Bluey composer Joff Bush leads Screen Music Awards

Image: Illustration by Bluey animation designer Beth Harvey

First-time nominee Joff Bush, composer of Australian global TV hit Bluey, led the wins at the 2021 Screen Music Awards.

His first win was for Best Music For Children’s Programming.

His second was for Best Soundtrack Album for Bluey: The Album with his co-composers David Barber, Helena Czajka, Marly Lüske, Lachlan Nicolson and Steve Peach.

Another set of first-time winners were First Nations creatives Nathan Bird (pka Birdz), Fred Leone and Daniel Rankine (pka Trials) who won Best Original Song Composed For The Screen.

It was for ‘Bagi-la-m Bargan’ from Looky Looky Here Comes Cooky.

It was written for the NITV one-hour documentary, which offers a fresh look at the Captain Cook legend from a First Nations’ perspective.

The song is viewed through the lens of a young Butchalla man seeing Cook sail past Kgari (Fraser Island).

Leone, a Butchulla songman, and Birdz’ cousin, sings his part in language.

Birdz

Another first-time winner was Brian Cachia, who emerged in 1997 with Sydney band Stella One Eleven.

Cachia, now a full-time composer, took the trophy for Feature Film Score of the Year for horror thriller Bloody Hell.

Other winners from rock band backgrounds were David McCormack, Roger Mason and Jan Skubiszewski.

McComarck, of Brisbane band Custard, and long-time screen music partner Antony Partos, teamed up to score Best Music For A Television Series Or Serial for Jack Irish, the ABC- TV crime drama starring Guy Pearce.

Roger Mason, James Freud/ Models keyboards player turned multi-award winning screen composer, worked on Best Music For A Mini-Series or Telemovie for Hungry Ghosts (SBS On Demand).

In a Film Ink interview, Mason described creating the eerie soundtrack as an opportunity to score an Asian ghost story and create new techniques with a combination of acoustic instruments processed through synthesizers.

Jan Skubiszewski, member of Jackson Jackson and prolific producer, collaborated with his celebrated father Cezary Skubiszewski on Best Television Theme for Halifax Retribution, the crime series with Rebecca Gibney reprising her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax.

Other winners included Caitlin Yeo, Adam Moses, Jonathan Dreyfus, Adam Gock & Dinesh Wicks and Neil Sutherland.

The 2021 Screen Music Awards were originally set to be staged in November by APRA AMCOS  and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers).

The 2022 edition is scheduled for this November.

WINNERS – 2021 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS

Feature Film Score of the Year
Bloody Hell
Composed by Brian Cachia

Best Music for a Documentary
Playing with Sharks
Composed by Caitlin Yeo

Best Music for a Short Film
Yellow Jack
Composed by Adam Moses

Best Soundtrack Album
Bluey The Album
Composed by Joff Bush, David Barber, Helena Czajka, Marly Lüske, Lachlan Nicolson & Steve Peach
Published by Universal Music Publishing obo BBC Worldwide Limited

Best Original Song Composed for the Screen
Bagi-la-m Bargan from Looky Looky Here Comes Cooky
Composed by Nathan Bird*, Fred Leone & Daniel Rankine^
Published by Sony Music Publishing obo Bad Apples Music Publishing* / Sony Music Publishing obo Blue Max Music Publishing^

Best Music for Children’s Programming
Bluey
Composed by Joff Bush
Published by Universal Music Publishing obo BBC Worldwide Limited

Best Television Theme
Halifax Retribution
Composed by Cezary Skubiszewski & Jan Skubiszewski*
Published by Sony Music Publishing obo Beyond Properties / Mushroom Music*

Best Music for a Television Series or Serial
Jack Irish
Composed by David McCormack & Antony Partos
Published by Sonar Music

Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie
Hungry Ghosts
Composed by Roger Mason

Best Music for an Advertisement
The Untold Tale of Isabelle Simi
Composed by Jonathan Dreyfus & Daniel Müller

Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia
Composers: Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks
For: Masterchef, 20 to 1, Anh’s Brush with Fame

Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas
Composer: Neil Sutherland
For: Border Security, Mythbusters, Bondi Vet