In November I got to do a cool thing: I scored a Sci-Fi TV Pilot called “Renegades Ominara.”
A few months prior, my good friend and producer Frank Zanca reached out to me to see if I’d be interested to score his latest baby. A project so very different than the last one him and I worked on together, which was the Fantasy Western “Six Gun Savior” (2015).
Working with Frank is always a treat as he not only lives and breath through Sci-Fi and pop-culture in general, but he is also an avid fan of film music and it makes it all the more enjoyable to collaborate together. Frank understands the importance and impact a good film score can have on the whole film itself and so when we work together, we pretty much leave nothing to chance.
Frank wanted right away that we approach this with a fresh ear and to think out of the box. That led to creating some custom sounds for this score using sounds from the NASA space audio library that was made available to the public a few years back. The score turned out to be epic orchestral with hybrid MOOG analog synthesizers sounds that I used to sound design-in some of those NASA sounds as well. A few touches of ethnic music were added as well to give it an otherworldly vibe. You’ve pretty much guessed it, it was a lot of fun to work on this.
But the other thing that made working on this project such an honor was the fact that this was going to be legendary Star trek actress and humanist Nichelle Nichols’ last public appearance. What a thrill to be the one to put to music the very last scenes featuring her acting.
Another cherry on the cake was that Star Trek actor and director Tim Russ directed this. I always wanted to work with Tim and so glad we could finally do it through this project.
The project was screened to a select audience at the Los Angeles Comic Con in December 2021. The audience’s reaction was great, and I was very touched by the wonderful words both Frank and Tim had for the score. Tim said that the score was “beautiful and extremely efficient, doing exactly what it needed to do.” I worked very closely with Frank on the score the whole time, as he not only produces but also is the writer of this project. Tim wanted to make a point to discover the score just like the audience: for the first time on the big screen and I was so glad of his reaction.
Later on this evening, I was able to meet with the wonderful and talented cast. Loren Lott who plays Young Ominara (and therefore, young Nichelle!) completely knocked it out of the park. You may recognize Loren from American Idol (that’s right, she is a talented singer too!) Her performance contributed a lot to the success fo the film, and to write a compelling score for it. That performance is what inspired me her theme and this is one of these moment when being a composer can really be a rewarding job.
Later that evening, I was also able to meet the legend herself: Nichelle Nichols! and her family! Nichelle is the sweetest person I have ever met. She was so kind and appreciative of the work everyone put into this. Talking to her was the highlight of 2021 for me.
The project is being pitched to studios as we speak, crossing fingers that it gets picked up. I am planning on a soundtrack release very soon, and yes, there will be a 5.1 version available. A huge thank you again to Frank for trusting me with his project. More about this as it comes! and in the meantime, don’t forget to “set course for trouble!”
