COMPOSER SURVIVAL GUIDE
I’ve been a fan of film and TV music for as long as I can remember, beginning with classic movie scores (predominantly by John Williams) from Star Wars, ET, Close Encounters and Jaws to later work by Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, James Newton Howard and Lorne Balfe. But it was upon hearing the 2010 orchestral hybrid score of Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk and Joseph Trapanese that the creative penny dropped. It brought my two worlds together – the one I was in and the one I wanted to be in.
My own music journey began back in the 1990’s, working from a primitive home studio using the most basic of gear, making electronic music for dance floors. This continued up until 2020 when the pandemic hit, so I decided to try and use this as a window of opportunity to make a career pivot into the world of Film & TV composition.
Fast forward to 2023 and I’ve managed acceptance onto two BAFTA initiatives (Crew and Connect), written 4 production music albums resulting in over 250 television sync placements, scored two shorts and a documentary, picked up a couple of award nominations and a win, but maybe more importantly been able to work with and meet some absolutely lovely people. This includes a recent collaboration on new music with legendary Ivor Novello Winning composer, Simon May so I am forever thankful and loving it. However, I do know through previous experience that it ain’t all sunshine, rainbows and lollipops and just how brutal working as a freelance creative can be. It’s like shifting quicksand; it’s never still, and you’re never safe!
With this in mind, I thought I might share some of my own insights, tips and tricks which I feel have assisted me while trying to build a sustainable career as a composer of music for moving image.
My top 10 tips
PRESENT YOURSELF
With all the free resources out there such as WordPress and social media sites like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, there is simply no excuse not to have your online house in order. You’re not only presenting your output, you’re presenting yourself so take time and think about how you are perceived if someone finds you online. If you’ve managed to get any previous work with any recognisable brands or companies, even better, so don’t be afraid to name drop!
WRITE, WRITE, THEN WRITE SOME MORE
When things are quiet, I personally see it as a perfect opportunity to try writing in a new style, learn a new skill or improve my production skills which in turn expands on the services I can offer. There’s a ton of free stuff online, including helpful articles and interviews from Film Scoring Tips (filmscoringtips.com), Spitfire Audio Academy (https://www.spitfireaudio.com/pages/academy) and more generally, from doing a simple YouTube search of the thing you’re after. There are a myriad of free resources out there to aid and expand your learning so there’s no excuse!
GROW A THICK SKIN
If you want to work in the creative industries it is inevitable that you will have setbacks, heartbreaks, kicks in the teeth, rejections and all manner of other things that make you ask “what on earth am I doing!?” There are of course many lovely things this industry can bring but it’s always good to try and figure out a way of how you might deal with such setbacks when they arise. Personally, I have an attitude that I want to ultimately get it right so will work as hard as I can to achieve this and in some cases, maybe prove a few people wrong in the process! In my early days, family and friends would ask me “when are you going to get a real job” until one day I stood in front of 5000 people at Brixton Academy and played music I’d essentially made in a bedroom and was never asked the question again.
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
Not everyone is going to dig what you do but I’ve always felt that if I like what I’ve done, that’s ultimately all that matters so stick to what you want to do and believe in yourself because quite often, that will attract others to believe in you. Write from the heart and don’t be afraid to try new things because maybe that’s what will make someone’s head turn or ears prick up. I certainly do not find it easy at times and quite often, whether something works or not is more a question of timing. So, if I feel I’m hitting my head against a brick wall the best for me to do is complete what I’m working on and get away from the studio for a bit, usually on my bike! I’ve lost count of the musical conundrums I’ve been able to solve while riding my bike!
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Build relationships, make friends and have fun because this is the stuff people remember. It can be stressful working on projects when they are both time and financially critical so if you get along with the people you are working with, you can take comfort in the knowledge that you are supported as part of a team during work time, and maybe able to enjoy a beer afterward.
COMMUNICATE WELL
My advice to anyone getting into any form of art that involves getting paid is, realise that talent is only a very small part of the puzzle. People book people so good communication skills are a must. Nobody wants to work with someone who is arrogant and who thinks they know it all, no matter how talented they are and I think this really just comes down to basic manners and respect for others. Treat people how you want to be treated yourself is a mantra I’ve always felt is a good one to abide by.
DON’T FOLLOW TRENDS
The thing with trends, once you follow and model your work on one, it has already moved on, especially in today’s world of lightning fast online streaming so as above, write from the heart. I have a saying, ‘do what you love and love what you do’ because the real pay-off is in the doing so if you can find the joy in creating something unique, you’ll always reach a decent level of satisfaction.
COLD CALLING
We’re all eager for cool projects to work on and even cooler people to work with, and ultimately get paid doing so, but is cold calling directors and producers with email drops saying “hi i’m a composer” a good use of your time? Sure, in rare cases you may happen to stumble across the odd director or producer who may be on the lookout for a composer but I feel there are better, more productive ways to try and connect with people who may be hiring. There are a number of film and TV crew Facebook groups that I follow such as Filmmakers Forum, Film & TV Production Crew UK, and Global Composer Network who post call outs for composers from time to time, and although call outs of this nature get a lot of attention, at least you know whoever is posting the call out is actually looking for a composer.
THROW NOTHING AWAY
Remember, being a composer is as much about reinvention as it is invention so if I’m working on something new that I haven’t tried before and I think the idea has legs, I always try to make sure I bring it to some kind of conclusion then store it in a folder on my desktop. You never know if something that hasn’t quite worked for a one project, might just become a catalyst for one that does so keep all your experimental musical musings.
ASK THE EXPERTS
If you’re just starting out and looking to get into a specific field, ask questions of the people who are already doing the thing that you ultimately want to do. In the beginning I sent a few established composers messages via Facebook politely introducing myself and found that they were more than happy to share their experiences of how they’d managed to get where they are today. What I also found was that everyone’s journey is different but the information and advice I received became a valuable part of my research while planning my career pivot.
My conclusions
I’ve heard both anecdotally and from reading online that it takes on average five to ten years to become an established film & TV composer (see LA Times article ‘How to become a Film & TV composer’ –https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2022-11-08/explaining-hollywood-how-to-become-a-composer-for-film-and-tv) so understand that if this is a career path that interests you, you need to be prepared for the long haul.
As well as the time it takes to establish yourself, I have also noticed a recent rise in the level of fear and anxiety from existing creatives working across the film and TV production spectrum, both in person and online which surprised me somewhat, and it’s these experiences that have gone on to form the backbone for this piece. All these fears are of course well founded but whatever the reason, be it the threat of AI taking people’s jobs, writers strikes or just a general lack of opportunity the creative business as I know it can be utterly unforgiving especially if you want to get paid for it, and that’s why I feel it’s a good idea to try find useful ways to try and mentally mitigate the inevitable downturns and disappointments. That said, for all its many pitfalls, there are pleasures working in this industry beyond your wildest dreams so if this is a world you want to be part of, set a destination, strap yourself in and try and enjoy the ride!
