Monty Norman, a British composer who wrote the theme tune for the James Bond films, has died. He was 94.
A statement posted Monday on Norman's official website said: "It is with sadness we share the news that Monty Norman died on 11th July 2022 after a short illness."
Born Monty Noserovitch to Jewish parents in the East End of London in 1928, Norman got his first guitar when he was 16. He performed with big bands and in a variety double act with comedian Benny Hill before writing songs for early British rockers Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele and composing for stage musicals including "Make Me an Offer," "Expresso Bongo," "Songbook" and "Poppy."
Norman was hired by producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli to compose a theme for the first James Bond film, "Dr. No," released in 1962.
He drew on a piece he had written for a proposed musical adaptation of V.S. Naipaul's "A House for Mr. Biswas," shifting the key riff from sitar to electric guitar. The result — twangy, propulsive, menacing — has been used in all 25 Bond thrillers.
Producers hired composer John Barry to rearrange the theme, and Barry was widely assumed to have written it — to Norman's chagrin. Barry, who died in 2011, went on to compose scores for almost a dozen Bond films, including "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice."
Norman went to court to assert his authorship, suing the Sunday Times newspaper for libel over a 1997 article asserting the theme was composed by Barry. He won in 2001 and was awarded 30,000 pounds in damages.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More