2020 ASCAP Screen Music Awards
June 23, 2020
ASCAP rolled out the digital red carpet from June 23-25, as we celebrated the composers and songwriters of the biggest films, TV series and video games of 2019 in our first-ever virtual ASCAP Screen Music Awards. For three days, ASCAP’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feeds (plus our new @ASCAPScreen IG handle) were festooned with exclusive photos and video acceptances from the winning composers, studio tours, and even a few shout-outs from surprise celebrity guests. Fans and friends got the chance to join in congratulating the music creators that bring their favorite onscreen entertainment to life.
This year's Top Box Office Film honor went to Hans Zimmer for The Lion King remake, 25 years after he won an Oscar for the original. Siddhartha Khosla won Top Network Series award for the beloved drama This Is Us, and Ruth Barrett took home the Top Cable Series honor for her score to the acclaimed historical drama, Victoria. David Vanacore was the top winner in the Most Performed Themes and Underscore category. Khosla and Barrett both turned in lovely on-camera remarks from their home studios.
Our annual Composers' Choice Awards gave all ASCAP composers the chance to vote for their favorite TV composer, film score and video game score of last year. With hundreds of votes counted, we emerged with three terrific winners: John Powell (Film Score of the Year for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World), Bear McCreary (TV Composer of the Year) and Gordy Haab (Video Game Score of the Year for Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order). All three of them thanked their peers by video on @ASCAP socials.
While we missed celebrating with our favorite composers in person, the virtual ASCAP Screen Music Awards was a uniquely intimate event. We got to peek into the creative havens of our screen music heroes, see them in their native habitats, hear directly from them about what it means to be making music during this time. As ASCAP President Paul Williams put it in his video introduction to the Awards: “...The more I watch and listen, the more I believe that screen music today is the best it’s ever been...We are faced with a challenging moment right now. But we believe that your music — and the stories accompanied by it — will meet this moment by giving us hope, and inspiring change.”