2015 Reel Music Awards – The Nominations

2015 Reel Music Awards

It’s time again for Reel Music to take a look back and spotlight the best scores of 2015. For me, the year just gone has been another excellent one for music composed for film, television and video games (and beyond!) and the purpose of these awards is to highlight some of the scores that have grabbed my attention over the past year.

Across the various categories, the nominations are listed alphabetically. Note that, in addition to the categories featured in the 2014 Reel Music Awards, there’s a couple of new categories which reflect the growing quality of music composed across the various genres. To recognise the increase in the availability of the digital-only media presentation of archival film music, the “Archival Score (Digital)” category has been created. And 2014’s “Games & Other Interactive Media Score” category has been split into two separate categories: “Games Score” and “Score Composed for Other Media” – to cover titles which do not fit comfortably with the other genre categories. A “New Recording of an Archival Score” category has been added to highlight a number of impressive re-recording projects that came to fruition in 2015.

Note: because of the quality of music in 2015 I found it too difficult to choose a shortlist of individual cues for nomination and so there is no “2015 Individual Cue Award.”

The winners will be announced on Monday, 25nd January 2016.

Score of the Year Award

No nominations for this award will be announced at this time. The winner will be chosen from one of the category winners (excluding the Archival Score categories). This overall award will be announced alongside the various category winners on January 22nd.

Drama Score

• Absolution (Henkesi Edestä, Finland) (Stephen McKeon) Moonflower Records
• El Rey de La Habana (Spain/Dominican Republic) (Joan Valent) Saimel A
• Enas Allos Kosmos (Worlds Apart, Greece) (Kostas Christides) Minos/EMI SA
• In The Heart of The Sea (Roque Baños) WaterTower Music
• Macbeth (Jed Kurzel) Decca Music Group
• Steve Jobs (Daniel Pemberton) Back Lot Music
• The Hateful Eight (Ennio Morricone) Decca Records
• Territoriya (Territory, Russia) (Tuomas Kantelinen) Promo
• Tyttokuningas (The Girl King, Finland) (Anssi Tikanmäki) Promo
• Wolf Totem (James Horner) Milan Records

Action / Adventure / Thriller Score

• A Dark Reflection (Moritz Schmittat) MovieScore Media
• Battle For Skylark (Josh Cruddas) Tunecore
• Bølgen (The Wave, Norway) (Magnus Beite) Grappa
• Child 44 (Jon Ekstrand) Lakeshore Records
• Kingsman: The Secret Service (Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson) La-La Land Records
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (Joe Kraemer) La-La Land Records
• San Andreas (Andrew Lockington) WaterTower Music
• The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Daniel Pemberton) WaterTower Music
• The Three Sisters (Alan Sinclair) Wil-Ru Records
• Un Homme Idéal (A Perfect Man, France) (Cyrille Aufort) B Original

Fantasy / Sci-Fi / Horror Score

• Ant-Man (Christophe Beck) Hollywood Records
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (Brian Tyler & Danny Elfman) Hollywood Records
• Cinderella (Patrick Doyle) Walt Disney Records
• Jupiter Ascending (Michael Giacchino) Sony Classical
• Mad Max: Fury Road (Tom Holkenborg) WaterTower Music
• Peter and Wendy (Maurizio Malagnini) Silva Screen Records
• Skammerens Datter (The Shamer’s Daughter, Denmark) (Jeppe Kaas) PlantSounds
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens (John Williams) Walt Disney Records
• Turbo Kid (Le Matos) Fantôme Records
• Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and The Dark Crystal (Zhong Kui fu mo: Xue yao mo ling, China) (Javier Navarrete) Lakeshore Records

Comedy Score

• Anacleto, Agente Secreto (Spy Time, Spain) (Javier Rodero) Promo
• Bill (Andrew Hewitt) Varese Sarabande
• Ghosthunters: On Icy Trails (Gespensterjäger, Germany) (Ralf Wengenmayr) Just Temptation
• La Rançon de La Gloire (The Price of Fame, France) (Michel Legrand) Playtime
• Pixels (Henry Jackman) Varese Sarabande
• R.L. Stine’s Monsterville: Cabinet of Souls (Ryan Shore) Back Lot Music
• Risto Räppääjä Ja Sevillan Saituri (Ricky Rapper and the Miser from Seville, Finland) (Esa Nieminen) Promo
• Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse (Matthew Margeson) La-La Land Records
• Spy (Theodore Shapiro) Milan Records
• The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (John Debney) Varese Sarabande

Animation Score

• Capture The Flag (Atrapa La Bandera, Spain) (Diego Navarro) Quartet Records
• Extraordinary Tales (Sergio de la Puente) Promo
• Home (Lorne Balfe) Sony Classical
• Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (Gabriel Yared) Warner Bros.
• Pirate’s Passage (Andrew Lockington) MovieScore Media
• Shaun The Sheep Movie (Ilan Eshkeri) Silva Screen Records
• The Arti: The Adventure Begins (Taiwan) (Chen Chien-chi) Sony Music Entertainment
• The Good Dinosaur (Mychael Danna & Jeff Danna) Walt Disney Records
• The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince, France) (Richard Harvey & Hans Zimmer) Because Music
• Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos (Little Rooster’s Egg-cellent Adventure, Mexico) (Zacarías M. de la Riva) MovieScore Media

Documentary Score

• Conquest of The Skies (Joel Douek, Elik Alvarez & Freddy Sheinfeld) Promo
• Einstein’s Light (Bruce Adolphe) Masterworks
• Human (France) (Armand Amar) Warner Classics
• Jag Stannar Tiden (Norway) (Johan Ramström) Promo
• La Glace et Le Ciel (Ice and the Sky, France) (Cyrille Aufort) B Original
• La Mañana de Salzillo (Spain) (Pedro Contreras) Pedro Contreras
• The Great Human Odyssey (Darren Fung) Varese Sarabande
• The Hunt (Steven Price) Sony Music
• Winter On Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom (Jasha Klebe) Lakeshore Records
• You Belong To Me: Sex, Race and Murder On The Suwannee River (Geoff Gallegos) Stravingus Records

Television Score

• Ash vs. Evil Dead (Joseph LoDuca) Varese Sarabande
• Carlos, Rey Emperador (Spain) (Federico Jusid) Promo
• Da Vinci’s Demons (Season 3) (Bear McCreary) Sparks and Shadows
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Benoit Charest & Benoit Groulx) Varese Sarabande
• Jordskott (Sweden) (Erik Lewander & Olle Ljungman) The Kennel AB
• La Dama Velata (Italy) (Emanuele Bossi & Pasquale Laino) Lux Vide
• Os Dez Mandamentos (Brazil) (William Bordokan, Daniel Figueiredo, João Jacques, Igor Ledermann, Ronaldo Lobo, Edu Luke, Marcelo Penido & Elton Ricardo) MJC Empreendimentos e Participações LTDA
• Outlander (Bear McCreary) Madison Gate Records
• The Musketeers (Season 2) (Paul Englishby) Promo
• Wolf Hall (Debbie Wiseman) Silva Screen Records

Short Film Score

• Blue Borsalino (David M. Saunders) David M. Saunders
• Kung Fury (Betamaxx, Highway Superstar, Christoffer Ling, Lost Years & Mitch Murder) Universal Music
• Mantoson Corporation (Montoson Biotechnology, France) (Simon Chapelle) Nucleowaves Records
• Perihelion (Hungary) (Gergö Elekes) Gergö Elekes
• Spectrum (Frederik Wiedmann) Kaleido Sound
• Stick Man (René Aubry) Magic Light Pictures
• The Guardian of The Light (Jonas Grauer) iMusician Digital
• The Moment I Was Alone (Isaias Garcia) Isaias Garcia
• The Priest (Spencer Creaghan) Spencer Creaghan
• Wild Creatures (Germany) (Julian Kantus) Julian Kantus

Interactive Game Score

• Anno 2205 (Dynamedion) Ubisoft Music
• Bloodborne (Ryan Amon, Yuka Kitamura, Tsukasa Saitoh, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Cris Velasco & Michael Wandmacher) Sony Computer Entertainment
• Dying Light (Pawel Blaszczak) Techland
• Forza Motorsport 6 (Kaveh Cohen & Michael Nielsen) Microsoft Studios Music
• Homesick (Heather Schmidt) Lucky Pause
• League of Legends (Christian Linke, Sebastien Najand & Alexander Temple) RIOT
• Pillars of Eternity (Justin Bell) Obsidian Entertainment
• Revelation (Neal Acree) Promo
• StarCrawlers (Ben Prunty) Ben Prunty Music
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Percival, Marcin Przybylowicz & Mikolai Stroinski) Promo

Score Composed for Other Media

• Batman: The Long Halloween (Declan Gillgallon) Declan Gillgallon
• Hansel ve Gretel’in Öteki Hikayesi (Turkey) (Tolga Çebi) Gloss
• Lùmina (Italy) (Remo Baldi) Remo Baldi
• Tellspiele Interlaken 2015 (Switzerland) (Christian Häni) Der Letzte Schrei Records
• The Hiding Place (Jared DePasquale) Focus On The Family

Both Batman: The Long Halloween and The Hiding Place are original scores written for audio dramas, Lùmina is a score written for a comic book, Tellspiele Interlaken 2015 features music composed for the open-air performance of Friedrich Schiller’s drama William Tell that plays regularly during the summer in Interlaken and Hansel ve Gretel’in Öteki Hikayesi is the soundtrack to a Turkish modern-day story based on Hansel and Gretel.

Archival Score

• Alien Terrors (1982) (Gavino Morretti) Disko Nero Recordings
• Braveheart (1995) (James Horner) La-La Land Records
• Dances With Wolves (1990) (John Barry) La-La Land Records
• Duel (1971) (Billy Goldenberg) Intrada Special Collection
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (Carmen Dragon) La-La Land Records
• Jaws (1975) (John Williams) Intrada Records
• Obsession (1976) (Bernard Herrmann) Music Box Records
• The Car (1977) (Leonard Rosenman) Intrada Special Collection
• The Lost Weekend (1945) (Miklós Rózsa) Intrada Special Collection
• Total Recall (1990) (Jerry Goldsmith) Quartet Records

Archival Score (Digital)

• Det Største i Verden (The Greatest Thing, Norway) (2001) (Trond Bjerknes) Universal Music
• Ekaterina (Russia) (2014) (Nikolai Rostov) Navigator Records
• Iskuplenie (Expiation, Russia) (2012) (Edward Nicolay Artemyev) Megaliner Records
• Love In The Post (2014) (Peter Coyte) Peter Coyte
• Meurtres à L’Abbaye de Rouen (France) (2014) (Nicolas Jorelle) B Original
• Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (2010) (Shawn K. Clement) Shawn K. Clement
• Serralonga (Spain) (2008) (Joan Valent) TVC DISC
• Shuffle (2011) (Kurt Kuenne) Kurt Kuenne
• So Weit Die Füße Tragen (As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me, Germany) (2001) (Edward Nicolay Artemyev) Megaliner Records
• The Becquer’s Guide (Season 3): Kishar (Spain) (2014) (Jesús Calderón) Jesús Calderón

New Recording of an Archival Score

• Conan The Barbarian (transcribed for organ) (1982) (Basil Poledouris) Philipp Pelster/Naxos
• Die Nibelungen (1924) (Gottfried Huppertz) Frank Strobel/Pan Classics
• Obsession (1976) (Bernard Herrmann) Nic Raine/Tadlow Music
• Rapsodia Satanica (1917) (Pietro Mascagni) Frank Strobel/Capriccio
• Sodom and Gomorrah (1962) (Miklós Rózsa) Nic Raine/Tadlow Music/Prometheus Records