Jeremy Borum argues with electrifying clarity that a film composer today must be a warrior with a multitude of survival skills. He and his widely experienced interviewees explain the why and the how, in an essential guide for every practicing and would-be composer for visual media. – Bill Elliott, professor, Berklee College of Music
I’ve been addressing some of these subjects for several years in my USC classes, but nothing as thorough and all-encompassing as you have accomplished. I will add it to the top of the mandatory reading list for my classes. You’ve addressed all of the current scoring issues with forthright and honest information. This will be an invaluable tool for our next generation of film composers. – Eric Schmidt, professor, USC Thornton School of Music
Your book is awesome and I cannot wait for it be to officially available. I’ll assign it to all my students as a mandatory read, and will adopt many advices from it in my own artistic and professional career. – Milica Paranosic, professor, The Juilliard School
This is fantastic. It perfectly encapsulates the realities of the new world of film scoring with sage, practical and, dare I say it, uplifting advice. It provides reality-based solutions without sugar coating things. I intend to adopt it for my Film Scoring I class at UCLA Extension this fall. Bravo! — Fletcher Beasley, composer, performer, Professor, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Jeremy Borum has written a highly organized, comprehensive, and quite extraordinary summation of what a film composer needs to know about the industry today. This is different from the books one finds in stores, in that it is written from an insider’s point of view. In that way it is unique, and the directness and clarity of the way his book is laid out is impressive. – Richard Danielpour, Grammy winning composer, Professor at Manhattan School of Music and Curtis Institute of Music
This book provides useful and timely insights into the commercial realities of Hollywood filmmaking and the evolving nature film music practice. This should be required reading for any aspiring screen composer. – Vasco Hexel, Area Leader Composition for Screen, Royal College of Music, London
Very entertaining, and gives great advice to the newcomer while assuring more established composers that they’re on the “right” path. – Patrick Kirst, professor, USC Thornton School of Music
This is the sort of book I’ve been hoping someone would write for a very long time. It’s an important practical outlook on the contemporary realities of scoring, and it will become part of my curriculum immediately. – Barry Schrader, professor, California Institute of the Arts
This book fills a needed gap. There are several good technical books about film scoring available to students. But there hasn’t been – until now – a book offering detailed, sage, and keenly practical advice about how to organize one’s working life as a film composer and navigate one’s way towards a successful career. I highly recommend this book to every aspiring student of film composition. – Edward Green, PhD, Professor of Composition, Manhattan School of Music, Composer-in-Residence, Imagery Film, Ltd.
I was immediately impressed with the easy access to the video clips online. What a great way to provide personal insights from composers from within the text! Guerrilla Film Scoring is a timely and well-informed book, full of relevant information for composers interested in entering the ever-evolving waters of film scoring. – Don Wilkins, Film Scoring Chair Emeritus, Berklee College of Music
I wish I had this book before I wrote my first film score! Guerilla Film Scoring takes on all sides of the film composing process, from the nuts and bolts of contracts, to sampling instruments, to the act of writing itself. As a composer, I believe it’s an invaluable addition to any music library. – David Ludwig, Dean of Artistic Programs and Chair of Performance Studies, Curtis Institute of Music
Guerrilla Film Scoring contains a lot of practical knowledge, and it systematically breaks down the realities and challenges facing film composers today. The book includes very useful contributions from professionals, and it will certainly be useful to anybody in the field of scoring. – Peter Neff, Professor, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
A much-needed resource that de-mystifies the profession, replete with terrific perspective and advice from a wide range of seasoned professionals: Bravo! – Angela Myles Beeching, Director, Center for Music Entrepreneurship
I like this book very much. It’s the only one of its kind: informative, insightful, and pulls the mask off every aspect of the industry’s practices. It identifies what the composer needs to know, what he/she is up against, and addresses film composition from the vantage point of what composers face in reality: low-budget, do-it-yourself production vs. the studio block-buster scores (…that most of the students believe they’ll be working on.) They may someday, but to get there they’ll be facing exactly what is described in the book. I believe it should be required reading for every student thinking of a career in scoring for media or one that has already entered the trenches. – David McHugh, director of Music Composition for the Screen, Columbia College Chicago
I founded and direct a film scoring program at California State University, Northridge and I intend to make this remarkable book required reading for my students. Jeremy Borum nails it with pithy quotes and street-level advice for the current scoring scene. Indeed this is “guerrilla” work. It takes guts, skill, talent, preparation and the ability to continually evolve to succeed. Jeremy’s book should be front and center on every commercial composer’s desk. – Elizabeth Sellers, Head and Founder of Commercial and Media Composition Program, California State University, Northridge
Since the majority of music composition majors lists film scoring as a career goal, Borum’s no-nonsense guide to how to get there could not be more welcome. Powerfully written from the author’s wealth of personal experience, and backed by ongoing commentary from others who’ve made it too, Guerilla ends up a real page-turner. How things really work… not our Hollywood-dream scenario. – D. Kern Holoman, Distinguished Professor of Music, emeritus, University of California, Davis
Guerrilla film scoring will help composers to set realistic expectations for their education and life goals. At the same time, it will help them to shape trajectory and future of their careers. It’s an excellent resource and will definitely become one of our textbooks! – Rachel Yoon, Dean of the School of Performance Studies, Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music
Guerrilla Film Scoring should be required reading for anyone thinking about a career in music or expanding an existing career. Jeremy Borum offers not only practical advice, but insights into how technology has altered the landscape of music making in one of the most competitive and mysterious fields of the music industry. Making a living in music and knowledge of business have always been intertwined, but no more so than today. Targeted mainly to working composers, Borum’s Guerrilla Film Scoring offers up practical, technological, interpersonal, and real-world business advice that can and should be followed by anyone in any field of music. – Dr. John M. Laverty, professor, Syracuse University Setnor School of Music
Refreshingly practical and to the point, and informed by the sound advice of well-known professionals. I found this book extremely useful. – Pablo Ortiz, professor, University of California, Davis
Jeremy Borum’s timely book brings practical experience into the classroom. Enhanced with valuable advice from major figures active in the industry, Guerrilla Film Scoring equips students with powerful ammunition and strategic tactics to fearlessly conquer the film, video game, and multimedia scoring worlds. – Dr. Juan Chattah, professor, Frost School of Music, University of Miami
A must-read for anybody interested in composing for films or media, and suitable for academic courses as well. Veteran composers contribute multiple perspectives throughout the book. Each chapter is chock-full of practical advice and information for self-motivated composers interested in not only surviving, but thriving in the current film and media music scene. – Joseph Klein, Chair of Composition Studies, University of North Texas
Jeremy Borum’s book contains a wealth of practical, useful information. He has broken down the complex, challenging and often hair-pulling world of film scoring into sensible, digestible bites. The advice from the pros is very illuminating. Guerrilla Film Scoring should be in the library of any modern composer, and would be a worthwhile addition to any curriculum that deals in music for media. – Steven Mark Kohn, director of Electronic Music Studies, The Cleveland Institute of Music
Absolutely wonderful and informative. As a professor who strives to provide a practical worldview and skill set for my students, I greatly appreciate this book and will promote it to them. Guerrilla Film Scoring offers comprehensive advice on scoring in the 21st century marketplace. Every young composer should own this book before making a decision to pursue this career and lifestyle. – Richard DeRosa, Director of Jazz Composition and Arranging, University of North Texas
Things have considerably and rapidly changed in this field, and this book punctually witnesses and documents the new challenges for the contemporary film composer. It is realistic, down to earth, and thoroughly addresses all aspects of film scoring, in particular music business and film composers’ skill sets. Guerrilla Film Scoring is invaluable. – Enrica Sciandrone, Mmus, Royal College of Music, London
Jeremy Borum writes lucidly and with an unparalleled depth of knowledge about the current and near-future world of scoring for film, television, and video games that rivals any book on the subject. Guerrilla Film Scoring will quickly get the reader thinking about his or her professionalism in terms of running a business, producing state of the art demos and final cuts, and navigating the ins and outs of working, and finding the next paying project; all with a sobering eye on the way it really works in the 21st century. An added bonus is hundreds of highlighted quotes from over twenty of the busiest film composers in the business, each organized around the topics Borum writes about. It’s a truly meaningful and relevant manual that will inspire and give direction to any composer seeking to make a living in the world of film, television, and video games. If that is you, you must read this book NOW! – Dr. Bruce Dudley, Professor of Commercial Music, Belmont University
Learn to compose a melody or structure a chord progression elsewhere. But count on this book to teach you everything else that’s important regarding how to prepare yourself for a career as a film composer, as well as how to best position yourself for success. – Joel Leach, Founder and Professor Emeritus of Music Industry Studies, California State University, Northridge
Guerrilla Film Scoring is the Book of Wisdom for any composer. – David M. McKay, professor, Belmont University
These are endorsements from individual professors, not institutional endorsements.