The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) has unveiled the nominees for the SCL Awards for score and songs in visual media. Five awards will be presented for music in visual media (film, TV, streaming, video games) during a virtual event on March 2. Additionally, The Spirit of Collaboration Award will be bestowed upon six-time Grammy winning and Oscar-nominated composer Terence Blanchard and Academy-Award winning writer, director, and producer Spike Lee.
Across the award show categories, Oscar-winning composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross lead the way with three nominations for Mank and Soul (along with co-composer Jon Batiste) followed by Blanchard receiving a second accolade with an Outstanding Score nomination for Da 5 Bloods. And Ludwig Göransson garnered two nominations, one in film (Tenet), the other in streaming/TV (The Mandalorian). Last year’s SCL’s Outstanding Original Score (studio) winner Hildur Guðnadóttir for Joker went on to win the Oscar for Best Score.
Blanchard and Lee have collaborated for more than three decades on 15 films and three television projects including their most recent teaming on Da 5 Bloods. Other projects include Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, 25th Hour, Inside Man, When the Levees Broke and last year’s BlacKkKlansman for which Blanchard received his first Oscar nomination and Lee won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Separately, the SCL will continue to present a Lifetime Achievement Award and/or Ambassador Awards at its annual holiday events in New York and Los Angeles. Last year’s recipients included Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty along with David Yazbek, and Alan Menken who received the SCL’s sixth Lifetime Achievement Award.
Here’s a rundown of SCL Award nominees:
Outstanding Score for a Studio Film
- James Newton Howard – NEWS OF THE WORLD
- Ludwig Göransson – TENET
- Terence Blanchard – DA 5 BLOODS
- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – MANK
- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste – SOUL
Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film
- Emile Mosseri – MINARI
- Lolita Ritmanis – BLIZZARD OF SOULS (Dvēseļu Putenis)
- Sherry Chung – THE LOST HUSBAND
- Steven Price – DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET
- Tamar-kali Brown – SHIRLEY
Outstanding Original Score for Television or Streaming Production
- Blake Neely – THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT
- Carlos Rafael Rivera – THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT
- Laura Karpman, Raphael Saadiq – LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
- Ludwig Göransson – STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN
- Martin Phipps – THE CROWN
Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media
- Gordy Haab – STAR WARS: SQUADRONS
- Garry Schyman, Mikolai Stroinski – METAMORPHOSIS
- Ilan Eshkeri, Shigeru Umebayashi – GHOST OF TSUSHIMA
Outstanding Original Song for Visual Media
- Diane Warren – “Free” – THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN
- Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus, Rickard Goransson – “Husavik” – EUROVISION
- Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – “(If Only You Could) Save Me” – MANK
- Laura Karpman, Raphael Saadiq, Sonia Sanchez – “Tulsa, 1921: Don’t Catch The Fire” – LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
- Erran Baron Cohen, Sasha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines – “Wuhan Flu” BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
SPIRIT OF COLLABORATION
- Terence Blanchard and Spike Lee
