Feature-length Film "After School" Finished!

My friend Joel Clarkson and I just finished writing music for the feature-length film "After School", directed by Mauricio Mendoza and Carlos Melendez.  It was a fast and rewarding three-week collaboration that I'll never forget.

It's a really special film because it has a great story, really talented actors, amazing crew, and an important message.  Here's a short description from imdb: The story follows a troubled young boy holding a terrifying secret... one he decides to take into his own hands. It is up to a former teacher to try to help him, and to help make sense of the boy's desperate situation.



I have to say a little about how Joel and I had the opportunity to write music for this film, because it wouldn't have happened if not for one person.  Joseph Julian Gonzalez is one of the best composers I've met in Los Angeles and if you don't know who he is already, you should really get to know his work.  Both Joel and I have previously worked for him.  Our last project was for a documentary mini-series, "From Christ to Constantine".  Joel was the orchestrator I was the music programmer.  Joseph and his wife, Monique are also mentors for us and our career, giving us tips and advice that we couldn't have gone without.

To get to the point, Joseph is good friends with Mauricio, the director and one of the lead actors for "After School".  Mauricio offered the composing gig to Joseph, but Joseph couldn't do it for various reasons, so he recommended me and Joel!  I have to thank Joseph tremendously for doing this, because I would have never gotten this project if it weren't for him.  And not only that, but the film has opened up the door for bigger opportunities and I can now aim higher than I used to!

I feel extremely lucky right now and excited for whats to come. 

From Christ to Constantine

Recently I had the opportunity to work on a documentary mini-series, "From Christ to Constantine," with composer Joseph Julian Gonzalez.  I was the Music Programmer and Additional Orchestrator for the project.  I got the gig from my friend Joel Clarkson, a friend of mine from Berklee College of Music.  Joel has been the orchestrator for Joseph for a couple projects now.  For this particular documentary, the music production had to be finished in just one month, so they added me on, because there was no way they could do it alone.  It was a fun collaboration, and a fast paced one!  We had to finish 4 1/2 hours of music in just 4 weeks.  We even added my friend and roommate Akhil to the team for the last week because of the amount of work.  But we finally finished, and I am ready to take on more film scoring projects full force!

Here's a screen shot from the documentary of a statue of Constantine:

5 Months, 4 Internships!

Since the beginning of December, I've been lucky enough to be able to do consecutive internships with several film composers, including Hans Zimmer and his team, Henry Jackman, Ramin Djawadi, and Heitor Pereira.  And I've seen several films and shows in the progress of being scored, such as "Man of Steel", "Lone Ranger", "Kick-Ass 2", "Game of Thrones", "Pacific Rim", "Captain Phillips, "G.I. Joe Retaliation", "Twelve Years a Slave", "Smurfs 2", and "Person of Interest", to name a few.  And I also was able to see scoring sessions at Warner Brothers, Sony, and Fox Studios!

Remote Control inspires me because all of the composers there collaborate and help each other out, and once in a while, give each other films.  It's really crazy to think I've gotten to meet some of the people I idolize in my profession.  And I've gotten to learn so much about how film scoring studios are run, what programs professionals use, preparing for scoring sessions, sampling, editing, and organization (which is very important).

Whether I was assisting or going on "runs", it felt amazing to feel that I was part of these films.  And I can't wait to see them and listen to the scores in the theaters!

Here's some pictures to pump you up!