Austin Wintory – Press Kit

www.austinwintory.com
Austin Wintory – Press Kit
(contains quotes, biography, filmography)
"As a film score fanatic myself, I had the ridiculous demand that the music of
Captain Abu Raed live up to the quality of scores I grew up listening to: John
Williams, Michael Kamen, and Jerry Goldsmith. In three weeks, Austin
surpassed my expectations with a score that dug deep into the psychology of the
characters and the universality of the story. He not only brought to it the magic
of great film music that inspired me growing up, but he also wrote a score that
was very truthful and honest to the emotional core on the screen with both
complexity and simplicity at the same time. And I have to say, he makes it all
look so easy and fun, which is something every director dreams of. We had an
amazing time working together, and in Austin, I've found my dream composer.
- Amin Matalqa (2008) after Captain Abu Raed (winner, Sundance Audience
Award; shortlisted contender for “Best Original Score” at the 2009 Academy
Awards)
"Austin not only brought unparalleled creativity and vision to his score for Grace,
he also brought a capacity to exploit limitations, a beautifully collaborative spirit,
and a level of loyalty a director dreams of. His enthusiasm, his work ethic, and
www.austinwintory.com
1
www.austinwintory.com
his passion are unlike anything I've encountered. He demonstrated such an
intense understanding of the story and the characters, I felt not only at ease
turning the film over to him, but positively thrilled to see where he would take it.
Anyone who passes up an opportunity to hire Austin is making a grave mistake.
I have no intention of ever working with another composer."
-Director Paul Solet (2008) on Grace
“Austin's talent inspires me to make a film big enough to make full use of his
amazing range as a composer.”
-Director Alex Ranarivelo (2009), after Knuckle Draggers
“Lensing by German d.p. Reinhart Peschke boosts the tale's different moods,
while Yank composer Austin Wintory's sweeping orchestral score continually
ups the emotional ante.”
- Todd McCarthy (2008), Variety review of Captain Abu Raed
The well paced score, which is beautifully composed by Austin Wintory, helps to
crank up the tension. Wintory knows when to keep things quiet and when to
ramp it up while the lavish cinematography and considered blocking aids to the
growing anticipation from the audience that something is about to go wrong.
- Ricky D Conceicao (2009) , Toronto “After Dark” review of Grace
“I couldn't think of a more talented, young up and coming composer than
Austin Wintory. Austin is one of those rare people who doesn't just make
music, he feels the music deep inside. The more I work with him the more I
realize there is nothing musically that he can't do! I would most
definitely say " he's going places fast". Look out!
- Director Shaahin Cheyenne (2008) after Serpent and the Sun
Austin Wntory is half composer, half mad scientist: always looking for new and
innovative ways to make each score a wholly unique entity. His score for Print
enhanced the film in ways I hadn't thought possible. I look forward to working
with Austin for years to come.
- Director Ashley C. Beyer (2009) after Print
“He is a brilliant composer who is very good at dealing with very difficult sound
design challenges, both linear and interactive. He also has a great understanding
of video games, and was really easy to work with.”
– Game creator Jenova Chen (2006) on fl0w (British Academy Award nominee)
“Austin Wintory's amazing, haunting score took my movie to an entirely new
level. He has an uncanny ability to tap into the emotional core of a film using
music that complements each scene without ever overpowering the story. He's
www.austinwintory.com
2
www.austinwintory.com
the real deal.”
– Director Rob Williams (2007) on Back Soon (Film and TV Music Award
nominee)
“Austin’s massive score lifted Morning Latte up to a level I could only dream of.
With limited resources he made this little coffee shop movie sound like a Cecil. B.
DeMille epic. I love it!!
- Director Amin Matalqa (2007) on Morning Latte (winner, Film and TV Music
Award)
Biography
Since he was ten years old, Austin Wintory dreamed of becoming a composer.
No. He obsessed. Unhealthily. As if he imagined he would become some sort of
composer equivalent to Shirley Temple (minus being a girl or having red curly
hair, though equally adorable), he started composing after his very first piano
lessons. Years later, now an established composer living in Los Angeles, Austin’s
obsession with scoring film and video games has blossomed into a far more
absurd madness.
www.austinwintory.com
3
www.austinwintory.com
As of August 2009, Austin now has more than twenty feature films to his credit,
several major video game titles, television pilots and commercials, concert scores,
web series, etc for a grand total of over 200 productions. In 2006, his score for the
breakout video game flOw earned Austin a British Academy Award
nomination, in addition to several other industry accolades. The following year
he composed the score to the world first Jordanian feature film Captain Abu
Raed, for which he won the Hollywood Music Award’s “Best New Composer,”
and was shortlisted by the LA Times as a contender for the 2009 Academy
Award for “Best Original Score.” In 2008 he scored 9 films, among them Ashley
C. Beyer’s thriller Print, Alex Ranarivelo’s romantic comedy Knuckle Draggers
and Paul Solet’s widely acclaimed horror Grace.
Thus far in 2009 Austin has scored five feature films, including Matthew
Leutwyler’s The River Why starring Zach Gilford, Amber Heard and William
Hurt.
Austin studied at New York University and the University of Southern
California. The very first score he wrote, while a freshman at NYU, won a local
film scoring competition and received its world premiere at New York’s Lincoln
Center, conducted live-to-picture by Austin. Later on, while a student at USC, he
scored well over 60 student films, in addition to a diverse array of other projects.
Before graduating he had also forged a relationship with NASA, and to this day
continues to score all manner of podcasts, shorts and educational content for
them.
CREDITS - Feature Films
---------------------------2009 – Field Trip / GigaPix Films (dir. Kern Konwiser) * forthcoming
2009 – A Little Help / Secret Handshake Productions (dir. Michael Weithorn)
2009 - The River Why / Peloton Productions (dir. Matthew Leutwyler)
2009 – The Echo Game / Psychic Bunny Prod. (dir. Brian Feeney)
2009 – The Sunset Sky / Finite Media (dir. Olivier Bernier)
2009 – Make the Yuletide Gay / Guest House Films (dir. Rob Williams)
2008 – Grace / Ariescope Films, Anchor Bay (dir. Paul Solet)
2008 – The End of the Road /Psychic Bunny Prod. (dir. Jessie Vigil)
2008 – Print / Upload Films (dir. Ashley C. Beyer)
2008 – Knuckle Draggers / Partners-in-Crime Films (dir. Alex Ranarivelo)
2008 – The Acquirer / Cinsay.com (dir. Matt Schulze)
2008 – 3-Day Weekend / Guest House Films (dir. Rob Williams)
www.austinwintory.com
4
www.austinwintory.com
2008 – TK’s Corner / Old Virginia Films (dir. William Bain)
2008 – Hubristic / Secret Handshake Productions (dir. Dan Dominguez)
2008 – Live Evil / LEM Enterprises (dir. Jay Woelfel)
2007 – Mr. Sadman / Empire and Sleep Films (dir. Patrick Epino)
2007 – Captain Abu Raed / Paper and Pen Films, GigaPix (dir. Amin Matalqa)
2007 – Serpent and the Sun / Victory Films Inc. (dir. Shaahin Cheyenne)
2007 – If you Could Have / The Orb Productions (dir. Kimberli Zou)
2007 – Back Soon / Guest House Films (dir. Rob Williams)
2006 - Johnny Montana / 3B Studios (dir. John Gavin)
Games
----------------------------
2009 - *currently unannounced PlayStation3 title* (details coming soon)
2009 – Moby (Nintendo DS) / 1st Playable Productions
2008 – Islands of War (PC) / NeoJac Entertainment
2008 – Alatheya (PC) / Team Augreal
2008 – Ground Truth 2: Lock Down (PC) /Sandia Nat’l Laboratory (Dept. of
Homeland Security), USC Gamepipe
2007 – fl0w Expansion Pak (Playstation3, PSP) / SuperVillain Studios and
ThatGameCompany
2007 – Ground Truth: Toxic City (PC) / Sandia Nat’l Laboratory (Dept. of
Homeland Security), USC Gamepipe
2007 – Original Fin (PC) / USC IMD
2007 – Project Energize (PC) / USC IMD
2007 – Replay (PC) / Take Action Games (Prod. Susanna Ruiz)
2007 – fl0w (Playstation3) ThatGameCompany
2006 – Disaster Daycare (PC) / USC IMD
2006 – fl0w (PC) / ThatGameCompany, USC IMD
2005 – Hunter-Prey (PC) / USC IMD
2002 - Ages of Athiria (PC) / Elysian Productions
Awards
---------------------------2008 - Hollywood Music Awards, Best New Composer; winner
- Game Audio Network Guild Awards, Rookie of the Year; winner
- Game Audio Network Guild Awards, Best Interactive Score (flOw);
nominated
- Game Audio Network Guild Awards, Most Innovative Use of Audio
www.austinwintory.com
5
www.austinwintory.com
(flOw), nominated
- Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, Best Original Music / Sound (The Procedure);
winner
2007 – British Academy Awards, Innovation (flOw); nominee
- Film and TV Music Awards, Best Score for an Indie Feature (Back Soon);
nominated (1st runner-up)
- Film and TV Music Awards, Best Score for a Student Film (Morning Latte);
winner
- IGN.com Best of 2007 – Best Artistic Design (flOw); winner
- CINE Golden Eagle Award, composer (“M51 and Gizmo”); winner
- Aegis Film Production Award (music for NASA Spitzer Satellite
Program “M51 and Gizmo”); winner
- ASCAP Morten Gould Young Composer Awards ("Space, Time, and
Plexiglass"); finalist
2006 - GameShadow Innovation in Games Festival, Innovative Use of InGame Audio (music and sound design for fl0w); nominated
- Society of Composes, Inc. Best Original Film Score ('Oleg's Overcoat');
winner
- ASCAP Morten Gould Young Composer Award (“Wooden Rain”); finalist
2005 - Alan Menken Award; winner
- Prism Brass Quintet competition; winner
- NYU Orchestra Competition; winner
2004 - Prism Brass Quintet competition; winner
- NYU Woodwind Quintet competition; winner
- Lincoln Center Golden Silent film score competition; winner
2003 - Lumina String Quartet competition; winner
Commissions
2010 – Currently untitled orchestral work, for American Studio Orchestra (winter
’10 season)
2010 – Currently untitled woodwind quartet, for “Midnight Winds” (spring, ’10)
2010 – Current untitled cello concerto, for Tina Guo (summer, ’10)
2009 – ‘Der Zalaeb,’ for string orchestra, for The Mercury Ensemble (Feb. ’09)
2007 – ‘Kyrie,’ for solo flute and chamber strings, for “Up Close and Musical’s
20th Anniversary
2006 – ‘Space, Time and Plexiglass,’ for orchestra for ’07 performance, USC
Thornton Symphony “New Music for Orchestra” series
2006 - ‘Chantey Fanfares,’ for orchestra for '06 season, Charlotte Symphony
Orchestra
2006 - 'Where the N meets the 9' for Jeneca Anderson; solo percussion
2005 - 'Wooden Rain' for Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestra ('05/'06 season)
2005 - 'Ashes of History' for Black Sea Philharmonic (Constanta, Romania), (June
www.austinwintory.com
6
www.austinwintory.com
'05)
2005 - 'Christmas 1917' for M. Lindsay Smith; music for modern dance (May '05)
2005 - 'Through the Eyes of a Child' for Charlotte Symphony ('05/'06 season);
2004 - 'Glassless Windows' for the CO Music Teachers' Assocoation (June '05)
2003 - 'Strung Beat' for Up Close and Musical; Colorado Symphony chamber
ensemble; May '03)
2002 - 'The Rose Wedding' for David and Kerstin Rowe (June 2002)
www.austinwintory.com
7