Success is sweetest when shared with those you love.
Honoree Brian Tyler and wife Sofie attend the 38th Annual BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for BMI)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA (LA ELEMENTS) 5/18/2022- “Looking back on a life and career,” says BMI Icon Brian Tyler, “it’s really hard to take in and surreal.” Lights, cameras, BMI’s! On May 11th, 2022, the BMI® (Broadcast Music, Inc.®) held its 38th Annual BMI Film, TV and Visual Media Awards to celebrate the top performing composers in cinema, TV and visual media of the past year. The highest honor of the evening went to Brian Tyler who has scored an impressive slate of movie blockbusters including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Crazy Rich Asians and Iron Man 3. In recognition of his exceptional body of work and success as a composer, orchestral conductor and music producer, Tyler was named a BMI Icon.
BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill, BMI EVP of Creative and Licensing Mike Steinberg and BMI SVP of Creative Alex Flores hosted the private ceremony. O’Neill presented Tyler the BMI Icon accolade, which is given to exceptional music creators who have made and indelible mark and influenced countless others within the industry. Noting that he truly defines the term “rock-star composer.” O’Neill went on to say, “Your outstanding music and unique artistry enrich the emotion and stories of the films and shows we love to immerse ourselves in. Thank you for always elevating our experience and for sharing your singular creative vision with all of us.” This award is given to exceptional music creators who have made an indelible mark and influenced countless others within the industry.
A video tribute followed, in which some of Tyler’s peers including Justin Baldoni, Jon Chu, DJ Caruso, Taylor Sheridan, Sylvester Stallone and others, shared their experiences with the esteemed composer. As he accepted the honor, Tyler thanked BMI and said, “I will look back on this as one of the highlights of my life. It is a privilege to be among you talented and incredible human beings to receive this honor.”
Throughout his career, Tyler has amassed numerous accolades including 38 BMI Awards, three Emmy Award nominations, and 12 GoldSpirit Awards, including Composer of the Year. He is also a skilled orchestral conductor and multi-instrumentalist and has conducted symphonic concerts around the globe. Tyler joins a prestigious list of BMI Icon Award recipients including John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Alexandre Desplat, Mike Post, James Newton Howard and Terence Blanchard, among others.
The inaugural BMI Impact Award was presented by O’Neill and BMI EVP of Distribution, Publisher Relations & Administration Services, Alison Smith, to composers Amy Andersson, Miriam Cutler, Isolde Fair, Penka Kouneva, Starr Parodi and Lolita Ritmanis. The BMI Impact Award recognized their profound work on Women Warriors: The Voices of Change. This was the first time in the 38-year-old history of the BMI Film, TV and Visual Media Awards that the Impact Award has been presented. The Impact Award is given in recognition of groundbreaking artistry, creative vision and impact on the future of music.
The groundbreaking project, “Women Warriors: The Voices of Change,” premiered as a live concert in 2019 at New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, and has since catapulted into a compelling documentary film. This exceptional work shines a light on the strength and heroism of global activists fighting for social justice, civil rights, environmental causes, minority rights, and the right for every girl to have access to education. Honoring some of the world’s most compelling female activists from around the globe, Woman Warriors: The Voices of Change received an impressive array of awards including a Hollywood Music in Media Award, Anthem Awards, and awards for Best Composer or Best Original Score at the Independent Film Awards in Berlin, Chicago, New York, and Toronto. The album itself has also won a GRAMMY for Best Classical Compendium. Upon receiving the BMI Impact award, Andersson, the creator of the project said, “As BMI composers and lyricists, we accept this Impact Award with deep honor and a sense of accomplishment and pride.” Parodi went on to add, “Women Warriors was born from a dream and from the deep desire to pay tribute and honor these women whose shoulders we stand on.”
Many other prominent composers were saluted throughout the ceremony for music featured in the past year’s top-grossing films, top-rated network television series and highest-ranking cable network and streamed media programs. Some of the night’s multiple award winners included James Newton Howard, Blake Neely, Thomas Newman, Atli Örvarsson, Mac Quayle, Carlos Rafael Rivera, Atticus Ross, and Brian Tyler, among others.
The evening also celebrated eighteen first-time BMI Film, TV and Visual Media award recipients including Awkwafina, Nicholas Britell, Nick Chuba, Daniel Davies, Keegan Dewitt, Jermaine Stegall, Tamar-kali, Jessica Rose Weiss, and others.
The event featured a wonderful red carpet where we got to chat with some of the award winners for the evening about their work and they gave us an inside look at some of their creative processes. When chatting with revered and respected BMI Film, TV, and Visual Media Awards Icon recipient Brian Tyler, he told us that the evening was absolutely surreal and that, “It’s not every day that you have something that is really honoring what you’ve done and worked so hard at.” He also mentioned that the word “Icon” is not something he would have previously been able to attribute to himself because he said, “When you think of the word icon, you think of someone that has absolutely dominated the field in which they work, like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant with basketball for example.” For so long he has ascribed the term “Icon” to so many other people and not himself and he found it so mind blowing that he is at this point because he feels that he is only at the beginning. If this is just the beginning for Brian Tyler after all of his dedicated years to the music world, we can’t wait to see what else he has in store for us.
Along with Tyler some of the amazing women behind the documentary “Women Warriors: The Voices of Change” walked the carpet and talked about why this project was so meaningful to them.
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MAY 11: Isolde Fair attends the 38th Annual BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for BMI)
Isolde Fair and mother, Starr Parodi (2 of the 6 woman honorees for the BMI Impact Award for “Women Warriors: The Voices of Change”)
How are you feeling tonight?
Isolde Fair:“I’m doing good, I mean this is like shockingly exciting I could throw up its insane this is my first BMI ever and I’m with my mom.”
That’s amazing you must be so proud! Starr Parodi: “I am, I’m extremely proud.”
Could you just talk to us a little bit about Women Warriors: The Voices of Change?
Isolde Fair: The award is about this project called Women Warriors: The Voices of Change and it is an album that was a collective of women’s works in film in the composition area. Amy Anderson actually created this project. It started as a live orchestra concert because she is a conductor and music director, and then once covid hit she actually made it into a documentary after being incredibly inspired by these stories. She invited 8 of us to join the project and score different chapters. So, she put together a recorded soundtrack for the documentary and it went out all over the world and won all kinds of awards and then an album was put out that actually won a Grammy which was so exciting. My mom is actually a film composer, and I’m a singer, songwriter, violinist but we collaborated on a song that I wrote when I was 14 called Rise that also has a piece of hers called Joy of the Waters and they’re both on the album and just being able to be here I’m so blessed to just be here and with my mom and to be surrounded by all these amazing people I’ve been inspired by my whole life.
You’re obviously very young so what does it mean to you to be in this kind of space with all these amazing music creatives?
Isolde Fair: “I feel enlightened and good. For so long in my life school was good, but I have always just wanted to be around people that really inspire me. I mean people inspire you in school and life because we are all each other’s teachers in life and being able to be here I feel like I am already learning so much just looking around the room and seeing who’s here and seeing new faces its incredible the energy of it all.”
As the air buzzed in excitement at the 2022 BMI Film, TV, and Visual Media Award and everyone watched as all the amazing artists were celebrated Brian Tyler ended his speech with, “This reminds me of where we are in this world and the privilege, we have to create music and sound that creates an experience for people that makes their day better that gives them emotion and experience. I’m realizing that someday I will look back on this as one of the highlights of my life.”
Cover photo of BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neil and BMI Icon Awards winner Brian Tyler courtesy of Michael Kovac/Getty Images.
BMI is celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses. Broadcast Music Inc.® (BMI®) is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. To learn more about BMI please visit their site.
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