Encanto composer Germaine Franco was the big winner at the Society of Composers and Lyricists’ SCL Awards on Tuesday night at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Disney’s animated movie defeated live-action competitors such as Dune, The Power of the Dog, The French Dispatch and Don’t Look Up for the most notable award of the night — Best Original Score for a Studio Film.
Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell‘s catchy “No Time to Die,” the hit title track from Daniel Craig‘s final outing as James Bond, won Best Song (Drama/Documentary), while “Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up won Best Song (Comedy/Musical). Composer Nicholas Britell and songwriter Taura Stinson shared the latter award with performers Ariana Grande and Scott Mescudi.
Stinson noted in her acceptance speech that “we have a responsibility to be better people and take care of each other and continue to look up.”
Elsewhere, it was great to see the SCL Awards honor The White Lotus composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer, whose music gave that HBO show much of its flavor, as well as The Green Knight composer Daniel Hart, who won Best Original Score for an Independent Film. I wasn’t personally high on The Green Knight but there’s no denying the beauty of both its score and its cinematography.
Finally, Stephanie Economou won the David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent for her work on the since-canceled Netflix series Jupiter’s Legacy, while the Coen brothers shared the Spirit of Collaboration Award with their longtime composer Carter Burwell.
The show was hosted by singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc, who opened with a crack at the Academy’s expense related to the org’s decision to give out the Oscar for Best Original Score (and seven others) an hour prior to the start of the live broadcast.
SCL President Ashley Irwin echoed those sentiments later in the show, decrying the Academy for deciding that “Best Original Score was no longer worthy of being part of the telecast.”
“The Academy’s decision is a disappointing trend among decision-makers everywhere,” said Irwin, who warned that composers will not sit by “like some disposable commodity.”
Irwin then presented Burwell with the Spirit of Collaboration Award, as the Coen brothers were regrettably stuck in New York and unable to make it to the ceremony. Burwell said he’d pass along the highlights of Irwin’s speech for them, which he promised to translate as “Fuck the Academy Awards!”
Before the end of the show, singer Judith Hill performed during an In Memoriam segment that paid tribute to the many musicians and composers who passed away this past year.
The full list of SCL Awards winners can be found below:
Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film
Nicholas Britell
Don’t Look Up
Alexandre Desplat
The French Dispatch
Germaine Franco (WINNER)
Encanto
Jonny Greenwood
The Power of the Dog
Hans Zimmer
Dune
Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film
Jonny Greenwood
Spencer
Daniel Hart (WINNER)
The Green Knight
Alberto Iglesias
Parallel Mothers
Rachel Portman
Julia
Kubilay Uner
American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally
Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production
Christophe Beck
WandaVision
Nicholas Britell
Succession
Natalie Holt
Loki
Jung Jae-il
Squid Game
Cristobal Tapia de Veer (WINNER)
The White Lotus
Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production
Kris Bowers & Siedah Garrett
“Together All The Way”
Dear White People
Nicholas Britell & Taura Stinson (WINNER)
(with Ariana Grande & Scott Mescudi)
“Just Look Up”
Don’t Look Up
Amie Doherty
“Fearless”
Spirit Untamed
Jamie Hartman, Jennifer Hudson, & Carole King
“Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)”
Respect
Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Home All Summer”
In The Heights
Outstanding Original Song for a Dramatic or Documentary Visual Media Production
Jeymes Samuel
(w/Shawn Carter & Scott Mescudi)
“Guns Go Bang”
The Harder They Fall
Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell (WINNER)
“No Time To Die”
No Time To Die
Rufus Wainwright
“Secret Sister”
Rebel Hearts
Diane Warren
“Somehow You Do”
Four Good Days
Diane Warren
“(Never Gonna) Tame You”
The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses
Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media
Germaine Franco
Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness
Hildur Guđnadóttir & Sam Slater (WINNER)
Battlefield 2042
Austin Wintory
Alien Fireteam Elite
David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent
Anne-Kathrin Dern
The Claus Family
Stephanie Economou (WINNER)
Jupiter’s Legacy
Joy Ngiaw
Blush
Spirit of Collaboration Award
Carter Burwell with Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
