Miriam Cutler is an American composer best known for her documentary film work.

Miriam Cutler
Born
GenresFilm score
OccupationComposer

Life and career

edit

Cutler is a Los Angeles-based film composer, scoring and performing music for over 20 years. She began her musical career as songwriter and clarinet player with The New Miss Alice Stone Ladies Society Orchestra; she then joined the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo as a clarinetist, and later founded the group Swingstreet. Due to her love of jazz, she has co-produced albums by the likes of Joe Williams, Nina Simone, Marlena Shaw, and Shirley Horn.[1] Cutler has served on a number of film festival juries including the first-ever World Cinema Documentary category at Sundance, The Film Independent Spirit Awards, The International Documentary Association Awards, and the AFI Film Festival Awards. She is a long-term board member of the Society of Composers & Lyricists and has served as an advisor in the Sundance Institute's Composers Lab since 2003.[2] She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Motion Picture Academy Documentary Branch and the Executive Committee of the TV Academy Music Branch.[3]

Cutler has also been the long-time composer for Circus Flora, based in St. Louis, MO.[4]

On June 26, 2013, Cutler was voted into the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[5]

In 2014, Cutler co-founded the Alliance for Women Film Composers with Lolita Ritmanis and Laura Karpman.[6] The organization provides visibility and advocacy for women composers.[7]

In 2017, Cutler was inducted into the John Muir High School (Pasadena, CA) distinguished alumni Hall of Fame.[8]

Awards and nominations

edit
Year Result Award Category Work
2019 Nominated Prime Time Emmy Award Original Score – Documentary[9] Love, Gilda
2019 Nominated Prime Time Emmy Award Original Score – Documentary[9] RBG
2018 Nominated HMMA Original Score – Documentary[10]
2015 Won HMMA Original Score – Documentary[11] The Hunting Ground
2012 Nominated News & Documentary Emmy Award Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Music and Sound[12] The Desert of Forbidden Art

Scores

edit

References

edit
  1. "Iamyours.com". Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  2. Loring, Allison (March 22, 2012). "Interview: Miriam Cutler Sheds Light On Working in the Boys Club of Film Composing and How the…". Filmschoolrejects.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  3. "Miriam Cutler - Home". Miriamcutler.com. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  4. "Circus Flora - Miriam Cutler". Miriamcutler.com. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  5. Burlingame, Jon (March 3, 2019). "Starr Parodi Named President of the Alliance for Women Film Composers". Variety. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  6. Greiving, Tim (January 10, 2019). "Female Composers Are Trying to Break Film's Sound Barrier". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  7. "John Muir High School Alumni Association - Hall of Fame". Johnmuiralumni.org. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Outstanding Music Composition For A Documentary Series Or Special Nominees / Winners 2019". Television Academy. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  9. "Complete list of 2018 HMMA Music In Visual Media Nominations". Hmmawards.com. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  10. "2015 HMMA Winners". Hmmawards.com. November 11, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  11. "Nominees for the 33rd Annual News & Documentary Awards". Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
edit