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The transition from songwriter to film composer
for Will Jennings came through
a request from his publisher to write a song for
a movie. It took another two years
and a change of publisher before he got another
film opportunity. In the interim, he
continued to write songs for various recording
artists.
STEVE DORFF, SONGWRITER--COMPOSER
"I always wanted to do music for movies," says
Steve Dorff. He started playing the
piano at age four and was composing little
tunes soon after. He began writing songs
in junior high school and formed a rock and
roll band, emulating the Beatles. To
appease his parents, he enrolled at the
University of Georgia, getting a degree in jour-
nalism, but his real interest remained
songwriting. After graduation, he traveled
between Atlanta and Nashville trying to break
into the music business, finally landing
his first songwriting contract with Lowry Music
in Atlanta. While he dreamed of
writing music for films, it took about four and
a half years before he made the move
to California.
Arriving in Los Angeles in 1974 without any
contacts, and just enough money to
last for two weeks, Dorff began making the
rounds. "I just knocked on doors." A
demo tape he left for producer Snuff Garrett
resulted in an audition and a contract
for $250 per week. Dorff cut his musical teeth
writing for five of Clint Eastwood's
movies (among them, Every Which Way But Loose
and Bronco Billy), producing seven
number one hits in a row.
In 1984, Dorff signed a co-publishing deal with
Warner Chappell Music, scoring
music for television shows that included
Growing Pains, My Sister Sam, Murphy
Brown, and Reba. With production partner and
lyrist John Bettis, Dorff wrote the
Broadway musical Say Goodnight, which is based
on the life of George Burns and
Gracie Allen. He continues to write for films
(Blast from the Past, Michael, Tin Cup,
Jake's Corner, Small Town Saturday Night, and
many more), as well as write hit songs
for artists such as Barbra Streisand, Whitney
Houston, and George Strait. Dorff and
lyrist Marty Panzer are recipients of an 8
million performance award from BMI for
the Kenny Rogers hit "Through the
Years."
COMPOSER/SONGWRITER FOR
ADVERTISING
JINGLE WRITER/PRODUCER · COMMERCIAL
MUSIC PRODUCER ·
ADVERTISING COMPOSER ·
SONGWRITER/PRODUCER
JOB OVERVIEW
Composers/songwriters for advertising write,
arrange, produce, and record music
for commercial advertising.
CASE STUDY:
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