Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®) held its annual Film/TV Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. The ceremony saluted the composers of music featured in the past year’s top-grossing films, top-rated primetime network television series and highest-ranking cable network programs.
Alexandre Desplat received BMI’s Icon Award, which is bestowed on composers who have made significant contributions to the realm of film and television music. As the 2015 recipient, he joins a prestigious list of honorees that includes John Williams, Rachel Portman, Alan Silvestri, David Newman, Thomas Newman, Rolfe Kent, Mychael Danna, George S. Clinton, Harry Gregson-Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Michael Kamen, Mark Mothersbaugh, Danny Elfman, Alan Menken, Mike Post, Lalo Schifrin, Cliff Martinez, John Barry and David Arnold.
BMI also acknowledged Chris Montan with the BMI Classic Contribution Award for his distinguished three-decade career at Disney, including his current role as President of Walt Disney Music, a position he’s maintained for 20 years. Additionally, he has been the executive music producer for all of the studio’s animated features. He has been nominated for multiple GRAMMY® Awards and won Best Original Cast Recording for Aida, and Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for Frozen. Under his guidance, the Walt Disney Studios has garnered an unprecedented 42 Musical Academy Award® nominations and 16 Academy Awards in the “Best Song,” "Best Score” and "Best Musical" categories.
Oscar-winning composer Desplat is noted for his collaborations with some of the world’s top filmmakers: Wes Anderson, George Clooney, Stephen Daldry, David Fincher, Stephen Frears, Tom Hooper, Ang Lee, Terrence Malick, Roman Polanski and Angelina Jolie. The Golden Globe and Oscar winner has scored a range of incredible films, eight of which have been Oscar-nominated: The Queen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The King’s Speech, Argo, Philomena, The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel, which won the 2014 Oscar for Best Score. Desplat’s most recent work includes Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Morten Tyldum’s The Imitation Game. Coming up next for Desplat is the period drama Suffragette starring Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep and The Light Between Oceans starring Michael Fassbender.
The 2015 BMI Film/TV Awards were hosted by BMI Vice President, Film/TV Relations, Doreen Ringer-Ross and BMI President & CEO Mike O'Neill.
For a complete list of winners, as well as information on BMI’s film and television composers and events, please visit bmi.com/filmtv.
