4 months ago
Composer Christopher Lennertz was declared a BMI Icon astatine Broadcast Music Inc.’s 39th yearly Film, TV and Visual Media Awards Wednesday nighttime (May 10) successful Beverly Hills.
Lennertz, a two-time Emmy nominee (“The Boys,” “Supernatural”), seasoned movie composer (“Alvin and nan Chipmunks,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Bad Moms”) and game-music creator (“Medal of Honor,” “Mass Effect,” “The Simpsons”), was honored for his 30-year profession successful media music-making.
BMI president and CEO Mike O’Neill presented nan award, noting that Lennertz was “legendary for his divers and chopped effect crossed nan worlds of film, tv and gaming” and telling nan 51-year-old composer, “your captivating scores person taken america connected a thrilling ride.”
Added BMI’s VP creative, film, TV and ocular media Tracy McKnight: “His compelling assemblage of work, from blockbuster films to deed TV shows and gaming, highlights Christopher’s passion for each styles of euphony and has made him 1 of nan industry’s astir sought-after composers. He is besides dedicated to giving backmost done philanthropic activity and advancing nan adjacent procreation of composers.”
Lennertz’s versatility was illustrated via video clips that featured much of his TV activity (“Marvel’s Agent Carter,” “Lost successful Space,” “Revolution”) and his past films (“Sausage Party,” “Hop,” “Smurfs: The Lost Village,” “Pitch Perfect 3”). Directors including Eric Kripke (“The Boys”) and Tim Story (“Ride Along”) attended successful support of nan composer.
Lennertz has besides written nan orchestral arrangements for Ozomatli’s Grammy-winning “Street Signs” medium and for Guns N’ Roses caller remake of its classical “November Rain.” He written songs for Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monae and Lizzo, and precocious scored nan Disneyland fireworks show “Wondrous Journeys.”
Lennertz told Variety that nan grant was “incredibly humbling and super-meaningful.” A BMI composer since 1994, he recalled being invited to his first film-music awards dinner, watched John Williams being honored, and “never imagined that it would beryllium maine stepping up connected that stage” decades later.
He credited BMI’s erstwhile executive Doreen Ringer Ross pinch arranging for him to go an adjunct to composers Basil Poledouris (“Lonesome Dove”) and later Michael Kamen (“Lethal Weapon”), and his later collaborations pinch Oscar winners Dave Grusin (on nan climate-change documentary “Harmony”) and Alan Menken (on “Galavant” and “Sausage Party”), each cardinal turning points successful his career.
“I changed my awesome [to movie scoring] nan time aft I met Henry Mancini,” Lennertz said. “He’d do a jazz grounds and past a movie score. Working for Kamen, it was nan aforesaid thing: He’d decorativeness a people cue and past do a drawstring floor plan for Eric Clapton. I’ve ever wanted to do records and theatre and musicals and films. That was nan profession I’ve ever wanted; location are truthful galore different styles and tons of ways to usage creation skills successful different venues.”
Asked astir his penchant for giving backmost — raising money for hurricane-devastated Haiti, serving connected nan boards of music-education organizations — he said it was instilled successful him by his parents, some teachers, who were “helping group find their ain passion and travel their ain dreams. Teaching, mentoring, championing education, was specified a large portion (of their lives),” he said.
Lennertz told nan black-tie crowd that he views his intent is “helping others entree joy. What we do erstwhile we show stories is, we thief group believe. Our euphony helps group judge successful their ain story, their ain worth, their ain identity, and their ain existence. I americium honored to beryllium successful this room wholly filled pinch group who loved and believed successful me.”
Numerous different composers were honored during nan arena for euphony featured successful nan past year’s top-grossing films, top-rated web TV bid and highest-rated cablegram and streamed-media programs. Atli Örvarsson received six awards, astir of nan evening, for his euphony connected “Chicago P.D.,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” “FBI,” “FBI: International” and “FBI: Most Wanted.”
Other composers earning aggregate awards included Pierre Charles (“Inventing Anna”), Mychael Danna (“Where nan Crawdads Sing”), Ludwig Göransson (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), Harry Gregson-Williams (“The Gilded Age”), Kevin Kiner (“Dark Winds”), Sean Kiner (“Titans”), Clint Mansell (“Peacemaker”), Tony Morales (“Reacher”), Mike Post (“Law & Order”), Brian Tyler (“1883”) and Breton Vivian (“Yellowstone”).
A complete database of winners is astatine BMI.com/filmtv2023.
