THE SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS (SCL)

Presented the SCL Member Screening of the

Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures film

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Followed by a Q&A with Composers

TRENT REZNOR and ATTICUS ROSS

 THURSDAY, JANUARY 5th, 2012

Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, CA

L-R:  Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

L-R:  BMI's Lisa Feldman, composer Atticus Ross, composer Trent Reznor, ASCAP's Jeff Jernigan, BMI's Ray Yee, SCL's Laura Dunn, SCL's Dan Foliart (moderator)

In THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Academy Award®-nominated director David Fincher (The Social Network) uncoils the world of Stieg Larsson’s global blockbuster thriller on the screen.  Within the story’s labyrinth lie murder, corruption, family secrets and the inner demons of the two unexpected partners chasing the truth of a 40-year-old mystery.  Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is a financial reporter determined to restore his honor after being convicted of libel. Engaged by one of Sweden’s wealthiest industrialists, Henrik Vanger (Academy Award® nominee Christopher Plummer), to get to the bottom of the long-ago disappearance of his beloved niece, Harriet – murdered, Vanger believes, by a member of his large family – the journalist heads to a remote island on the frozen Swedish coast, unaware of what awaits him.  At the same time, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), an unusual but ingenious investigator with Milton Security, is hired to do a background check on Blomkvist, a job that ultimately leads to her joining Mikael in his investigation of who killed Harriet Vanger. Though Lisbeth shields herself from a world that has repeatedly betrayed her, her hacking skills and single-minded focus become invaluable.  While Mikael goes face-to-face with the tight-lipped Vangers, Lisbeth plies the wired shadows.  They begin to trace a chain of homicides from the past into the present, forging a fragile strand of trust even as they are pulled into the most savage currents of modern crime.

TRENT REZNOR (Composer) was honored with the Academy Award® and the Golden Globe for his work on his first feature length film score, David Fincher’s The Social Network. Reznor collaborated on the score with Atticus Ross.  Reznor is an American songwriter/musician/producer and sole member of multi-platinum act Nine Inch Nails.  Previous film contributions from Reznor include producing the soundtracks for David Lynch's Lost Highway and Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Reznor began creating music as a child in Western Pennsylvania, first on piano and then taking up other instruments.  He eventually moved to Cleveland, OH where he took a job at a local recording studio as an assistant engineer/janitor, recording his own material during unused studio time.  Those recordings became the first Nine Inch Nails album, 1989's “Pretty Hate Machine.”  NIN soon developed a reputation as one of the best live acts in rock and joined the inaugural Lollapalooza tour in 1991.  The “Broken” EP followed in 1992, garnering NIN's first Grammy Award (NIN has received twelve Grammy nominations and won two awards).  In 1994, the breakthrough album “The Downward Spiral” was released and featured the radio hits "Closer" and "Hurt."  The controversial, acclaimed music video for “Closer” was directed by Mark Romanek and is one of the few music videos included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  Five years later, NIN's next album, “The Fragile,” was released – the double album debuted at number one. In 2002, "Hurt" was covered by Johnny Cash to critical acclaim; it was one of Cash's final hit releases before his death.  NIN's next album, “With Teeth,” also reached number one in 2005, as did the single "The Hand That Feeds.”  David Fincher directed the video for “Only,” “With Teeth's” second single.  The concept album “Year Zero” was released in 2007 alongside an accompanying ARG (alternate reality game). Reznor has developed “Year Zero” into an HBO/BBC mini-series, currently in pre-production.  In 2008, free of contractual obligations, NIN released “Ghosts I–IV,” a 36-track instrumental album, NIN's first independent release.  Soon after, a new studio album, “The Slip,” was released as a free digital download.  Over the course of his career, Reznor has also collected countless production and remix credits including collaborations with David Bowie, producing Saul Williams and the discovery and production of Marilyn Manson.  Reznor is currently working on new music as a member of the group How to Destroy Angels, continuing his Nine Inch Nails efforts, and composing for future film score projects.

ATTICUS ROSS (Composer) most recently collaborated on the score for David Fincher’s The Social Network with Trent Reznor, and he won the Academy Award® and Golden Globe for his work on the film.  Ross began writing music for picture in 2004 after he was approached by The Hughes Brothers to score their television series “Touching Evil.” He has gone on to do two further projects with them; their vignette in the indie film New York, I Love You and The Book of Eli. The score for The Book of Eli won at the BMI film awards and has earned a nomination as Discovery of the Year for the 2010 World Soundtrack Awards.  In addition to the music for The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Ross has a history of collaboration with Reznor.  He has served as co- producer on the last four Nine Inch Nails albums, “With Teeth,” “Year Zero,” “Ghosts,” and “The Slip.” They have worked together on various other projects, including Jane's Addiction, Saul Williams and Zach de la Rocha. In July 2010, they released a debut EP of their new band, How to Destroy Angels, which features Reznor’s wife, Mariqueen.  Apart from work with Reznor, he has produced or remixed many other artists, including Grace Jones, Korn, Telepathe, Coheed, and Perry Farrell. 

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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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