The 15th World Soundtrack Awards (WSA) will be the closing event of the Film Fest Gent on October 24 in Ghent. Among the highlights will be the presentation of the Discovery of the Year Award which is aimed at encouraging emerging talent, who at the current WSA eligibility had scored no more than six theatrically released films (excluded are shorts, TV-formats & documentaries.) To qualify as an eligible score, the motion picture had to receive its world première screening between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015.
Many legendary and accomplished composers received the Discovery of the Year award at the beginning of their careers. Artistic director Patrick Duynslaegher stated, “If you are looking for the next generation of great composers, you just have to look at the World Soundtrack Discovery Awards where composers as Michael Giacchino, Gustavo Santaolalla, Craig Armstrong and Abel Korzeniowski were acknowledged by our Advisory Board early on in their careers.” Last year, Daniel Pemberton was discovered by the WSA Advisory Board. This year Pemberton scored The Man From U.N.C.L.E and the critically acclaimed Steve Jobs.
The nominees for Discovery of 2015
– Alex Ebert for ‘A Most Violent Year’
– Dominic Lewis for ‘Spooks: The Greater Good’
– Antonio Sanchez for ‘Birdman’
– Ben Salisbury & Geoff Barrow for ‘Ex Machina’
– Zhiyi Wang for ‘But Always’ & ‘Highway of Love
Also Hans Zimmer, Alexandre Desplat, Johann Johannsson, Patrick Doyle and John Legend are among the first nominees released by the World Soundtrack Academy for Film Composer of the Year, Best Original Score of the Year and Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film.
Film Composer of the Year
Bruno Coulais ‘Song of the Sea,’ ‘Gemma Bovary,’ ‘3 hearts’ (‘3 Coeurs’), ‘Mune le guardien de la lune,’ ‘Diary of a Chambermaid’ (‘Journal d’une femme de chambre’), ‘Fly Away Solo’
Alexandre Desplat ‘Unbroken,’ ‘The Imitation Game,’ ‘Everything Will Be Fine,’ ‘Tale of Tales’
Michael Giacchino ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,’ ‘Inside Out,’ ‘Jupiter Ascending,’ ‘Jurassic World,’ ‘Tomorrowland’
Johann Johannsson ‘The Theory of Everything,’ ‘The 11th Hour,’ ‘Sicario’
Hans Zimmer ‘Interstellar,’ ‘Chappie’
Best Original Film Score Of The Year
‘Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)’ by Antonio Sanchez
‘Cinderella’ by Patrick Doyle
‘The Imitation Game’ by Alexandre Desplat
‘Interstellar’ by Hans Zimmer
‘The Theory of Everything’ by Johann Johannsson
Best Original Song Written For A Film
The Apology Song from ‘The Book of Life’
Music by Gustavo Santaolalla, lyrics by Paul Williams, performed by Diego Luna
Carry Me Home from ‘Insurgent’
Music & lyrics by Joseph Trapanese & Christopher Taylor, performed by SOHN
Glory from ‘Selma’
Music & lyrics by John Legend, Common and Rhymefest performed by Common & Legend
Grateful from ‘Beyond the Lights’
Music & lyrics by Diane Warren, performed by Rita Ora
Tell Me from ‘Lost River’
Music & lyrics by Johnny Jewel, performed by Saoirse Ronan
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More