In an unprecedented short time span, composer Christophe Beck has scored numerous films in virtually every genre. His talent is evident in a wide-range of features spanning from the now classic teen comedy Bring It On to the best-selling novel film adaptation Under The Tuscan Sun. [Bluntinstrument addition:] His work on Garfield and this year on Elektra have increased his reputation as a film composer. Other credits include: Guinevere, The Alarmist, The Tuxedo, Just Married, Confidence and American Wedding [American Pie 3]. Projects due for release in 2005 include Shawn Levy's The Pink Panther, starring Steve Martin.
Beck’s road to film scoring was circuitous. The Montreal native started piano lessons at five and by eleven he was writing music for his first-ever band, Chris and The Cupcakes. During high school he studied flute, saxophone, trombone & drums, and performed in rock bands. While studying music at Yale, Beck had an epiphany: “I discovered my talent for composing was far greater than my talent for performing.” He wrote two musicals with his brother Jason (a.k.a. Chilly Gonzales, the Berlin-based hip-hop recording artist), as well as an opera based on The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe.
Upon graduation from Yale in 1992, he moved to Los Angeles to attend USC's prestigious film scoring program, where he studied with Jerry Goldsmith. Beck was immediately attracted to the creative challenges unique to the marriage of music and picture. A personal recommendation from the legendary Buddy Baker, head of the USC Music Department, led to his first assignment for a Canadian TV series called White Fang. Soon thereafter, he was asked to score a new TV series [in its second season], Buffy, based on the movie. Beck received the Emmy [TM] for Outstanding Music Composition for his music to Buffy. He decided to leave and pursue film work.
Beck was concerned about leaving television: “It was actually quite
terrifying. And things were slow during that first year, but I had faith in
my abilities and it didn't take too long for things to start rolling.”
Christophe Beck’s attitude and unique talents set him apart from many
composers working today. “I pride myself on being very accommodating
to the needs of the film and its creators. Each score I write, I try to make
better than all the rest that have come before.”
Click here for current agent and publicist details
For Bluntinstrument's former Beck biography adapted and previously updated from his previous representatives, see here. It offers a slightly whimsical version of events, perhaps not so suitable to an up-and-coming film composer.
J Christopher Beck, Doctorate in computer science, lives in France [click
here]
Christopher Beck, webmaster (I think), lives in North Carolina [click
here]
Chris Beck, project manager for the Trust for Public Land / state rep in
Oregon, where he lives [click
here or here]
Chris Beck, some part of the "Meyer Family Genealogy" page [click
here]
Chris Beck, Editor of the Monthly Newsletter "eBusiness Japan" [click here]
Chris Beck, lecturing on ecology and evolution at the University of Georgia [click here]
Shawn Clement, Sean Murray, Thomas Wanker, Robert Kral and other contributors to the Buffy score canon.
Beck with his Emmy Award