February 9th, 2012 
Sometimes people get upset because they don’t want the Sundance Film Festival to be about the hype. It should be about the films, they say, not about the bands, celebrities, gifting suites, dinner parties, and continual events. I think they are wrong. For someone who doesn’t even work in the entertainment industry, Sundance I feel is about not only the energy, but inspiration. In one weekend you can meet writers, producers, directors, actors, filmmakers, and videographers all sharing the same dream of making something meaningful, making something that other people will hunger for and perhaps sit down and learn something from. Aren’t films about changing one’s thinking? I have never been more inspired by the people I met in one weekend all sharing a dream – a dream to showcase their acting ability, a dream to share their documentary about what life is like for a Palestinian farmer as Israelis build a village in the middle of his land, a dream to share what happiness means to people all over the world, a dream to create and share the creative process.
Photo Credit: postercollective.com
I had the pleasure of hearing countless stories all weekend long, from the Parisian documentary filmmakers of Five Broken Cameras that I met in the shuttle to Park City, to the young directors I met at lunch and on the street, to the actors I sat next to on the plane, to the celebs that were interviewed in the gifting suites, and to the LA filmmakers I had just met in my own city who were traversing the snow packed streets to get to the next event. INSPIRED is the one word that comes to mind about Sundance. I am inspired with the creative energy that is abuzz at Sundance.
This inspiration never ended as I met up with old high school friends I have not seen in almost 20 years! One of those friends I will always remember as playing the piano as sweet as Billy Joel for our eighth grade graduation. This interview is about him – Chad Kelly. Now a successful composer, he was at Sundance because he created a majority of the music for the documentary film called Escape Fire, a documentary about our American health care system.
Escape Fire examines how the medical industry is designed for quick fixes rather than prevention, for profit-driven care rather than patient-driven care. As the film’s website reads: “After decades of resistance, a movement to bring high-touch, low-cost, preventive methods of healing into our high-tech, costly system is finally gaining ground. Escape Fire follows dramatic human stories as well as leaders fighting to transform healthcare at the highest levels of medicine, industry, government, and even the US military. The film is about a way out, about saving the health of a nation.”
What is your musical/educational background? Do you work for someone now or are you an independent composer?
I started playing piano at age nine and wrote my first piece of music when I was twelve or 13…… for a girl of course! I played and wrote in a few bands throughout high-school and then attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. While I was there I discovered my strength was in composition over performance. I have also always been a huge fan of film and understood that some of my more melodramatic ways in music would be better suited for that medium. So, without hesitating, I decided on a dual major in composition and film scoring.
Composer Chad Kelly
After graduating from Berklee I was planning to move to Los Angeles but was offered a job working for Sonalysts Studios in Waterford, CT. They have a huge post production facility there with giant sound stages, an animation department, a graphics department and of course an audio department which includes Power Station New England, an exact replica of what was once Power Station in New York City but is now called Avatar Studios. I quickly became head staff composer, writing music for commercials, documentaries, video games and network sports packages. I was also the assistant sound design engineer which was a fantastic distraction from writing. It helped me think a little differently about music’s role in film as I began to explore it from more of a sound design perspective. It was quite an education and a baptism by fire for a kid fresh out of school. I don’t know if I would have been given such an opportunity in Los Angeles at such a young age.
After working at Sonalysts for three years or so, I decided to start my own company composing music for commercials etc. I had two partners and we rented a house in Fairfield county, CT. and converted the whole thing into one giant project studio. We worked the business for about five years and did alright but I really wanted to focus more on my first love which is scoring film. So, we all broke off from the business and went our separate ways to focus on our individual strengths and to this day still work together from time to time.
At that point, I was making plans to move to Los Angeles but before I could get out the door, I fell in love with a very close friend of mine who later became my wife. I decided to stay. So, now I am based out of NYC and have been for the past eight years or so working as an independent composer writing music for films, documentaries, commercials and interactive media projects. My work comes mostly from word of mouth but I still have to hit the pavement and knock on some doors from time to time.
What instruments do you play and at what age did you start?
My primary instrument is piano but I play guitar and a little Irish button accordion. My philosophy when it comes to composing and playing is that nothing is off limits where instruments are concerned. I have all kinds of instruments littering my studio and don’t really know how to play most of them. I don’t believe technical prowess is everything because as long as you can be musical with something that makes sound, that thing can be used to compose music or can be a texture within a composed piece. Lack of technique can often produce some pretty interesting music. The great John Hartford once said “style is based on limitations.” For me, I’ll let the wonderful musicians I hire supply the technical prowess when needed. It’s up to me to try to come at a thing from as much of an original perspective as I can.
How did you get involved with the documentary Escape Fire?
Photo credit: www.the-ephemeric.com
I worked with Matt Heineman on his documentary “Our Time” and then again on the HBO documentary series, “The Alzheimer’s Project.” It was on that project that I met and briefly worked with the great Susan Froemke. Months after that project ended, Matt and I were chatting about this and that and he mentioned this new project he was embarking on and that it was going to deal with the current state of our healthcare system. It was really early on in the process and he hadn’t quite figured out what his exact approach was going to be but I knew that I wanted in…badly.
Matt is an incredibly gifted filmmaker and is one of the most tenacious and persistent people I have ever met. With the blend of his attention to detail, thoughtfulness and instincts mixed with Susan Froemke’s insight and experience, I knew this project was going to be done in a way that was responsible, evenhanded and was going to educate rather than polarize its audience. It’s such an important subject and one that needed to be done right.
Healthcare as a subject is near and dear to me because I have a couple of family members who work in the health and wellness field. My brother (Scott Kelly) is an integrative health and wellness practitioner in Park City, UT and has dedicated his life to helping educate people about the preventative benefits of a healthy lifestyle, diet and exercise. This film is great because a good part of it really helps to validate what people like him have been saying for years.
What was your involvement with the film Escape Fire?
Once Matt and I discussed the project, I started getting to work on sketching out some ideas when I had the time. I didn’t have the job for composing the music yet but I wanted to convince Matt and get him excited about having me compose the original score. As the process moved forward Matt and I would have conversations where the word “system” was constantly being used. Healthcare system, the body’s system, the established or entrenched system, etc. I really began to see everything as a machine and so I started experimenting with industrial factory sounds. I was finding and recording conveyer belts, printing presses, steam compressors, metal hammers and things like that. I would also create and record my own mechanical sounds in the studio using raw materials and really anything I could find. I started playing around with and editing these things into rhythmic beds while composing short pieces of music in odd meters. Things began to gel and before I knew it, I had these sketches that would later be very integral parts of the original score.
At the same time, Matt’s vision for the film was taking shape in such a way that when I sent him the sketches he immediately responded by saying, “Great, let’s do this. I want to have the mechanical stuff be more present in the first half of the film where we are presenting the problems and the reasons for those problems. As we move to the second half and towards the end of the film where we are presenting solutions and new ideas, we begin to lose the machinery sounds and the music takes on a warmer, more fluid, rounded sound.” So, that’s what we did and as I started getting more and more of the film sent to me I followed that map whenever and wherever possible.
Photo credit: toptenz.net
What was the hardest part about his project?
The hardest part of this project was the deadline. I had about two months to compose all of the original music which is about 80% of the soundtrack. The additional music in the film was generously given to us by Moby. Once we found out that the film had been accepted into Sundance we really had to start cooking. I didn’t work anything short of a fifteen hour day for those two months. It was great! It’s always wonderful and intensely gratifying to be a part of a creative and well oiled machine like that (no pun intended).
Have you composed music for other films or projects?
Sure, I have another film coming out soon called “3 Days of Normal” and I’ve also composed music for films by HBO, ESPN Films, STARZ Media, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, PBS, etc. I’ve also composed music for video games by Electronic Arts and have done numerous commercials.
Is there anything you would like to share about this film (or that you want the public to know)?
Yes, people can learn more about the film and where they can see it by “liking” it on facebook . To see a teaser for the film and to contribute to the movement, they can click here . Thanks!
