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There's a good chance that composer Sage Lewis is the man behind the music of your favorite indie film. One of the busiest people in the industry, Sage's music can be heard on festival favorites such as The Ground Beneath Their Feet, Aban and Khorshid and, most recently, Operator. I spoke with Sage about his score for Operator, his process as a composer and more.   What was it like to score a technology themed drama like Operator?  Did you enjoy it? It was fun because the storyline gave me a creative license to geek out on electronic music techniques that you usually don't get away with in most film scoring scenarios. For example, the vocoder and other types of electronic vocal generators wove perfectly into the type of music that was required...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

When Matt Levett was nominated for this year.s Heath Ledger Scholarship along with 17 other rising talents, the actor didn.t fancy his chances amongst what he described as a .an intimidating. line-up.

So he was both stunned and stoked to win the award presented on Monday night Us time in Los Angeles.

The 2009 Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts (Waapa) graduate says the $US10,000 cash prize will enable him to further his ambitions in Hollywood.

.It will give me the ability to stay longer and give me a foot in the door,. says Levett, who first went to the Us last September/October, when he signed with the Gersh Agency. The runners-up are fellow Waapa graduate Emilie Cocquerel and Lily Sullivan, who each get a round-trip ticket to Los Angeles and a scholarship to attend Masterclasses at Screenwise Film & TV School for actors in Sydney.

On behalf of the judges,...

Actors can advance their careers by performing in short films and Web series—even if they’re not getting paid, according to several Artios Award–nominated casting directors. Budgets for short films and Web series can run from pocket money up to $75,000 and beyond. But actors on these projects are often working under SAG-aftra’s Short Film or New Media Agreements wherein they receive deferred compensation (i.e., no money). While compensation remains elusive, there’s increased critical recognition for these types of productions. The Casting Society of America expanded the Artios Awards this year to include a Web series category. Still, many working actors won’t audition for a Web series or short, said casting director Mike Page, who’s nominated for his work on the short film “Aban and Khorshid.” “I’m thrilled to get almost any professional actor in that I can,” he told Backstage. When casting “Aban and Khorshid,...

While the Oscars have yet to make room for casting directors — a pivotal part of the Best Picture equation — the oversight isn't stopping the Casting Society of America from readying its third decade of picking up the Academy's slack. Csa announced Monday morning that the 30th Annual Artios Awards will honor Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning director Rob Marshall and Emmy Award-winning casting director Ellen Lewis for their individual work in the world of casting. The news arrives with nominations in categories of television, theater, new media and short film, and on the heels of the ceremony's move from November to Jan. 22, the thick of the awards season. Feature film nominations will be announced closer to the show date. Marshall, whose adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" bows Dec. 25, will receive the New York Apple Award, "recognizing individuals who have made special contributions to the New York entertainment...