Cork composer wins film score award for thriller The Colony
Kim Carroll, a 36-year-old from Fermoy, was presented with a gold medal yesterday at the 5th Annual Park City Music Festival in Los Angeles, California. It is the only festival in the world that recognises the contribution of composers to the film industry.
Festival director Leslie Harlow said Mr Carroll’s score for The Colony demonstrated how it was such a vital part of the film. “It enhanced the emotional impact of the film and was terribly effective in getting across the director’s intentions,” said Mr Harlow.
The film is based on the disappearance of Boris Weisfeiler, a Pennsylvania State professor who vanished while hiking in Chile in 1985. Despite US officials insisting there was no evidence of foul play, declassified documents revealed he had been kidnapped by the Chilean military and turned over to a religious sect run by former Nazis.
“Writing the music for The Colony really flowed because the scriptwriter and I were on the same page from the beginning,” said Mr Carroll.
“It’s an honour to get any recognition for the role it played in this great film”.
Mr Carroll left Ireland almost 20 years ago to study music at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. He soon picked up his first music award by adopting a unique two-handed tapping style of guitar playing.
Mr Carroll is also an accomplished piano player and percussionist and produces movie scores from his home studio in the Topanga hills overlooking Los Angeles.
Mr Carroll recently co-wrote the music for the film, The Uninvited, with Harry Gregson-Williams.
He has also written music for HBO’s Addiction and Katie Morgan Porn 101 documentaries, NBC’s Crossing Jordan, CBS’s Cold Case, VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club and Fox Sports.
In addition, Mr Carroll wrote the music for the feature-length documentary film Survival of the Wildebeest.
