Q&A with Composers

MICHAEL GIACCHINO

NAMI MELUMAD

Moderated by actor RICHARD KIND

Screening Links provided with Registration Confirmation

YouTube Live Stream Q&A:

TUESDAY, JANUARY 26 – 6:30PM PT

COLETTE (scored by Nami Melumad) As a young girl, Colette Marin-Catherine fought the Nazis as a member of the French Resistance. Since 1945, she has refused to set foot in Germany. That changes when a history student named Lucie enters her life and encourages her to visit the concentration camp where the Nazis killed her brother. Not Rated | 24min

AN AMERICAN PICKLE (scored by Michael Giacchino & Nami Melumad) It’s 1919, and Herschel Greenbaum (Seth Rogen) is a struggling but upbeat laborer who immigrates to America, determined to build a bright future for his beloved, growing family. One day at his factory job, Herschel falls into a vat of pickles…where he’s trapped for 100 years. Luckily, the brine preserves him perfectly, and when he emerges in present-day Brooklyn, he finds that he hasn’t aged a day. When Herschel connects with his only surviving relative, his great-grandson Ben (also played by Rogen), an easygoing app developer, the pair’s attempts to bridge their 100-year gap lead them to reconsider the true meaning of family…and the value of a really good pickle. PG-13 | 88min

Michael Giacchino has credits that feature some of the most popular and acclaimed film projects in recent history, including The Incredibles, War for the Planet of the Apes, Ratatouille, Star Trek, Jurassic World, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Coco. Giacchino’s 2009 score for the Pixar hit Up earned him an Oscar®, a Golden Globe®, the BAFTA, the Broadcast Film Critics’ Choice Award and two GRAMMY® Awards. Giacchino also scored the video game adaptation of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Giacchino’s work in video games sparked the interest of J.J. Abrams, and thus began their long-standing relationship that would lead to scores for the hit television series
 Alias and Lost, and the feature films Mission Impossible III, Star Trek, Super 8, and Star Trek Into Darkness. Additional projects include collaborations with Disney Imagineering on music for Space Mountain, Star Tours (with John Williams), the Ratatouille ride in Disneyland Paris, and the Incredicoaster on Pixar Pier at California Adventure. Giacchino was also the musical director of the 81st Annual Academy Awards®. In June 2018, Giacchino premiered his first work for symphony orchestra, Voyage. Commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the piece celebrates the 60th anniversary of the founding of NASA. In July 2019, a third movement was added for the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing. Jojo Rabbit, the critically acclaimed Fox Searchlight film written and directed by Taika Waititi, earned Giacchino a BAFTA nomination last year. His upcoming film projects include Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Giacchino’s first LP of original music, Travelogue Vol 1, featuring his Nouvelle Modernica orchestra, described as a story in song, dropped by Mondo Records in October 2020. In November 2020, the holiday song “Christmas Number One” which he wrote with the songwriting team of Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson for the 2019 Royal Albert Hall Christmas Variety Show, was recorded and performed by UK based band Itchy Teeth, and released as a specialty single with Death Waltz Records.

Giacchino serves as the Governor of the Music Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and sits on the advisory board of Education Through Music Los Angeles. Michael was a nominee in the Inaugural SCL Awards for Jojo Rabbit.

Nami Melumad is an Israeli-Dutch composer, based in Los Angeles. Her scoring credits include over 130 projects, in a wide range of genres. Most recently she scored the HBO Max comedy, An American Pickle, starring Seth Rogen, the Amazon thriller-drama series, Absentia, starring Stana Katic, and Electronic Arts’ VR video game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. She also contributed music and arrangements to Amazon’s latest hit, Borat Subsequent MovieFilm. Her score to the Star Trek episode, Shorts Treks: Q&A in 2019, landed her an upcoming Star Trek series, making her the first female composer for the franchise.  Nami’s works claimed multiple international awards, including the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Passage and Best Short Score at Fimucite for Luminarias  (out of 908 score entries), among many other nominations. Her compositions have been performed by the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, and the Helix Collective Ensemble. She takes pride in telling thought-provoking stories that make an impact on the viewer, such as Subira, Kenya’s official entry to the 92nd Academy Awards, about a young Muslim woman who challenges gender stereotypes and tradition; Miss Arizona, a dramedy about a former beauty queen who meets four women at a shelter; More Beautiful For Having Been Broken, a drama focusing on a single mother and her special-needs child; and Not Your Skin, a documentary examining the issues of the transgender community through the stories of people who transitioned in different stages of their lives.

An alumna of the prestigious ASCAP Television & Film Scoring Workshop in 2016, Nami graduated from the SMPTV program at the University of Southern California in 2015 and holds a B.A. in multi-style composition from the Jerusalem Academy of Music, where she was admitted directly to sophomore year. Born in Israel, Nami started her musical life as a pianist and a flute player, performing in orchestras and bands, and she also plays guitars and uke. After completing her two-year IDF service she traveled the world. Somewhat like her journeys, Mani’s compositions are eclectic: she often blends orchestral sound with less-traditional instruments, vocals, synth, and jazz harmonies. Nami serves as a board member for the Alliance of Women Film Composers and is a member of Women in Film. 

*** IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ ***

FREE for current SCL members (click HERE to check membership status).

Attendees will be emailed a Screening Link upon Registration and a Q&A YouTube Live Stream link on Tuesday, January 26, 10 minutes before Q&A start.

Attendees can ask questions on YouTube chat, and the SCL Host will pass them on to the Moderator. The SCL Member Code of Conduct applies to online Q&As.

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