Wylie, TX Teen Wins International Film Scoring Competition

Chance Anderson, of Wylie, Texas, thought he was in a movie of his own when he recently traveled to New York City to accept his award as winner of the 5th Marvin Hamlisch Film Scoring Contest!

Over 600 composers from 69 countries participated in this year’s contest by sending in their fully orchestrated scores. Participating in the ‘Youth’ category, for those under age 18, Chance scored a four-minute animated short titled “Adija”. First and Second Runners Up were from Greece and Austria respectively.

Chance registered for the contest on December 5, 2016, and was immediately sent the film. With a submission deadline of March 3, 2018, there seemed to be ample time. But, after watching it over and over again for a few weeks nothing was coming. “I just wasn’t getting any ideas. It just seemed like such a hard task to do”, he said, “Luckily my Mom stepped in and gave me a good suggestion. There is a pivotal point in the film, a climax in the story that the music should lead up to. My Mom had the brilliant idea to just start there. So, I got that section written out and scored and then worked my way backward to the beginning then on to the end.”

When asked how he began composing his score Chance said, “Honestly, I just sat down at my piano and plucked out a melody with my right hand. A simple melody. Then through that melody, I kind of heard where the driving bass part should be moving towards the climactic moment. Once I had those two main parts together I would duplicate it in an instrument on my software, harmonize it with another instrument, and add the percussion. Finally adding all the little details after that.”

After submitting in March it was not until April 10th that Chance heard that the first panel of judges had chosen his score as one of the final top ten. Not knowing how many other submissions there were or where in the world they had come from he was astonished to find out that he had made the cut, but only four of the ten finalists were from America. Other finalists came from places like Greece, Slovakia, England, and Australia to name just a few. “Though I knew it was an international contest I guess I had no idea that people from other countries would actually be entering the contest. It was crazy!”

It wasn’t until June 10, 2018, that the winners were announced. The email he received thanked everyone for entering and then the next line announced that he was the winner. “When I read that, I jumped up. I was amazed!”

Having entered two similar and much smaller contests with no success, Anderson says, “When I entered I had no idea that I would win! That never even crossed my mind. I just figured I would do it for the experience. So, I immediately stood up and freaked out! I had never really processed what I would do if I won.” The first person he called to tell was his mom, Torrey Anderson.

“When he called me later that day and told me he won the whole thing, oh my goodness!  I literally froze in my tracks and fell half-over and started crying and couldn’t talk for a few seconds.  I just bawled and told him through shocked tears how proud I was of him and how unbelievably happy I was for him,” Torrey said. “I know that he has a very special unique gift.  He can focus and funnel all his passion, attention, and effort into the wee hours of the night to accomplish and perfect whatever he’s working on.  ‘Good enough’ is not in his vocabulary!  Since he was little, he did the same with baseball, almost destroying his shoulder from practicing pitching too much!  But it’s not just his own hard work at developing this talent… he clearly has a God-given gift.  A natural talent.  Before I bought him a piano, he used to sit with a cheap tiny electronic keyboard and pluck out notes until he figured out a melody that was in his head or to learn a song he had heard.  Music is just in him!  A true gift.”

World renown composer Marvin Hamlisch, for whom the contest is named, scored more than forty films and won nearly every major award: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony, and three Golden Globes, as well as a shared Pulitzer Prize for his music for “A Chorus Line”. His widow Terre Blair Hamlisch presented the award to Chance at the CINE Celebrates: New York event at the SVA Theater.

When asked about the awards evening Chance says, “It was a wonderful networking opportunity. I was able to talk with people who had won other contests that CINE runs, and to meet and visit with other composers, filmmakers, and animators. It was just an awesome experience to get to talk with all these people.”

While in The Big Apple Chance and mom Torrey spent several days exploring and enjoying what the city is famous for, which included a Broadway performance of “STOMP” a unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy. Chance, a 17-year-old Senior at Wylie High School, began playing the drums himself in 6^th grade and has been on ‘That Wylie Band’ drumline playing the quads since his freshman year.

Through playing music for so many years himself and now through scoring a film, Chance has come to recognize the power music has to cause deep emotion and create feelings, for good or for evil. “It’s unbelievable the power music has in our lives. There will be moments when I’m having a bad day or dealing with something I can put on my headphones and listen to some good music. It’s so beautiful and strengthening. It’s wonderful that God gave us such a wonderful thing as music on this earth to either help us through bad times or to make us even happier when we are happy.” Because of this understanding and personal experience Chance encourages youth to choose their music wisely, being not only aware of lyrics, but also the mood and rhythm of a song.

“The leaders of [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] have told us to have a song that we always go to whenever we’re having problems, or a trial, or something. To listen to that song. For me, that song is ‘Nearer My God to Thee’. I listen to the BYU Vocal Point version, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir version, the actual hymn, and even the version from “Titanic”. That music and those lyrics really uplift me.”

Chance also felt inspired as he composed his “Adija” score. “There were moments, many, many moments when I knew God was helping me write this music” Chance said, speaking of his award-winning score. “It wasn’t just me. It wasn’t just in my head. It felt like He was playing the piano with me, that He was actually putting the notes into the program.”

When he’s not composing music in his ‘studio’, a hall closet in their home, Chance fills his time with Texas Rangers baseball and is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also plays some piano and ukulele.

Going forward Chance sees music not only being in his future but as his future. “My plan is to attend Brigham Young University in the fall and major in Commercial Music. They have a great program there. Eventually, my goal is to score full-length feature films.”

You can view “Adija”, with Chance’s award-winning scoring, here: https://vimeo.com/cinegoldeneagle/review/220940591/e045df6c51