Screenworks in conjunction with APRA AMCOS, supported by the Australian Guild of Screen Composers has today announced the two successful participants for their 2022 Screen Composing Bootcamp.
Emerging regional screen composers Finn Clarke from Allens Rivulet (TAS) and Crystal Wilkes from Mullumbimby (NSW) will each receive six weeks of one-on-one mentoring from two highly-acclaimed screen composers – Leah Curtis and Kevin Penkin. The mentorships will assist their skills development, increase their experience and help them build confidence and capacity to compose music for screen content.
The Screenworks Screen Composing Bootcamp is supported by APRA AMCOS and provides an extraordinary opportunity for emerging regional screen composers to connect with the screen industry, showcase their talents and be exposed to career pathway opportunities. This program now extends throughout regional and remote Australia providing a unique opportunity for budding screen composers to get an in-depth and practical understanding of the role and methods of a Screen Composer.
Screenworks CEO Ken Crouch said, “We’re really proud to be running this mentorship program for emerging composers again this year. We love to support and encourage talent from regional Australia across all screen disciplines and we’re looking forward to seeing how Finn and Crystal grow and develop their composing talents with the expert guidance of Leah and Kevin. We hope this opportunity will help them to confidently make their mark on the wider industry both here in Australia and overseas.”
The six-week bootcamp will kick off in the coming month with weekly and fortnightly exercises being set and assessed by the mentors.
2022 SCREEN COMPOSING BOOTCAMP PARTICIPANTS
Finn Clarke – TAS
Finn Clarke is a Tasmanian multimedia composer, location sound recordist and post-production audio engineer. Creating original music and sound for film, TV, documentary, advertising, installation and contemporary art music applications, he has been commissioned by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Youth Orchestra, SBS Insight, Parks Australia, ANZ Bank, the Hobart City Council and various independent filmmakers and artists. Finn is currently composing a musical, scoring a comedy web series and providing location sound and audio post-production services on several short films and advertising campaigns. Finn likes hiking, windsurfing, patting cats and writing his bio in third person.
Crystal Wilkes – NSW
Crystal is an aspiring producer of music based in Northern NSW, Australia. The first thing that strikes you about her music is the lush ethereal soundscapes she creates in her tracks and immersive unique sound design.
Born in Melbourne, Australia to a family of artists and musicians, Crystal was immersed in the music, theatre and performing arts scene there, from a very young age. She learnt to play classical piano, recorder, a bit of saxophone in high school and taught herself guitar. Growing up, she found inspiration and musical influences from a diverse contrast of experiences. These ranged from live orchestral performances, listening to cinematic soundtracks, the early electronic music scene and punk rock live music festival scene of Melbourne, in the ‘90s and early 2000s.
After touring Europe, finding music connections and inspirations, she returned to the Byron Shire to focus on her passion for music production. She recently completed a Diploma of Music Production with high distinctions and is now undertaking the Bachelor degree.
Crystal is currently working on a portfolio of works for sync licensing. She is particularly interested in composing scores for games, film and television.
www.crystalmusicproduction.com
2022 SCREEN COMPOSING BOOTCAMP MENTORS
Leah Curtis
Leah Curtis composed the ‘first-rate score’ (Variety) for the acclaimed Sundance feature ‘Killing Ground’. Her music has received nominations from APRA, seven from the HMMA, with wins for the Kuwaiti historical drama ‘To Rest in Peace’ and historical epic ‘Exitus Roma’, across best score and song.
Awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, she deepened her immersion in score writing as visiting composer at the University of Southern California following her MA Hons at AFTRS.
Initial professional engagements include orchestrating for leading international composers, including Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek, on Oscar nominated ‘Sophie Schöll’, ‘The Cave’, ‘Iron Jawed Angels’ and ‘One Missed Call’, and for Alex Wurman on ‘Something Borrowed’ and ‘Normal’, before taking the lead on her own scores.
This season she arranged a concert suite for the Kuwaiti war drama ‘To Rest in Peace’ performed by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra described as “deeply human” with “simply gorgeous harmonies” (Limelight). She has two upcoming feature films, including a Tudor period historical drama in London, and an Australian drama that will bring her back for part of the year.
2022 also brings a major new concert commission for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra alongside Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and Stravinsky’s Petrushka for the Infinite Possibilities concerts helmed by conductor Jessica Cottis.
Her music has been shown in films in marquee festivals from Dubai to Cannes, and at the Aspen Music Festival and School where she studied over a summer with Oscar winning composer John Corigliano (The Red Violin). She works out of Los Angeles and internationally, writing, orchestrating and recording music for international cinema and the concert hall.
Kevin Penkin
Kevin Penkin, based in Melbourne, is a BAFTA-nominated composer for Japanese animation and video games. He is best known for composing the award-winning score to ‘Made in Abyss’, and the music to the BAFTA award-winning game ‘Florence’.
Kevin moved to London in 2013 to complete a Masters degree in Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music. During this time, Kevin collaborated with legendary video game composer Nobuo Uematsu on a number of Japanese video game titles, which eventually led him to break into the Anime industry.
After releasing his breakthrough score for Made in Abyss, Penkin continued to compose music for Japanese animation, with scores for both The Rising of the Shield Hero and Tower of God.
Throughout his career, Penkin has recorded with orchestras around the world. Works of his have been recorded in Prague, Vienna, Macedonia, Boston, Nashville and Australia. He has also collaborated with acclaimed singers Takeshi Saito, Emi Evans and Raj Ramayya.
Projects that Kevin has composed for that will be released in 2021 and 2022 are Star Wars Visions: The Village Bride, Made in Abyss Season 2, and The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2.
