New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Independent Film
Spirit Award double-nominated film, SHE'S LOST CONTROL will be released in theaters in New York on March 20th and Los Angeles March 27th. The film features original music by composer
Simon TaufiQue, who also serves as the film's co-producer.
"Producing allows me to see the big picture beyond my musical slice of it," said TaufiQue. "A major part of producing is dealing with the practical realities of making a film. Sometimes this means bursting the composer's creative bubble. Getting to see how the sausage is made can be a bit disorienting but also enlightening because it's a chance to cultivate new discussions about how music can develop alongside other aspects of the production."
TaufiQue was initially brought on to SHE'S LOST CONTROL Anja Marquardt (the film's writer/director) early in the process as composer. "During the film's pre-production, the atmosphere and energy of the production team reminded me of my days running a start-up and how making a film is a lot like starting a company." Harkening back to those days, TaufiQue came up with an elevator pitch for the film that he shared with some friends at the creative co-op Sandbox. "Soon enough, the pitch generated some interest from collaborators and investors. Anja saw what I was brewing and kindly offered me a seat at the producer's table."
TaufiQue continued, "As a producer I was involved in our film's Kickstarter pitch video and as the film's composer, I saw that as an opening for including my sometime collaborator, Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, which definitely raised the exposure of the film. Julian also helped us get a
Strokes song into the film, and for an indie film, the cost of a hit song could easily eclipse the entire production budget. As a producer, I also get to witness the on set creative alchemy between the actors, DP and the director, and all of that definitely seeps and influences the score along the way."
Simon TaufiQue found himself at the frontlines of music's transformation by the digital revolution, after a brief detour where he founded a celebrated tech start-up (greenbutton.com). His new perspective led him to study techniques of virtual collaboration, advanced synthesis and nonlinear recording at NYU's music technology graduate program. Before long, TaufiQue was applying those lessons by composing for award winning indie projects, including being chosen to co-compose for the Julia Roberts produced film, JESUS HENRY CHRIST with guitar virtuoso
David Torn (LARS & THE REAL GIRL).
As word of mouth about TaufiQue's collaborative process accumulates, he's now being asked to work with filmmakers as both a composer and producer. He recently became a partner in the NY/LA film fund, Atomic Features, which has several projects gearing up for production in 2015 and 2016, with him on board to produce and score, including ASHER (starring
Danny Glover and Mekhi Phifer) and a film adaptation of acclaimed novel, PURPLE AMERICA, written by Rick Moody (author of THE ICE STORM and GARDEN STATE). He also served as a music consultant on the upcoming film YOSEMITE (starring
James Franco).
Simon also accepted an invitation to join the 2015 TriBeCa Film Festival Programming Committee, building on his work as Program
Director (2008) and Jury Chair (2009) at the South Asian International Film Festival.
Simon also hosts a popular filmmaker salon made up of nearly a thousand active filmmakers that meet at monthly events.
Born in the UK with a French-sounding name, a proud exotic heritage and a streetwise attitude that's pure New York, TaufiQue has been a secret weapon for a new generation of indie filmmakers. He is an award winning Composer, Film Producer, Sundance Lab Finalist and Film Festival Programmer. Along the way, whispers of recognition have appeared in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, NME , Spin Magazine and IndieWire for his work with Julian Casablancas (frontman for THE STROKES) and accomplished filmmakers Mary Harron (AMERICAN PSYCHO), 2014 Berlin Film Festival-winner Anja Marquardt, Independent
Spirit Award nominee Hossein Keshavarz ( DOG SWEAT) and Student Academy Award winner
Dennis Lee.
ABOUT SHE'S LOST CONTROL
In a world of increasing layers between people, intimacy is perhaps the most elusive ingredient of human interaction. A person can either take the plunge and emotionally connect with their OS, or in the case of She's Lost Control, psychotherapists can refer patients to sex surrogates.
Engaging that line of work, Ronah puts to use her considerable psych-studies experience, as well as her natural socilitous warmth, to engage in close but professional relationships. Until she meets Johnny, and her already fraying control dissolves the thin line between professional and personal intimacy. First-time feature director Anja Marquardt, however, never loses control, delivering a stylish, deeply unnerving, and profound film on an intangible modern issue.
"Initially, I was tempted to pursue an exotic or unorthodox approach to instrumentation, since it might better suit the film's protagonist, a sex surrogate, practicing such an unorthodox form of therapy and sexual treatment," TaufiQue described. "But that changed after reading the script several times, visiting the set, and then talking to Anja during the editing process. I felt unconventional instrumentation could come across as too on the nose, and at worse, overkill. So I ended up limiting my options to a fairly conventional instrument that can convey a lot of emotion, especially when it gets out of control. I turned to an electric slide guitar played with an eBow, then reversed and heavily treated."
