The greatest names in modern film, television and video game music gathered in Beverly HIlls on May 23 as we honored the extended ASCAP film/TV music family at the 2018 ASCAP Screen Music Awards.
Our big winner was composer John Powell, who won the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award recipient for his 20+ years of brilliant film scores - including all five Bourne films, the How to Train Your Dragon and Ice Age series, and the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story. Multi-faceted music creator Germaine Franco, the co-orchestrator, arranger, producer and co-songwriter for Coco, earned the ASCAP Shirley Walker Award for kicking down doors for more diversity in film/TV music through her achievements and advocacy.
Throughout the night, we celebrated the ASCAP members behind the biggest projects on every A/V platform. Heitor Pereira (Top Box Office Film, Despicable Me 3), Trent Reznor (Top Cable TV Series, The Vietnam War), Dan Romer (Top Network TV Series, The Good Doctor) and David Vanacore (Most Performed Themes & Underscore) took top honors.
We also revealed our fifth annual ASCAP Composers’ Choice Award winners, determined by the ASCAP composer community: Dave Porter (Better Call Saul, The Blacklist, Preacher) took home his second TV Composer of the Year honor, Jonny Greenwood and Hans Zimmer tied for Film Score of the Year for Phantom Thread and Dunkirk respectively; and Gordy Haab was presented with the Video Game Score of the Year award for Star Wars Battlefront II.
But in a night full of highlights, it was the live performances that truly made the ASCAP Screen Music Awards unforgettable. Franco took the baton for a vivid medley of her music to Coco, the upcoming film TAG and the new series Vida. We heard a suite of music from The Good Doctor, enlivened by Romer’s accordion. Michael Abels performed a disquieting rendition of his opening theme from Get Out, along with a group of musicians and the combined voices of Tonality and DC6. And Powell closed out the night by conducting an orchestral medley of classic Mancini themes. As the audience left the ballroom, Powell’s gorgeous new “Chewie’s Theme” from Solo piped through the PA - a fitting end to a night that celebrated the composers who are carrying the torch of great screen music into the future.
