Sundance Institute's Film Music Program invites you to a free day of discovery as we examine how filmmakers and composers create character and story through a musical score. Dive into the exploration with curated panels, audience Q&As, and a closing reception with the Philadelphia film community.
This program is preceded by a Friday-night screening of Selah and the Spades, directed by our panelist and former Knight fellow Tayarisha Poe, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. This screening is currently at full capacity, but you're welcome to learn more about the screening, including the potential to waitlist, here.
If you have a disability and require accommodation in order to fully participate in this event, please contact us at 435-658-3456 or accessibility@sundance.org to discuss your specific needs. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests; requests made within 7 days of the event may not be guaranteed.
Editor
Kate Abernathy is an editor living in Brooklyn. She has worked on both documentary and narrative projects, including Tayarisha Poe’s Selah and the Spades, Alex O Eaton’s Mountain Rest, Yto Barrada’s Agadir, Maria Hassabi’s Slow Me Down, Gerard and Kelly’s Modern Living, Amanda Street’s Magic Bullet, and Yto Barrada’s Tree Identification for Beginners. Kate has also worked in the visual effects department on shows including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The OA, Vinyl, The Knick, and Boardwalk Empire.
Director
Named one of Variety's 2018 “10 documentarians to watch,” Vietnamese-Australian filmmaker Tina Brown co-directed and produced the documentary United Skates, which won the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival‘s Audience Award. Brown also co-produced the feature-length documentary Dear Mandela. She has created PR and marketing film distribution campaigns and is a commercial and branded content producer, working with such clients as Apple and the Super Bowl. Brown works with her director of photography husband, Matt Peterson, while juggling an active toddler.
Composer
Jongnic “JB” Bontemps is a uniquely modern film composer, harmonizing a classical education with his rich tech background to write everything from the hip-hop-infused score for the Tribeca documentary United Skates to rousing additional music for Creed II, directed by Steven Caple Jr. He also composed for Caple’s The Land, for which he produced the song “This Bitter Land” for Nas and Erykah Badu. He is an alum of the Sundance Institute Film Music and Sound Design Lab.
Composer
Grammy Award–winning, Juilliard-trained composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum (born New York City) collaborates with radical filmmakers and adventurous musicians on scores that include Bird Karma (Dreamworks Animation); Champaign ILL (Sony); Grand-Daddy Day Care (Universal); Dangerous Curves (New York Times); Stockholm, Pennsylvania (Sundance Film Festival); and Lenny (HBO). She has received commissions from the London Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Symphony, and Seattle Symphony, as well as fellowships from the Sundance Institute Film Music and Sound Design Lab, where she also serves as an advisor.
Composer
Aska Matsumiya is an LA-based musician and composer who has collaborated with the likes of Flea and Nick Zinner and has opened for acts including Maroon 5 and Cat Power as part of the bands Moonrats and ESP. She has composed for films including Spike Jonze’s award-winning short I’m Here, Crystal Moselle’s The Wolfpack, and Tayarisha Poe’s Selah and the Spades. Her most recent collaboration, Hikari’s 37 Seconds, won the Art Cinema Award and Audience Award at the 2019 Berlinale Panorama.
Director
Tayarisha Poe is a storyteller from West Philadelphia who believes that all stories are inherently multisensory and multidimensional, and thus should be told that way. She was chosen as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 new faces” in 2015, and in 2016 she was a Sundance Institute Knight Fellow. In 2017 she was selected for Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters and Directors Labs and a Pew Fellowship. Her first feature film, Selah and the Spades, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
Director, Film Music Program
Peter Golub has been the Film Music Program’s director since 1999. As a composer, his work includes the films Frozen River, The Great Debaters, and The Laramie Project, along with Broadway credits Hedda Gabler and The Country House. He also worked with the New York Shakespeare Festival and was composer-in-residence for the Ridiculous Theatrical Company. Peter has written scores for Ballet West and Miami City Ballet, among others, and his concert works have been performed throughout the country. A graduate of the Yale School of Music, he teaches film music and composition at UCLA and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Manager, Film Music Program
Courtney Rodriguez oversees the development and growth of composers and the independent film community across residency labs, workshops, and the Sundance Film Festival. She has a background in leading creative direction for nonprofit organizations, including award-winning short documentaries in partnership with Goodwill, Inc., as well as programmatic storytelling, working as creative and strategic lead for brands including Xbox, Microsoft, and Facebook. A diehard cinephile, Courtney obsesses over everything from international cinema classics to avant-garde art house and the occasional popcorn flick.
Director of Operations, Artist Programs
Eva oversees the operational aspects of residency labs, workshops, and community screenings for programs such as Feature Film, Documentary Film, Film Music, and Theatre that span artistic activities including filming and editing, showcasing plays in progress, film scoring, and varied convenings. Eva has a master’s in community leadership from Westminster College in Utah with a focus on advocacy and the socioeconomic status of women. She represents her community by serving on local boards and is politically active.
Technical Director, Exhibition and Production
Holden Payne has 30 years of cinema and production experience including building permanent and temporary cinemas and theatres at festivals such as Palm Springs, Seattle, and Telluride. A collector of graphic T-shirts and a lover of dachshunds, eclectic rock ’n’ roll music, and fine dining, Holden is a typical Capricorn who’s ready to bore anyone on the minute details of theatrical lighting and sound, the early work of the Archers of Loaf or Dinosaur Jr., and the future of digital cinema.
Operations Manager, Artist Programs
J.R. Hardman is an event manager, filmmaker, certified yoga instructor, Civil War “reenactress,” and Sacred Harp singer. She received a BA from the University of Southern California in cinema/television production and Spanish, and she is currently directing her debut feature-length documentary entitled Reenactress, about female Civil War reenactors who cross-dress to portray soldiers. She previously served as senior tour manager for Campus Movie Fest and as technical director for Camp Flix, a children’s filmmaking camp.
Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization that discovers and supports independent film, media, and theatre artists from the U.S. and around the world, and introduces audiences to their new work.
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