http://filmfreeway.com/festival/LosAngelesLiveScores
The Los Angeles Live Score Film Festival features live music to picture. Winning filmmakers will have an original score composed for their short by a winning film composer. The film and score will be screened with the score performed live by the Helix Collective Film Scoring Ensemble. The screening will also include an interview with the filmmakers and composers and a Meet-and-Greet. Awards for Best Picture and Best Musical Score will be chosen by audience vote and given out by the ensemble. The screening will be on Saturday April 30th, 2016.
Three years ago, the Helix Collective Film Scoring Ensemble considered the roadblocks to recording music for independent films. When money is tight, music is the last budget item to be considered and the first to be scrapped. Scores for independent films can be solo guitar, computerized orchestra or library music. Filmmakers rarely consider the option of a chamber group for their film, or know the huge variety that a small group of orchestral instruments offers. Everyone knows the difference a great score makes to the emotion and impact of a film, but independent filmmakers don't know all the options they have to use recording musicians in their work.
Inspired by this conundrum, Helix Collective ran their first Live Score Film Festival in 2014 to highlight what live musicians bring to a film. They tapped their network of directors, found 6 shorts films to score and a few composer colleagues to write an original score for the ensemble. The scores featured instruments from each family - woodwinds, strings, piano and percussion - and the ensemble performed live to the screenings of the short films. A scrappy little event in its first year, the inaugural screening took place at the lovable dive bar, the Silverlake Lounge. Filmmakers, composers, musicians, fans and friends all piled into the small space and cheered on the opening of the little festival.
In 2015, the festival expanded to include open film submissions through Film Freeway and the screening took place in the arts district powerhouse, Art Share L.A. The festival screening turned out to be - quite literally - legendary. The presenters had the fortunate problem of having 3 times as many audience members as expected. Not wanting to turn anyone away, the quick-thinking hosts decided to pull out all the chairs to avoid breaking the fire code, and the event went on as planned - standing-room only. At this point, Helix Collective realized they were onto to something.
This year, Helix Collective has called in reinforcements in the form of two producing partners - Art Share L.A. and the Academy of Scoring Arts, making the 2016 Los Angeles Live Score Film Festival bigger and better than ever. The official recording studio of the festival, Speakeasy Sound, has generously provided studio time for the festival prizes. Best Picture and Best Score will receive a soundtrack, recorded by Helix Collective, at Speakeasy Sound.
The Academy of Scoring Arts
The Academy of Scoring Arts is an educational non-profit organization founded by composer Ron Jones (Star Trek: Next Generation, Family Guy) that strives to build a collaborative community across many filmmaking disciplines, from composers and musicians to directors, producers, and editors. In 2009, a community of working composers began meeting monthly to study orchestration and to share information and ideas among their peers. This group, nicknamed the “Ravel Study Group,” continues its monthly gathering in LA, helmed by musician Don Williams, brother of film music composer John Williams. In a few short years, it has expanded to chapters all over the US and Canada. The Academy also produces “INFOrums,” seminars presented by professionals working in all aspects of the industry, including TV producers, picture editors, music supervisors, entertainment attorneys, hit songwriters, audio engineers, and concert conductors. The vibrant Academy of Scoring Arts community is brimming with creative, talented members who are looking forward to showcasing their work at the third annual LA Live Score Film Festival!
Art Share L.A.
Art Share L.A. supports artists by providing them a creative environment for them to reside, develop, perform and exhibit. Art Share L.A. inspires artists and provides connection to the community for shared benefit. They maintain a 28,000 sq-ft warehouse in the heart of the arts district. Upstairs, are 30 subsidized live/work lofts for artists. Downstairs, are community programmed facility offering classes, exhibitions and events. Since early 2013, Art Share L.A. has become the creative art center that is preserving arts in the Arts District. As the neighborhood continues to grow and new developments pop-up, our organization stays committed to giving access to work space, studio space, performance and exhibition space.
Helix Collective
Los Angeles-based Helix Collective performs a high-energy, out-of-the-box mix of world, classical and rock n' roll. At performances you will find yourself dancing, singing, banging on tables and always having a fantastic time! The ensemble is at home in nightclubs and on the concert stage from a residency at Los Angeles’s venerable Silverlake Lounge to performances for the West Michigan and Pacific Symphonies. Helix "has a little something for everyone: those who like their classics straight up, with a contemporary edge to it, or with populist appeal” (Audiophile Audition Magazine). Called "dizzyingly virtuosic [with] exquisite musicianship and world-class range" by The Free Times and praised for their "beyond-the-ordinary programming," the flexible ensemble includes flute/piccolo/alto flute, oboe/English horn, cello, piano and percussion. The group has released two critically acclaimed albums. All In was released in 2009 followed by World Dance Club in 2013.