ASCAP Screen Music Awards 2019 to Honor Film Composer Michael Giacchino, Captain Marvel Composer Pinar Toprak and Stage & Screen Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

2019 ASCAP Screen Music Awards: Michael Giacchino, Pinar Toprak + Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Image via ASCAP)

ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers,has announced its slate of major honorees for the 34th annual ASCAP Screen Music Awards and it is an incredible soundtrack. 

The awards dinner, which takes place in Beverly Hills on May 15, will see Oscar, Emmy and multi-Grammy winner Michael Giacchino receive the prestigious ASCAP Henry Mancini Award. Pinar Toprak, who scored the recently released #1 box office smash Captain Marvel and co-composed the score to the massively popular online game Fortnite, will be honored with the ASCAP Shirley Walker Award for her trailblazing achievements.

Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will also be recognized with the ASCAP Vanguard Award, which salutes ASCAP members whose innovative work is helping to shape the future of music— the first time the award has been presented to music creators known for their film and musical theatre accomplishments.

"With such a stellar group of honorees, we couldn't be more excited for this year's ASCAP Screen Music Awards," said ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams. "From Up to Jurassic World to Incredibles 2, Michael Giacchino's beloved scores have powered so many of the blockbuster movies we know and love. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's undeniable creative chemistry as a songwriting duo has captured fans' hearts and rocketed them from musical theatre school to the world's largest screens in just a few short years. And Pinar Toprak just opened her first #1 box office film with Captain Marvel, and is no doubt on track for many more. We're looking forward to celebrating all of these world-class music creators at the ASCAP Screen Music Awards on May 15."

The ASCAP Screen Music Awards is an invitation-only dinner and awards ceremony that honors composers and songwriters of the top box office film music, top-rated TV series and the most performed television music of 2018. Along with these, the winners of the annual ASCAP Composers' Choice Awards, open to voting by all eligible ASCAP writer members in early April, will be revealed at the ceremony. 

• The Composers' Choice Awards include three categories: Film Score of the Year, TV Composer of the Year and Video Game Score of the Year.

Additionally, this year, in partnership with the Guild of Music Supervisors, ASCAP will for the first time present the newly created Harmony Award to a composer-music supervisor pair for outstanding collaboration.

Michael Giacchino

Michael Giacchino is an Oscar, Emmy and three-time Grammy Award winner, best known for his collaborations with JJ Abrams, Pixar and Disney. 

The New Jersey native began by scoring groundbreaking video games and has become among the most sought after composers in both film and television. While he continues to score the world's biggest box office films, his credits span a variety of mediums. 

His early television credits were for two breakout JJ Abrams series, Alias and Lost. His first major film score was The Incredibles for Pixar and he's never looked back, creating music for the Disney-Pixar film Ratatouille which earned him his first Oscar nomination. He received the Oscar for Best Original Score for the Pixar film, Up in 2009. 

Giacchino's other film credits include: Star Trek, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Jurassic World, Inside Out, Zootopia, Doctor Strange, Rogue One, Spider-Man: Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes, Coco, Incredibles 2 and the upcoming Spider-Man: Far from Home.

• The ASCAP Henry Mancini Award is presented to composers for outstanding achievements and contributions to the world of film and television music. Previous recipients include Hans Zimmer, Quincy Jones, Randy Newman, Bruce Broughton, Angelo Badalamenti, Carter Burwell, John Powell and Craig Armstrong.

Pinar Toprak

Pinar Toprak was born and raised in Istanbul, and studied composition at a conservatory there. She moved to the United States to pursue her passion and joined the music production company Media Ventures International (Remote Control) with Hans Zimmer. 

With her eclectic style and experience working with the best, Toprak has established herself in her field and broken down barriers in the process, recently becoming the first woman to score a Marvel film with her score for Captain Marvel. 

Her previous credits span all mediums from Fortnite to the Superman prequel Krypton. 

Toprak has won two International Film Music Critics Association Awards for The Lightkeepers (2009) and The Wind Gods (2013). She recently scored the Pixar SparkShort PURL.

• The ASCAP Shirley Walker Award honors those whose achievements have contributed to the diversity of film and television music. An ASCAP member, Shirley Walker was one of the first prominent female composers working in film and television and is remembered as a pioneer for women in the film industry. Previous recipients include Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (Wendy & Lisa), Deborah Lurie and Germaine Franco.

Pasek and Paul

Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have conquered the stage and screen. They won an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "City of Stars" from La La Land, with another Oscar nomination for "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from that same film. 

The duo earned a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and an Oscar nomination for "This Is Me" from The Greatest Showman in 2017. They recently picked up a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for that film. 

Pasek and Paul have a Tony Award and Grammy for their score for the six-time Tony-honored Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen. 

The pair made their Great White Way debut in 2012 with their Tony-nominated score for A Christmas Story, a Broadway adaptation of the classic holiday film. 

Upcoming projects include the live-action movie musicals Aladdin and Snow White at Disney, and an original animated musical at Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios.

• The ASCAP Vanguard Award recognizes ASCAP members whose innovative work is helping to shape the future of music. Previous recipients include Kendrick Lamar, Dua Lipa, Björk, Beck, Chris Stapleton, St. Vincent, Janelle Monáe, The Killers, The Strokes, The Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails and more.

SOURCE: ASCAP