composer: Last News

Liza Foreman Making its world premiere in the main competition at the San Sebastián Festival on Sept. 19, “Il Boemo,” the story of a forgotten Czech composer who rose to fame in the second half of the 18th century, has taken the award-winning filmmaker Petr Václav more than a decade to complete.  Known as Il Boemo, Josef Mysliveček’s fame was short-lived.  He died before reaching the age of 44, after a whirlwind career composing music for Italian courts and theaters.  But Václav, together with his DPs, Diego Romero and Suarez Llanos, costume designer Andrea Cavalletto, and a slew of top operatic singers, has created an action-packed period piece, celebrating his tumultuous life, operatic drama, and the aesthetic beauty of the era. 

EXCLUSIVE: The UK Jewish Film Festival (November 10-20) has revealed its lineup of 2022 gala screenings and premieres, including special presentations of the single shot drama Shttl and Three Minutes: A Lengthening, the WWII drama co-produced by Steve McQueen and narrated by Helena Bonham Carter.

Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, and Rooney Mara hug it out with director Sarah Polley at the premiere of Women Talking during the 2022 Toronto Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on Tuesday (September 13) in Toronto, Ontario.

Thania Garcia BMI has distributed and administered $1.471 billion to its songwriters, composers and publishers, marking its highest royalty distributions ever, in the year ending June 30, 2022. Revenue also grew, totaling a record-breaking $1.573 billion — a $212 million, or 16%, increase compared to the last fiscal year. On Tuesday, the group published its annual report which logged a boost of $136 million (up by 10%) in distributions compared to the previous year. That total includes domestic and international royalties as well as distributions from direct deals between BMI publishers and digital service providers that BMI administers on their behalf.

A budding Wishaw writer is asking for the public’s help to provide more information on one of history’s greatest composers visiting the town.

Kate Aurthur editor On Aug. 15, a coalition of showrunners, TV creators and directors sent a list of demands to studios, outlining the urgent need for abortion safety protocols for productions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade. It was the organization’s second letter — the studios had collectively answered the first one, sent on July 28 — with a response one member of the group, who spoke anonymously to Variety, called “patronizing” in an interview. The group’s second letter more clearly detailed the medical dangers for pregnant women in states where abortion is illegal because of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision — not only for those who want an abortion, but for women whose medical care might be otherwise compromised. Ignoring the collective response, which had been issued by the Motion Picture Association, the Aug. 15 appeal was sent directly to studio presidents, and members of the boards of directors at AMC Networks, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery. They gave a deadline of Labor Day for responses from the studios.

Jon Burlingame editor The music of “The White Lotus,” “Severance,” “Stranger Things” and “Schmigadoon!” won Creative Arts Emmys Sunday night in a mixture of predicted wins and upsets. The big winner was Chilean-born, Montreal-based composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer who walked off with a pair of statues for his music for HBO’s “The White Lotus,” for main title theme music and for music composition for a limited or anthology series, movie or special. His primal drumbeats, wordless voices and wooden flutes set a tropical vibe for the Hawaiian resort and its offbeat visitors. And although it was entered in the “limited series” category, “The White Lotus” is slated to return for a second season.

Erik ten Hag believes Antony can fix the missing link in the Manchester United attack after his stunning debut in the 3-1 win against Arsenal.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix and the European Producers Club (EPC) have revealed the winners of a pitch contest for fictional series at the ongoing Venice Film Festival. The pitch contest is a joint initiative by EPC and Netflix to help create new opportunities for European women producers. It was launched at Series Mania in March, and open to EPC producers working for women-owned companies. Following a selection process by an independent jury, composed of Cia Edstrom, Francine Raveney and Olivier Kohn, the competition finalists pitched their projects to the Netflix content team. Anna Mannion of Tri Moon Films, Ireland, won the first prize of €50,000 ($49,762), while Ada Solomon of Microfilm, Romania, won the second prize of €20,000.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Hot off of its Venice Film Festival premiere, a concept album for Cate Blanchett’s “Tár” is set to be released on Oct. 21. The film bowed to rave reviews and a six-minute standing ovation. The Focus Features film, releasing Oct. 7, stars Blanchett as the fictional Lydia Tár, a globally renowned, gay and sometimes tyrannical conductor of a German orchestra, who finds herself in the crosshairs of a perilous #MeToo scandal. The film is director Todd Field’s first movie in 16 years, following the critically acclaimed “Little Children” (2006) and his breakout “In the Bedroom” (2001).

South African composer Lebohang Morake doesn't remember talking to the Duchess of Sussex about Nelson Mandela at the 'Lion King' musical premiere. Morake - who is known professionally as Lebo M - spoke to the Duke of Sussex and his wife at the red carpet event in London in 2019 but insists he has no recollection of mentioning the late leader after Meghan claimed a South African member of the cast told her: "When you married into this (the royal) family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.

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One of South Africa’s most renowned composers has got things other than the British royals on his mind.

Will Eisner’s groundbreaking 1978 graphic novel A Contract With God is being developed into a stage musical featuring music by Sam Hollander, Lisa Loeb, Matisyahu, Ryan Miller and Jill Sobule.

It is not looking good for Meghan Markle right now!

Tim Gray Senior Vice President40 years ago, Hugh Grant made his film debut in 1982’s “Privileged,” a little-seen effort about undergraduates at Oxford (where Grant studied English lit), which was funded by the Oxford University Film Foundation. In its July 14, 1982, review, Variety said the film — which also marked the bows of Imogen Stubbs, James Wilby and composer Rachel Portman — would have “limited interest” for most audiences but that the actor, billed as Hughie Grant, gives a convincing performance as an “aristocratic dropout.”For the next five years, Grant did sketch comedy, played the classics onstage and worked in TV; his first mention in Variety was for the 1985 miniseries “Jenny’s War,” playing the RAF pilot son of Dyan Cannon.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Loco Films has acquired international sales rights to Petr Václav’s buzzed-about film “Il Boemo” which is world premiering in the official selection at the San Sebastian Film Festival. The epic period movie sheds light on the extraordinary life of Josef Myslivecek, one of the most prolific opera composers in 18th century Italy who inspired Mozart and became his friend. Speaking of the film, Václav’ said he “did everything I could in order to understand the daily life of Josef Mislivecek, his work, his social interactions, his feelings and opinions he could have had.”

Gordon Cox Theater Editor The composer (“Once Upon a Mattress”), young adult author (“Freaky Friday”) and philanthropist Mary Rodgers wanted to write a memoir that was candid, cutting, dishy and vanity-free — the exact opposite of the books penned by her father, the legendary Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, and her mother Dorothy Rodgers. “Mary didn’t want it to be fake like her parents’ memoirs had been,” said Jesse Green, the co-author of Mary Rodgers’ recently released memoir “Shy.” Speaking on the new episode of Stagecraft, Variety‘s theater podcast, Green explained, “She wanted it to spark with the actual sound of people enjoying thinking about their lives.”

Manori Ravindran International Editor Tessa Thompson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will headline the sci-fi thriller “Ash,” directed by Flying Lotus. Thompson plays a space station worker who wakes up on a distant planet to find her colleagues viciously killed, and then forced to work together with the man (Gordon-Levitt) sent to rescue her. But as their investigation into what happened sets in motion a terrifying chain of events, the rescuer begins to wonder how innocent she really is. Executive produced by Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”), “Ash” is based on an original screenplay written by Jonni Remmler. XYZ Films and GFC Films will produce, with Echo Lake also onboard as an executive producer. XYZ Films is financing and handling worldwide sales at next week’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Music and Music Women* Germany (MW*G), the nationwide umbrella organization of all music women and female-identifying and non-binary individuals, have revealed the winners of the Female* Producer Prize. The prize aims to support female producers in Germany who often lack visibility and support in the country. The winners include Novaa, producer, songwriter and Berlin based artist who produces her own tracks as well as for Keke, Fløre, Amanda Tenfjord and LEA; Jenny Gerdts, music producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist; and GOTOPO, Berlin-based Colombian-Venezuelan producer and artist.

The Toronto Film Festival has named Oscar-winning Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (Women Talking) and award-winning Welsh Egyptian filmmaker Sally El Hosaini (The Swimmers) as honorees of the 2022 TIFF Tribute Awards, which return to an in-person gala fundraiser for its fourth edition at Fairmont Royal York Hotel on September 11th. The former will receive the TIFF Artisan Award, with the latter claiming the TIFF Emerging Talent Award.