I recently read on this forum “Never has any director ever said, ‘Let’s hire the person who wrote those cues in the temp.’”
Let’s momentarily assume that this is true, and that no director will ever hire you because they love your cues in a temp. Does that mean there is no advantage whatsoever in being involved in a temp score?
I frequently observe on this forum positive or negative attitudes based in binary code: “People have careers because of THIS, and they don’t because of THAT.” The real world is far more nuanced. I believe in ripple effects. Positive and negative actions ripple outward into your future in ways you can never predict. To pull from Chaos Theory, I like the idea that small changes in complex systems can have big, unpredictable effects. Applied to pursuing a career: If you don’t get the job today, your efforts may yet yield a job tomorrow.
Let me share one story from my career:
A few years ago, an editor on a network series temped with my music. Executive producer David S. Goyer responded positively to the temp, but (as stated above) never once said “Let’s hire the person who wrote those cues in the temp.” After a few episodes, Goyer kept noticing the temp score. Eventually, his curiosity was piqued and he asked the editor about the temp, which he found out was frequently drawn from my score to “Battlestar Galactica.” Goyer had heard of the series, but had never seen it. Intrigued by the music in his temp score, he got the DVDs and watched the entire series.
A couple years later, Goyer was in post-production on his next series, an ambitious historical fantasy for STARZ / BBC called “Da Vinci’s Demons.” Did he remember my name and call me up right away because he loved that temp score? … Nope! He reached out to his top choice for composer, who was unavailable. Then, he hired his second choice, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. With his first episode dub less than a month away, he found himself desperately needing a composer. That’s when I got the call.
Since scoring “Da Vinci” I have collaborated with David on many other projects, including studio features, network series and cable series. I consider him one of my closest collaborators, and I am working with him still.
All of that happened because my music was in a temp score, and I didn’t even get that job.
So, some food for thought. To repost the questions I asked in the other thread:
–> What is the worst thing that will happen if you approach a music editor and are rejected?
–> Even if your music is in a well-received temp, you might not get the job scoring the actual film. Nevertheless, how does it HURT your career to have your music being heard in context by more and more filmmakers?
–> What are the benefits of NOT sharing your music with people who are knowledgable of the industry, who have direct access to the decision-makers on a film or series?
–> If you are going to ignore this avenue of self-promotion, what are the other avenues of self-promotion that you are pursuing instead? What are the results of those efforts?
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Lots to be thankful for! Hugs to you all.
