New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ ASCAP) ASCAP has commissioned a new short film in honor of its 100th birthday, Why We Create
Music , which celebrates and provides an intimate look into the hearts, minds and musical gifts of some of today's top songwriters and composers. Combining footage from more than 10 separate film shoots around the country with 15 ASCAP members, the film explores the meaning and power of music as expressed by the music creators themselves. In addition, from shoot to shoot an unprecedented collaborative musical composition was built as each participant was filmed adding their own musical "voice" to the score. Similar to ASCAP's founding members of 1914, the modern day group captured in the film represents a diverse group of accomplished songwriters and composers. The film, directed by filmmaker/composer Michael Marantz, features members who have been recognized by Pulitzer Prizes, Grammys, Emmys, Oscars and Dove Awards -- brought together for a creative cause -- something that only an organization like the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) could make possible.
The film is the centerpiece of the www.ASCAP100.com site's recently launched 100 Years, 100 Days campaign, which Billboard called "a slick, highly produced new website." Each day leading up to ASCAP's February 13th birthday, the site's interactive timeline unveils a new year's spotlight with photographs, facts and important milestones that tell ASCAP's -- and America's -- musical story in an exciting new way.
Watch the film now at www.ASCAP100.com .
An unexpected and incredible result of the filming was the creation of a complete song, "More Than the Stars." While participating in the project, the writers were inspired to create a song that conveys their passion for songwriting and music's power to touch the lives of people. Each of the participants contributed something to the song -- music, lyrics, vocals and/or instrumental elements. The song and its companion music video are featured in the closing credits of the short film and will be released soon on www.ASCAP100.com .
The film's lineup features:
Aloe Blacc, acclaimed soul singer-songwriter behind "I Need a Dollar" and Avicii's international hit "
Wake Me Up"
Claudia Brant , Latin Grammy-winning songwriter for Song of the Year
Carter Burwell , Oscar-nominated film composer renowned for scoring The Coen Brothers films
Amy Grant , Grammy and Dove Award-winning and best-selling contemporary Christian singer-songwriter ever
Josh Kear , four-time Grammy-winning country pop songwriter, including Song of the Year, and 2013 ASCAP Country
Music Songwriter of the Year
Savan Kotecha , hit pop songwriter for Britney Spears, Usher,
One Direction and Maroon 5, as well as vocal producer on The X Factor
David Lang , Pulitzer Prize-winning concert music composer and Bang on a Can co-founder
Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum, seven-time Grammy-winning country pop singer-songwriters and Song and Record of the Year winners
Bear McCreary , Emmy-winning composer known for his work on The Walking Dead
Ne-Yo , three-time Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter
Stargate , Grammy-winning record producing and songwriting duo behind pop hits for Ne-Yo, Beyoncé, Katy Perry,
Rihanna and others
Dan Wilson , Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-producer of Adele's "
Someone Like You" and "
Closing Time" with his band Semisonic
Bill Withers , legendary and Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter of "Lean on Me," "
Ain't No Sunshine" and "Just the Two of Us"
About ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business -- from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With over 470,000 members representing more than 8.5 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. www.ascap.com
About Michael Marantz and Already Alive
Michael Marantz is a filmmaker of the new generation. He was able to start his career from utilizing new technologies to get his work made and seen. As a director, composer, and artist he is able to tell stories with a holistic vision. Through his experience with cancer he has learned to appreciate life in a deeply meaningful way and is constantly in pursuit of stirring people to feel the same way he does, alive. He started a studio in 2012, called Already Alive, to do just that. His online films have been seen by millions and featured on The Huffington Post, CBS news, NBC, Wired, and more. He has given talks about the power of story to change our world with such institutions as TED, NYU and others. He is currently working on documentary, narrative, and digital projects and looks forward to more collaborations to tell powerful stories. Already Alive is a studio of filmmakers, storytellers and experience designers with a mission to compel people to come alive through the telling of powerful stories. The studio combines creative, strategy and production for its own projects and commercial work; in other words, they find the best story to tell, figure out the best way to tell it, and then make it. As someone once said, "Life is about stories, good or bad. If you don't experience something you might as well just lie down and be dead." www.alreadyalive.com
