ASMAC (American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers) presents

Channel Surfers
Writing for Television

LA 12pm | Peru & NY 3pm | London 8pm | Paris 9pm | Sydney 5am (+1 day)

Composers will share about composing for tv and arranging their work to be performed live by Helix Collective for their upcoming concert at Plaza del Sol, CSUN, Northridge, CA.

• Writing for Television
• Writing for Small Ensembles for T.V. scores
• Arranging T.V. Scores for Live Performance

This will include at least the following composers:

• Kris Carter — Missy and the Maxinator
• Sherri Chung —Based on a True Story
• Daniel Rojas — Fly Hard
• Jeff Cardoni — White House Plumbers
• Jeff Russo — Fargo and Ripley

Moderated by Charles Fernandez.

After hearing from some of the composers at this online ASMAC Channel Surfers: Writing for Television event on Saturday, 8 Jun 2024, consider the Helix Collective in-person concert at the end of June if you're in southern California:

CHANNEL SURFERS!
Tonight’s Favorite T.V. Music
Performed by Helix Collective

Saturday 29 Jun 2024, Plaza del Sol, CSUN, Northridge, CA
Concert tickets Available at: helixcollective.org/shows

6:30pm—Pre-Concert Party & Best PJs Contest
7:30pm—Concert
9pm—Post-Concert Hang with Helix & the Composers

Forget A.I. 100% Real Composers 100% Real Musicians 100% Organic

Sit back, relax, (wear your fuzzy slippers if you like!) and enjoy Helix Collective’s wild ride through today’s best television music.

The concert features t.v. music from the following composers and T.V. shows:

• Jongnic Bontemps—We Are the Brooklyn Saints
• Jeff Cardoni—White House Plumbers
• Kristopher Carter—Missy and the Maxinator
• Sherri Chung—Based on a True Story
• Tony Morales—Fubar
• Layla Minoui—Vampirina
• Cindy O’Connor—The Professional Bridesmaid and The 27 Hour Day
• Didier Lean Rachou—Sex and the City
• Daniel Rojas—Fly Hard
• Jeff Russo—Fargo and Ripley
• Amritha Vaz—Home

Bios:

KRISTOPHER CARTER

Emmy-winning composer Kristopher Carter has contributed scores to some of the most recognizable cinematic properties for over 25 years, accompanying the animated adventures of Batman, Superman, the Teen Titans, the Justice League, the Avengers, Ben 10 and more along with composing partners Lolita Ritmanis and Michael McCuistion. He received an Emmy Award for Batman Beyond, as well as seven other Emmy nominations and four Annie Award nominations. When not composing superheroic fanfares, he can be found providing the creepy ambiences and jump scares behind horror films like Chiller TV’s SiREN, the 3rd installment of the V|H|S horror anthology, and indie favorite Dance of the Dead. Taking listeners on a completely different kind of journey, he produces and spins EDM (Electronic Dance Music) with his DJ project The Kr Protocol. He is thrilled to join the Helix Collective on this concert, having collaborated with them multiple times on scoring projects as well as their “Live from the Quarantines” Handwashing Music series.

SHERRI CHUNG

Sherri Chung as been recognized internationally as a trailblazing composer for film and television. A versatile artist, she has composed the scores for numerous series including CW’s Kung Fu, the animated series for Amblin’s iconic franchise Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, NBC’s hit drama Found, and Peacock’s original comedic thriller series, Based on a True Story. Her scores for film include Netflix’s The Lost Husband and Happiness For Beginners, as well as Warner Bros.' Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase and Tyler Perry’s upcoming film, Divorce In The Black. Sherri has been recognized as Variety’s 10 Composers To Watch and is a 2024 nominee for the IFMCA Breakthrough Composer of the Year. An active member of the film music industry, Sherri also currently serves as Governor of Music in the Television Academy.

DANIEL ROJAS

Best-known for his eclectic and modern scores to shows like Dreamworks' Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeats, Marvel’s Hit-Monkey, and M.O.D.O.K., Daniel has become a fresh new voice in the world of scoring. His background as a songwriter and producer has allowed him to develop a unique style that seamlessly blends song production techniques with traditional scoring. He was born and raised in Costa Rica, and music has been around him since childhood. Daniel’s mother is a classical pianist originally from China and his father a Costa Rican trumpet player & band director. After receiving a classical education and playing in numerous bands as a teenager, Daniel decided to pursue music professionally and went on to study Jazz at the University of North Texas, before moving to LA to pursue film scoring. Most recently, Daniel scored the Illumination Entertainment short films Minions & More 1 & 2 (for Netflix) and Fly Hard, the comedy feature film Who Invited Charlie?, the Emmy-winning YouTube series Jam Van with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Nickelodeon’s animated series Monster High.

JEFF CARDONI

Jeff studied classical piano as a child, spent a brief stint as lead guitarist for the Warner-Brothers band “Alien Crime Syndicate”, before pursuing film scoring full time. With over 55 feature film scores and several network series to his credit, one can hear his work worldwide every day, and was voted ASCAP 2019 TV Composer of The Year. His breakthrough series was the worldwide hit CSI:Miami for CBS, with his first studio film soon after Just Friends, starring Ryan Reynolds. Other notable projects include Silicon Valley (HBO), The Kominsky Method (Netflix), Young Sheldon (CBS) , Ghosts (CBS), Heels (Starz), Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates (Fox), and the recent limited series White House Plumbers (HBO). Upcoming projects include the Western drama Ransom Canyon for Netflix, a reboot of Cruel Intentions for Amazon, and the series adaption of the bestselling sci-fi young adult novel Fallen.

JEFF RUSSO

Jeff Russo is an Emmy Award-winning and Grammy-nominated composer, scoring varied and compelling music for film, television and video games. Upcoming projects include Jon Avnet’s The Last Rodeo; and FX’s series Alien from Noah Hawley.

Russo’s film credits include Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Rob Peace, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival; Bartlett Sher’s Oslo, which he co-scored with Zoë Keating and for which he received an Emmy nomination; Paul Dektor’s American Dreamer, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival; Sabrina Doyle’s Lorelei, which premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival; Noah Hawley’s Lucy in the Sky, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival; Peter Berg’s action-thriller film, Mile 22; and Jon Avnet’s Three Christs, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.

His music can also be heard on shows such as Netflix’s limited series, Ripley; FX’s Fargo, for which Russo received an Emmy in 2017 and three additional nominations; Peacock’s Mrs. Davis; HBO Max’s Love and Death; Amazon Prime’s The Consultant; Showtime Networks’ The Man Who Fell to Earth; CBS All Access’s Star Trek: Discovery, and Clarice; Paramount +’s Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy; Cursed; and Altered Carbon; FX’s Legion and Snowfall; Starz’s Power Book II: Ghost, produced by Curtis Jackson “50 Cent”; Apple TV+’s For All Mankind; and more.

In addition to composing music for film and television, Russo is a founding member, lead guitarist and co-songwriter of two-time Grammy nominated, multi-platinum selling rock band,Tonic. Their debut album, Lemon Parade, posted three singles in the U.S. Mainstream rock charts' Top 10 with "If You Could Only See" rocketing to number one. In 2003, the band received two Grammy nominations, one for “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal” for "Take Me As I Am", and one for “Best Rock Album.” Russo also received a BAFTA nomination for Best Music for Annapurna Interactive's video game, What Remains of Edith Finch.

HELIX COLLECTIVE

Helix Collective are classical musicians busting out of the traditional mold. From crossover dance music, to storytelling, to film, television, and video game music, the Los Angeles-based ensemble takes the best of classical chamber music and makes it the life of the party.

Variety Magazine praised Helix Collective’s musical range moving from “moody urgency and edgy chamber-music sound” to the “sweetly romantic evoking wide-open spaces.” Like the double helix, the ensemble is rearrangeable, flexible, and fuses the DNA of classical music into worlds where it’s never gone before.Helix has collaborated with many EMMY and GRAMMY winning film, t.v., and video game composers. In 2012 we founded the Los Angeles Live Score Film Festival, a live score-to-screen film festival that pairs film composers and indie filmmakers. Helix Collective produces Film Music Connect with SAGindie, providing independent filmmakers with original scores recorded by the ensemble. Helix Collective produces concerts featuring media composers that give them the chance to stretch their musical wings on the concert stage and connect with creative communities here in L.A. https://www.helixcollective.org/shows

Charles Fernandez (Moderator)

Composer Charles Fernandez, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and an award winning composer, has been composing for television, film and stage since 1989.

Specializing in animation, he’s written for shows such as Bonkers, Doug, Toonsylvania, Casper (For which he received two Emmy and one Annie nomination), the Aladdin series, the Mermaid series, the 101 Dalmatian series and Robot Chicken among many other. Among the films he has contributed to are All Dogs Go to Heaven II, All Dogs Christmas Carol, Alvin and the Chipmunks meet the Wolfman, Alvin and the Chipmunks meet Frankenstein, Pebble and the Penguin, Babes in Toyland, Tom Thumb and Thumbalina, Tom Sawyer, Jingle Bells, The Tangerine Bear, Doug’s 1st Movie and The Butterfly Effect. Add to this orchestration and composition on countless trailers, commercials and independent projects and his resume fills up quickly!

More recently, Mr. Fernandez has also been writing concert and chamber music, including two commissions for the Cal State University Northridge (50th Anniversary and LA Bach Festival), Redlands University, Loyola University (New Orleans), San Jose Community Band, Idyllwild School of the Arts, The Los Angeles Winds (Concert Band), San Fernando Valley Symphony as well as commissions from individuals including Francisco Castillo (Oboe), Helen Goode (Clarinet) and Jennifer Bliman (Horn).

Additionally, Mr. Fernandez Teaches a yearly course on Writing for Animation at UCLA Extension and for England based courses on composition and orchestration.

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Our online events are all held on Zoom. A log-on link and password will be sent via email upon completion of your ticket order.

All of ASMAC’s events are recorded, and your participation serves as your consent to be part of this recording. ASMAC reserves the right to rebroadcast this recording, as well as to offer it for sale in various media.

The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers (ASMAC) is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. Our mission is to promote the arts of music arranging, composition, and orchestration within the music and entertainment industry and to the general public. ASMAC presents master classes, online events, scholarships, and other programs for professionals, students, the entertainment community, as well as to schools and to the general public. Visit asmac.org for more info.