Konsonant Music–founded by composers/creative directors Andrew Gross and Gil Talmi–has worked on four original, new projects which will debut during the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
The four new Sundance projects are:
- The Great Hack: This documentary from Netflix takes a look at how data has surpassed oil as the world’s most valuable asset, and how that data is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. Academy Award-nominated directors Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim return to the Sundance Film Festival with this deeply layered, ethically complex, disturbing, and riveting new film. For this project, Talmi provided the original music. He said, “Scoring The Great Hack has been a tremendous opportunity, allowing me to blend many of my musical influences into a brand new sonic palette for this important film. The Great Hack deals extensively with larger questions, such as the contrast between light and darkness, technology vs. humanity, and the interplay between those elements. I approached the human aspect of the story using more orchestral instruments, with a heavy emphasis on intimate piano for the internal worlds. I used the magical world of modular synthesizers to convey the various data streams and technological manipulation that are at play throughout the film. These sonic explorations were a culmination of an in-depth collaboration with the filmmakers, with great attention to detail. Every byte counts!”
- The Dress Up Gang: This new episodic sitcom presents the “insanely funny and surrealistic” comedy trio The Dress Up Gang, as they expand upon their cult-hit web series. The sitcom, which will air on TBS, was produced by Abso Lutely Productions (Nathan For You, Tim And Eric Awesome Show). For this project, Konsonant’s Gross served as the show’s composer (including the theme) and executive music supervisor. The theme was recorded with a live orchestra at Nashville’s historic Ocean Way Studios, and features the exquisite vocal performance of Ty Taylor (Vintage Trouble). Of the collaboration, Gross said, The Dress up Gang creative team had a very strong vision of how they wanted music to function in their show’s world. It’s a modern comedy that uses performances, dialog and music from the 1940s and ‘50s. So we would license music from that bygone era, and I would also write music that sounded like it came from that period. To get the most material out of our live session in Nashville, I recorded the orchestra in sections, and even wrote alternate arrangements for each section. This allowed me and the editors to have many stems to play with, since we also used the theme to underscore various scenes (in different ways) throughout the season.”
- The Edge of Democracy: With remarkably intimate access, this documentary from Netflix follows Brazil’s embattled leaders as they grapple with a scandal born out of their country’s fascist past and inflamed by a furious and ideologically divided nation. Director Petra Costa’s film carries a potent warning: Brazil’s crisis is one that is shared–and fomented–by Western superpowers run by equally treacherous political forces. The Edge of Democracy won the 2016 Tribeca Film Institute/Konsonant Music/TFI Network Film Scoring Package. As part of the package, Talmi consulted with the filmmakers over the past two years–the film features Talmi’s music licensed from the Konsonant Music catalog.
- It’s Not About Jimmy Keene: Set in Los Angeles in 2015, the audience is introduced to the storyline through Bukka La Rocke, a neighbor, poet and sage, who calls forth to the chorus of assorted gatherers, imparting the sage of Jimmy Keene. In so doing, La Rocke focuses on a young, bi-racial teen named Ivan Roistacher–a youngster in search of his own voice–who appears to be lost. For It’s Not About Jimmy Keene, Gross served as music supervisor. He said, “This project occupies a special place in my heart, since I’ve known Caleb Jaffe (director/writer/actor) since he was five years old. When it came to postproduction on Jimmy Keene, I helped with music supervision and also supervising the scoring process with Caleb and Sofia Frohna, his composer. They were so committed to the story and tone, I just wanted to do whatever they needed to help bring their vision to life–this even included conducting at the scoring session, so Caleb and Sofia could be in the booth and focus on their creative collaboration.”
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More