I was watching Gene Wilder hide under a desk when the telephone rang. It was Hollywood and they had a plaque for me.

THE LAUDING
I was being recognized for composing the Best Original Score for Joel Veenstra’s FREE OF CHARGE (directed by Robert Kirbyson), a short film playing at the 168 Hour Film Festival. It was like being paid twice for something you’d volunteered to do: offered free inspiration one minute, and congratulations the next. The surefire way to get that ink a-flowing is to write straight from someone else’s heart.

THE JUDGE
Now I understand that this festival is somewhat off the radar up here and so it falls on me to convey the magnitude of this honor in order to justify my tremendous gratitude. Therefore, do not judge me for blatant name-dropping, I’m just doing my job. I am not aware of the identity of every panelist, but one in particular has been made known and that is Ralph Winter, producer of several major motion pictures including Fantastic Four and X-men. And that’s enough for me.

THE COMPETITION
We all know that it’s no fun to win a punching competition against a swarm of children (unless of course you’re a child yourself, or a very mean person); Goliath would not have been praised had he beaten the boy. This was the soundtrack scene and I was the green musician and they were the wise old souls. Carl Rydlund, for example, was the orchestrator on such films as Chocolat, Panic Room and 50 First Dates. And Bryan E. Miller has created music for Honda, the Hyatt hotels, Kodak and Yamaha, among many others. I was no Goliath.

THE RESULT
I had always looked forward to the day when my broken accordion would have better company on the shelf than the phallic statue my friend brought home from Korea. That day has come.

THE GRATITUDE
Thank you Joel and Rob. Thank you Grit Multimedia. Thank you 168 Hour Film Festival. Hi mom.