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THE SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS (SCL)

Presented A Special SCL Member Screening of the

The Universal Pictures' film

BIG MIRACLE

Followed by a Q&A with Composer CLIFF EIDELMAN

Moderated by DAN KIMPEL

THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 2nd, 2012

(L-R): Moderator Dan Kimpel, BMI's Anne Cecere, Cliff Eidelman, SCL Executive Director Laura Dunn, SCL President Dan Foliart

Inspired by the incredible true story that united the world, the rescue adventure BIG MIRACLE tells the amazing tale of a small town news reporter (JOHN KRASINSKI) and an animal-loving volunteer (DREW BARRYMORE) who are joined by rival world superpowers to save a family of majestic gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle. Lead actors also include TED DANSON, KRISTEN BELL, DERMOT MULRONEY, TIM BLAKE NELSON, VINESSA SHAW, and STEPHEN ROOT.  Directed by KEN KWAPIS from a screenplay by JACK AMIEL & MICHAEL BEGLER.  Based on the book "Freeing The Whales" by THOMAS ROSE.  This film opens to the public on February 3rd.   www.everybodyloveswhales.com

This SCL screening and Q&A took place at: The Hitchcock Theatre at the Universal Lot, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 

CLIFF EIDELMAN’s (Music by) breakthrough into public consciousness came with his score for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), a stylish and powerful work that elicited a great deal of attention and acclaim.  The composer has created a number of epic symphonic scores including the powerful Triumph of the Spirit (1989) and Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992).  Eidelman first ventured into comedy back-to-back with Crazy People (1990) and Delirious (1991).  He later chose to explore different approaches, often using a pared-down orchestra, a chamber orchestra or a few well-chosen instruments to capture the intricacies of such character-driven films as Untamed Heart (1993); Leap of Faith (1992); A Simple Twist of Fate (1994); Now and Then (1995); the highest-rated HBO film ever If These Walls Could Talk (1996); One True Thing (1998), starring Meryl Streep, Renée Zellweger and William Hurt; Witness Protection (1999); Harrison’s Flowers (2000); An American Rhapsody (2001); the IMAX film Ocean Men: Extreme Dive (2001); Sexual Life (2005); The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005); Open Window (2006); and He’s Just Not That Into You (2009).

            Big Miracle marks Eidelman’s fifth collaboration with director Ken Kwapis.  Kwapis comments on Eidelman’s score: “Cliff summons a large orchestral force to depict the majesty of the whales, as well as their tragic predicament.  He uses a broad brush to show the breadth of the Arctic and force us to feel its numbing cold.  He employs powerful indigenous percussion to paint a picture of the Inupiat people who occupy the northern slope of upper Alaska.  He evokes Slavic musical tradition to portray the Soviet sailors who deliver a massive icebreaker to help free the whales.  Cliff creates an agitated, babbling leitmotif to characterize the media circus that descended upon the trapped whales.  In short, Cliff’s score achieves the improbable feat of being both epic and intimate, of giving us an entire world while being just as true to one human heart.”

            Eidelman broke into film scoring at the age of 22 when his past caught up with him.  A performance tape of one of the two commissions (the ballet Once Upon a Ruler and Celebration Symphony Overture in Three Movements) he composed at Santa Monica College reached director Monica Teuber.  She was so impressed with Eidelman’s lush score that she asked him to write some music based on his reading her script.  Soon after hearing the tape, Teuber hired him to write his first film score for Magdalene (1989), which starred Nastassja Kinski.  The young composer took full advantage of this opportunity, launching his career with a huge 75-minute score for a 110-piece orchestra, a 60-piece choir and a 30-piece children’s choir.

            When director Richard Pearce heard the Magdalene score playing one morning on KCRW, he had his producers call Eidelman that afternoon to offer him the HBO film Dead Man Out (1989).  Eidelman accepted and received a 1989 CableACE Award nomination for his original score.

            Within a year of completing his first film score, Eidelman was approached by director Robert M. Young to score his epic WWII drama Triumph of the Spirit.  It was 1989 and Eidelman was just 24.  The score caught the attention of many conductors since its composition and has been performed by numerous orchestras.  Eidelman created a suite from the score for the final concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, under the direction of Grant Gershon, in June 2003.  It continues to be performed in various venues.

            Although he is known foremost as a composer, Eidelman has conducted all of his film scores and emerged as a talented conductor.  He has conducted the London Metropolitan Orchestra, the Munich Symphony Orchestra and chorus, the Unione Musicisti di Roma and chorus, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and many first-call pick-up orchestras for his film scores.  The recognition he garnered for those recordings prompted Varèse Sarabande Records to pursue Eidelman for conducting projects.  On two recordings that Eidelman made for Varèse Sarabande Records, he conducted works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Walton, Rózsa and Rota.

            Throughout his film-scoring career, Eidelman has continued to write original pieces for the concert hall, including Suite for Orchestra in 1985.  In 1996, he completed a symphonic tone poem in three movements to the story of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which is available on Varèse Sarabande Records.  Eidelman also composed Wedding in the Night Garden, which was performed in 2002 by the Los Angeles Master Chorale under the direction of Grant Gershon.  It was so well received that Gershon requested a repeat performance and the Los Angeles Master Chorale slated Wedding in the Night Garden for two performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall during its 2005 season.  In 2006, Eidelman completed the album “My Muse,” a solo song album in which all the music and lyrics are written and performed by Eidelman.  In 2011 he completed a three-movement symphony.

DAN KIMPEL (Moderator) began his career as a musician in his hometown, Lima, Ohio. He was a staff songwriter in Nashville and continued his performing, recording and composing careers in New York and Los Angeles. Dan’s book on maximizing personal relationships, Networking Strategies For The New Music Business (ArtistPro/Thomson) is the follow up to his best-selling title, Networking in the Music Business. Acknowledged as one of the American media's foremost authorities on popular music and songwriters, Dan Kimpel contributes to a variety of print and electronic mediums: books, interactive CD's, magazines, web sites, feature films, videos and new media. His recent interview subjects include Natalie Cole, Ringo Starr, Akon, Bobby Brown, Ne-Yo, Melissa Etheridge, Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, Green Day, Usher, Alicia Keys, Metallica, Jason Mraz and Black Eyed Peas. Over six years, passengers on United Airlines heard Kimpel's incisive interviews with hit songwriters and recording artists worldwide on The United Entertainment Network. In addition, he has written, produced and/or voiced segments for TED, Regal Cinemas, and the presidential and vice presidential planes, Air Force One and Two. Publications that feature his writing include BMI World, ASCAP Playback, Grammy, SESAC Magazine, Music Connection and American Songwriter. Dan also strategizes on projects and writes copy for record labels, music libraries, DVD releases and major label and independent recording artists with an extensive client roster.

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THE SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS (SCL) is the non-profit and primary organization for professional film, TV and video game composers and lyricists, with a distinguished 65-year history in the fine art of creating music for motion pictures and television.  www.TheSCL.com

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