While you may not know composer Cody Westheimer by name, there’s a great chance you’ve heard his music. I would like to take this time to give some background on this fascinating composer. According to his website:

–Cody Westheimer is a noted film and television composer. A multi-instrumentalist, his love for music started when he began studying piano and brass instruments at the age of eight. A magna cum laude graduate of the music composition program at USC’s Thornton School of Music, his gift for thematic writing and creative instrument choices has made him a sought after composer for both studio and independent projects.

The Los Angeles resident currently runs New West Studios with his wife Julia Newmann, and has composed compelling scores for dozens of dramatic features, documentaries, TV shows, and games. In 2010 he scored the independent feature “Conception.” The film was directed by noted television writer Josh Stolberg and starred Julie Bowen, David Arquette and Sarah Hyland. Most recently Westheimer penned a new Hollywood inspired theme for the Tour de France, which aired on Versus and NBC (The theme can be heard here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CN2c4qA7xs) . It was so well received that Versus chose to continue airing it as their “cycling anthem” along side their other programming. Other notable credits include the music for TLC’s “Little People, Big World” and the theatrical film trailer for Neil Labute’s “The Wicker Man.”

 Among his other musical accomplishments and accolades Westheimer was selected as a participant for the prestigious ASCAP Filmscoring Workshop in 2001, and was chosen as a finalist for the Young Film Composer’s Competition, sponsored by Turner Classic Movies in 2004. Meanwhile, his orchestral score to the 2005 short animated film “SMILE” was awarded Double Gold Medals at the Park City Film Music Festival, and his overture for Sega’s “The Golden Compass Game” was nominated by the Game Audio Network Guild for “Track of the Year.”

In 2008 Westheimer moonlit as a filmmaker with his award-winning documentary, “Running for my Father.” The documentary followed Westheimer as he trained for the Houston Marathon in honor of his father, Dr. Eric Westheimer who died of a brain tumor in 2007. As an offshoot of the tribute Cody Westheimer created ironcure.org a twitter (#ironcure) driven social support site also devoted to raising cancer awareness through endurance sports activities. Currently Westheimer is training for the Ironman World Championships on October 8, 2011 in Kona, Hawaii–

Before doing his own documentary “Running For My Father” Cody Westheimer began to compose music for a previous documentary called “Ultra Marathon Man” about Dean Karnazes, a man who ran 50 consecutive marathons. This was a project Cody Westheimer had taken on after his father passed away in 2007. Well, after learning that the Houston Marathon was on the eve of the anniversary of his father’s death and in his father’s hometown, Cody decided to take up running as a dedication to honor his father. That was the beginning of Cody’s inspiring determination to compete in marathons/triathlons.

I had been given the opportunity to ask Cody Westheimer a few quick questions and it was a real pleasure to hear his responses:

AF: What helped you or what inspired you to develop your passion for film scoring?
CW: I was a teenager and started noticing film music as its own art with movies like “Jurassic Park” and “Free Willy.” I was always really interested in music, studying instruments like trombone, tuba, piano and guitar, but always “noodling” on my own. I was a kid who could never sit still. I took up composing and loved to watch movies – so why not do the music for them?!

AF: Who are some of your favorite film composers? Also, are there any individual pieces from your favorite composers that inspire you?
CW: Man, I admire so many composers – Toru Takemitsu (google him) has to be at the top since he really perfectly balanced his concert music and film music career. His music is so compelling to me. But as far as “the locals” I really dig John Williams, Thomas Newman, and also Harry Gregson Williams and John Powell. As far as individual pieces, most of Takemitsu’s orchestral works are so interesting and just amazingly put together. As long as we’re on concert music I’m a huge Samuel Barber and Stravinsky fan as well (not to forget Bartok!)

AF: What’s your advice to those who wish to compose music for film?
CW: Get an education and get experience. Anybody can buy the amazing sample libraries today. But if it’s orchestra you’re trying to sound like, having a real understanding of how orchestration works is crucial to making the virtual orchestra sound convincing. Also watch a ton of movies -a composer’s “dramatic sensibilities” is as important as their “musical language” in my opinion.

AF: Besides athletic films, is there a certain genre for film that you would like to compose music for? Also, anyone you would like to work with in the future?
CW: I have a thing for indie dramas/comedies and have been doing a ton of these lately. They’re really interesting since it’s helpful to “think outside the box” as far as instrumentation. It’s not unusual for me to try to sneak in a melodica, toy piano, or even a kazoo in there. But I also have a thing for nature films. I’ve attended the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival a few times as a music panelist and have really enjoyed working on such films as “The Mono Lake Story” and “True Wolf.” I’m currently wrapping an incredible project called “How I Became an Elephant,” about the elephant trade in Thailand. It’s brutal, but so important. I was a big environmentalist back in the day – it’s nice to use my ability to help and give back.

AF: Since you’ve began training for marathons/triathlons, what has been your most difficult challenges?
CW: There are obviously physical implications! But the training especially for Ironman is so brutal! But I love it. It’s so humbling and interesting to me. That’s probably why I continue to do it. It’s my thinking time and has become an integral part of my process musically. There’s nothing like a nice cleansing run to clear my head. As far as challenges, there are times when I have a big day (like a 20-mile run, or worse a 6-hour bike ride followed by a run, called a “brick” workout) that I have to basically clear my schedule. I come home in no shape to work – but a forced day-off is a good thing every once in awhile. Since my studio is at home it’s often hard to not work 7 days. Taking the weekend off is a good thing from time to time!

AF: Did you have any difficulties/challenges in putting together your own documentary “Running For My Father”?
CW: Of course! My god it was hard. But, also incredibly cathartic. I really enjoyed the editorial process, which I hadn’t   experienced first hand before. I feel like having made my own film gives me a bit of insight inside a director’s brain, which has been invaluable. The toughest part of the process was quite ironically scoring the damn thing! I had my own music in there as “temp score,” but when I went to do the new music pass I could absolutely not divorce myself from the temp! It was so hard and ironic since we composers love to complain about directors with their “temp love.” I eventually broke through the wall though and as I usually try to do, I made the temp score seem like chopsticks compared to the original score!

I want to thank Cody Westheimer for his time and for speaking with WhargarblTV; it was a real honor. Cody Westheimer can be found on the web at:

http://www.codywestheimer.com/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0922755/
http://www.facebook.com/Cody.Westheimer.Composer
http://twitter.com/codywestheimer
Also, his music is available to purchase on Itunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/artist/cody-westheimer/id257057397

His movie “Running For My Father” is available for purchase as well at:
http://www.runningformyfather.com/Running_for_my_Father/Home.html