PARK CITY, UT – With the 2023 Sundance Film Festival now in the books and AAPI Heritage Month recently passed, there has been a gradual increase in Asian-American culture, entertainment and music.
Especially in film.
Notable AAPI composers such as Tan Dun, Chen Yi, Keiko Abe and Huang Ruo are just some of the names that have helped put Asian and Asian-American music on the map. Thanks to these established composers, could Korean-American music composer Gene Beck be next?
Beck, who became the first Korean-American composer to have been selected as a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) breakthrough talent, scored Randall Park’s dramatic comedy Shortcomings, starring Debby Ryan, which premiered this past January at the Sundance Film Festival.
Shortcomings, which is the story of a Ben, a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an art house movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blond women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend, Alice, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.
Below is my Q and A with Gene is we talk about his recent score, his inspiration behind it, and his historic BAFTA recognition as the first Korean-American to be recognized.
1.) What drew you to SHORTCOMINGS? And did your vision of the score align with that of the director and producers?
I was already a big fan of Adrian Tomine’s original graphic novel, as it’s one of the very few examples of media that reveals a uniquely Asian-American perspective without some rehashed immigration/foreign lens.
I can’t begin to tell you how excited I was that someone like Randall, who has worked his entire career to help pave the way for other AAPI folks in the film/tv industry, was adapting SHORTCOMINGS for the big screen.
He had a clear vision for what he wanted the musical landscape to sound and feel like, though authenticity and embracing a certain degree of imperfection was always at the forefront. We actually really aligned on everything from overall tones to the size of the ensemble.
I also really appreciated how creatively involved the producers were, and their trust in me, along with the strong mutual respect we all had for each other, led to the kind of collaborative atmosphere that made us feel like a big family in the end.
2.) What were the main themes or inspiration behind the score, and do you feel that you were able to convey them?
One of the main themes is “Ben Being Ben,” which really represents the curmudgeonly stubborn, downtrodden side of the main character, Ben. To pay tribute to Ben’s character as a cinephile, a big inspiration was 400 BLOWS by Truffaut. We figured what better way to subliminally channel Ben’s inner Criterion Collection than with the birth of French New Wave, let alone with such an iconic coming-of-age story. There’s something so interesting about the loneliness and aimlessness of the violin pizzicato part in that score, and it happens to pair really well with our use of plodding portamento in the strings on top of the jazzy combo of brushed drums, upright bass and vibraphone. All of those elements together brought a darkly comedic, odd yet weirdly romantic feel that, to us, perfectly captured Ben’s inner psyche. It’s one of Randall’s favorite pieces in the score. The two main motifs in this cue are then expanded into variations, which you’ll hear sprinkled intentionally throughout the score until the end.
3.) Who were some of your influences as a composer?
Bach, Ravel, The Velvet Underground, Nick Drake, Duke Ellington, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alan Menken. The list is endless.
4.) How does it feel to be the first Korean-American recognized by BAFTA, what pride do you take in that distinction?
It feels momentous considering how long it’s taken for the AAPI community to just begin getting recognized in our industry. I take tremendous pride in not only being the first Korean-American, but also first American composer selected for their Breakthrough Initiative. While I never want to just be defined by my race, it’s impossible to be my most authentic self without fully embracing that part of me. My generation was largely taught to assimilate as much as possible – “blend in,” adopt American English names, etc. – so it feels liberating and important now to lean into whatever success I come across as my full Korean-American self. It’s kind of a weird thing to be excited about the beginnings of our representation finally going beyond martial arts sequences or simply being seen as an immigrant “other,” but hey, at least we’re making some progress towards being seen just like everybody else through stories like SHORTCOMINGS.
5.) What future projects or goals do you have on the horizon?
One of my main future goals is to make more instrumental music, whether it’s a collection of violin/piano sonatas, or hybrid synth/orchestral work, or acoustic folk instrumentals, etc. I’ve already started working on some of those pieces. In a lot of ways, composing for film really complements composing for life. At some point, I’d also love to return to songwriting, which is really how I started off this whole journey as a composer to begin with.
6.) Any last words or parting advice for those hoping to get into the industry?
Make sure you’re doing it for the creativity, artistry and standards that live exclusively within yourself first, not for any external validation/recognition. Once you can prove to yourself that you’ve got the goods, you don’t have to worry so much about proving yourself to others.
Special thank you to Mr. Gene Beck and Rhapsody PR for the help, time and assistance with this interview.