The Annual Flanders International Film Festival

For the third time, ASCAP was a participant in the annual Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium. One of the principal components of this festival is the recognition and celebration of orchestral film music, and events included several music seminars, the second World Soundtrack Awards, and a special concert of orchestral film music. This year, composers from ASCAP and affiliated societies swept the awards: Howard Shore received the Award for Best Original Soundtrack for Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, as well as an award for his score to the indie film Spider. Other winners were: Patrick Doyle (PRS): Composer of the Year for Gosford Park; Randy Newman: Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film for "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc.; Klaus Badelt (GEMA): Discovery of the Year for The Time Machine. And in a special presentation, legendary producer and composer Sir George Martin (PRS) was presented with the World Soundtrack Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award. A concert featuring the Belgian National Orchestra and celebrating the film scores of PRS composer/conductor George Fenton, and the late ASCAP composer Georges Delerue, whose music from several Francois Truffaut films was conducted by SACEM composer Jean-Claude Petit and SABAM composer/conductor Dirk Brosse, followed the ceremonies. Brosse also presented a medley of Martin's work from the Beatles film Yellow Submarine. ASCAP Senior Vice President Nancy Knutsen, who serves on the Advisory Board of the World Soundtrack Academy, was again asked to moderate a series of seminars, including panels featuring composers and music industry executives from throughout the world. Panelists included PRS composers Stephen Warbeck, who also presented the keynote address, David Julyan and George Fenton, along with ASCAP composer Jeff Rona, who also served on the Festival's Film Jury this year. Air Edel's Maggie Rodford of London, along with representatives from Milan Records in Paris and Colloseum Schallplatten in Munich, joined American agent Charlie Ryan and others to discuss soundtracks, differences in working in Europe as opposed to the United States, and many other issues. The audience of several hundred professional and student composers and industry representatives from throughout Europe listened to simultaneous translations of the discussion into several languages.

Sir George Martin accepts his Lifetime Achievement in recognition of his career as a composer, producer and songwriter. ASCAP's Nancy Knutsen with PRS composers David Julyan (Memento, Insomnia), Stephen Warbeck (Quills, Captain Corelli's Mandolin) and Sir George Martin. Knutsen with Sir George Martin, Festival music director and SABAM composer Dirk Brosse, and Air-Edel Managing Director Maggie Rodford. Patrick Doyle accepts his World Soundtrack Award as Composer of the Year for his score to Gosford Park.

Brian Keane, Good Sport Composer Brian Keane has scored over 200 films during his diverse career including such memorable documentaries as "Ric Burns' New York," "The Donner Party," and "Long Journey Home: The Irish in America," (a Grammy winner for Best Soundtrack). But lately, Keane has been carving a niche for himself as a composer of of music for sports-related projects. He has scored several Emmy Award-winning sports documentaries including "Babe Ruth" and "Spirit of the Games" for HBO. Last year, he broke a three-way tie (with himself) at the Sports Emmy Awards when he walked away with the prize for Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics, for a score he co-wrote with Buckwheat Zydeco for the CBS special "Pistol Pete: The Life and Times of Pete Maravich." With two other Keane projects competing for the same award, he was alone in the field. He also took home a second Sports Emmy that night for "Do You Believe In Miracles? The Story of the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team," which won the Sports Emmy Best Picture Award. Most recently, he composed the music for HBO's "Three Seconds to Glory," a documentary of the 1972 USA vs Russia Olympic basketball showdown at the Munich Olympics that year.