| Danial Norjidi |
A YOUNG woman from Brunei Darussalam has become the first from the country to work in the film music industry in the United States (US) of America.
Aisyah binti Zulkarnain, 22, composes music for visual media, mainly for films. She graduated from the University of Rochester, New York in May last year with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and a minor in Studio Arts.
Her degree focussed on music composition and film scoring, and during her time in university she completed an honours project that showcased some of her original film scores, presenting them in front of a panel of faculty from the Music department.
While studying, she also collaborated with filmmakers in New York and composed music for their projects. She currently works for film composer and guitarist Bryce Jacobs as his technical score engineer in Los Angeles, California.
Speaking to the Sunday Bulletin on how she came to work in the US film music industry, she said, “I first came to the US in 2013 to study music in New York. My father was the one who encouraged me to study there because of the distinguished liberal arts education programmes offered.
“Having done the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at the International School Brunei (ISB), I was really drawn to the idea of a well-rounded educational curriculum, which solidified my decision in applying to universities in the US,” she continued. “Before I left for the States, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in film music. While the music degree at the University of Rochester covered a more general curriculum, I enrolled in specialty courses at the university and at the Eastman School of Music to focus on music composition and film music.
“During one of my film scoring courses, we had a visit from a guest lecturer who worked at Hans Zimmer’s studio (composer for films such as ‘Dunkirk’, ‘Gladiator’, ‘Inception’, ‘Interstellar’, and ‘The Lion King’) and I approached him after the lecture to inquire about opportunities at the studio. That was the start of getting my foot through the door into the film music industry in the States.
“After that, I found my way to Henry Jackman’s studio (composer for films such as ‘Captain America: Civil War’, ‘Kong: Skull Island’, ‘Big Hero 6’, and ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’) and then moved to Arkenstone, Inc earlier this year, where I was hired as Bryce Jacob’s technical score engineer.”
She shared that, so far, she has mostly composed music for short films, all varying between live action, animation, and experimental. One of these projects included collaborating with award-winning independent filmmaker, Ambarien Alqadar, on her short film entitled ‘Ayesha’, released in June 2017 and has since been accepted into many film festivals. The film won the Award of Distinction at the 2017 Canada International Shorts Festival, and was nominated for Best Ensemble Narrative Short at the 2018 Queens World Film Festival.
“Currently, I’m scoring for a short film called Sentinel by James Abrams, which is coming out this May. I’m super excited – this will be our third time collaborating on a project together.” she said.
Aisyah shared that when she was at Henry Jackman’s studio, she had the opportunity to work with his team and learnt a lot about the tech side of the film music industry.
As Bryce Jacob’s technical score engineer, she has so far worked on two projects with him. “We recently wrapped up an animation project produced by Icon Animation Propriety Limited. Icon Animation is a subsidiary of Icon Productions LLC, an American-Australian independent production company based in LA, which was founded by actor and director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey. The project consisted of seven ‘webisodes’ and is set to release this month.”
The second project is still in post-production and is being produced under Legendary Entertainment, Flynn Picture Company, as well as Seven Bucks Productions. “It’s set to release this July. I’m helping with the tech side for Bryce’s music cues, programming score mockups of his arrangements, printing stems for the cues, and creating sample instruments for us to use.”
On what it’s like to work in the film music industry in the US, she said, “It has been amazing so far! There have definitely been challenging moments and a couple of all-nighters to ensure cues were created with the highest quality and delivered on time. It has been a learning curve, compared to what I had been taught at school, but I have been learning so much while in the industry and am grateful to have met some amazing people whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with, too.
“It’s so diverse here in LA, and it’s where many of the big film composers are based. LA is also the place where the majority of films in the US are produced, so for me, the best decision was to pursue my career in the States.”
On her plans for the future, she said, “I plan to continue working in the US because of the opportunities here. Again, LA is a wonderful place to network and connect with people not only in the film music industry, but also in the film industry as a whole.”
She also shared her thoughts on the potential for a film music industry in Brunei Darussalam. “I think it would be really great if Brunei had a film music industry, as I’ve seen many aspiring Bruneian filmmakers. I can also see people working remotely in Brunei, even if a project is based elsewhere.”
On whether she has worked with anyone here, she said, “No, I have not worked with anyone in Brunei so far, but I would love to.”
Aisyah also shared her goals. “I love composing orchestral pieces, so I’d like to one day be able to record my pieces with a live orchestra – they have this natural warmth to them that you can’t really get with sample libraries. I also plan to keep working in the film music industry in the US and continue working on great projects.”
Her advice to those who aspire to have a career in a similar industry? “Networking plays a huge role in this industry, so I would encourage meeting as many people as you can – don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, because you never know where a conversation or connection may lead you, nor the opportunities they offer.
“Also, this industry can get tough at times, so it is important to be focussed, motivated, persistent and prepared for whatever comes your way,” she added.
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