2020 Screen Music Awards nominees announced
Bold music from groundbreaking productions including Unorthodox, The Secret She Keeps, Stateless and Bluey.
Antonio Gambale, Antony Partos, Jed Kurzel, Bryony Marks, Amanda Brown, Michael Yezerski and more get musical nods.
APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) are thrilled to announce the nominees for the 2020 Screen Music Awards.
The awards, which will be streamed online as a YouTube Premiere on Tuesday 1 December from 7:00pm AEDT, feature 46 nominees who have contributed to 36 works across 12 categories including documentary, short film, children’s television, advertising, soundtrack albums, and feature films.
At a time when we are consuming filmed entertainment more than ever, these nominated works represent some of the most talked about screen moments of the past year including Stateless, Unorthodox, Operation Buffalo, The Letdown, Upright, Glitch, The Secrets She Keeps, Bluey and many others.
Composer Antony Partos leads the nominee list with four nods for his work across Best Music for a Documentary for the deeply moving Maralinga Tjarutja, and Best Original Song Composed for the Screen for Edge of Something from ABC TV political drama series Total Control with co-writers Missy Higgins and Matteo Zingales. He is nominated twice for the ABC comedy-drama series Operation Buffalo (Best Television Theme and Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie).
Melbourne screen composer and music producer Cornel Wilczek has scored three nominations for his diverse offerings. He is nominated for Best Music for a Television Series or Serial for paranormal drama, Glitch. He and co-composers Pascal Babare (who makes his Screen Music Awards debut) and Tom Rouch are named as nominees in Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie for the harrowing drama Stateless. Cornel and Pascal also share a nomination in the Best Music for a Documentary category for Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator.
Also appearing on the Screen Music nominees list for the very first time is Antonio Gambale who is recognised twice for his work on the ground-breaking Netflix sensation Unorthodox. The Paris via Canberra composer and AFTRS graduate is on a roll, receiving two Primetime Emmy nominations this year for Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score) and Original Main Title Theme Music.
Joining Antonio and Pascal as first-time Screen Music Awards nominees are Tim Minchin, Brendan Tuckerman, Thandi Phoenix, Matt Ford, Jack Steele, Amy Andersen, Angie Coffey, Tyson Mowarin, Tom Murray, Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan.
Proving again that screen composition is an artform where collaboration can be the key to success, this year’s nominees list also features a number of co-creations. Amanda Brown with Damien Lane, Jonathan Dreyfus with Amy Andersen, dynamic duo Sally Seltmann and Darren Seltmann, and the award winning screen composing team of Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks are just some of the composers that have joined forces to create a powerful sonic palette.
Jed Kurzel returns in the Feature Film Score of the Year category with the True History of the Kelly Gang. He is joined in this category by previous Screen Music Awards winners David Hirschfelder for Escape from Pretoria, Michael Lira for Nekrotronic and Michael Yezerski for The Vigil.
The 2020 Screen Music Awards will be staged as a virtual event, streamed online to a global audience on Tuesday 1 December via YouTube Premiere, kicking off at 7:00pm AEDT.
2020 Screen Music Awards Nominees
Feature Film Score of the Year
Title Escape from Pretoria
Composed by David Hirschfelder
Published by Cas Music Australia obo Copyright Administration Films
Title Nekrotronic
Composed by Michael Lira
Title The Vigil
Composed by Michael Yezerski
Title True History of the Kelly Gang
Composed by Jed Kurzel
Published by G Schirmer Australia obo Chester Music
Best Music for a Documentary
Title Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator
Composed by Cornel Wilczek / Pascal Babare
Published by BMG Rights Management obo Maisie Anthems
Title Machine
Composed by Matteo Zingales
Published by Sonar Music
Title Maralinga Tjarutja
Composed by Antony Partos
Published by Sonar Music
Title Quilty: Painting the Shadows
Composed by Damien Lane / Amanda Brown
Published by Kobalt Music Publishing obo Lillipilli IP
Best Music for a Short Film
Title Bolzmann
Composed by Jonathan Dreyfus / Amy Andersen
Title I Want To Make A Film About Women
Composed by Caitlin Yeo
Title The Hammerstone
Composed by Jackson Milas
Title The Sand That Ate the Sea
Composed by Luke Howard
Published by Secretly Canadian Publishing
Best Soundtrack Album
Title Hearts and Bones
Composed by Rafael May
Published by Cooking Vinyl Publishing
Title Judy & Punch
Composed by François Tétaz
Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Title Lambs of God
Composed by Bryony Marks
Published by Kobalt Music Publishing obo Lillipilli IP
Title The Letdown
Composed by Sally Seltmann*/Darren Seltmann
Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing*
Best Original Song Composed for the Screen
Title Ballad of the Bridge-Builders from The Skin of Others
Composed by David Bridie*/Tom Murray
Published by Mushroom Music*
Title Bear’s Theme from Bear: Koala Hero
Composed by Adam Gock/Brontë Horder/Mitch Stewart/Dinesh Wicks
Title Carry You from Upright
Composed by Tim Minchin
Published by Kobalt Music Publishing obo Navel Enterprises
Title Edge of Something from Total Control
Composed by Missy Higgins*/Antony Partos/Matteo Zingales
Published by Mushroom Music* / Sonar Music
Best Music for Children’s Television
Title Alice Miranda: Friends Forever
Composed by Ryan Grogan
Title Bluey: Flatpack
Composed by Joff Bush
Published by Universal Music Publishing obo BBC Worldwide Limited
Title Thalu: Shadow Boxer
Composed by Ned Beckley/Josh Hogan
Title The Strange Chores: Train Snorp
Composed by Joff Bush
Published by Ludo Studio Pty Ltd
Best Television Theme
Title Thalu (Ngarndu Ngurra)
Composed by Ned Beckley/Josh Hogan/Tyson Mowarin
Title Operation Buffalo
Composed by Antony Partos
Published by Sonar Music
Title The Commons
Composed by Roger Mason
Title Unorthodox
Composed by Antonio Gambale
Published by BMG Rights Management obo Maisie Anthems
Best Music for a Television Series or Serial
Title Everything’s Gonna Be Ok: Seven-Spotted Ladybug
Composed by Bryony Marks
Published by Native Tongue Music Publishing obo Avalon Management Group
Title Glitch: Perfectly Safe
Composed by Cornel Wilczek
Title The Secrets She Keeps
Composed by Amanda Brown
Published by Kobalt Music Publishing obo Lillipilli IP
Title You Can’t Ask That: Killed Someone
Composed by Andrew Sampford
Published by Universal Music Publishing obo ABC Music Publishing
Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie
Title Operation Buffalo
Composed by Antony Partos
Published by Sonar Music
Title Stateless
Composed by Cornel Wilczek / Tom Rouch* / Pascal Babare
Published by Native Tongue Music Publishing*
Title The Commons
Composed by Roger Mason
Title Unorthodox
Composed by Antonio Gambale
Published by BMG Rights Management obo Maisie Anthems
Best Music for an Advertisement
Title Georgetown Optician: Eyes Say More Than Words
Composed by Scott Langley
Published by Squeak E. Clean Studios
Title Klarna: Get What I Love
Composed by Brendan Tuckerman* / Thandi Phoenix~/ Matt Ford / Jack Steele / Thomas Cardy
Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing*/Universal Music Publishing
obo Peppermintblue Publishing~
Title Nippon Steel: Stuck On You
Composed by Jonathan Dreyfus / Amy Andersen
Title Women With Agency: Women Run
Composed by Angie Coffey
Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia
Composers: Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks
Composer: Anthony El-Ammar
Composer: Jay Stewart
Composer: Mitch Stewart
Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas
Composer: Jed Kurzel
Composer: Michael Yezerski
Composer: Neil Sutherland
Composer: Nerida Tyson-Chew