Amber Music, Bicoastal composer Leo Sidran helps capture cultural blindness among Brooklyn kids in a new Lauri Faggioni-directed, 18-minute short film, “Wyckoff Place,” one of eight shorts in The Character Project, produced by USA Network, RSA Films (where Faggioni is repped) and Ridley & Tony Scott. Eight talented filmmakers were commissioned to create eight short films that capture quintessential American stories. “Wyckoff Place” follows a group of children from diverse backgrounds in one Brooklyn apartment building, looking past their differences to play together and forge lasting friendships. The Character Project launched online via USA’s website on May 13th and is also available via FOD, iTunes, mobile platforms, syndicated widgets and social media. Lexus, on behalf of their new CT Hybrid, is acting as the presenting sponsor for the series, which also features exhibits in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago in custom-built screening pods.
Amber’s composer Sidran was brought on due to his extensive documentary film scoring background. The idea was to create a score that was small, intimate and with some humanity. Faggioni wanted the music to speak to the innocence of the children without sounding too child-like. Notes Sidran, “I wrote a piece that was basically solo piano, a simple melody that could be played by a child but that has something a little more grownup inside the melody.”
Sidran’s simplistic yet beautiful piano composition opens the film, accompanied by a child’s voiceover reading a poem:
“New York: the big city, the big houses, they’re all so beautiful. The lights, the sky, it’s all not mine. I’m lucky enough to have it behind. I don’t own it and neither do you, but we still have our properties in it. So far, so far, we have a great start, I’ll never forget your sweet heart. We need to move on in this world, but you will be remembered New York. You are my home and as they say, ‘There’s no place like home.’ I guess it’s true, there isn’t a place like home. New York.”
“Wyckoff Place” follows the children as they come together for carefree afternoons of pinecone collecting, football, tag, playful teasing, scooters, hide and seek, and the occasional scraped chin. The kids: Nora, Clark, Tiffany, Muhammad, Yasmeen and Omar share friendships and connections as deep and complex as biological siblings despite their contrasting backgrounds. “Wyckoff Place” offers valuable lessons of open-mindedness, diversity and the power of childhood friendships.
About Amber Music
Amber Music has offices in New York and LA, but their creative reach is global. Over a span of nearly 20 years, the company has developed long-standing relationships with composers and sound designers, agencies and brands in virtually every corner of the world. Matching any project with its perfect audio solution, the company draws an impressive awards bounty, including a recent Gold Cannes Lion for Best Use of Music and the only Gold Clio awarded in the Music category in 2009, to name a few.
Founder Michelle Curran has shepherded Amber to the ideal marriage of boutique individuality and veteran quality. Custom commercial and film composition, sound design, full music supervision services—including licensing from third party publishing houses and record labels, as well as from their own catalogue—all are expertly executed by this happy family of artists obsessed with sound and music. Come join the family.
About Character Project
Character Project is an ongoing artistic initiative committed to celebrating America’s characters—the interesting, dazzling, and distinctive people, from all walks of life, who make this country extraordinary. Inspired by USA’s “Characters Welcome” brand, Character Project launched in 2009 with a focus on photography. For its second act, USA has partnered with RSA Films and Ridley & Tony Scott, to once again turn a lens on America’s characters, this time through the medium of the moving image. Together, they commissioned eight talented filmmakers to explore the theme of character from their own unique perspective. From lost loves to loyal friends, private heroes to public personalities, the subjects of these short films—some real, some fictional—show the courage, connection, humor, and hope that give shape to the American character. After all, characters are what make us USA.
About RSA Films
RSA Films was founded in 1968 and is the film and television production vehicle of acclaimed film directors, brothers Sir Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, and is now one of the leading film, television, advertising, commercials and music video production companies in the world. Headed by President Jules Daly, RSA has an established reputation for creating innovative and groundbreaking commercials for some of the world’s most recognized corporate brands. Headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in New York and London, RSA has a roster of over thirty directors. Among the prestigious awards RSA has garnered is an Emmy Award for Best Commercial for “Nike Move” and the announcement in TV Guide that Ridley Scott’s “1984” Apple computer spot was voted The Best Commercial of All-Time. RSA has collected a number of GOLDEN LIONS, EMMYS, BAFTS, AICP, Clio, MTV and MVPA Awards since its inception.
CREDITS:
Client: USA Network, USA Character Project
Titles: “Wyckoff Place”
Production Company: RSA Films
Director: Lauri Faggioni
Executive Producers: Kim Dellara, Emily Wiedemann
Producers: Jules Daly, Tom Dunlap
Co-Producer: Justin Lundstrom
Associate Producers: Jonny Edwards, Jill Hammers, Max Knies
Director of Photography: Andre Laskaris
Production Manager: Henri Sann
Editor: Mollie Goldstein
Music: Amber Music, Bicoastal
Composer: Leo Sidran
Sound Design: Lauri Faggioni
Sound Consultant: Micah Bloomberg
Final Mix: POP Sound
Controller: Vince Gonzalez
Office Coordinator: Adam Lytle
Payroll Services: Ingenium Business Affairs, Inc., Lauren Valentin, Maggie Elsner