Help me land the Pirates of the Caribbean 4 deal!

[kevinmathie]

OK, the subject header is a bit of a hyperbole, but it does get to the heart of my question.Having decided that it's best to stay in Utah for the time being -- at least until I'm poised to take over the film music industry and force both John Williams and Hans Zimmer into retirement for lack of work -- I'm looking for a plan to get into film music.As I stated in my previous thread, I think that it's pretty clear to me that orchestral film music is probably what I'm most suited for. My natural tendency is to write like John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore, et al. Of course, I'm not saying that my skill is anywhere near their level, but my natural composing style is more similar to theirs than anyone else's.So, the first step (as was mentioned in the previous thread) is going to be to contact the University of Utah film department (which I've already done, and am going to meet with one of the profs soon), and get some student films to score. Maybe I'll contact BYU, too, although I don't know if I dare. It's pretty heavy on conservativism and religion down there, so I may be struck by lightening for presuming to set even one of my heathen, liberal feet on their campus! But, after doing several student films to gain some experience, then what? How do I proceed to the next level?The Sundance Film Festival is held just 30 minutes away from my house, so getting there is a breeze. But once I'm in Park City during the festival, where do I go? How do I meet the people that would be interested in using me for their projects?And, Sundance is held only once a year, so what are some of the other productive film maker hotspots that I need to look into?Thanks!Kevin

[avillaronga]

Hi Kevin,I don't claim to be an expert in the subject but it seems that we are on similar paths on our careers so I'll just mention a couple of things that have paid off for me. I did a couple of student films (it helped that I was a film student too...) and then started trying to get into independent films, mostly short ones. There are several methods for getting those jobs. First, google is a composer's best friend. Do as many searches as you can think of: "short independent film", "music for independent film", "composer for short film", etc. Another resource I use a lot is craigslist. Although you get a lot of shady people there and a lot of idiots who post and never reply, once in a while you get a hit with someone in your area. Something I recently started using is imdb.com (the Internet Movie Database). You can do a search for independent films that are marked as "in production" or "in post production" and the filming location is listed on most of them. Of course you'll find all of the big budget films there and also the well-funded independents so I would ignore those at first since they probably already have a composer. I look for small indies, ones with nobody famous on them and then go back to google and search for them. A lot of these films have web sites about their story or maybe the independent production company. Send them an email, tell them why you are interested in their film. Just make sure you don't sound like a spammer (or desperate ). I got one gig composing for a 15 short film this way. I plan on doing some more of that to see if I can make anything else happen. As has been highlighted on this forum before, human relationships really are invaluable: the first short independent film I did really fell on my lap because someone I know recommended me to the director. So don't discount that avenue either. Maybe someone who is doing a student film knows a guy making a short indie, and that guy making that indie knows a guy making a feature length indie, etc. There are other paid on-line resources like the Film Music Network or Versus Media but I don't know if they are worth paying for, maybe someone else here has experience with that. I did shell out the $5.99 to submit to a few things on the Film Music Network but never heard back (probably because of the quality of the music, not because the company just ran off with the money). EDIT: Chuck posted at the same time I was writing this to mention the Film Music Network so, there you go, seems to be a recommended resource.Also, Sundance has a composer's workshop that you may want to look into. I considered doing that last year but I wasn't able to (financially). It sounds like it would be a really good experience. HTH,Antonio

[squidlips]

All y'all rock the free world. You're doing what I wish I could (no home studio though). I've wanted to score films for about 30 years. I dink around with instrumentals but keep getting caught up in lyrics and singing, so never mind. One suggestion might be your state's (and national) public radio and public TV. They produce films, music blurbs, short montages for longer, in-depth news reports, that sort of thing. I can't tell you the pay but it might look good on your resume. They have a rep for interesting and new composers, especially NPR and Public Broadcasting. You can find them online, either state or nat'l.Good luck. Vive la composeurs!

[matto]

I think you need to think "Pirates Of The Caribbean 10", to be honest. All the suggested avenues are great, Dave W may have some more suggestions on finding projects that are just beyond student films.If you're good at writing and producing the kind of music you mention, you should also pursue music library placements as an additional avenue. This could lead to more impressive, recognizable, national level credits more quickly. I know the "O***h" deal has helped Dave tremedously in the credibility department.matto

[davewalton]

Quote:The Sundance Film Festival is held just 30 minutes away from my house, so getting there is a breeze. But once I'm in Park City during the festival, where do I go? How do I meet the people that would be interested in using me for their projects?How about... "Hi, I'm Kevin Mathie, a film composer". This is one of those deals where you just have to go and throw yourself into the mix and don't over think it. You're just out to make niew friends, that's it. The Taxi Rally is a good way to practice, BTW. If you're like me, when you start thinking about using "Zig Ziglar's secrets to make the sale", then it's a total disaster. Just decide you're going to make a few new friends and the rest will take care of itself if you're on the "long-term" plan. If you're on the "short-term" plan, then go ahead and go for the Zig Ziglar close. Antonio has the process, or at least my process down pat and since there's two of us doing the same thing, idependent of each other without having spoken to one another, I'd say its probably a good, although painfully slow, plan. Make Google your friend and start looking for composer opportunities through Google searches of all kinds. Look for things that are related to composing like "production companies", stuff like that. Follow links from their sites to other sites. Look for forums related to film making.Unlike music libraries where both you and I and many others can all find success together because there's many slots available where we can fit, "composer for film x" only has one slot. And since it might boil down to either me or you if I give you a bunch of the sources I've found, I choose to be in self-preservation mode by not having to explain to my wife why I'm shooting myself in the foot by potentially giving away some of my future projects. Suffice to say that with a little Google work on your own, you'll find them yourself and that's perfectly fine by me. Honestly I hope that you do that. I do sometimes trade sources with others that have done that work where we've each found different, yet valuable sources so when you get a nice list, give me a jingle. In a sense, you've got the cart before the horse because your first and best opportunities are going to be through the university contacts you've mentioned. However, it's good to start your seach for other things because it does take a while to discover all there is to discover. I pretty much work on it every day.BTW, if we're the last two composers left standing for Pirates 4 or Pirates 10 or whatever, let's just agree here and now to co-compose that instead of fighting it out.

[matto]

Quote:BTW, if we're the last two composers left standing for Pirates 4 or Pirates 10 or whatever, let's just agree here and now to co-compose that instead of fighting it out. More power to you my friends, that's the spirit! I just hope it doesn't turn out to be "Caribbean Pirate Booty XXX" instead... ...I think Dave would have the clear edge on that since he composes in his underwear...

[davewalton]

Quote:Quote:BTW, if we're the last two composers left standing for Pirates 4 or Pirates 10 or whatever, let's just agree here and now to co-compose that instead of fighting it out. More power to you my friends, that's the spirit! I just hope it doesn't turn out to be "Caribbean Pirate Booty XXX" instead... ...I think Dave would have the clear edge on that since he composes in his underwear... I'm DEFINITELY going for the "Circus Music" listing instead next time...

[squidlips]

Quote:;D ...I think Dave would have the clear edge on that since he composes in his underwear... I vote we chip in for a nice robe for him. Something in red velvet. He could be the next Hugh Hefner of music!

[mazz]

Kevin,One piece of advice I heard somewhere was "don't try to get your music to Speilberg (because you won't be able to), form a relationship with the NEXT Speilberg".Since there's film making going on around you where you are, the next Speilberg or Scorcese might be living down the street from you! Carter Burwell met the Coen brothers when they were first starting out and he still composes for their films (and for a lot of others as a result). That's one path to getting in to the biz.BTW: San Francisco has a ton of film festivals and film schools and it's not too far of a flight from Salt Lake. I've yet to start to tap that market but it's a pretty thriving place for student and indie films.Good luck,Mazz

[ciskokidd]

Damn that was funny!!Dave may have to find an alias to work under before he becomes synonymous with the "bom-chik-bom" genre.Quote:Quote:BTW, if we're the last two composers left standing for Pirates 4 or Pirates 10 or whatever, let's just agree here and now to co-compose that instead of fighting it out. More power to you my friends, that's the spirit! I just hope it doesn't turn out to be "Caribbean Pirate Booty XXX" instead... ...I think Dave would have the clear edge on that since he composes in his underwear...