NEWS FROM COSTA COMMUNICATIONS


Two items from Costa Communications:-

COMPOSER BRUNO COULAIS'

IMAGINATIVE MUSICAL JOURNEY FOR CORALINE WINS BEST SCORE AT THE ANNIE AWARDS

The French composer writes music for two of the Oscar nominated Animation films: Coraline and The Secret of Kells

Los Angeles, CA – Award-winning French composer BRUNO COULAIS’ imaginative score to director Henry Selick’s CORALINE continues to garner critical acclaim. On Saturday he won for best score, beating Oscar nominated and Golden Globe winning score Up. Coulais’ score takes the audience on a whimsical, beautiful yet eerie journey through CORALINE, a bizarre and darkly fantastic stop-motion film. For CORALINE, Coulais combines unusual rhythmic patterns, elegant string arrangements, piano, a children’s choir singing random French words and eclectic sounds. The composer has the disctinction of scoring two Oscar nominated Animated films this year, "Coraline" and "The Secret of Kells." The mostly hand-drawn Irish indie, "The Secret of Kells" is a fable about a boy's search for rare berries needed to make the ink to complete the legendary Book of Kells.

European maestro Bruno Coulais has received three César Awards (France’s equivalent of the Oscar®), including for LES CHORISTES, which earned Coulais an Academy Award® nomination. Coulais has scored many television series and received an Emmy® nomination for his work on the mini-series SOMETIMES IN APRIL.

Coulais began his musical education on the violin and piano, aiming to become a composer of contemporary classical music; eventually Coulais gravitated towards film music. The largest turning point in Coulais career came when he worked with directors Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou on the documentary MICROCOSMOS; this film was very successful and made Coulais one of the most sought after composers in French film music.

Coulais' musical style varies between different projects but there are some constant visible factors, including his taste for opera and for human voice (in particular that of children). Bruno Coulais’ recent projects include the French comedy LUCKY LUKE, Disney Nature’s OCEANS and the French drama VILLA AMALIA.

This one is a revised version of my posting of 4th February:-

AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER

JOHN DEBNEY

REUNITES with GARY MARSHALL for the 6th TIME

for VALENTINE’S DAY

OPENING IN THEATRES VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND

(Hollywood, CA) Award-winning composer JOHN DEBNEY reunites with director Garry Marshall for the sixth time to score the romantic-comedy VALENTINE’S DAY, starring Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Patrick Dempsey, Taylor Swift, Jamie Foxx, Taylor Lautner, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez and many more. “Valentine’s Day” opens in theaters on Feb. 12. Along with writing an original score for the film, Debney also re-unites with lyricist Glen Ballard to create the song “Every Time You Smile” performed by Carina Round. Currently Debney is receiving critical acclaim for his score to the dramatic film “The Stoning of Soraya M.” and is scoring the highly anticipated Marvel comic book sequel “Iron Man 2.” In June, Debney will travel to the Vatican for a performance of “The Passion Oratorio” in St. Peter’s Square.

Debney’s musical ability knows no boundaries, and his music sets the tone for films in all genres, from his Academy Award® nominated score to “The Passion of the Christ” to his work on Disney’s “Hannah Montana: The Movie;” for which Debney and Glen Ballard collaborated on the song “Butterfly Fly Away” performed by Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus. (Lyrics by Ballard, conducted and arranged by Debney.) Recently Daily Variety devoted an 11 page tribute to John Debney as the “Billion-Dollar Composer,” because of his tremendous box office success (films he has scored have grossed nearly four billion-dollars.)

In addition to his Oscar® nomination, last year Debney received multiple Career Achievement Awards from the Burbank International Film Festival, the Hollywood Music in Media Awards and the Temecula Valley International Film Festival. Debney has received several Emmys®, a Dove® award for “The Passion of the Christ” and a CUE® award for the “The Passion of the Christ” and “The Princess Diaries.” Debney received a BAFTA® nomination for his score to the videogame “Lair” and was the youngest recipient of the ASCAP Henry Mancini Award for Career Achievement, and has conducted concerts of his music with orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. Some of Debney’s film credits include “Idlewild,” a Prohibition-era musical starring the duo Outkast and featuring famed trumpeter Arturo Sandoval; the animated films “Barnyard” and “Chicken Little;” the comic-book inspired “Sin City” and the comedies “Elf” and “Liar, Liar.”

The all star romantic-comedy “Valentine’s Day” centers around intertwining couples and singles in Los Angeles that break-up and make-up based on the pressures and expectations of Valentine's Day.