By Patrick Luce Jun 15, 2006, 21:33 GMT
Emmy award-winning composer Jeff Beal returns to the small screen to score "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" - a series of eight one-hour episodes adapted from Stephen King's short stories premiering July 12th on TNT.
Each individual feature stars a major performer - including William H. Macy, with whom Beal worked on the films "Door to Door" and "The Wool Cap," and William Hurt.
"My scores tend to be very specific to the material for which they were created, that is why 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes' is such an exciting project for me,” Beal explains. “It gives me the opportunity to score eight very unique films."
For the eight separate compositions, Beal drew from a range of musical styles - including a jazz-infused score for "Umney's Last Case" and gothic rock for "The Fifth Quarter." In the dialogue-free premiere episode titled "Battleground," Beal's tribal, orchestral score tells the story of a cold mechanical killer attacked by an army of toy soldiers after murdering the CEO of a toy company.
Through his wide range of composing styles, Beal has made his mark in both television and feature films. He has won Emmys for the first season theme song on "Monk" and the documentary "Peggy and Dorothy," and continues to successfully compose for film and TV. Beal's film projects that include a collaboration with Academy Award winning writer and director Jessica Yu on "In The Realms of the Unreal," a film festival favorite; and a pulsing and innovative score for Ed Harris' "Pollock."
Jeff Beal's upcoming projects include the documentary "Protagonist," another collaboration with Yu that offers a glimpse into the lives of a former bank robber, a terrorist, and an evangelist; and two fictional feature films, "The Situation" and "Where God Left His Shoes."
"The Situation" is a groundbreaking film about a female journalist in present-day Iraq. "Where God Left His Shoes," by up and coming writer/director Salvatore Stabile, follows a failed boxer as he tries to find an apartment for his homeless family on Christmas Eve. In addition, the second season of the HBO series "Rome," which Beal also scores, shoots this summer.
His musical endeavors go beyond TV and film. Beal has composed many concert pieces, including a full orchestral score for Buster Keaton's silent film "The General" and a four movement work titled "Things Unseen" performed by the world renowned Ying Quartet. As a multi-intstrumentalist, he places a strong emphasis on performance and has released several solo CDs.
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