Score: A Film Music Documentary is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Matt Schrader about film scores, featuring Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, John Williams, Quincy Jones, Rachel Portman, Trent Reznor, and others. The film was released theatrically by Gravitas Ventures on June 16, 2017 and on Blu-ray and download September 5, 2017. The film inspired Score: The Podcast, a weekly show on Apple Podcasts hosted by the producers and featuring prominent Hollywood composers as guests, which launched April 3, 2018.
Cast
Schrader and the filmmakers interviewed more than 60 composers, directors, orchestrators, agents, executives and experts for the documentary. Schrader says he started with the idea of having only three composers featured, but realized the diversity of musical opinions present in the film composing world.
In 2014, director Schrader left his career as an investigative journalist for CBS News to pursue a feature documentary about film composers. Bankrolling budget camera lenses and editing equipment from his own savings, Schrader recruited friends to join his team, including producers Trevor Thompson, Jonathan Willbanks and Nate Gold, and former KOVR-TV news photographer, Kenny Holmes. In February 2015, SCORE launched a campaign on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter, which garnered attention and raised $120,930 in 30 days — more than triple the initial goal of $40,000. Former President of Fox Music Robert Kraft joined after hearing about the project, and by early 2016, Schrader had completed more than 60 interviews with composers, directors, orchestrators, agents and more in the film music industry. The film was acquired by Gravitas Ventures, which released it in theaters June 2017, earning $101,382 box office in the United States. The film was then released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital in September 2017, and was the #1 iTunes documentary for four consecutive weeks. The film's website says it is available in other territories including Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, South Korea, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Israel.
Reception
Critical reception
Score received positive reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 91% of critics gave it a positive review, based on 33 reviews with an average rating of 7.09/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Score: A Film Music Documentary offers a long-overdue look at an integral component of cinema whose abbreviated overview of the subject should only leave viewers ready for more." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a feast for the eyes and ears," while film critic Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times said Score was "a celebration of the artists who create the musical heartbeat of the movies we love." Critic and historian Leonard Maltin said Schrader produced "a cohesive and fascinating film", adding the film "doesn’t miss a beat." The New York Times selected the film as a Critics Pick in June 2017.
