How exciting! My first ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards! I hadn’t been able to go in the past because of the timing – I was always in Boston for Passover! However, I was able to make it this year. Being honored this year were a bunch of folks, but the two big awards were going to Howard Shore and Clint Eastwood. I’ve talked with Howard a lot, so this was my chance to snag Clint!
All tuxed up, I got there around 6pm, and chatted with Monique (formerly of Chasen PR) who was helping run the media room. Eventually some of the winners started coming in, and I got a chance to chat (ever so briefly) with Clint Eastwood, Howard Shore, Mark Snow, Alf Clausen, John Debney, Herbie Hancock, Robert Rodriguez, Penny Marshall, and a few others. During the dinner that followed, I made my way down to the Kraft-Engel table, where I got to chat a bit with John Powell (I might be going to a Bourne Supremacy scoring session) and Rodriguez. Robert was really great to chat with, and he had some wonderful thoughts on the state of the use of film music and the process of making films (with music). I’ll keep it under my hat until I do my interview with him (sometime soon, I hope)! We did talk a little bit about the “10 Minute Film School” series, as well as how he inspired me to cook that meatloaf last weekend. During the award ceremony, when he went up to accept his award for Spy Kids 3D, he was the only one who grabbed the microphone and actually said something – much the audience’s delight.
It’s the celebration of Henry Mancini’s 80th birthday, and Monica Mancini was on hand to sing “Dear Heart” in honor of her father who passed away in 1994. (There’s a new commemorative stamp in his honor this year, too!) We even got a letter from Governor Arnie who congratulated ASCAP on it’s 90th Birthday, and also congratulated Shore and Eastwood (and Marco Beltrami, who scored Terminator 3) for their awards.
Soon it was time for the big presentation: Howard Shore was getting the Henry Mancini award for career achievement. Penny Marshall “roasted” him (“In musical terms, Howard is a ‘rest'” – referring to his being slow), followed by a video of congratulations and career highlights. One such highlight was a snippet of “Howard Shore and the All Nurse Orchestra” from “Saturday Night Live”, back when Howard was the musical director on the show. Lorne Michaels, Peter Jackson, and Martin Scorsese were also shows offering their congratulatory messages.
Next up was Clint, who was getting the Opus Award for his achievements in supporting music in film. Herbie Hancock introduced him, and then we saw some clips from some of his films, including Mystic River. As a special surprise, Clint got on stage with Jack Sheldon and his orchestra (as in “Schoolhouse Rock”, baby!), and sang a little. It was fun!
Afterwards, I went to Trader Vic’s with Jim Dooley, Trevor Morris, Ramin Djawadi, and his girlfriend Megan. We hung out for a bit socializing, then it was off to home and bed! Pictures are up in the gallery.