Presenting the SCL Awards
Updated information (9/18/19): Submissions for the SCL Awards are now open. Full information and submission forms are available here.
INAUGURAL SCL AWARDS IN THE YEAR OF OUR 75th ANNIVERSARY
Ceremony to be held Tuesday, January 7, 2020 in Los Angeles
(Hollywood, CA) – September 9, 2019 – The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) announces the inaugural SCL Awards, to recognize composers and songwriters for visual media in the inaugural SCL Awards which will be presented during an evening of entertainment and special guests at a gala dinner on January 7, 2020. The awards will celebrate excellence and innovation in music for visual media. Awards in five competitive categories (studio and independent film, TV/streaming, videogames and song) will be presented along with an honorary Spirit of Collaboration Award to a composer/director relationship which has created a prodigious body of outstanding work. Separately, the SCL will continue to present it’s Lifetime Achievement Award and/or it’s Ambassador Award at its annual holiday events in New York and Los Angeles, with past recipients including Quincy Jones, Bill Conti, Lalo Schifrin, Philip Glass, Terence Blanchard, Diane Warren, Randy Newman, and so many other luminaries in their field. The SCL Awards intend to expand on that theme.
SCL President Ashley Irwin explains: “For decades, the SCL has honored composers and songwriters with Lifetime Achievement and Ambassador Awards to acknowledge a select group of music creators, without whose valuable contributions our profession would be less than it is, without whose creativity our community would be lacking, and without whose gift society would be deprived of the wonderful music and song expressed by their creativity and expertise. The SCL awards will be judged purely by professional composers and songwriters who understand not only the craft, but also the demands placed on media music creators to deliver their finest work. The SCL awards will be the only awards of their kind, where throughout the entire voting process the selection of nominees and winners will be chosen by solely by music creators – people who do what they do. We respect and support other award shows that recognize music in visual media, but this is our opportunity to reward our own community and salute our unique talent. It has always been the responsibility of the SCL board to select the Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement recipients; this is the chance for our members to show their appreciation of their peers.”
THE SCL AWARDS
The inaugural SCL Awards will be presented by The Society of Composers & Lyricists in January 2020. The awards will celebrate excellence and innovation in music for visual media.
CATEGORIES
Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film: Original music that serves as dramatic underscore and is written specifically for a major film studio-produced motion picture.
Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film: Original music that serves as dramatic underscore and is written specifically for an independent motion picture, including documentaries. For the purposes of the SCL Awards an independent film is one produced outside the major film studio system.
Outstanding Original Score for Television or Streaming Production: Original music that serves as dramatic underscore and is written specifically for a television or streaming production, including documentaries.
Outstanding Original Song for Visual Media: Original words and music written specifically for a studio or independent motion picture, documentary, television/streaming production, video game or interactive medium. The song must be used in the body of the production, or as the first music cue in the end credits.
Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media: Original music that serves as dramatic underscore and is written specifically for a video game, extended reality experience or similar interactive platform.
Spirit of Collaboration Award: A lifetime achievement award that will be presented by a composer to a filmmaker, with whom the composer has had an enduring and distinguished creative partnership, representing a significant body of work.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For full information on eligibility, entry fees, procedures, and timelines, please visit the SCL Awards page.