakers, and among our core philosophies is the importance of early collaboration between directors, sound designers and composers in bringing a story and vision to life.
Creative Advisors this year include: composers Christophe Beck, George S. Clinton, Osvaldo Golijov, Harry Gregson-Williams, Laura Karpman, Blake Neely, Craig Richey, and Ed Shearmur; Skywalker Sound designers Pascal Garneau, Brandon Proctor, Steve Bissinger, Pete Horner, Kent Sparling, Andre J.H. Zweers, and Malcolm Fife; BMI Vice President Doreen Ringer-Ross; music supervisor Tracy McKnight; music editor Adam Smalley; music producer and music supervisor Evyen Klean; editor Vivien Hillgrove; directors Rob Epstein and Jesse Moss; and music agent Kevin Korn.
Artists and narrative projects selected for the 2016 Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Lab: Feature Film (July 7-20) are:
Composers:
Amie Doherty
Galway, Ireland-born Amie Doherty works as a composer and orchestrator on a wide variety of film and television projects. Her credits as a feature film composer include Suburban Memoir and Feast of Varanasi. Over the past year, Amie has written additional music for such television series as Shadowhunters (Freeform) and Extant (CBS) alongside series composer Ben Decter. She is currently lead orchestrator on the upcoming FX/Marvel series Legion, working with composer Jeff Russo.
Alexis Grapsas
Alexis Grapsas is a Los Angeles based composer, originally from Greece, whose music can be heard in a wide variety of studio and independent features, as well as top rated television productions. He is currently based out of his studio on the Warner Bros Studio Lot pursuing a career as a freelance film and television composer. He has collaborated with many talented directors, studio producers, and top industry composers who trust his creative input and deep understanding of contemporary filmmaking.
Morgan Kibby
White Sea, the moniker of L.A.-based recording artist, composer and producer Morgan Kibby, was named Rolling Stone's Artist You Need to Know in March 2014. Kibby, who previously collaborated and toured with French electronic group M83, has made a name for herself with her self-produced debut album, In Cold Blood, earning high praise from outlets like LA Weekly, which coined her LAs renaissance woman of pop. 2016 sees Kibby collaborating with chef Craig Thornton of Wolvesmouth on his most recent Lucy Walker directed documentary for The New Yorker on Amazon, and contributing score and sound design to his newest art installation which opened in March at MOCA in Los Angeles.
Gus Reyes
Gus Reyes is a Mexican composer best known for his work in The Dark Side of Light (2014), Mexican Gangster (2015), and The Charro de Toluquilla (2016). Reyes made his international debut with The Dark Side of Light, which earned him a nomination for the Jerry Goldsmith Award at the International Film Music Festival of Cordoba, Spain 2014, and later for the Silver Goddess Manuel Esper n Award 2015 for best music for a film at the Pecime Press Awards. Reyes is also known for his orchestral arrangements for several rock bands, such as Zo (Mexico) and Dorian (Spain).
Jermaine Stegall
Originally from Joliet, Illinois, Jermaine Stegall has been working as a composer in Los Angeles for 12 years. After receiving his graduate certificate from USC's Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program, he interned with composer Marco Beltrami during the post-production of I, Robot. He has worked as an orchestrator and conductor of original and addit
