WITH
ANDY BEAN
JOLEEN BELLE
JOACHIM SVARE
CHRISTOPHER WILLIS
ELYSE WILLIS

MODERATED BY HÉLÈNE MUDDIMAN

MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2021, 5:00-7:00 PM (PT)

Join us to learn about the process of composing and songwriting for the wacky world of Cartoons.

Andy Bean is an Emmy-nominated songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist specializing in music for animation. He began his career as one half of the retro duo, The Two Man Gentlemen Band, first performing in New York City’s parks and subways before taking the act on the road for the better part of a decade. The duo’s irreverent songwriting and high-energy live performances won them a fiercely devoted (if modestly sized) following across the United States and Europe. Through his work with the band, Andy landed his first composing gig scoring Disney’s Emmy-nominated animated series, Wander Over Yonder. His frantic banjo-driven sci-fi scores and heartfelt songwriting for the show earned him two Annie award nominations. He is currently the composer and songwriter for Disney’s international hit pre-school series, Puppy Dog Pals, and songwriter for Disney Jr’s Muppet Babies re-boot (for which he received his first Emmy nomination). Between the two, he’s written over three hundred songs across dozens of genres and scored over one hundred episodes. For his latest project, Netflix’s Kid Cosmic, Andy created much of the soundtrack under the guise of a fictional 70s psychedelic garage punk band, Dr. Fang & The Gang. The propulsive rock and roll score combines with the show’s distinctive art style to create exhilarating musical-action sequences unique in children’s television.

Andy lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three daughters. When not holed up in his garage-studio writing music, he can frequently be found plunking the banjo, lap steel, or mandolin with various traditional jazz and country bands around Los Angeles.

Joleen Belle is an Emmy Award-winning, Los Angeles-based songwriter/producer/vocal producer. She studied classical and jazz piano in her teens and moved to Los Angeles right after high school to study music at the acclaimed California Institute of the Performing Arts. After college, she moved to the city of LA to pursue her songwriting career. She has had hundreds of placements in film and television, theme songs, vocal loops for Garage Band Jam Pack, Apple Computers, as well as hits on various pop artists throughout the world. She does topline and produces vocals, engineers, & records in logic for Artists, Film & Television.

Joachim Svare is an Emmy-winning music producer, mixer, and songwriter from Denmark. He started his career as a bass player in Copenhagen Denmark playing on Records, TV Shows, and concert tours. He moved to Los Angeles and started writing and producing music in a wide variety of genres for various recording artists. He has hundreds of placements in Film and TV and is currently working on music for several Nickelodeon and Netflix shows. In addition, he has provided music to commercials, video games, and has written and produced thousands of music and vocal loops for Apple Computers.

Christopher Willis is a composer and songwriter, currently residing in Pasadena, CA. Originally from the UK, he attended Clare College at Cambridge University in England, earning a PhD in Musicology, and he trained as a concert pianist at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

He is the recipient of multiple honors from the International Film Music Critics Association for his scores to The Death of Stalin and The Personal History of David Copperfield. Both films won Best Original Score for a Comedy Film in their respective years, and Copperfield was named 2020’s Film Score of the Year. His TV work includes HBO’s Veep, Disney Junior’s The Lion Guard, and the much-loved Disney Mickey Mouse shorts. For the latter, he is a five-time winner of the Annie Award for Outstanding Music for a Television/Broadcast Production, and a two-time Emmy nominee for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (2017) and Outstanding Music Direction and Composition (2019). Christopher recently composed the soundtrack for the Walt Disney World ride-through attraction, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. The ride centers around “Nothing Can Stop Us Now,” an original song co-written with his wife and songwriting partner, Elyse Willis. Current projects include scoring the newest iteration of Mickey Mouse cartoons on Disney+, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse; Lamya’s Poem, an independent animated feature set in Syria; and Schmigadoon!, a musical comedy series coming to Apple TV+ in Summer 2021.

Elyse Willis is a professional singer, vocal contractor, and songwriter. She is in her twelfth season as a soprano with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, where she frequently performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. An active session singer, she has sung on over 70 films, television shows, and video games. Projects include Star Wars: The Last Jedi, La La Land, The Lion King, Mulan, Frozen II, The Call of the Wild, WandaVision, and The Super Bowl Halftime Show starring The Weeknd. She was also the choir contractor for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the upcoming film Jungle Cruise.

She works frequently with her husband, composer Christopher Willis, in multiple capacities as a singer, contractor, and lyricist on TV shows Disney Mickey Mouse, The Lion Guard, and The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse. They recently collaborated on Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, a new major attraction for Disney World and Disneyland based on the Mickey Mouse shorts, where they co-wrote a new original song for the ride, “Nothing Can Stop Us Now”.

Hélène Muddiman is a multi-award-winning composer and hit songwriter. Here collaborations with John Powell, writing additional orchestral music, can be heard on the scores for Happy Feet 2, Ice Age 4, and with Danny Elfman on Frankenweenie. Hélène is also a Sony songwriter who has written a number of hit songs and received a gold disc for the songs she wrote on The Spice Girl’s Emma Bunton’s album including the title track “Free Me”. As an artist, Hélène was in a pop band signed to EMI Records and Music Publishing aged 18. She is also classically trained on a range of instruments. Her singing has featured on many television series, hits for other artists, and Hans Zimmer’s film scores. Her TV composer credits are numerous and include the BAFTA-nominated animation series of 52 episodes for the Cartoon Network called The Cramp Twins which was broadcast in 50 countries.

Hélène is a passionate advocate for copyright – as a founding member of SONA, board member of the SCL, and CEO of Hollywood Elite Music & Media she has walked the halls of governments in USA, UK, and Europe to passionately campaign for creators to be better educated, protected and remunerated.

*** 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 Monday, June 7, 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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