Joel Goodman – photo credit: ascap.com

The capstone to the Music Composition for the screen MFA program is the summer internship in LA, where students intern with experienced Hollywood composers. Steven Melin, graduate of the class of 2014, had the opportunity to intern with Joel Goodman, who has worked on numerous documentaries including The American Experience. Joel is a very active composer, with seven movies coming out this year.

Who did you intern with and what responsibilities did you have?

I interned with Joel Goodman and held several responsibilities as the Assistant’s Assistant (not “Assistant to the Assistant” for all The Office fans!) When I arrived at Joel’s studio each day, I was given a list of tasks to complete during my time there. The team created a workspace for me in the main studio room including a desk, iMac, midi controller, and audio interface. My workload was primarily public relations—research, documentation, and database management. Since I’m a pianist, they also had me record a few pieces for them in Digital Performer (which they use exclusively—I had to learn it in a week before arriving!). My favorite task, though, was helping them spot film. My role was to help spot new films and create a temp track using music from Joel’s gigantic archive of compositions. There are many days I spent multiple hours just listening to his music.

What did you learn during your internship?

The most valuable skill I learned was practical PR work. I learned (in the den of lions) how to effectively research and manage data. I’m now an Excel wizard!

Steven at his Internship

How much interaction did you have with the composer?

Joel is an extremely busy man. When he isn’t locked away in his studio cranking out music, he’s out at a meeting or cycling along the insanely steep hills of the Topanga Canyon. In total, I only spoke with him maybe three or four times—the entire internship!! That is certainly not what I expected, but that’s what happens when you work with someone who lives under incredible pressure. I spent almost all of my internship time with the two assistants.

What have you been up to after the internship ended?

At the end of the internship, I spoke to Joel about coming onboard as a third Assistant, but he didn’t have an opening for me. Then, on the final day of the internship, I received a surprising email from composer & orchestrator Penka Kouneva asking if I’d be interested in working as her full-time Assistant!

Penka taught our Columbia class one day weeks prior and I spoke with her privately after the class. We chatted about my dream to be a video game composer and she kindly invited me to an upcoming E3 indie game developers meeting. I gladly attended the meeting and as we waltzed around and greeted game developers, she later commented that she was impressed with my business-sense and friendliness. Little did I know that she would ask me to work for her in a few weeks! Unfortunately, I had to turn down the offer to work with her in LA, since I was engaged to be married at the time and needed to fly home to Georgia for the fall. Instead, we negotiated an alternative—to work for her remotely part-time.

So now I happily assist Penka online 2,200 miles away while I teach music lessons locally, write music for films, games, & TV commercials, and devise new ways of surviving as a musician!

Conducting a Recording Session

Any advice for composers moving to LA?

COME PREPARED! I can’t stress this enough. LA will swallow you up if you don’t arrive with an “I CAN” attitude. I’ve seen composers completely fail because they didn’t come with a strategy. Meet everyone you possibly can while out there. Go to every possible event. If you find yourself sitting around and watching TV at any point, get up and go meet more people. Use every moment to your advantage. This may be your one and only opportunity to meet folks who will later hire you. Join the SCL & GANG—these are invaluable. Be affiliated with ASCAP or BMI. Know all major DAW’s proficiently. Be familiar with every major composer and his/her work (know names of films & games they’ve written for and have major themes memorized—this is how you jump into conversations and stand out!) Composer Garry Schyman (Bioshock series) taught me this one—If you want a job working for a composer, be valuable. Don’t show up to LA being mediocre. Be the best at something. You’re not the first or only young composer seeking work.

Take a listen to Steven’s piece “Fight For Freedom” recorded and mixed in LA at Capitol Records during the capstone recording session.