Conversations from the Sundance Institute Labs | The Art of TV & Film Scoring with Composer Blake Neely (GREYHOUND)
About this Event Recording
Go behind the scenes to learn from Sundance Institute Advisors in our Conversations from the Sundance Labs series. This collection of videos will deepen your understanding of all the creative disciplines that are supported through our Labs.
Composing for film and TV involves much more work than finding inspiration for the music. In this discussion, composer Blake Neely shows excerpts from ALL AMERICAN, GREYHOUND and THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT and discusses how to maintain the intent of a score through the editing process, writing a score to balance the use of pop music, the differences between scoring for film and TV, how to construct and reuse a musical theme and managing the pressure to write under the tight deadlines of a weekly TV show.
Event RecordingTeam
Blake Neely
Composer
Blake Neely is an award-winning composer, whose work spans film, television and the concert world. He has scored more than 30 television series and 15 films. His breakout score for the Tom Hanks film, GREYHOUND, premiered this month on Apple TV+. Current work includes The CW’s RIVERDALE, ALL AMERICAN and superhero franchises ARROW, THE FLASH, SUPERGIRL and LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, NBC’s BLINDSPOT, and NETFLIX fan-favorite YOU. Among his film credits are LIFE AS WE KNOW IT, THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD, THE WEDDING DATE, STARTER FOR TEN, and ELVIS AND ANABELLE. His documentary work includes Apple’s series VISIBLE: OUT ON TELEVISION, Hulu’s ASK DR. RUTH, acclaimed Netflix series THE KEEPERS, the EPIX bio-pic SERENA, HBO’s THE CASE AGAINST 8, and the upcoming ASSASSINS, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Festival. Neely has received three EMMY®Award nominations for his scores to ABC’s PAN AM, the HBO mini-series THE PACIFIC, and for his main title theme from the series EVERWOOD. He has worked as a co-composer, conductor, and orchestrator with such masters as Michael Kamen, Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, and Vangelis, writing additional music and conducting for films such as PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, KING KONG, SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE, THE LAST SAMURAI, and more. He has been a featured lecturer on film music at the Sundance Institute, University of Southern California, Columbia College, UCLA, Hollywood Music Workshop Vienna, the Conservatory of Music Puerto Rico, NYU, and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. His studio, Cow On the Wall, is located in North Hollywood.