Each year, the 48 Hour Film Project tours the world, challenging teams of film makers to write and produce a film in under 48 hours. Each team pulls their genre out of a hat at the kick-off event to ensure that no team is able to get a head start on their film making process. This year, we provided the Garritan Ultimate Collection as the prize for Best Music for the Los Angeles event. The team that won Best Music is a team called The Uncomfortables, who randomly selected the genre Operetta. The film itself has not been released to the public, but MakeMusic was able to snag an interview with composer Adam Beamer and hear more about his projects and process.
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MM: Tells us where you’re from!
AB: I live in LA now and grew up outside of Boston.
MM: What is your background in music?
AB: I started playing piano on my own when I was very young. In high school I got my first guitar, joined a band, and decided I wanted to be a rock star. I studied Music Industry at Northeastern University and while there I was in a band called Arcoda. I got to play tons of shows all over the east coast with Arcoda and I had the privilege of playing piano in a recording session with Levon Helm. After several years of trying to balance a full-time job and touring with the band, it started to become less and less fun. At the same time I was falling in love with filmmaking, so I quit the band and focused on that. Now I live in LA. My day job is editing movies and TV. I still occasionally pick up odd jobs scoring commercials or short films for friends.
MM: How did you receive the opportunity to write music for The Uncomfortables team during LA 48hr?
AB: The folks on the Uncomfortables 48 hour film project team are all good friends of mine.
MM: What were your first thoughts when you realized your team had chosen (at random) Operetta?
AB: “Shit, this is going to be a lot more work than I expected.”
MM: What music software do you use if any?
AB: I use either Garage Band or Sony Vegas, which is actually a video editing software built on the Soundforge platform.
MM: Tells us about your upcoming projects? Any more films on the horizon?
AB: My brother and I recently directed our first feature film, “In Security,” which stars Ethan Embry, Michael Gladis, Clea DuVall, Adam Arkin, Cary Elwes, Ving Rhames, Vinnie Jones, Ed Begley Jr, a bunch of other great actors. It’ll be coming out soon.
MM: What advice do you have for composers or students who would like to follow in your footsteps?
AB: I think there are a lot of different ways to build a career for yourself. The one that worked for me was when I first got to LA – I was willing to work for free and that allowed me to meet the people who ended up giving me the paying gigs.
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If you’d like to complete in the 48 Hour Film Project, you can find more information and a list of participating cities here: http://www.48hourfilm.com/
Adam received the Garritan Ultimate Collection as his prize for Best Music. He’s new to Garritan sound libraries, and the Garritan community. Leave him a note in the comments section below with your favorite tips and tricks.
