SOCAN presented a panel, La musique à l’image pour la télé : créer en solo ou en tandem?, as part of the Salon des membres of the Prix Gémeaux of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, on Sept. 12, 2023, at the Cinémathèque québécoise in Montréal. SOCAN invited Martin Roy, Luc Sicard, and Kim Gaboury, the screen composers with the most nominations in the two musical categories at the Gémeaux, to speak in front of a packed audience of television professionals. The discussion was moderated by Eric Parazelli, Editor of SOCAN’s online magazine Paroles & Musique, and manager of Francophone communications at SOCAN.
The screen-composing duo of Martin Roy and Luc Sicard (nominated in the Best Original Score: Fiction or Documentary category for La Faille and Larry, and in the Best Musical Theme: All Categories for Larry) discussed the advantages of working together with their colleague Kim Gaboury (nominated in the Best Original Score: Fiction or Documentary category for Classé Secret, and in the Best Musical Theme: All Categories for both Classé Secret and Les Histoires bizarres du professeur Zarbi), who works mainly as a solo composer, but has experimented working as a duo with his mentor, Michel Cusson.
Select the image to play the French-only YouTube video of the SOCAN panel at the 2023 Gémeaux Awards. An English-subtitled version will be posted shortly.
The fascinating discussion focused on the creative aspects of their respective nominated productions, as well as the increased efficiency of working in tandem, and the relative freedom of solo composition. All three SOCAN members also discussed the main reasons why composers work in teams, which is often out of obligation, lack of time, to share the pressure, and because of the increasingly restricted budgets affecting Québec television productions – often to the detriment of the working conditions of screen composers.
These are a few of the topics covered in the video excerpt of the panel, on the right.
SOCAN extends its warmest thanks to the panelists, the organizers of the Salon des membres des prix Gémeaux of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, and the many members of the audience who were able to interact with the participants during the Q&A period that followed the discussion.