19 21 oct '23
industry programme

WSA Industry Programme

Enjoy three days of film music, masterclasses, talks and more with the WSA Film Music Days, a yearly gathering of composers, directors, producers, sound professionals, sound designers and students in the area of cinema and television. The WSA Film Music Days are the ideal opportunity to celebrate the art of film music, network, learn and scrutinize the current state of the industry.
WSA Film Music Days Creative Partnership

WSA Industry Programme 2023

The programme, guests and speakers for 2023 will be announced in August. Tickets will be available from then onwards. Some topics of the panel discussions and masterclasses have been released already.

What can you expect?

Hildur Guðnadóttir at 2019 Composer Talk© Jeroen Willems

Composer's Talk

Film Fest Gent invites emerging composers to talk about their oeuvre and their place within the industry as a composer, a producer or simply as a person.

Previous editions

Film Music Seminar, FFG 2017© Michiel Devijver

Film Music Seminar

The Film Music Seminar is the ideal opportunity to gain insight into the methodology and artistry of a seasoned professional. The seminar is a collaboration between Film Fest Ghent and KASK and is aimed at (film)music or sound design students to better understand the creative bond between filmmaker, composer and/or sound designer.

Previous editions

  • 2022

    Music in nature documentaries with Bruno Coulais, Dirk Brossé and Nainita Desai

  • 2021
  • 2020-2005
    • Music for Film: Marco Beltrami & Michaël R. Roskam (2019)
    • Sound Mixing and Editing: Carter Burwell & Skip Lievsay (2018)
    • Jazz Music in Film: David Shire, Walter Murch, Joe Kraemer & Terence Blanchard (2017)
    • Music for Film / TV / Documentary: Jeff Beal, Jeff Russo, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Johan Grimonprez & Karsten Fundal (2016)
    • British Film Music: George Fenton, Craig Armstrong, Daniel Pemberton (2015)
    • French Film Music: Thierry Jousse & Bruno Coulais (2014)
    • Music for Films: team work? with Dirk Brossé, Rachel Portman & Dario Marianelli (2013)
    • Sound Design with Michel Schöpping (2012)
    • Sound Design and Editing with Walter Murch (2011)
    • Collaboration Between Composer & Filmmaker: Stephen Warbeck (2010)
    • Composing for Asian Cinema with Shigeru Umebayashi (2009)
    • An Audiovisual Symbiosis: Gabriel Yared & Anthony Minghella (2008)
    • The Relation Between Film Music & Sound: Mychael Danna, Steve Munro & Annabelle Pangborn (2007)
    • Film Music & Emotion? Willem Thijssen, Simon Lenski, Frank Duchêne, Johan Hoogewijs, Tom Kestens & Geoffrey Enthoven (2006)
    • Music or No Music? Larry Sider, Mart Van den Burken, Eavesdropper, Michael Weilacher, Silvia Defrance, Hans Spilaert, Frodo Kuipers (2005)
Nicholas Britell and Barry Jenkins, WSA Industry Days, FFG 2018© Jeroen Willems

Panel Talks & Masterclasses

Our annual WSA industry programme consists of several panels and masterclasses, bringing together the film music community for interesting conversations and to discuss hot topics related to composing for screen.

Previous editions

  • 2022

    Creative Partnerships

    • Johnny Jewel, Nico Leunen & Fien Troch
      A conversation between Chromatics frontman Johnny Jewel (Drive, Home), Nico Leunen (Ad Astra, Beautiful Boy, Broken Circle Breakdown, Home) and Fien Troch (Kid, Home).
    • David Lowery & Daniel Hart
      Director David Lowery and composer Daniel Hart will soon be celebrating their 15th anniversary (Ain't Them Bodies Saints, A Ghost Story).

    Panel Talks

    • Changing the Face of "The Composer": Alliance for Women Film Composers with Catherine Joy (composer and President of the AWFC), Daisy Coole (composer and AWFC Board Member), Daniel Hart (composer) and Nainita Desai (composer).
    • Buyouts and other unfair contractual practices: what prospects for the Belgian composer?
    • Film Composer & Film Producer: Balancing a Budget

    Roundtables

    • The World Soundtrack Award nominees for Film Composer of the Year and TV Composer of the Year
    • The World Soundtrack Award nominees for Discovery of the Year
    • The World Soundtrack Award nominees for the Public Choice Award
  • 2021

    Masterclasses

    • Music and Sound Design in Games by Alex Otterlei
    • Entering the Film Music Marketplace by Lesley Jackson
    • How a Business Frustrates Its Creatives by Stephan Eicke

    Panel Talks

    • Belgian Soundtracks on Vinyl (Pool Needle and Sonhouse Records)
    • Rights & Royalties in Game Music with Wim Coryn (Wild Cherry Consult), Pablo Schwilden Diaz (Demute), Olivier Maeterlinck & David Hutsebaut (Sabam), Alex Otterlei (DAE Howest) and Austin Wintory
    • InMICS Composers Lab with Samya Papasoff, Filip Rathé, Görkem Ağar, Yi-Jia Chen, Sandro Manzon
    • Sketching with Music: Clara Sola with Ruben De Gheselle & Natalie Álvarez Mesén

    Roundtables

    Standing out as an artist in the contemporary film music industry with WSA Nominees Susan DiBona & Salvatore Sangiovanni (Bad Habits Die Hard), Benji Merrison (SAS: Red Notice), Amelia Warner (Wild Mountain Thyme), Gavin Brivik (Wild Indian), Florencia Di Concilio (Calamity, une enfance de Martha Jane Cannary), Anthony Willis (Promising Young Woman), Carlos Rafael Rivera (The Queen's Gambit), Emile Mosseri (Minari)

  • 2020

    Masterclasses

    • Alexandre Desplat

    Panel Talks

    • Composing for Screen with Dirk Brossé, Alexandre Desplat and Gabriel Yared
    • Composer Diversity: Michael Abels (Discovery of the Year 2019), Lolita Ritmanis (2020 WSA nominee for Public Choice) and WSAcademy members Diego Baldenweg with Nora Baldenweg & Lionel Baldenweg and Nainita Desai
  • 2018

    Masterclasses

    • Showcase by SPITFIRE AUDIO
    • Introduction on Immersive Sound by Auro Technologies
    • Who's Who in the International Film (music) Industry by Lucy Bright (MUSIC SALES)
    • Masterclass 'Orchestration & building your own sound ID' by composer Florencia di Concilio
    • 'What's publicity and how should one take advantage of it?' by publicist Chandler Poling (White Bear PR)
    • Scoring for New (interactive) Media with video game composers Joe Henson & Alexis Smith aka 'The Flight' (Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey) and Brian D'Oliveira (Resident Evil 7 & Shadow of the Tomb Raider)

    Panel Talks

    • The Reality of Rejected Scores with Robert Townson (Varèse Sarabande)
    • The Craft of Music Supervision in association with the UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors with music supervisors Amelia Hartley (Peaky Blinders & Black Mirror), Catherine Grieves (You Were Never Really Here, London Spy, Les Misérables) and Lucy Bright (Assassin's Creed, Marjorie Prime), moderated by Air Edel's Maggie Rodford
    • The Work Flow between filmmaker, composer and editor with Alain Dessauvage (editor Girl & Bullhead) moderated by musician Oliver Patrice Weder
WSAwards Meet & Greet Press Conference, FFG 2015© Lisa Bom

Meet & Greet

Each year Film Fest Gent organises a short press conference and a Meet and Greet with the invited guests of honour and nominated WSA composers. This is your chance to meet your favourite film composers!

WSA Film Music Days WSA Nominees Round Tables8

(Re)watch the WSA Film Music Days

Were you unable to attend the film music event of the year? No worries, we've recorded all talks and panels so you can (re)watch them anytime you want. Enjoy the WSA Film Music Days.

On our Vimeo channel you can watch numerous talks & masterclasses with renowned film composers and film music professionals.

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