"Lifeboat" composer Bill Campbell on the red carpet at the 2019 Academy Awards. Campbell is composing the soundtrack for "Sons & Daughters of Thunder".
Part 1
By Jessica Karolczak
As Sons and Daughters of Thunder comes to fruition, Fourth Wall Films has enlisted help to bring 'musical life' to the film. William “Bill” Campbell has joined the team to compose the film’s soundtrack.
Most recently, Campbell’s composing earned him a trip to the Oscars. He created the soundtrack for the Oscar-nominated documentary Lifeboat. The documentary was directed by Skye Fitzgerald and examines the mass immigration crisis of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from the northern coast of Africa. Campbell has worked with Fitzgerald since college.
“If you are part of the Oscar nominations list, you’ve basically won,” Campbell said. “I have to stress how important it is that it was all Skye. I’m not diminishing my work, but he really is an amazing man, and I’m very proud to be associated with what he does.”
Music has always been a part of Campbell’s life. He began playing piano when he was six and started writing simple music pieces around age 11. In high school, he music directed for musicals and wrote music for his church. One of his original songs was even sung at his high school graduation.
“Some people are drawn to draw. They are captured by light and the way it lands on things, and they turn that fascination into something they discipline themselves about and keep going with,” Campbell said. “I was given time, and my parents bought a piano and provided me with lessons. I was one of the kids that actually practiced and wanted to explore more at the piano. I always wondered why composers made certain choices rather than others.”
After high school, he studied music and wrote for some student-produced films at the University of Arizona. He pursued his master’s degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music before getting his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. Throughout his education he took advantage of any opportunities to hone his skills. He wrote music for theatre and dance, including a play soundtrack that he created using film techniques. He would watch and time the play while making notes about the actors’ movements. Then, he put together a small ensemble to pre-record the music. Now, he is Chair of the Music Department and a music professor at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. He continues to compose professionally on the side.
Campbell was drawn to Sons and Daughters of Thunder after hearing about the film’s topic. He jumped at the idea of creating piano-based music with some hymn-like elements. He is even exploring the idea of directly incorporating hymns into the soundtrack.
“This is right up my wheelhouse, so it makes sense for me to do it,” Campbell said. “I want to be associated with something that is trying to show people a period in history that we need to not forget about, and I think that the Rundles are going to do a good job with the film.”
"We are very excited to work with Bill on the Sons & Daughters of Thunder soundtrack," said producer Tammy Rundle. "Thunder is a labor of love for us and Bill is extremely talented and such perfect fit with us and the project. "Even though we are premiering the film this month, Bill's work on the soundtrack will continue until we release the film later in May/early June."
Visit WilliamCampbellMusic.com for more information about the composer's music.
Sons and Daughters of Thunder premieres on the Putnam Giant Screen on March 16 and 17th. Advanced tickets are recommended at Putnam.org/calendar. Stay tuned for more information on Campbell’s composing process.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is based on the critically-acclaimed play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter.
It tells the true story of the 1834 Cincinnati, Ohio Lane Theological Seminary anti-slavery debates. The controversial meetings, led by abolitionist and firebrand Theodore Weld (played by acclaimed stage actor Thomas Alan Taylor), were the first to publicly discuss the end of slavery in America. The meetings angered Cincinnati residents and Lane Seminary officials, who promptly slapped a gag order on the entire student body. This action was followed by a freedom of speech protest and mass exodus of Lane students to Oberlin College. A young Harriet Beecher’s (played by acclaimed stage actress Jess Denney) exposure to the debates and Weld's continuing work to free the slaves sparked a flame that led her to write her magnum opus Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is co-produced by Kent Hawley, and by Fourth Wall Films, owned by Emmy® nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle, a film and video production company specializing in historical documentaries for public television broadcast and DVD home video.
The fiscal sponsors for the film project are The Shell Rock Historical Society, and The Moline Foundation. If you are interested in contributing to the film project and receiving screen credit, please click here: SUPPORT THUNDER!
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