Pivot Point with Joseph DeBeasi

This week on Pivot Point is Don Wilkins. Don and Joseph go way back. In fact, Don was Joseph's teacher and mentor at Berklee College of Music. Don and Joseph have worked professionally on two projects: Hometown, a CBS tv series and The First Killing Frost, an independent feature film.

Though Don has taught and mentored hundreds of film scoring students over his 30 year career, Don's initial career path was to be a Hollywood composer. This two part conversation takes you on his journey of Pivot Points.

Today's guest is Michael Stearns. Michael and Joseph met each other while working together on Alpha, directed by Albert Hughes.

Michael is a composer and soundtrack designer/producer. His credits include music and soundtrack production for television, feature films, planetariums, theme parks, twenty two IMAX films and seventeen

solo albums.

His music has been used for James Cameron’s “The Abyss”, “Titanic” and “Avatar”, as well as music for Disney Films, HBO, ABC, PBS, BBC, Discovery Channel, and Ron Fricke’s non-verbal 70MM films “Chronos”, “Sacred Site”, “Baraka” and “Samsara”. It has also been used by NASA, Laserium, and choreographed by the Berkshire Ballet.

Michael has produced the soundtracks to Universal Studio’s themed attractions “Earthquake” and “Back To The Future, The Ride”. He

produced the soundtrack to Paramount Picture’s ride film “Star Trek, The Experience” and produced music for World’s Fair/Expos in Korea, Japan

and Spain. Michael works in his music and post production studio “The Guest House”, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Today Joseph speaks with picture editor Jett Sally. Joseph and Jett met when working together on NINJA ASSASSIN.

Joseph “Jett” Sally is currently cutting Lana Wachowski’s highly anticipated THE MATRIX 4 starring Keanu Reeves. His most recent work can be seen on WORK IN PROGRESS, the unique Showtime comedy series executive produced by Lilly Wachwoski. Jett has also collaborated with the Wachowksis on the popular Netflix series SENSE 8. Jett is known for editing both James McTeigue’s Netflix series, MESSIAH, and his feature film, BREAKING IN.

Sally Boldt is an experienced music editor whose credits include films from a wide array of genres, ranging from Groundhog Day, Hairspray, and L.A. Confidential to American Hustle, Tron: Legacy, and most recently Soul and Watchman.

Equally adept at creating a temp score in a period drama as managing the complex logistics of a musical, Sally has skill and expertise that make her a go-to music editor for films of all stripes.

Today Sally and Joseph talk about how her career unfolded from unexpected opportunities.

Today's guest is David Seltzer, the writer of The Omen, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (screenplay) and writer/director of Lucas and Shining Through. Joseph met David when working together in NYC on Shining Through.

This is David's story.

Last week we left off with Frank having to make a major choice for his career. This week we hear how Frank made that choice and how that influenced his career. This is part two of Frank Montaño's journey.

9 time Oscar nominated re-recording mixer, Frank Montaño is Joseph's guest this week. Joseph and Frank have worked together on The Book of Eli, Alpha, The Revenant and Queen and Slim.

Today Frank talks about his early days from being in sports as a boxer to thinking he would be a software engineer as his career choice. Sometimes life feels like it has it's own choices for us. Listen as Frank talks about his pivot points and those people who were there to help him along the way.

Steven Saltzman is Joseph's guest today. He is a multi-talented musician, music editor, author and educator. Today you will hear about Steven's path, how he spent two decades pursuing a dream; first in Boston then in Hollywood. It wasn't until life's circumstances brought him to a crossroads and he became open to other possibilities that he then found his success.

Steven has worked on movies like The Revenant, 24 Hours to Live and After, Mary. He's a Golden Reel award winner with seven nominations.

Today's episode is with Kristen Baum. Yes. Joseph and Kristen are married. They are a thing.

Today you will hear Kristen's story: where she grew up, how she grew up and how she made her way to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming a film composer. You'll also hear about the pivot points that influenced her to write two novels, publish poems and write and record song cycles.

Albert Hughes, part 2. Last week Albert left us with how he got his first directing job. Today Albert and Joseph continue their conversation. We'll hear who he met at his first job and how that was a pivot point for him. They also go deep into a discussion about the creative mindset. You'll hear about one of Albert's deep dives as he was preparing for The Book of Eli.