When you meet someone who is passionate about their work, you tend to see them coming a mile away. Two very good examples are writer/director/producer Natalie Metzger and her husband/producing partner Matt Miller who founded Vanishing Angle. Their production company nurtures the freshest voices in the independent film community with award-winning films and series, taking projects from script through distribution. We first got to meet them at Fantastic Fest in 2022 and were blown away by their unsettling family drama, Spoonful Of Sugar. We knew we needed to keep any eye out for anything they did in the future. And they’re also a super fun team to chat with. Today,…
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Interview…Composer Doyle Donehoo Talks Big Scares in Space with ‘Aliens: Dark Descent’
Doyle Donehoo is a rocker-turned composer who gets to live out one of his greatest scoing gigs to date. He grew up with the Alien franchise and that certainly made an impact. Starting with Ridley Scott‘s masterpiece – which he saw in the theater – he’s lived in this world. Ask his about his memorabilia and that would start quite a conversation. Years later, like a kid in a candy store, he gets to expand the palette established by Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Elliott Goldenthall and others while adding his own spice to the mix. The difference in his efforts here is that his music is crafted for a video…
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Interview…Kilamanzego on Identity, Electronic Sounds and ‘Black Weirdo’
If you’re on the hunt for new music, and are open to a palette expanding paradigm shift, you can’t do any better than Kilamanzego [“kill-a-man’s-ego”]. The moniker for Kay Oko (an experimental electronic music producer, vocalist, and visual artist based in Philadelphia) becomes her performer name – which initially was almost “Kilimanjaro” to pay homage to her African culture – that playfully and confidently makes a bold statement of women’s empowerment as a unique force in the electronic scene. We first heard her work on Bandcamp and were instantly hooked. After per-ordering her newest work, the pull-no-punches album called “Black Weirdo” has been playing non-stop in the car, my headphones…
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Interview…Composer/Music Editor Robinton Hobbs on Score Production and Joy House Music
These days, regardless of the industry, we all need a little help. Whether that is outsourcing entire productions or a few hours of assistance and consulting, we can all use a support system. As the world grows ever more hungry for entertainment, the talented tradespeople making movies/shows, games, and music are in a flurry trying to deliver what’s needed. So to help with that project flow, Joy House Music has helped plenty of features and shows get the musical attention needed to finish the job. JMH is a woman-lead business working towards innovating the world of score production with a commitment to community, diversity and equality. Their company is a…
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Interview…Derek Presley, Lola Lott and Jason Starne on the Deep Fried Noir of ‘Tonic’
We’ve all seen the movies where a character is a one-man army, or everything just happens to work out for them, right? Well, what if this particular man – the one carrying 100% of the story – is about as hopeless and down on his luck as you can find? In many ways that’s more appealing because it’s their flaws, quirks and weaknesses that shine brighter than their strengths. So let’s take a look at one such a character, Sebastian Poe (played by Billy Blair), in Derek Presley‘s latest film. Written and shot here in Dallas, Tonic tells the tale of a barfly jazz pianist who must commit murder in…
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Interview…Composer Sandro Morales-Santoro on Heritage, Heartstrings and Versatility
Sandro Morales-Santoro is an award-winning Venezuelan composer based in Los Angeles. This creative multi-instrumentalist specializes in music for film and television as well as interactive and new media. His most recent scoring projects include hit TV-shows like WeTV’s ‘Kold x Windy’ and National Geographic/Disney+’s ‘Restaurants At The End of the World’. Sandro has also composed original music for Marvel Animation’s film ‘The Secret History of Venom,’ as well as co-composing World of Wonder’s ‘Explant,’ a documentary exposé about the breast implant industry. His most recent film ‘The Shadow of the Sun’ will premiere at LALIFF in June 2023. His skills as a composer are evident throughout his lush orchestral scores,…
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Interview…Jon Voight on Charisma, Collaboration, Career Advice and ‘Mercy’
Jon Voight is an acting legend. More than that, he’s kind, charismatic and an incomparable thespian. At 85, he’s still got wide range and is razor sharp. But whether he plays a bit part, leading man or anything in between, anyone who’s seen his films can easily cite Voight for being a standout. Think about Midnight Cowboy, Varsity Blues, Enemy of the State, Heat, Mission: Impossible, Deliverance, The Champ, or his Oscar-winning turn in Coming Home and it’s clear that Voight’s performance sticks with you years after the credits have rolled. There are a few constants established and maintained in his career beyond his towering 6’-2” frame and that’s his…
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Interview…Composer Nitin Sawhney on ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’
We love it when a film serves as a vehicle to say something deep and meaningful. One such story is the latest from Shekhar Kapur. His direction of the story from writer Jemima Khan – about the modernity to arranged marriages in Indian cultures – give What’s Love Got To Do With It? its tangible emotional core. Adding to the success of that is the score from composer/songwriter Nitin Sawhney (who wrote the original score for the film and three original songs). Shazad Latif and Lily James carry the film, yet it is the subtle worldly vibe the music adds to certain story beats which “marries” well with many pivotal…
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Interview…Catherine Hardwicke on Rome, Romance and Toni Collette in ‘Mafia Mamma’
If you want a comedy that is as off-the-wall as it is refreshing, then look no further than Catherine Hardwicke’s Mafia Mamma. This fish-out-of-water actioner mixes The Godfather and Eat, Pray, Love into a wine vat and the result is an endearing farce that shines thanks to Toni Collette. Always one for detail and legitimacy, Hardwicke gives this film a boost by filming in Rome and casting real Italian actors who add a lot of body to the sauce. Yet the wonderful sets and locations would be noting if she didn’t understand the characters. Even with its implausible comedic set up, the film delivers because of the earnestness of the…
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Interview…Paul Haslinger on Electronic Soundscapes, Subtext, and Scoring Processes
If you were around in the ’80s, few things defined “cool” like music did. And, film fan or not, the top of that list is most likely going to be Tangerine Dream: the German electronic music outfit who dominated airwaves and theaters with their cutting edge electric sound. One key member of that ensemble pushing the electronic side of the band was young Paul Haslinger who joined up with them after their big hits like Sorcerer and Risky Business. Bringing a younger video game sensibility, he helped change the course of their sound for the better and contributed plenty including scores to Near Dark, Miracle Mile and Three O’Clock High.…
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Interview…Composer Alex Heffes on the Fun, Feverish and Flavorful Score to ‘Mafia Mamma’
Alex Heffes is a Golden Globe, BAFTA and 3 x Ivor Novello nominated composer who has scored over 70 feature films and TV projects. He has worked with many of cinema’s top filmmakers including Kevin Macdonald, Steven Frears, Catherine Hardwicke, Mira Nair, Tim Burton & J J Abrams. His unique ability to collaborate with artists from different cultures has been been a trademark of his style. He collaborated closely with Burton on his screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd and Heffes’ solo album, FACE TO FACE, features collaborations with artists such as the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, Regina Spektor and Yasmin Levy. Notable TV projects include the 2016 award-winning reboot of TV…
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Interview…Jessica St. Clair, David Gborie and Maile Flannagan Chat About ‘Royal Crackers’ on Adult Swim
Adult Swim has really jumped to the forefront of animation in the last twenty years. What was once the kind of thing that people would talk about in hushed tones – friends swapping grainy VHS copies of lewd shows in schools – is now in the mainstream and getting the attention these remarkable shows deserve. Sure, some of the output is an acquired taste with stories/characters/jokes as wild as they come. But the team here at GST are fans, and we recently talked to Casper Kelly (Too Many Cooks) as well as the team behind Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro) who help lead the zany charge…
