The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) presented their 13th Annual Awards Ceremony at the Avalon on Wednesday, November 16th, to a crowd of journalists and HMMA nominees comprised of previous Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy award winners.
The ceremony came to life with legendary songwriter Charles Fox performing a medley of his TV theme songs including Happy Days, and Laverne & Shirley.
Less than a week away from receiving an Academy Award from the Film Academy Governors, multiple HMMA award recipient Diane Warren took to the stage to perform her song “Applause” on piano from the film Tell It Like a Woman. Warren received roaring applause when she won Best Song for an Independent Film.
Rita Wilson gave a rousing performance of her original song “’Til You’re Home” from the film A Man Called Otto. Wilson is a producer on the film which stars her husband, Oscar winning actor/producer Tom Hanks. The Oscar winner was present for his wife’s performance and seemed very moved by the evening’s performances.
The HMMAs had a great presence of diversity at this year’s awards with Michael Abels (NOPE), Terence Blanchard (WOMAN KING), Diane Warren (TELL IT LIKE A WOMAN), and HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR (TÁR) winning in their categories. Prolific television composer KURT FARQUHAR also received the HMMA Career Achievement Award.
Farquhar gave an inspiring acceptance speech about growing up in Chicago, battling homelessness, and ultimately beginning his career as a composer. Farquhar extended an emotional thank you to his brother, Ralph Farquhar who helped him get his first jobs in television. He urged Hollywood to consider working with composers and creatives that aren’t the obvious choice.
Presenters included Babylon composer JUSTIN HURWITZ, whose first award for his La La Land score was an HMMA (that score later won the Academy Award for Original Score); legendary member of Earth, Wind, and Fire, RALPH JOHNSON; and composers NAMI MELUMAD (Thor: Love and Thunder, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) and AMIE DOHERTY (She Hulk: Attorney at Law, Spirit Untamed).
BILLY EICHNER accepted the Best Onscreen performance award for his onscreen performance of the original song “Love is Not Love” from BROS, and gushed about his co-writer and the film’s composer, MARC SHAIMAN. “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC accepted the award for Best Song for a Film (Streamed), and said he wrote the song in hopes he might win an HMMA one day.
DANNY ELFMAN, who is on the awards circuit for his White Noise film score and Netflix’s new Addams family series Wednesday, accepted the award for Best Score for a Sci-Fi Film and thanked his director Sam Raimi. Elfman quipped that their relationship began when they were “storming the beaches at Normandy.”
Composer SIMON FRANGLEN dedicated his HMMA Award for Best Score for a Fantasy Film for AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER to his longtime friend and mentor, the late James Horner.
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT accepted the award for Best Song for an Animated Film with his co-writer ROEBAN KATZ, and sent regards from their third co-writer who was unable to attend, GUILLERMO DEL TORO.
TERERENCE BLANCHARD accepted the award for Best Score for a Feature Film for WOMAN KING, emphasizing the importance of Kurt Farquhar’s message of inclusion and equality. HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR, past HMMA recipient for her Academy Award-winning JOKER score, accepted the award for Best Music Themed Film, Biopic, or Musical on behalf of TÁR.
The HMMAs honors composers, songwriters, and music supervisors for their work in music for film, television, and videogames. For awards consideration, score entries submit up to 15-minutes of score to picture as it appears in the visual media project. Several films were only available to see in the context of the scenes provided.
Hollywood Music in Media Awards™ (HMMA) is the premier awards organization to honor original music (Song and Score) in all visual media from around the globe. The HMMA nominations have historically been representative of the nominees and winners of the Golden Globes, Oscars, Grammys, and Emmys that occur months later. The Hollywood Music in Media Awards will feature music performances, celebrity presenters, tributes to music industry icons, awards for composers, songwriters, and artists.
Past HMMA winners who went on to win Oscars include last year’s Billie Eilish and FINNEAS for NO TIME TO DIE and Hans Zimmer for DUNE, as well as Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Jon Batiste for SOUL, Hildur Guðnadóttir for JOKER, Ludwig Goransson for BLACK PANTHER, Alexandre Desplat for SHAPE OF WATER, songs from JUDAS & THE BLACK MESSIAH, LA LA LAND, A STAR IS BORN and more. The HMMA voters consist of select journalists, Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe and Emmy voters.
For a complete list of winners in all categories visit https://www.hmmawards.com/hmma-winners/