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VIFF Composer Filmmaker Accelerator 2024
The Vancouver International Film Festival's hands-on learning workshop for emerging composers of music for media is the Composer Filmmaker Accelerator (CFA) program. CFA was created to advance the dialogue and collaboration between composers and filmmakers. CFA gives 12 talented, emerging film composers an opportunity to take their careers to the next level by recording and performing their original score with a world-class orchestra.
The program paired the 12 composers with 4 established filmmakers (3 composers working with 1 director) through virtual learning sessions with mentor Miriam Cutler, followed by an in-person recording and mixing session with engineer Damon Tedesco and score producer Michelle Sudduth at Vancouver’s premier recording destination, The Warehouse Studios. The musical pieces created were performed by twenty musicians from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Andrew Crust on October 1st and 2nd, 2024.
"Wild Goat Surf" Director, Caitlyn Sponheimer
Natsha Frank, Composer
Kerwin Young, Composer
James Peter Moffatt, Composer
"Armageddon Road" Director, Karen Lam
Connor Cook, Composer
Levi Taylor, Composer
María Eugenia León, Composer
"Fadeaway" Director, Brendan Prost
Nyla Smith, Composer
Sobhan Afsarian, Composer
Cali Wang, Composer
"N'xaxaitkw" Director, Asia Youngman
Ian Chen, Composer
Cora Chung, Composer
Max Karmazyn, Composer
Photo credits to Vincent Augusto and Christopher Edmunds
Composer Filmmaker Accelerator Faculty
CFA Curator
Miriam Cutler
The CFA program is curated by three-time Emmy nominated, award-winning film and television composer Miriam Cutler, based on her vast experience mentoring and leading workshops for both filmmakers and composers with Sundance, the International Documentary Association, Film Independent, US State Department / USC School of Cinema American Film Showcase (international), and more.
CFA Recording Engineer/Scoring Mixer
Damon Tedesco
Damon Tedesco is the Recording Engineer and Scoring Mixer for the Amp Composer Filmmaker Accelerator. For the last 25 years, Damon has specialized in recording music for film and television. A member of the Television Academy, he has recorded and mixed music for hundreds of commercials, TV shows, films, and documentaries. He is currently the scoring mixer for Family Guy and American Dad, and recently worked on Final Destination Bloodlines, Zootopia 2 and Inside Out 2.
CFA Scoring Session Producer
Michelle Sudduth
Michelle Sudduth is the Scoring Session Producer for the VIFF Amp Composer Filmmaker Accelerator. Michelle is a composer, songwriter, and classically-trained pianist, and has worked in the booth on many film and TV recording sessions in Los Angeles. She called Vancouver home while in graduate school (UBC) and credits UCLA’s Film Scoring program with equipping her to create music for media. Michelle is the resident composer at Magic Dog Productions (NYC) and has most recently been working on a variety of projects including feature films, audio dramas, video games and writing and producing a record with the innovators of Good Story Guild (LA/NYC).
CFA Copyist & Librarian
Alex Clark
With a composition degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and over a decade as an orchestra librarian, Alex Clark has spent most of his professional career behind the scenes of large classical music productions preparing music for musicians or leading the digital video production teams.
Aside from writing, Alex has remained active as a viola player and conductor during his time in Arts Administration. His career philosophy has been to continue to learn and understand as much about the music industry as a whole as possible while maneuvering in and around it. This has naturally led to a strong interest in the film and television industry as well. Most of Alex’s music publishing and production business is run
through his company AseosA.
CFA Conductor
Carl Johnson
Multi-Emmy Award-winning composer Carl Johnson has successfully worked across a variety of
genres, including film, television, theme parks, and stage. His ability to create innovative music
for a variety of assignments is rivaled only by his easy-going and collaborative work ethic. He
has been nominated for three Annie Awards, an International Film Music Critics Award, and
nine Emmy Awards, of which he has won two.
Carl pursued a career in music early on, graduating with honors from the University of Kansas
and USC's Film-Scoring program, and immediately embarked on a successful career in Hollywood.
Working on numerous projects from Warner Brothers, Disney, Dreamworks, and MGM quickly
provided Carl with a depth of experience and relationships, firmly establishing him as a talented
composer and orchestrator.
As a composer, Carl has proven his versatility with films such as Piglet’s Big Movie, The
Hunchback of Notre Dame II, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, and The Return of Jafar, while
his television work ranges from Invasion America, to Gargoyles, Looney Tunes Cartoons, and
additional music for Star Trek: Lower Decks. He has orchestrated on a variety of top-grossing
films including Elemental, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Little Things, and The Magnificent
Seven. He has also written special projects for live theatre and themed attractions around the globe.
CFA Curator
Rob Calder
Rob has been an active part of Canada’s creative industries for over 20 years. He is known for building impactful events and growing audiences and community. His strengths lie in his years of experience, his ability to connect people, and his passion for music & culture. In 2010, Rob formed Secret Study to connect brands with musicians and artists in order to create meaningful & memorable cultural engagements. Rob also serves on the board of Music Heals in support of music therapy initiatives and is on many local committees focused on sustaining and growing a healthy music ecosystem.
CFA Curator
Tony Scudellari
Tony oversees all aspects of music for the studio’s television programming. Responsibilities include hiring composers & music supervisors; leading the division’s creative music team and acting as music supervisor on projects. SPT’s programming includes dozens of shows seen on 20+ content platforms in all genres including game shows, daytime dramas, syndicated series¸ unscripted, animation, comedies, dramas, limited series & MOWs. He is also the lead creative executive for the division’s music releases. Current shows include The Afterparty, Alert, The Blacklist, The Boys, Cobra Kai, For All Mankind, The Good Doctor, Jeopardy!, Justified: City Primeval, Men In Kilts, Outlander, Panhandle, Shark Tank, SWAT, Them, Twisted Metal, Wheel of Time and The Young & The Restless. During his tenure, SPT’s music has been awarded by the Guild of Music Supervisors, the Emmys and numerous ASCAP, BMI and SESAC Film & TV Awards. In 2017, the Guild of Music Supervisors nominated Tony for Best Music Supervision in a Television Limited Series or Movie.
For his community work, Tony was named as Neighborhood Advocate of the Year. During his tenure as Board Chair for the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock (CFAER), CFAER’s signature event, The Eagle Rock Music Festival (ERMF) gained critical acclaim & attendance increased nearly eight-fold, becoming the largest free music festival in the City of Los Angeles. Tony coordinated with the Alliance for Women Film Composers (AWFC) & Grand Performances 2016’s “Women Who Score: Soundtracks Live” concert in Downtown LA – the first concert to honor female composers in media. Tony has been active in diversity & inclusion initiatives at Sony and organized a roundtable with the Canadian Consulate in Los Angeles & Canada’s Chief Trade Commissioner Ailish Campbell. Since 2016, Tony has co-curated the keynotes, breakout sessions, case studies, music showcases, panels & talent accelerator programs for the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).
Tony has been a panelist/speaker/moderator at American University, APEM, ASCAP’s I Create Music Expo & film composer workshops, the Association of Independent Music Publishers, Atlantic Film Festival, AWFC, Billboard Music conference, CalCPA, the California Copyright Conference, Canadian Film Centre/Slaight Composer Resident Program, Comic-Con Intl., Country Music Association, Guild of Music Supervisors, MIDEM, Music Forward, NATPE, Out Sessions, SESAC, UCLA, USC, VIFF and the Whistler Film Festival.
Tony is a member of both the Recording Academy & the Television Academy.