Bear McCreary’s meeting with the director of Anne Hathaway’s new film, COLOSSAL did not go well.
Granted, it’s hard to describe what any composer would do with a staggeringly original film that has been compared to PACIFIC RIM meets BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. But, the feedback I got back from the producer was that the director-writer just didn’t connect with Bear.
We were bummed.
Bear knew this film was something special and its score needed to be unique. Merely describing the music Bear had in his head wasn’t going to cut it.
So, Bear offered to write a demo.
They gave him the last reel of the film to find a section to demo to.
Bear imagined the whole finale of the film as being one continuous cue covering a wide range of dynamics and emotions.
So, Bear decided to tackle the whole final reel with a 10-minute demo piece featuring guitar and cello.
Making things even more challenging was that the finale needed to be the culmination of all the musical themes and ideas of the whole score despite none of that score having yet been written.
Of course it was a risk, especially since the director had already turned him down.
The piece was complex and compelling. It certainly wasn’t timid.
That demo got Bear back into the room with the director where they finally hit it off and Bear landed the job.
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and had its American premiere at Sundance tonight.
Bear, a composer known as a TV guy, has three films at this year’s Sundance festival. All gotten through equally extraordinary circumstances.
Here is a picture of writer-director Nacho Vigalondo tonight with Bear, the composer who wouldn’t take NO for an answer.
