Premios BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards 2020

“Music is such an integral part of our favorite films and television shows, and our composers’ stellar musical contributions have never been more important or appreciated,” said Doreen Ringer-Ross, Vice President, Creative Relations, BMI. “This year’s group of honorees showcases the creative versatility within this genre and celebrates the very best in music for film, television and visual media. We’re thrilled to recognize BMI’s talented community of composers and look forward to celebrating together in person next year.”

Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson received the most awards this year with a total of five crystals for his work on popular NBC franchises Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Fire, as well as the CBS crime dramas FBI and FBI Most Wanted. Örvarsson now has a career total of 23 BMI awards among his arsenal of accolades. Brian Tyler, Mac Quayle and Tyler Bates were also multiple award winners with three apiece. Tyler was recognized for scoring the popular CBS drama series Hawaii Five-0, 80’s reboot Magnum P.I., and Paramount network’s Yellowstone, marking his 31st, 32nd and 33rd BMI Film, TV & Visual Media awards since joining BMI in 2010.  Quayle was honored for his work on the Fox drama series 9-1-1 and its breakout spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star, as well as FX’s American Horror Story, while Bates was honored for his music in the blockbuster films Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and The Punisher on Netflix, bringing his career total to 14 BMI awards.

Joker composer, Hildur Guðnadóttir, made Oscar history this year by becoming the first solo female to win Best Original Score for a dramatic composition. She then went on to amass several additional accolades including a BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe and GRAMMY Award. This marks the multiple award-winning composer’s first BMI Film Award. A second BMI crystal was presented to her as well in special recognition of her historic Academy Award win for the haunting score.

Celebrated composer Mike Post received a BMI TV Award for his work on Magnum P.I. and a BMI Spotlight Award in recognition of his renowned work on the longest running drama in TV history, Law & Order: SVU.  Over his unparalleled career spanning more than four decades, the multiple GRAMMY and Emmy-winning composer has racked up an impressive 55 BMI TV Awards, making him the most successful composer in BMI television history.  Other iconic series that have been enriched by Post’s musical magic include L.A. Law; Law & Order; NYPD Blue; Hill Street Blues; The A-Team; Doogie Howser, MD; Murder One; Quantum Leap and Wiseguy, among others.

BMI welcomed an elite group of 12 first-time BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards honorees. In addition to Guðnadóttir, new inductees for BMI Film Music awards, include Anna Drubich for Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark and Nate Heller for A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood. For streaming media, first-timers include Chris Westlake for Hulu’s Castle Rock, Dominik Scherrer (PRS) for The Widow, Sonya Belousova for Amazon Studio’s The Romanoffs, Nicolas Barry, Rene Garza Aldape and Tomas Jacobi for Paradise PD, and Robert ToTeras for Netflix’s Sugar Rush. Rounding out the freshmen class are Alex Shenkman for his musical contributions on NBC’s drama series New Amsterdam and Niki Hexum for her work on the cable comedy series Henry Danger on Nickelodeon.

Other prominent composers honored include Alexandre Desplat, Blake Neely, Danny Elfman, Kris Bowers, Nathan Barr, Ramin Djawadi and Thomas Newman, among many others.”