Akos Lustyik Selected for 2018 ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop
A Scholar of the Master's Program at the Royal Academy of Music, London, award-winner of the Transatlantyk Film Music Competition (a part of the Lodz Transatlantyk International Film and Music Festival, Poland), AND a collaborator on the Academy Award winning film "Sing," Akos Lustyik has now been selected to participate in the prestigious ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop with Emmy Award-winning composer Richard Bellis. One of 12 composers selected from a field of over 400, this will also be Akos' first trip to America.
Akos is a classically trained composer from Budapest, Hungary. Completing his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, he became a Scholar of the Royal College of Music. Akos
also holds a degree in economics and management from
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and speaks Hungarian, English and German.
We congratulate Akos on this wonderful achievement, and welcome him to America.
Adam Balazs Returned to the Academy Awards with
"On Body and Soul" 2018 Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film!
Having scored last year's Academy Award-winning, Best Live Action Short Film SING!, Adam Balazs returned to the 2018 Academy Awards having scored the nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, On Body and Soul.
One year ago, director and writer Ildikó Enyedi, was presented the prestigious
"Golden Bear Award for Best Film" at the acclaimed Berlinale International Film
Festival, where the film made its world premiere. At the same event, On Body and Soul was also the recipient of the "Prize of the Ecumenical Jury," the "Reader Jury of the 'Berliner Morgenpost,'" and the "Critic’s Choice Award, International Federation of Film Critics."
The Hungarian love story is about two slaughterhouse workers who connect in shared dreams. Ildekó contrasts the harsh reality of the abbatoir with the magical world of slumber.
Congratulations are extended to Ildikó, producers Erno Mesterházy, András Muhi, Mónika Mécs and, again, Adam Balazs, who scored yet another Academy Award- worthy film.
Adam Balazs Scores the 2017 Academy Award-winning
"SING!" Best Live Action Short Film!
In 2017, the 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, honored the best films of 2016. We are proud to announce that Kristof Deak, director, and Anna Udvardy, producer, were awarded
and honored to have their film, Sing (Mindenki), receive "The Oscar" for Best Live Action Short Film. SMC Artists congratulates both Kristof and Anna, and Adam Balazs, who scored the film. Further, congratulations are extended to one of the Agency's newest composers, Akos Lustyik, who assisted Adam in producing the score.
Sing is the story of Zsofi, struggling to fit in at her new school—singing in the school's famous choir is her only consolation. But the choir director may not be the inspirational teacher everyone thinks she is. It will take Zsofi and her friend Liza to teach their teacher a lesson. Based on a true story, Sing follows an award-winning school choir and the new girl in class facing a tough choice: to stand up against a corrupt system—or, to fit quietly into it.
Adding to an already impressive creative collaboration, Arpad Balazs, internationally renowned classical composer and father of Adam Balazs, contributed his famous Hungarian children’s song—Elderflower (Bodzavirág)—to the
production. Congratulations to Kristof, Anna, Adam, Akos and, of course, Arpad, on this momentous acknowledgement.
John Scott to Score Wartime Biopic
John Scott has been chosen to score this amazing, but true story about a Wigan (England) opera singer turned spy. Margery sang for Hitler, who filled her dressing room with dozens of roses, not realising that she had top secret messages concealed under her dress. Margery was with Hitler on his birthday, when he was presented with the new Tiger Tank, and was able to get valuable information back to London, which eventually resulted in a Tiger Tank being captured in North Africa, and taken back to London under Churchill’s personal orders. Now totally trusted by the leading Nazis, she was even allowed to sing to British POWs at Stalag IIID, with whom she made many useful contacts, especially with another MI9 operative, John Brown. Margery eventually gave evidence against SS officers at the London Royal Courts of Justice (The Old Bailey) after the war.
Directed by Peter Davies and based upon the book of the same name by Ralph Harvey, producer Franz von Habsburg-Toskana brings together a cast of noted acclaim, to include
Anna Friel, Stephen Fry, Udo Kier, Patrick Bergin and Michael Jaystont.
The film is currently in pre-production with an anticipated 2018 premiere.
Best Music, Moscow Indie Film Festival; Award of Merit,
Accolade Global Film Festival; Platinum Award, Minefield Festival;
Gold Award, International Independent Film Awards for
"The Radicalization of Jeff Boyd"
"Max Topas - Das Buch Der KristallKinder" Premieres at Düsseldorf
Michael Klubertanz received the above recognitions for his score to The Radicalization of Jeff Boyd (Uwe Schwarzwalder, dir.). The film itself has received multiple awards at all the noted festivals.
Max Topas premiered at Düsseldorf, Germany. On the Red Carpet (at right), director Michael W. Driesch and Michael Klubertanz celebrate the evening. The film—and the score!—both received rave reviews from the cognescenti.
The film is one of five Michael has been and will be scoring over the previous and coming weeks, including Kurzene Fortress (Kelly Hetherington, dir.), Mordred
(Laura Jay, dir.), Fire of Darkness (M.J. Khappa, dir.), The Legacy (Eva Acharya, dir.) and Frieda (Michael W. Driesch, dir.).
Neil Argo Set to Score New Dramatic Series "Redwind Point"
Alex Feola, creator of the new Television series Redwind Pointe, has attached Neil Argo (Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place) to score and provide music supervision services for the series.
Redwind Point is a prestige, prime time, soap opera drama, television series that focuses itself around five families, all which have their very own story lines that consist of luxurious lifestyles, on-going drama, ground-breaking conflict and, of course, resolutions. With casting underway, shooting will commence for the 2018 season.
Stephen Viens Scores "Arctic Plunge,"
"Kampai! Sake Sisters" and "Walk of Fame"
Stephen Viens scored director Brian To's Arctic Plunge, his seventh film with Brian. The film is an apology letter
narrated by an older woman (Academy Award nominee Sally Kirkland) to a 16-year-old boy who took his own life after she rejected him during an Arctic tour many years ago, when she
was 25-years-old. Sorrow and regret haunt her as she reflects
on the void left in her heart. Arctic Plunge uses symbolism and
imagery to convey the disintegration and breakup of man’s relationship with wildlife and Earth, which may be lost forever. It is is a tone poem that juxtaposes music, words, and images to make the audience feel saudade for whatever loss they need to resolve.
In a follow-up to Kampai! For the Love of Sake, Stephen scored the second in the series of feature documentaries,
Kampai! Sake Sisters. The English- and Japanese-language
film, under the direction of Mirai Konishi, explores the world of
Sake, the national drink of Japan, and the women behind some
of the world's finest sake to be produced. The film was pro-
duced by Konishi’s Los Angeles-based Wagamama Media, in collaboration with producer, Chiaki Yanagimoto.
Stephen also wrote the poignant, enchanting score for a
love story between a Cinderella and a Transformer Super Hero, Walk of Fame (Erick Huff, dir.).
Noah Potter - Executive Music Producer for
"Pioneer's Palace B'92" and Completing "Dilemma"
Encompassing all facets of music, Noah Potter sets an historical tone for this period film. Set in Bucharest after the fall of Ceausescu, Pioneer's Palace captures the chaotic essence of the time.
Based on director Bobby Paunescu's own experience, the story follows a group of Romanian teenagers who, driven by the unprecedented freedoms of a free-market economy, open a disco in their high school.
Surrounded by entrepreneurial opportunity and almost no limits, the teens visit Bucharest's first-ever brothel, and are exposed to the dark underbelly of an unregulated society when they are faced with
potential exposure to AIDS. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Dilemma, directed by Ryan Claudio, is the story of man who accidentally finds an envelope containing $10,000 cash at a coffee Shop. He is in a dilemma whether to keep it or do the right thing. The film stars Matthew Klingler (Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D.) and Hans Dieter Wolff (Office Christmas Party).
Film, Television and Video Game Composer David Orr Joins SMC Artists
David Orr’s interest in music started at a young age, stemming from his intrigue in 8-bit video game music. As he developed his understanding of the inner-workings of music, his passion for writing grew.
Today, David has expanded his reach to various mediums and platforms, having scored soundtracks for Xbox, iPhone, Playstation 3 and PC. He has composed soundtracks to a variety of games, including the multi-million seller Castle Crashers (The Behemoth), for which he was awarded “Best Original Music Soundtrack” by the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, and the game was awarded “2008 Best Game of the Year” at the Xbox Live Arcade Awards.
And, in addition to video games, David has a presence in animated shorts, film and Television—with credits from around the world.
SMC Artists welcomes David to the agency, as yet another classically-trained, award-winning composer.
Amanda Ply and Robin Schorr's "One of a Kind Girl" is Semi-Finalist at
Music City SongStar Competition, Nashville; Co-Recipient of Best Music at Moscow Indie Film Festival and Mindfield Film Festival Los Angeles
From several thousand entries, "One of a Kind Girl," written by Amanda Ply and Robin Schorr, was chosen as a semi-finalist in the 2018 Music City SongStar Competition taking place in Nashville. The annual competition is genre free, with the belief that "…a good song is a good song is a good song. Period."
SMC Artists takes pride in the noteworthy accomplishments of these two fine writers and performers.
Amanda Ply is a classical pianist and honors graduate of the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California. With
inspiration from Carole King, Diane Warren and Sia, as a singer-songwriter, Amanda has an edge and ability—both on- and off-stage—to appeal to a wide range of fans. It is her contemporary approach to crafting songs, and her easy vocal style and elastic voice that appeals to her audiences. More recently, Amanda has been focusing her efforts writing R&B, Country and Pop songs for a wide spectrum of artists.
Building on her presence in film, one of Amanda's latest songs, "Waiting," premiered in Swiss director Uwe Schwarzwalter's film,
The Radicalization of Jeff Boyd., where she, and composer Michael Klubertanz, were afforded the Red Square Award for Best Music at both the Moscow Indie Film Festival and the Mindfield Film Festival Los Angeles. Previous work includes scoring Creative Funding (CC Chainey, dir.) and in Television, writing for the highly successful series, Reign (CW).
"SMC Artists takes pride in representing international film & Television composers, songwriters and lyricists, who are
classically trained, and who have a significant and award-winning scoring history. I ask for your consideration of all
my fine artists and their qualifications, when preparing for your next production."—Otto Vavrin II