Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Scott-green
Hi Tony, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m Tony Scott-Green and I’m a music composer for Film, TV and Media
Growing up in Scotland as a teenager, I loved film and I loved guitar- it just never occurred to me that I could combine them. The scores of films I loved were big, complex, orchestral– they seemed to be written by dedicated lifelong classical musicians and I had no clue how to do THAT. I didn’t know ANYONE who did that. I was a rock guitarist. Hollywood was 5000 miles away and I could see no way to get ‘there from here’ physically or creatively.
One night in London, my life changed. I bought a ticket to see Wim Wender’s ‘Paris, Texas.’ at a Covent Garden cinema, and as I watched Harry Dean Stanton in the desert and listened to Ry Cooder’s guitar, I felt like I’d been hit between the eyes with a hammer. ‘Slide guitar as a scoring instrument? I could do this. I want to do this.’ Even so, I couldn’t see a clear path to film scoring as a career and so I chose a different road for a while. But I was always thinking about it. Always hearing it.
For almost twenty years, I pursued a career in tech and consulting, advising Fortune 500 clients in management and tech strategy. Managing multi-million dollar projects with dozens of people. I’d ask clients “What’s your differentiator?” “What makes you special?” “What do you do that no-one else can?” But I never asked myself that question. Until one weekend when my wife and I were running errands and I was listening to a song on the radio. As it ended, I said “That’s a shame” She said “Why?” And I answered “You know how you hear a piece of music and it starts out great and in your head you hear the whole thing develop and it’s great, but then the music coming out of the speakers doesn’t match what you hear and you’re disappointed?”
And my wife said …”Uh…No.”
And I said “But you know how everyone can do that?”
She said “Still No. I think very few people can do that”
And I realized that my unique differentiator, what made me special, was the music I heard and that was what I had to share. That’s when I decided to pursue music professionally. It’s that classic situation where the pain of NOT doing it has to exceed the pain of actually doing it.
I started playing guitar again, playing gigs and sessions around town and eventually some small commercial scoring work, which led to me getting my first indie feature film scoring gig.
That first feature was over 10 years ago and my musical journey has led me to combine two of my passions: music and film. Music evokes personal emotions and memories in an audience; when it’s done well, it makes the audience lean in and merge their own experiences with what’s happening on-screen. Additionally, I get to combine my business skills from my past career in consulting with my musical creativity to collaborate, manage and deliver film scores with a creative team.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In addition to making the leap to a creative career after 20 years on a very different path, the biggest obstacle (and naturally, the biggest opportunity for growth) is the idea of “How can I get started on this new thing NOW? Even if it’s small?”
Here’s an example:
In 2009 I was laid off from my consulting company and I couldn’t find another consulting job and I was worried.
My wife said “OK – Imagine it’s a Thursday morning ten years from now, what are you doing?”
So I painted a general picture.
She said “No, no, no – break it down in detail from when you wake up to when you go to bed”
I thought about it and said “Well, I’m up early to wrap up a film score with some session musicians coming in to record, then I have a call with a director about a new project and then on the studio lot for meetings and a screening” I really went through it in detail.
She said “Can you do that if you get another full-time consulting job?”
I said “No, but by THEN I’ll be doing freelance consulting. I’ll have both a consulting business and a music business so I’ll have more control over my time and I’ll be able to ramp UP music and ramp DOWN consulting”
And she said “Well, start doing that now so that in 10 years time, you’re there”
And that was it.
I went to our accountant, set up the companies. Reached out to the consulting firms who couldn’t afford a fully loaded salary but COULD bring me on freelance, so I could have some dependable income while I built up my music career.
To this day, with large and small things, I think a lot about “Is there a way I can start doing it now?” And the answer’s always “yes”
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I sculpt original music for film, TV and media and have worked on feature films, TV shows, documentaries, web series and sonic branding for Fortune 500 companies. Even though I’m a musician, I consider myself a storyteller first, filmmaker second, and composer third, the collaboration is everything.
I firmly believe that “The right music helps an audience see better,” and I love incorporating and manipulating vintage instruments and alternative textures, creating unexpected, emotive music.
It’s a bit like being a mad scientist, using my studio as a laboratory, creating new sounds to layer into musical scores. I’m a bit obsessive about finding something new and undiscovered for each project. Sometimes a piece of music may even seem wrong at first; but paired with the film, it feels inseparably woven into the film’s DNA – as if it had always been there.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
The collaboration with other creatives is everything: fellow musicians and filmmakers. When you get it right, it’s like alchemy: a little bit of art, science and magic. Suddenly something leaps off the screen in a way that it didn’t before. Once you’ve had that happen, you want to make it happen again and again…
If the process is right, the result will be great.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tonyscottgreen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonyscottgreen
Image Credits
Laura Rose Barth
Julius Adorsu
Matthew Byori
Robbie Botts
