L-R: Ilario Circosta, Alysha Brilla
On Nov. 20–22, 2024, Montréal hosted a unique initiative, the first edition of the SOCAN Foundation Screen Music Lab entirely dedicated entirely to scoring videogames. Organized in partnership with Ubisoft, the event invited eight emerging composers to participate in a creative and collaborative challenge that doubled as an immersion in the professional world of videogames.
With this Lab, the SOCAN Foundation aims to galvanize the gaming music ecosystem in Québec and the rest of Canada. For three days, the participants worked in teams of two to create new music for an existing videogame under the guidance of Simon Landry, music supervisor at Ubisoft, and other Ubisoft stakeholders. Each team got to collaborate with musicians to enrich their compositions. The final creations were presented during the closing event on the last day, where professionals from both the music and gaming industries were present.
The Screen Music Lab was an important milestone in the careers of the participants. Jonathan Kawchuk described the program as a unique experience: “I don’t know any other opportunity like this for composers of all horizons, where they can dive into the culture of composing for videogames like this Lab does. The organization was just perfect, and extremely rewarding.” Katharine Petkovski expressed how impactful it was to collaborate with a major player in the industry: “Being involved in a project for Ubisoft, one of the most iconic names in the world of gaming, has broadened my skill set and made this event unforgettable.” As for Jonathan Alexander, working in a team of two has transformed his creative vision: “Composing as a duo showed me how teamwork can elevate music by breaking the cliché of the solitary composer.”
L-R: Simon Landry, Luc St-Pierre, Laurence Lafond Baulne, Sara Dendane
The closing event, held at Ubisoft Montréal, was a unique networking opportunity. The participants and professionals in attendance enjoyed an educational presentation on career development in the field. The panel was moderated by SOCAN’s Sara Dendane and hosted renowned guests Milk & Bone, screen composer Luc Saint-Pierre, and Landry.
SOCAN Foundation’s Julien Boumard-Coallier summarized the importance of the program: “The success of this edition demonstrates the growing interest in videogame music. It allows talented young composers to explore the creative and professional dimensions of this environment while working on developing a sustainable career.”
The SOCAN Foundation would like to thank Ubisoft for making this edition possible, as well as Spitfire, for providing participants access to several audio libraries.