The score to “Free Throw,” Court Crandall’s uplifting documentary about eight inner city students from Compton, CA, competing for a college scholarship, is as surprising as the film itself. Composer David Grow of Nashville-based www.howlingmusic.com.>Howling Music Group describes the music as “simple, understated arrangements,” which are in stark contrast to the gritty, urban setting of the film.nn”Free Throw” documents a challenge issued by Crandall, a successful screenwriter and creative director of Los Angeles advertising agency Wong, Doody, Crandall and Weiner, to students from Compton High School, traditionally one of Southern California’s most gang-plagued and poorly performing schools. Eight students took part in a free throw shooting contest with the winner receiving a $40,000 college scholarship. nnThe documentary, which follows the contest and tells the stories of the students’ remarkable struggles to succeed against the odds, has a surprise ending that Crandall, himself, did not anticipate. The winner of the contest, Allan Guei, spontaneously donated his prize to his seven fellow finalists after receiving a separate athletic scholarship.nnGrow, who had previously worked with Crandall on commercials for ESPN and Dr. Pepper, was Crandall’s first choice as composer. "We’d worked together several times before," Crandall explains. "He’d created music for ESPN that I felt was some of the best music we’d ever done. He was an obvious choice for the movie."nnAfter some trial and error, Grow arrived at a score that was far removed from the rhythms of contemporary urban music, but closer to the heart of the documentary. nnGrow calls the project among the most challenging of his career, largely because the subject matter required a particular kind of sensitivity. “It’s striking how courageous these kids are in overcoming obstacles,” he observes. “But to me, this film is not about Compton per se. It’s about courage and determination. I felt the music needed to reflect what was happening with these kids internally, which is one of the reasons we stayed away from something obvious like hip hop. It also couldn’t be sad or maudlin, but had to carry a certain emotional weight.” Grow believes that audiences who see the film will be as affected by the subject matter as he was. “Court is a very compassionate person,” Grow says, “and he’s made a compassionate film.”nnnnAbout www.howlingmusic.com.>Howling MusicnFounded in 1999, www.howlingmusic.com.>Howling Music is an original music production company specializing in creating original music for commercial spots in the television, film and emerging media. Since their inception, www.howlingmusic.com.>Howling Music has scored hundreds of national and international commercial spots alongside many of the top advertising agencies in the world including Wieden and Kennedy, Chiat Day, Crispin Porter Bogusky, and J. Walter Thompson, New York, among many others. In 2006, www.howlingmusic.com.>Howling Music moved their headquarters to Nashville, TN.nnFor more information, call (615) 614-3364 or visit www.howlingmusic.com.
David Grow www.howlingmusic.com.>Howling Music 615.614.3364 Contact David via email
Contact:Media: Linda Rosner ArtisansPR 310.837.6008 Contact Linda via email
SHOOT 22nd Annual 2024 New Directors Showcase To Debut On December 9th At The NDS2024 Event at The DGA In New York City
SHOOT® Magazine, the leading publication for Film, TV & Commercial Production and Post, today announced the names of the 26 individual directors and 2 duos who made the final cut to be included in the SHOOT 2024 22nd Annual New Directors Showcase. The NDS 2024 Showcase Reel will debut at the SHOOT 22nd Annual New Directors Showcase Event at the Directors Guild of America (DGA Theatre) on Monday, December 9th, and go live later that night on the SHOOT NDS website. Compiling the SHOOT New Directors Showcase and producing the New Directors Showcase Event at the DGA in New York City represent one of SHOOT's most anticipated annual highlights. This year marks the 22nd Anniversary of the NDS Showcase and both SHOOT and the DGA look forward to another great Event. Click Here (eventregister.SHOOTonline.com) for Event information and to register to attend the December 9th SHOOT NDS Event at the DGA in NYC from 2:20pm-7:45pm followed by the NDS After-party co-hosted by The Artery and Final Cut. SHOOT is excited to announce the lineup of directors for the SHOOT 2024 22nd Annual New Directors Showcase (in alpha order):
- Jason Blanc
- Chris Cole
- Reece Daniels
- Lanre Danmola
- Lauren Maya Davis
- Giuseppe De Lauri
- Louise de Nexon
- India Donaldson
- Duncan Heger
- Ava Himmel ... Read More