May 1, 2003

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Adee Glazer-Drory or Zeina Hatoum (310) 889-9200 bmarcuspr@aol.com

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) honored the composers, songwriters and publishers of the biggest box office film music and the most performed television music of 2002 at its 18th annual Film and Television Music Awards gala on Wednesday, April 30th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Over 750 members of the music industry elite attended the event hosted by Academy Award–winning lyricist and President and Chairman of ASCAP, Marilyn Bergman. ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento also took part in tonight’s event.

The evening’s special highlight was the presentation of the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award to film composer Hans Zimmer in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the world of film and television music. Producer/director James L Brooks and producer and Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg presented the award to Zimmer along with Marilyn Bergman. Long-time collaborator, director Ridley Scott, and Zimmer’s colleagues from his production company, Media Ventures, were also on hand to share the moment.

An Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy winner, Hans Zimmer has been a defining creative force in film and television music for more than two decades. He’s scored such box office hits as Gladiator, Driving Miss Daisy, Hannibal, Rain Man, Mission Impossible II, The Lion King, The Prince of Egypt, As Good As It Gets, Pearl Harbor, among many, many others. Zimmer was also honored on Wednesday evening with three additional ASCAP Awards for Black Hawk Down, The Ring, and for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (with collaborator Bryan Adams).

Past recipients of the Henry Mancini Award include James Newton Howard, Quincy Jones, Michel Legrand, Johnny Mandel, Randy Newman and Alan Silvestri.

“ASCAP is proud to honor Hans Zimmer for his extraordinary work. His scores have been exquisitely woven throughout many of the most popular films of the past 20 years,” said ASCAP President and Chairman of the Board Marilyn Bergman. “Zimmer’s music has been an integral and vital element of films and television programs, and he has influenced many young composers and continues to contribute significantly to the world of film music.”

For the second year in a row, composer John Debney was recognized in the Top Box Office Film music category for three scores: The Scorpion King, Snow Dogs and Spy Kids 2.

Also in the same category, Academy Award winner Howard Shore picked up two awards for his extraordinary score for The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers and for Panic Room.

In the Top TV Series category, John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls received an award for his theme from Good Morning Miami. Michael Skloff received his award for Friends, which has been recognized each year since 1995, and was accompanied by Friends creator and executive producer Marta Kauffman.

Lonnie Jordan, leader of the group War, and bandmate Gerald Goldstein collected their awards for the classic hit, Low Rider, the theme for the series George Lopez. Ken Jordan of Crystal Method received an award for his Third Watch theme.

Pop/rock songwriters and composers Wendy and Lisa were honored once again for their music from the hit show, Crossing Jordan.

Taking home the greatest number of awards tonight with a total of five was composer Russ Landau, honored for the three most recent Survivor installments and the series Fear Factor, as well as an award in the category of Most Performed Underscore.

Other top composers and/or songwriters on hand to receive honors were James Newton Howard (Signs & E.R.), Nick Glennie-Smith (We Were Soldiers), John Powell (The Bourne Identity), Rick Marotta (Everybody Loves Raymond & Yes, Dear), Holly Knight (Still Standing), Marco Beltrami and Jon Hassell (The Practice), Sean Callery (24), Alf Clausen (The Simpsons), Dan Foliart (8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter), Nicole Hart (American Dreams), Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek (Without A Trace), Peter Himmelman (Judging Amy).

The honorees were joined by the heads of music from most of the major film and television studios as well as ASCAP writer Board members Johnny Mandel and honoree Bruce Broughton (JAG), and publisher Board members Dean Kay of Lichelle Music, Jay Morgenstern of Warner-Chappell and David Renzer, of the Universal Music Group.

Other notables attending were songwriter and Academy of Motion Pictures Music Governor Alan Bergman, Mrs. Henry (Ginny) Mancini, 24 co-stars Sarah Clarke and Xander Berkeley, American Dreams creator/producer Jonathan Prince, and last year’s ASCAP Foundation Lifetime Achievement honoree Van Alexander.

18th Annual ASCAP Film & Television Music Awards

Established in 1914, ASCAP is the world’s largest performing rights organization, with over 150,000 active composer, lyricist and music publisher members. ASCAP is committed to protecting the rights of its members by licensing and collecting royalties for the public performance of their copyrighted works, and then distributing these fees to the Society’s members based on performances. ASCAP’s repertory spans the entire spectrum of music - from pop to symphonic, rock to gospel, Latin to country to jazz, rhythm and blues, theater, film and television music. ASCAP’s Board of Directors is made up solely of writers and publishers, elected by the membership.