FILM SCORING MECCA | Emerging composer Anne-Kathrin Elisabeth Dern – part 1

Welcome to FILM SCORING MECCA – a series tailored and curated by composer Adriano Aponte for FST. Presenting amazing and insightful articles about professionals working at top level in the film music industry. Today we have emerging and sough after, extraordinary composer Anne-Kathrin Elisabeth Dern.

MUSIC PATH

It all started with my move to Los Angeles after I had gotten my Bachelor’s degree in film scoring at the ArtEZ Conservatory in the Netherlands. I was attending UCLA for further studies when I was hired by Cinesamples and their sister company Hollywood Scoring. At those companies, I helped develop sample libraries while also being a studio assistant, later a mockup artist and staff composer. We had our rooms inside Christopher Lennertz’ studio building Sonic Fuel where one could meet a lot of composers. During my time there, I got to work on games like “League of Legends” and “HALO V: Guardians”, as well as projects with Joel McNeely and Alan Menken. A mockup I did for the latter then led to Christopher Lennertz reaching out to me to help him with the score for both seasons of “Galavant”. Through further recommendations I then worked for William Ross as an orchestrator and tech for a little while, assisted Pinar Toprak and Ryan Shore with mockups, helped out at Steve Jablonsky’s studio, and eventually interned at Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Productions. At the same time I also fostered my own relationships with directors and producers.

The biggest career changer was certainly when Klaus Badelt reached out to me to join his writing team for the animated movie “Leap!”. This was the start of an on-going collaboration and he really helped push my career forward through co-writes or even bringing me onto projects as the sole composer while he was producing. All of these above mentioned jobs got me plenty of great connections within this industry and the younger filmmakers I’ve been working with are starting to come up in the industry as well. Lots of seeds have been planted over the past 8 years and it feels wonderful to see them start to bloom.

KEY SKILLS

The key skills heavily depends on what kind of music one writes and what kind of movies one scores. For me, having a classical theory background and good orchestration skills is invaluable but that’s because I need it on a daily basis. Others might disagree if they write different music. I also found on my journey that understanding music technology, especially when it comes to mockups, is a must. Knowing how to write on a deadline and understanding musical storytelling are also key skills in my opinion. And then of course there are communication skills – without good communication, diplomacy, and a modicum of studio etiquette, I don’t think one would get far in this industry. Last but not least: business skills. It’s often forgotten but composers are the head of the music department and need to run a business. This can manifest in leadership and management skills but also in marketing and administrative skills. A composer really needs to wear many hats these days.

Good communication, diplomacy, and a modicum of studio etiquette.

BEING A KONTAKT PROGRAMMER AND MOCK UP ARTIST

Being a Kontakt programmer and a mock up artist are very different jobs. Doing sample development and Kontakt work has helped me understand libraries better, which then in turn made my mockups competitive. Being able to create high quality mockups was – and still is – a great contribution to my career growth. This was the skill I was most hired for during my first 3 years in LA and it opened many doors. Even now it’s a big selling point for me on my own productions since it’s very important to those who hire me.

Doing sample development and Kontakt work has helped me understand libraries better.

WORKING FOR HOLLYWOOD COMPOSERS

Working for Hollywood composers was certainly the ultimate learning experience for me. To be in the trenches with some of the composers I’ve looked up to since childhood was an honor. To see how they work, to collaborate, and be of service to them was fantastic. As with any job of course there were ups and downs, the good doesn’t come without some of the bad, but overall I wouldn’t want to miss the experience. It has informed my work ethic, who I want to be and how I want to run my business. I can apply all that knowledge I gained from them to my own studio and career now, and it has opened a lot of doors for me that otherwise would have stayed shut.

As with any job of course there were ups and downs, the good doesn’t come without some of the bad.

ASCAP WORKSHOP

I wouldn’t really consider the ASCAP Film Scoring workshop a game changer and it’s not what it’s trying to be either. I was already three years into my career at the time so I came into it with the experience of my assistant jobs while just starting my collaboration with Klaus. The lectures were great and the connections I made during that time are invaluable. And the session at the end was an absolute joy of course. The ASCAP team has been incredibly supportive of my career ever since and I definitely appreciate that beyond measure. I don’t think seeing the ASCAP workshop as a potential game changer for one’s career is the right mindset to go into it because a 4-week workshop doesn’t necessarily have the power to do that. In this career everything takes time. It’s not usually one event that changes everything, it’s about the body of work and experience one accumulates over many years.

It’s about the body of work and experience one accumulates over many years.

INTERSHIP AT HANS ZIMMER’S REMOTE CONTROL PRODUCTION

The internship at Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Production wasn’t particularly important for my career to be honest, certainly not the game changer it has been for some. That’s mainly due to my personal situation though. I should have done that internship right out of college to get the most out of it. But by the time I did the internship, I had already assisted at a variety of studios, had done my job in sample development, and had written additional music on TV shows, movies, and games. So most of the information one could learn from the internship there wasn’t very new to me since you only get a surface glimpse into the workflow. I would have gotten a lot more out of it earlier in my career. Some of the sit-ins with composers and their teams were fantastic – Lorne Balfe allowed me to watch him compose, Heitor Pereira and his team were very inviting, and Geoff Zanelli’s team was very helpful.

I think my favorite was Alan Meyerson who truly took some time to teach and allowed us to ask questions. Overall, it was also amazing to see how such a large studio complex functions, and it was certainly interesting to get to peek behind the curtain and get to know so many new people. The biggest influence may have been my exit interview though, in which I was encouraged to go out there on my own instead of seeking another assistant opportunity. I took that to heart and turned down another internship opportunity with Henry Jackman the next day. A week later my collaboration with Klaus started which changed everything. 

I should have done that internship right out of college to get the most out of it.

Coming up next in the series: FILM SCORING MECCA | part 2 of Anne-Kathrin Elisabeth Dern’s article