SCL Awards

The Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) will honor Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese with their Spirit of Collaboration Award at the fifth Annual SCL Awards to be held Tuesday, Feb. 13 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The Spirit of Collaboration Award recognizes a composer/director relationship which has resulted in a prodigious […]

Two 2023 Oscar contenders, Son Lux and Diane Warren, each won awards in competition at the fourth annual SCL Awards, presented by The Society of Composers & Lyricists. Emmy winner Darren Criss hosted the event, which was held on Wednesday (Feb. 15) at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
Son Lux, Oscar-nominated for best original score for Everything Everywhere All at Once, won outstanding score for an independent film. The award was accepted by the trio’s Ryan Lott. Warren, Oscar-nominated for best original song for “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman, won outstanding song for a drama/documentary.

Michael Abels was a double winner on the night. He won outstanding original score for a feature film for Nope as well as a Jury Award for Omar, an opera he composed with Rhiannon Giddens.

The SCL presented two 2023 Jury Awards in recognition of the increasing number of ways music is used in an audiovisual context. These awards are voted on by the SCL board of directors. The other went to the audiovisual concert experience Women Warriors: The Voices of Change, for which Amy Andersson is musical director.

The Spirit of Collaboration Award was presented to composer Justin Hurwitz and director Damien Chazelle, who have collaborated on five films, including La La Land, for which they each won Oscars, and the 2022 film Babylon, for which Hurwitz is again nominated for an Oscar for best original score. The presentation was accompanied by a musical performance which included “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from La La Land, the First Man theme for harp and theremin, and a Babylon medley.

The Spirit of Collaboration Award, considered the SCL’s most distinctive and perhaps most meaningful, is presented to a composer and filmmaker who maintain a distinguished creative partnership. Previous recipients are Thomas Newman and Sam Mendes, Carter Burwell and the Coen Brothers, and Terence Blanchard and Spike Lee.

Additionally, filmmaker/lyricist Guillermo del Toro and lyricist Roeban Katz accepted their award for outstanding original song for a musical or comedy for “Ciao Papa” from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which they co-wrote with Alexandre Desplat.

Nami Melumad, who became Star Trek’s first female composer with Star Trek: Prodigy, won the David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Stephanie Economou, who received the first ever David Raksin Award at last year’s ceremony, won best original score for interactive media for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök. Also, Emmy-winning composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer won outstanding original score for a television production for White Lotus for the second year in a row.

The Society of Composers & Lyricists is a leading organization for professional film, television, video game, and musical theater composers and lyricists. The 77-year-old organization is focused on education and addressing the creative, technological and legal issues affecting the music for visual media community.

Here are the nominees for the 2023 SCL Awards, with winners identified:

Outstanding score for a studio film

Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

Carter Burwell – The Banshees of Inisherin

Winner: Michael Abels – Nope

Michael Giacchino – The Batman

John Powell – Don’t Worry Darling

Outstanding score for an independent film

Leo Birenberg, Zach Robinson – Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Sharon Farber – Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power

WINNER: Son Lux  – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Rob Simonsen – The Whale

Mark Smythe – The Reef: Stalked

Outstanding song for a musical/comedy

WINNER: Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo Del Toro – “Ciao Papa” From Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

Khiyon Hursey, Sukari Jones, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Mark Sonnenblick – “Good Afternoon” From Spirited

Danny Elfman – “Light the Match” From Central Park

Billy Eichner, Marc Shaiman – “Love Is Not Love” From Bros

Weird Al Yankovic - “Now You Know” From Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Outstanding song for a drama/documentary

WINNER: Diane Warren – “Applause” From Tell It Like a Woman

Taylor Swift – “Carolina” From Where the Crawdads Sing

Lady Gaga, Bloodpop – “Hold My Hand” From Top Gun: Maverick

Tems, Rihanna, Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler – “Lift Me Up” From Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – “(You Made It Feel Like) Home” From Bones and All

Outstanding score for television

Nicholas Britell – Andor

Siddhartha Khosla – Only Murders in the Building

Bear Mccreary – The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Theodore Shapiro – Severance

WINNER: Cristobal Tapia De Veer – The White Lotus

Outstanding score for interactive media

Nainita Desai – Immortality

WINNER: Stephanie Economou – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök

Bear Mccreary – God of War Ragnarök

Winifred Phillips – Jurassic World Primal Ops

Christopher Wiliis – Cat Burglar

David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent

Dara Taylor – The Invitation

Anna Drubich – Barbarian

DeAndre James Allen-Toole – God’s Country

Esin Aydingoz – Simchas and Sorrows

WINNER: Nami Melumad – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Less than 24 hours after Alexandre Desplat was shortlisted for Academy Awards for best original song and best original score for his work on Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, the French composer emerges as the top nominee for the 2023 SCL Awards for his work on that same film.

Desplat is nominated for outstanding score for a studio film and outstanding song for a musical/comedy for “Ciao Papa,” which he co-wrote with Del Toro and Roeban Katz.

The awards by the Society of Composers & Lyricists, now in their fourth year, will be presented on Feb. 15, 2023, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Actor-musician Darren Criss is set to host.

Many of the SCL nominees were shortlisted for Oscars on Dec. 21, but some who were left off received nods here, including Michael Giacchino (nominated for scoring The Batman), and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (nominated for co-writing the song “(You Made It Feel Like) Home” from Bones and All).

The Society of Composers & Lyricists is a leading organization for professional film, television, video game, and musical theater composers and lyricists. The 77-year-old organization is focused on education and addressing the creative, technological and legal issues affecting the music for visual media community.

Next month, the composer and director recipients of the SCL Spirit of Collaboration Award will be announced. The SCL Awards ceremony will feature a presentation of that award and a performance.

Here are the nominees for the 2023 SCL Awards:

Outstanding score for a studio film

Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

Carter Burwell – The Banshees of Inisherin

Michael Abels – Nope

Michael Giacchino – The Batman

John Powell – Don’t Worry Darling

Outstanding score for an independent film

Leo Birenberg, Zach Robinson – Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Sharon Farber – Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power

Ryan Lott – Everything Everywhere All at Once

Rob Simonsen – The Whale

Mark Smythe – The Reef: Stalked

Outstanding song for a musical/comedy:

Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo Del Toro – “Ciao Papa” From Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

Khiyon Hursey, Sukari Jones, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Mark Sonnenblick – “Good Afternoon” From Spirited

Danny Elfman – “Light the Match” From Central Park

Billy Eichner, Marc Shaiman – “Love Is Not Love” From Bros

Weird Al Yankovic - “Now You Know” From Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Outstanding song for a drama/documentary:

Diane Warren – “Applause” From Tell It Like a Woman

Taylor Swift – “Carolina” From Where the Crawdads Sing

Lady Gaga, Bloodpop – “Hold My Hand” From Top Gun: Maverick

Tems, Rihanna, Ludwig Göransson, Ryan Coogler – “Lift Me Up” From Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – “(You Made It Feel Like) Home” From Bones and All

Outstanding score for television

Nicholas Britell – Andor

Siddhartha Khosla – Only Murders in the Building

Bear Mccreary – The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Theodore Shapiro – Severance

Cristobal Tapia De Veer – The White Lotus

Outstanding score for interactive media

Nainita Desai – Immortality

Stephanie Economou – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök

Bear Mccreary – God of War Ragnarök

Winifred Phillips – Jurassic World Primal Ops

Christopher Wiliis – Cat Burglar

David Raksin award for emerging talent

Dara Taylor – The Invitation

Anna Drubich – Barbarian

Deandre James Allen-Toole – God’s Country

Esin Aydingoz – Simchas and Sorrows

Nami Melumad – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds