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About Amin Bhatia
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Wednesday, 26 August 2009 18:16 |
| Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner 2009 Gemini Award Nomination | The police drama Flashpoint leads the pack for 2009 Gemini Awards for excellence in Canadian television with a record 19 nominations. Among the nominees are Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner for Best Original Music Score for a Program or Series.
While Bhatia and Posner have scored the entire series, including the show's theme, the entry they submitted for was the episode "Planets Aligned" wherein the tactical unit saves two kidnapped children and justice is served by the sniper squad. The story required enchanting child-like themes to connect to the fantasy world of one of the young victims, locked up for 9 years with only her books to escape her sick captor. "We had to be very delicate for this story, but still provide the necessary action stuff" recalls Amin.
Amin and Ari have a unique collaboration relationship: as a writing team they build on their strengths, finishing each other's musical sentences. This collaboration has included producing a song for Flashpoint star Hugh Dillon (nominated along with co-star Enrico Colantoni for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role). Past collaborations for the team have earned them both Gemini Awards and Emmy nominations.
Both composers also cultivate their own projects and profiles. Recent projects for Bhatia include the IMAX film "Mysteries of the Great Lakes" and his CD "Virtuality" featuring guest artists Steve Porcaro, Patrick Moraz and members of the Toronto Symphony and Opera Orchestras. The album also includes "Bolero Electronica", an innovative performance of Ravel's Bolero using 75 years of synthesizers performed chronologically. Recent projects for Posner include season four of the animated series "Johnny Test", the soon-to-be-released comedy feature film "Eating Buccaneers" and production on the 2008 Juno Best Children's Album winner "Music Soup" by Jen Gould.
Both composers agree that Flashpoint takes front and centre on anything else they are working on. "It is such a great show to work on but the deadlines are quite demanding. We split the composition work right down the middle as to who covers what story-line in order to make the deadlines." Adds Ari "I guess it's possible for one person to do the whole thing but that would be 24 hours a day with no family and no sleep. Besides there'd be no energy left for the next episode!"
The team is assisted by music editor Joe Mancuso. Song Placement and Music Supervision is helmed by Chris Robinson of Arpix Media. The show's producers Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos are very involved in the show's musical direction. Tempos and key signatures of each piece of music are planned in advance so that one piece of music blends seamlessly into another. "We even do this for the final song which Chris gets to us first and then we write the score to lead into it. It's tricky to do but the result is so much better than the usual 'tacked on song' that is so common," say the co-writers.
Both composers credit the Flashpoint producers with the success of the score and the nomination. "Anne Marie and Bill really know what they want so that makes it a lot easier for us, and a lot of fun...challenging but fun!" they add.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television will present the 24th Annual Gemini Awards over three nights, two in Toronto this October, then a final November gala in Calgary, broadcast live on Global and Showcase. For more information about the 2009 Gemini Awards visit their website.
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