The 10th annual Hollywood Music in Media Awards rewarded a diverse crop of composers, songwriters and music supervisors who contributed to film, TV and videogames over the last year, from scorers Alan Silvestri, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Marco Beltrami and Michael Abels to tunesmiths Cynthia Erivo, Bebe Rexha and the Avett Brothers to Quentin Tarantino’s longtime music sidekick, Mary Ramos.
The ceremony also included several performances, with rockers Jakob Dylan and Michelle Phillips (of the Mamas and the Papas) offering a sample of the ’60s pop that helped “Echo in the Canyon” win the award for best music documentary; composer Kris Bowers performing an excerpt from his music for Netflix’s “When They See Us,” which won him best original score for TV/limited series; veteran writer Charles Fox doing a medley that included his vintage themes for “Happy Days” and “The Love Boat”; and a rendering of Diane Warren’s nominated “I’m Standing With You,” from the movie “Breakthrough.”
Although Warren did not win in her category, she got the most illustrious shout-out of the night, from unexpected quarters, in Silvestri’s acceptance speech. Picking up his award for sci-fi score for “Avengers: Endgame,” one of the most celebrated of all modern composers did some impromptu stumping for an equally big name in the adjacent discipline. “I hope it’s not inappropriate,” Silvestri said, “but I would love it if in the not too distant future, Diane Warren would win a big prize. She’s written some of the most magnificent things any of us have ever heard. And I’m such a fan — I’m honored to be in the room with you. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
Silvestri is pictured above with fellow winners Bowers and Catherine Grieves, who won outstanding music supervision in television for her work on BBC America’s “Killing Eve,” an honor she shared with David Holmes.
The Hollywood Music in Media Awards split up some of their feature film categories by genre, which explains Silvestri winning in a sci-fi/fantasy category. But in the case of best original score for a feature film (which excludes the separate sci-fi, horror, animation and documentary divisions), there was an unexpected split even within the category. It ended up a tie between Guðnadóttir. who was honored for scoring “Joker,” and the team of Beltrami and Buck Sanders, who also won for “Ford v Ferrari.”
Original score for a horror film went to Abels for “Us,” while John Powell picked up the award for original score for an animated film for the franchise entry “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.” Jeff Beal won for documentary original score for “The Biggest Little Farm.”
In the movie songs categories, actor Cynthia Erivo won as a songwriter for “Stand Up,” the theme song from “Harriet,” in which she also stars; the award is shared by her co-writer Joshua Brian Campbell. Among those Erivo and Campbell topped in that category, besides Warren, were such big stars as Elton John, Beyonce and Thom Yorke, as well as the formidable team of Alan Menken, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Bebe Rexha was part of the team that won for best original song from an animated film with the “Abominable” tune “Beautiful Life,” co-written for the pop star to sing by a big team that included David Saint Fleur, Samuel James Zammarelli, Nicholas Black and Christopher Tempest. Original song for a documentary went to Americana favorites the Avett Brothers for a song they wrote for “The Biggest Little Farm” called “Sun, Flood or Drought.”
In television, best original song for a TV show or limited series went to “Time Loop” from “Sherman’s Showcase,” as performed by Galaxia. The large team of writers: Phonte Coleman, Lorenzo Ferguson, Diallo Riddle, Bashir Salahuddin, Evan Williams and Rob Haze. Main title theme for TV was picked up by Steven Price for Netflix’s “Our Planet.”
Outstanding music supervision for a film went to Ramos for her work on “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.” Remarkably, though, the much loved companion album for Tarantino’s movie wasn’t even nominated for best soundtrack album. That award went to Lakeshore’s various artists compilation for “Red Dead Redemption 2.”
Speaking of video games, the award for best original score in that division went to Sarah Schachner for “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.”
Perhaps the most surprising winner was Jeremy Renner, who won for original song/score for a commercial advertisement for music he wrote with Eric Zayne for a Jeep Grand Cherokee ad.
The Hollywood Music in Media Awards feature nominations picked by an advisory board and special committee, with the final vote going out to a wider group that also includes members of the Motion Picture Academy, Recording Academy, Society of Composers and Lyricists, and representatives of the PRO, journalism and music-exec communities.
Awards were also given out for independent films, shorts and even trailers. A complete list of winners:
ORIGINAL SCORE – FEATURE FILM (Tie)
Hildur Guðnadóttir – JOKER
Marco Beltrami | Buck Sanders – FORD V FERRARI
ORIGINAL SCORE – SCI-FI/FANTASY
Alan Silvestri – AVENGERS: ENDGAME
ORIGINAL SCORE – HORROR FILM
Michael Abels – US
ORIGINAL SCORE – ANIMATED FILM
John Powell – HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD
ORIGINAL SCORE – DOCUMENTARY
Jeff Beal – THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM
ORIGINAL SONG – FEATURE FILM
“Stand Up” from HARRIET
Written by Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell. Performed by Cynthia Erivo
ORIGINAL SONG – DOCUMENTARY
“Sun, Flood, or Drought” From THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM
Written by Scott Avett and Seth Avett. Performed by The Avett Brothers
ORIGINAL SONG – ANIMATED FILM
“Beautiful Life” from ABOMINABLE
Written by Bleta Rexha, David Saint Fleur, Samuel James Zammarelli, Nicholas Black, Christopher Tempest. Performed by Bebe Rexha
MUSIC DOCUMENTARY/SPECIAL PROGRAM
ECHO IN THE CANYON — Directed by Andrew Slater. Produced by Eric Barrett and Jakob Dylan
ORIGINAL SCORE – TV SHOW/LIMITED SERIES
Kris Bowers – WHEN THEY SEE US
ORIGINAL SONG – TV SHOW/LIMITED SERIES
“Time Loop” from SHERMAN’S SHOWCASE Music and lyrics by Phonte Coleman, Lorenzo Ferguson, Diallo Riddle, Bashir Salahuddin, Evan Williams, and Rob Haze
MAIN TITLE THEME – TV SHOW/LIMITED SERIES
Steven Price – OUR PLANET
OUTSTANDING MUSIC SUPERVISION – FILM
Mary Ramos – ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
OUTSTANDING MUSIC SUPERVISION – TELEVISION
Catherine Grieves & David Holmes – KILLING EVE
OUTSTANDING MUSIC SUPERVISION – VIDEO GAME
Keith Leary, Peter Scaturro and Alex Hackford – DAYS GONE
SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 – VA OST
ORIGINAL SCORE – INDEPENDENT FILM
Dara Taylor – COLDWELL
ORIGINAL SONG – INDEPENDENT FILM
lionel Cohen & Ollie Gabriel – “She’s Setting Fire to the Floor” from MOB TOWN
ORIGINAL SCORE – SHORT FILM (Live Action)
J. M. Quintana Cámara – PAPER BOATS
ORIGINAL SCORE – SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Amie Doherty – MAROONED
ORIGINAL SCORE – VIDEO GAME
Sarah Schachner – CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE
ORIGINAL SONG – VIDEO GAME
“Saudade” (feat. Shim) – RESIDENT EVIL 2 written by Cody Matthew Johnson and Shim. Lyrics by Shim, Cody Matthew Johnson, and Jeff Rona. Performed by by Shim, Peter DiStephano, Cody Matthew Johnson, and Elmo Lovano
SONG/SCORE – MOBILE VIDEO GAME
Inon Zur – THE ELDER SCROLLS: BLADES
SONG/SCORE – TRAILER
Mark Hannah – ROMA (Official Trailer)
ORIGINAL SCORE – SHORT FILM (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Jesica Yap – HOME
MAIN TITLE TV SHOW (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Khaled Al Kammar – Qabeel
ORIGINAL SONG/SCORE – COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT
“Main Attraction” – JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE Written by Jeremy Renner and Eric Zayne, performed by Jeremy Renner