International Film Music Critics Association
Encyclopedia
The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) is a professional association for online, print and radio journalists
who specialize in writing about original film and television music
.
), and after period of inactivity was re-launched in 2003 under its new title.
Its membership includes 55 journalists from 16 different countries who write for such high-profile film and soundtrack-related publications and websites as Film Score Monthly
, Filmtracks
, SoundtrackNet
and Music from the Movies, as well as more mainstream publications such as Ain't It Cool News
, Variety
, the Hollywood Reporter and the Irish Times. Members of the IFMCA have also been involved in writing liner notes
for major film music record labels such as Film Score Monthly
, Varèse Sarabande
, Intrada Records
and La-La Land Records
.
The aim of the group is to promote original film music and the work of film music composers as legitimate artists worthy of recognition from the mainstream film and music media. To this end, the group maintains a website documenting its activities; operates a central online review interface which provides links to articles, reviews and interviews written by its members; organizes an annual awards event, the IFMCA Awards, celebrating music for films written during the preceding year; and is involved in organizing major international film music festivals, such as those in Tenerife
, Úbeda
in Spain, Krakow
in Poland, and the World Soundtrack Awards
in Ghent
, Belgium.
in the absence of a guild for composers. They have been called the "Oscars of film music", have been featured in major daily newspapers in Spain and Portugal, are recognized by major performing rights organizations such as ASCAP in the United States and SGAE
in Europe, and most recently have been seen by the video games industry as an important step forward in legitimizing game music as a mainstream creative art form.
Composers as varied as John Debney
, Alexandre Desplat
, Randy Edelman
, George Fenton
, Michael Giacchino
, James Newton Howard
Mark Isham
, Andrew Lockington
, Abel Korzeniowski
, Brian Tyler
, Fernando Velázquez and Debbie Wiseman
highlight their IFMCA Award wins and nominations in their official biographies.
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
who specialize in writing about original film and television music
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
.
History and purpose
The IFMCA was originally founded in the late 1990s as the Film Music Critics Jury by film music journalist Mikael Carlsson (now the owner of film music record label MovieScore MediaMovieScore Media
MovieScore Media is a Swedish record label devoted to original film scores, founded in 2005 by former film music journalist Mikael Carlsson. The label is the main business activity of Carlsson's company, MovieScore Media Sweden....
), and after period of inactivity was re-launched in 2003 under its new title.
Its membership includes 55 journalists from 16 different countries who write for such high-profile film and soundtrack-related publications and websites as Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly is an online magazine founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 as The Soundtrack Correspondence List...
, Filmtracks
Filmtracks.com
Filmtracks.com is a leading modern film score review website created and maintained out of Missoula, Montana by its sole reviewer, Christian Clemmensen...
, SoundtrackNet
SoundtrackNet
- History :Created in 1997 by David A. Koran and Dan Goldwasser at Carnegie Mellon University, the site has grown over the past decade to become one of the leading websites covering the film music industry in Hollywood....
and Music from the Movies, as well as more mainstream publications such as Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, the Hollywood Reporter and the Irish Times. Members of the IFMCA have also been involved in writing liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
for major film music record labels such as Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly is an online magazine founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 as The Soundtrack Correspondence List...
, Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...
, Intrada Records
Intrada Records
Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California...
and La-La Land Records
La-La Land Records
La-La Land Records is an American record company based in Burbank, California . The company specializes in film and television soundtracks. The label is run by Michael V...
.
The aim of the group is to promote original film music and the work of film music composers as legitimate artists worthy of recognition from the mainstream film and music media. To this end, the group maintains a website documenting its activities; operates a central online review interface which provides links to articles, reviews and interviews written by its members; organizes an annual awards event, the IFMCA Awards, celebrating music for films written during the preceding year; and is involved in organizing major international film music festivals, such as those in Tenerife
Tenerife International Film Music Festival
The Tenerife International Film Music Festival is an international film music festival that is held in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The festival takes place every year...
, Úbeda
Úbeda
Úbeda is a town in the province of Jaén in Spain's autonomous community of Andalusia, with some 35,600 inhabitants. Both this city and the neighboring city of Baeza benefited from extensive patronage in the early 16th century resulting in the construction of a series of Renaissance style palaces...
in Spain, Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
in Poland, and the World Soundtrack Awards
World Soundtrack Academy
The World Soundtrack Academy , launched in 2001 by the Flanders International Film Festival Ghent, is aimed at organizing and overseeing the educational, cultural and professional aspects of the art of film music, including the preservation of the history of the soundtrack and its worldwide promotion...
in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
, Belgium.
IFMCA Awards
The organization is responsible for the annual International Film Music Critics Association Awards, the only awards given to composers by active film music journalists, and which are seen by many as a valuable precursor to the Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
in the absence of a guild for composers. They have been called the "Oscars of film music", have been featured in major daily newspapers in Spain and Portugal, are recognized by major performing rights organizations such as ASCAP in the United States and SGAE
Sociedad General de Autores y Editores
Sociedad General de Autores y Editores is the main collecting society for songwriters, composers and music publishers in Spain. It is similar to ASCAP. The composer and performer Teddy Bautista is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. The SGAE was founded in 1941 as General Society of Authors of...
in Europe, and most recently have been seen by the video games industry as an important step forward in legitimizing game music as a mainstream creative art form.
Composers as varied as John Debney
John Debney
John C. Debney is an American film composer. He received an Academy Award nomination for his score for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ...
, Alexandre Desplat
Alexandre Desplat
Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat is a French film composer. He has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on The Painted Veil in 2006, and two Grammy nominations. In 2011, Desplat won his first British...
, Randy Edelman
Randy Edelman
Randy Edelman is an American film and TV score composer.-Life and career:Edelman was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son of a first-grade teacher and an accountant. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music before heading to New York where he played...
, George Fenton
George Fenton
George Fenton is a British composer best known for his work writing film scores and music for television, although he also writes music for the theatre. His real name is George Howe but he is better known by his pseudonym of George Fenton.-Selected film and television credits:Fenton has composed...
, Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino is an American composer who has composed scores for movies, television series and video games. Some of his most notable works include the scores to television series such as Lost, Alias and Fringe, games such as the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty series, and films such as...
, James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard is an American composer best known for his scores to motion pictures. He is one of the most popular and respected composers for cinema, and has scored over 100 films...
Mark Isham
Mark Isham
Mark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
, Andrew Lockington
Andrew Lockington
Andrew Lockington is a Canadian film score composer, who composes scores for American and Canadian films. He was born July 31, 1974 in Burlington, Ontario....
, Abel Korzeniowski
Abel Korzeniowski
Abel Korzeniowski is a Polish film and theatre scores composer.He had contact with music from early childhood: his mother Barbara plays cello and both his brothers Antoni and Andrzej are musicians. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Kraków majoring in cello and composer studies under the...
, Brian Tyler
Brian Tyler
Brian Tyler is an American auto racing driver.He was a back-to-back USAC National Sprint car Champion for Larry Contos Racing in 1996 and 1997. He made 10 starts in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series in 1998 and 1999 for 3 different teams with a best finish of 6th at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway...
, Fernando Velázquez and Debbie Wiseman
Debbie Wiseman
Debbie Wiseman MBE is a composer for film and television. She studied at Trinity College of Music Junior Department, and then piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama....
highlight their IFMCA Award wins and nominations in their official biographies.
Major award winners
- 2010 Score of the Year: How to Train Your DragonHow to Train Your Dragon: Music from the Motion PictureHow to Train Your Dragon: Music from the Motion Picture was composed by John Powell for the film of the same name and released by Varèse Sarabande on March 23, 2010. The score earned Powell his first Academy Award nomination and his third BAFTA nomination, which he lost to The Social Network and...
, by John PowellJohn PowellJohn Powell is a British composer, best known for his scores to motion pictures. He has been based in the United States since 1997 and has composed the scores to over fifty feature films. He rose to fame in the late 1990s and 2000s, scoring numerous animated films, and collaborating with... - 2010 Composer of the Year: Alexandre DesplatAlexandre DesplatAlexandre Michel Gérard Desplat is a French film composer. He has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on The Painted Veil in 2006, and two Grammy nominations. In 2011, Desplat won his first British...
- 2009 Score of the Year: UpUp (2009 film)Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar, distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film...
, by Michael GiacchinoMichael GiacchinoMichael Giacchino is an American composer who has composed scores for movies, television series and video games. Some of his most notable works include the scores to television series such as Lost, Alias and Fringe, games such as the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty series, and films such as... - 2009 Composer of the Year: Michael GiacchinoMichael GiacchinoMichael Giacchino is an American composer who has composed scores for movies, television series and video games. Some of his most notable works include the scores to television series such as Lost, Alias and Fringe, games such as the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty series, and films such as...
- 2008 Score of the Year: The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
, by Alexandre DesplatAlexandre DesplatAlexandre Michel Gérard Desplat is a French film composer. He has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on The Painted Veil in 2006, and two Grammy nominations. In 2011, Desplat won his first British... - 2008 Composer of the Year: Danny ElfmanDanny ElfmanDaniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
- 2007 Score of the Year: AtonementAtonement (film)Atonement is a 2007 British romantic suspense war film directed by Joe Wright. It is a film adaptation of the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, and Saoirse Ronan. It was produced by Working Title Films and filmed throughout the summer of 2006...
, by Dario MarianelliDario MarianelliDario Marianelli is a composer of piano, orchestral, and film music. He has composed the soundtracks for The Brothers Grimm , Pride & Prejudice , and Atonement , the last two for which he received Oscar nominations for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score... - 2007 Composer of the Year: Alexandre DesplatAlexandre DesplatAlexandre Michel Gérard Desplat is a French film composer. He has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on The Painted Veil in 2006, and two Grammy nominations. In 2011, Desplat won his first British...
- 2006 Score of the Year: Lady in the WaterLady in the WaterThe soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
, by James Newton HowardJames Newton HowardJames Newton Howard is an American composer best known for his scores to motion pictures. He is one of the most popular and respected composers for cinema, and has scored over 100 films... - 2006 Composer of the Year: Alexandre DesplatAlexandre DesplatAlexandre Michel Gérard Desplat is a French film composer. He has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on The Painted Veil in 2006, and two Grammy nominations. In 2011, Desplat won his first British...
- 2005 Score of the Year: Memoirs of a GeishaMemoirs of a Geisha (film)Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by...
, by John WilliamsJohn WilliamsJohn Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T... - 2005 Composer of the Year: John WilliamsJohn WilliamsJohn Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
- 2004 Score of the Year: The IncrediblesThe IncrediblesThe Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
, by Michael GiacchinoMichael GiacchinoMichael Giacchino is an American composer who has composed scores for movies, television series and video games. Some of his most notable works include the scores to television series such as Lost, Alias and Fringe, games such as the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty series, and films such as... - 2004 Composer of the Year: Michael GiacchinoMichael GiacchinoMichael Giacchino is an American composer who has composed scores for movies, television series and video games. Some of his most notable works include the scores to television series such as Lost, Alias and Fringe, games such as the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty series, and films such as...