And the Oscar Goes To...

Each year, the Society of Composers and Lyricists, ASCAP hosts a reception honoring the nominees in the three Academy Award Music categories. The event is held on the eve of the Academy Award presentations at the home of ASCAP Board member John Cacavas and Bonnie Cacavas in Beverly Hills. This year's gathering included several nominees as well as special guests. Pictured (above, l-r) are ASCAP's Pamela Allen and Kevin Coogan, nominee and new ASCAP Board member Elmer Bernstein (Far from Heaven), nominee Philip Glass (The Hours), nominee Julie Taymor ("Burn It Blue" from Frida), Academy Award winner Elliot Goldenthal (Frida) and ASCAP Senior VP Nancy Knutsen.

SCL/ASCAP Soiree

Pictured at the Oscar Nominees Reception in Beverly Hills are (left, l-r) Frida director and Best Song nominee Julie Taymor, ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman and Motion Picture Academy Governor Alan Bergman; (below left) ASCAP composer and reception host John Cacavas with ASCAP Board member and Oscar nominee Elmer Bernstein (Far from Heaven); (below right) SCL President Dan Foliart, ASCAP's Nancy Knutsen, Academy Award winner Elliot Goldenthal (Best Score, Frida) and film composer Charles Bernstein.

Film Composers Panel

At the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, California, ASCAP's Shawn LeMone co-moderated a panel sponsored by the California Copyright Conference entitled "The Contemporary Film Composer: An Up-Close Look at the Artistic and Commercial Challenges Facing the Modern Film Composer." His co-moderator for the evening was LA Times and Daily Variety journalist Jon Burlingame. The discussion focused on the present and future state of film scoring and included several notable ASCAP composers: New ASCAP Board member Bruce Broughton, multi award-winning composer of such films as Silverado, Tombstone and Lost In Space; John Debney, another award winner whose films include the new hit Bruce Almighty, The Princess Diaries and The Scorpion King; David Lawrence, composer of American Pie I and II and Life Without Dick; and Brian Tyler, whose films include Panic, Frailty and The Hunted. Pictured above (l-r) are: Brian Tyler, John Debney, Bruce Broughton, ASCAP Senior VP Nancy Knutsen, Jon Burlingame, David Lawrence and ASCAP's Shawn LeMone. The event was attended by many accomplished film and television composers including (inset, l-r) Ron Ramin and SCL President Dan Foliart shown with panelist John Debney.

Joel Goodman at the Avignon Film Festival

ASCAP hosted a panel at the recent Avignon Film Festival called "Getting the Best Score for Your Film: The Realities of Film Scoring From Creative to Budget." The special guest speaker on the panel was composer Joel Goodman, whose credits include the 2003 Oscar-nominated documentary The Collector of Bedford Street as well as the dramatic feature Evenhand, which will be screened at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, Robert Capa: In Love and War and American Standoff, among other notable independent films. Pictured at the panel at the Roger Smith Hotel in Manhattan are (l-r) ASCAP's Toni Cheeseman and Goodman.

Marco Beltrami and Terminator 3

Composer Marco Beltrami was visited by ASCAP's Diana Szyszkiewicz (left) and Pamela Allen on the final day of scoring for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines at the Sony scoring stage.