Composer

MARK SMYTHE

MODERATED BY CHRIS WIRSIG

(SCL Board Member, SongArts Chair)

Screening Link available upon Registration

YouTube Live Stream Q&A 

Thursday, December 15, 6:30PM (PT)

The Reef: Stalked is a 2022 thriller written and directed by Andrew Traucki and is an ancillary sequel to his 2010 cult classic The Reef. The film follows Nic, her younger sister Annie, and two close friends – ‘The Dive Sisters’ – on a three-day kayaking adventure in pacific island waters. Just hours into their ocean odyssey, the women are stalked by a great white shark. There’s more than just a fin surfacing, however – Nic has to confront the trauma of a past monster as well…. 

R | 1h 33m

Mark Smythe is a New Zealand-born, LA-based composer known for his film, choral, and contemporary classical music. Much of his recent movie work has been in the horror/thriller genre: this summer’s The Reef: Stalked, 2021’s The Possessed, and 2018’s Boar (essentially Jaws in the outback with a giant killer pig playing the shark). Interspersed among these creature features was the 2020 rom-com Love You Like That and 2017’s Unfallen – a war drama starring Michael Madsen. Beasts, romance, and conflict; what more could a composer want?

Mark’s concert music includes the regularly aired “Moto Mojo” for harp and delay pedal, several choral works, and a popular arrangement of Radiohead’s “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” for harp and female voices. In 2022 he wrote the arts crowd-funded “Korimako Bells” for Nikau Harp Trio, who performed it on their extensive South Island tour of New Zealand. LA Choral Lab will be performing a selection of Mark’s works for choir/choir and electric guitar in April 2023.

Mark is a four-time Hollywood Music in Media Awards nominee and twice won Best Original Score at the Australian Screen Industry Network Awards. He holds a Grad. Dip. (Distinction) in Screen Composition from the Australian Film Television & Radio School (AFTRS) and when he first moved to LA in 2013, was mentored by Jeff Cardoni. He is a regular contributor to the SCL Score and is emerging as a popular moderator for awards season Q&As. 

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