NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW

For filmmakers, musicians, & creative people who do amazing things and want to make the world better in some way.

Composer Andrew Morgan Smith on Cinema Sharks, Star Wars, and Film Collaborations

By

iTunesGoogle PlayShare StitcherClammr ItListen in a New WindowDownloadSoundCloudAndroidLeave a ReviewSubscribe via RSS

Andrew Morgan Smith is the music composer for SyFy’s upcoming film Ozark Sharks, set to coincide with the release of the phenomenon that is Sharknado 4. He’s also done music for other shark-minded stories and similar creature features like Swamp Shark, Zombie Shark, and Arachnoquake. A shark film helped put John Williams on the map, so no shame in working on those kinds of projects, but Andrew has also worked on a wide range of other films as well.

The nsavides Podcast ep. with Composer Andrew Morgan Smith

He scored A Gift Horse, a family film starring Dukes of Hazzard‘s John Schneider.  Words, one of the short films Andrew worked on, screened at the Cannes Film Festival. True Heroes, another short he scored, won the LA Film Prize in 2014.

Andrew has also worked with David Newman, the composer of Ice Age, Galaxy Quest, and Anastasia, and with Nathan Furst, the composer of films like Need for Speed, Act of Valor, and Punch-Drunk Love.

Some of the things we discuss in this episode include

  • How to compose for comedic moments
  • The different approach involved in scoring for TV instead of film
  • The story behind the Star Wars opening music
  • What to do when an actor gives a bad performance
  • How to collaborate with directors and producers
  • When to use digital samples in a score and when to record a live orchestra
  • Budgeting guidelines for adding orchestration to a score
  • Using regional instruments to add texture

Andrew also shares a music clip from Ozark Sharks and talks us through his approach on that film and some of his other projects.

Listen to the Episode

Related Things

Andrew Morgan Smith composer

  • Andrew on IMDb
  • Hear some of Andrew’s music on SoundCloud.
  • Active Entertainment, the production and distribution company behind many of the creature features that Andrew has worked on.
  • Fable House, the production company behind Zombie Shark and Ozark Sharks
  • Past guests who are also involved in Ozark Sharks
    • Laura Cayouette, the actress many recognize from her role in Django Unchained. The initial podcast led to the #KnowMonologues Challenge, an outreach we did for actors that got almost 90 monologue submissions
    • Michael Papajohn, the actor who is best known for killing uncle Ben in the original Spider-Man.
  • Shout-out to other friends who worked on Ozark Sharks: director Misty Talley, producer Sam Claitor, actress Ashton Leigh, associate producer Tommy Talley, director of photography Matt S. Bell, and art director Caroline Keenan Russell

Other Composers Mentioned

  • Jerry Goldsmith
  • Gustav Holst
  • Henry Mancini
  • Dennis McCarthy
  • Ennio Morricone
  • David Newman
  • John Williams
  • Christopher Young
  • Hans Zimmer

Movie Recommendations

  • Ozark Sharks – Haven’t seen yet, but it seems fun. SyFy lists the release date as July 28 at 8:00 PM CT.
  • Alive Inside
  • Anastasia (1997)

 

Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions – I make music videos, commercials, and short films. Check out some of my work.
space
Let’s talk about what we can do together. Email: podcast@nsavides.com.
a
a

If You Liked the Show

  • Subscribe:

iTunes, stitcher-icon-50x50

Thank you for visiting!

Comments

  1. Clay Achee says

    Great job Nick. Andrew was one of the most gratifying collaborations I’ve had in a long time. The guy is ridiculously good at what he does!

    • nsavides says

      Thanks Clay. Was pretty awesome to see your film and discover after the fact that he was involved in that too.