Meet Elena Maro | Composer for Film, Television and Media
We had the good fortune of connecting with Elena Maro and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Elena, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My thought-process behind starting my own business goes a long way back, to when I was a little girl and it’s all about some of the sweetest memories from my childhood: the Sunday afternoons spent watching Old Hollywood films with my mum.
Of those films I remember being mesmerized by the visuals and the stories, but, to me, it was in the music where the magic was happening…the songs, the choreographies, the orchestral scores made me dream that, one day, I would leave that small country town in Piedmont, Northern Italy, to go to Hollywood and make music for the silver screen.
My thought-process was the need to fulfill my childhood dream.
Once I grew up life got in the way many times, also with a demanding teaching job which I loved but I could feel wasn’t my forever job.
The moment I turned 40, I started asking myself: “Is this it?”
Every day I kept hearing in my head my little self saying; “Hey, remember those Films? Remember that Magic? That is what you really wanted to do in your life!”
That voice inside my head became louder and louder, I wanted to follow my dream, but I needed finances to make things happen. I rolled up my sleeves, I bought a farmhouse which I refurbished myself ( now I have contractor’s skills, which may be useful at one point, you’ll never know ) with the intention of selling it at one point, so that I could move to LA, support myself, pay for Music College and get into the Country with a regular Visa.
In 2016, with two bags and the thought: “Oh My, I’m actually doing it!”, I flew to Los Angeles. I left the certain for the uncertain, I had no guarantee at all it was going to work out. I didn’t know anybody in L.A. and I had no idea what was waiting for me, but I truly believed that it was the only way to make Film Scoring my full time job. I took a leap of faith and jumped: my gut was telling me I needed to be in Los Angeles to start my own film scoring business.
Despite all the ups and downs, so many great things have happened since then and now I am a Green Card holder and I work as a freelance Composer, in Los Angeles indeed.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a Film Composer I love writing Music with a Meaning for Meaningful projects and my Hollywood dream is materializing in many social impact projects to score.
Visual media are powerful tools and I think they can and must be used with responsibility to educate, inspire, empower. Writing music for Films or TV Series that do that is my goal.
Before moving to the USA, as a side job to my teaching job, I worked in Italy with Nig Nuove Idee Globali, a theatre company and cultural association with the same goals.
I still remember one review to a play I co-wrote and starred in. It went: “they entertained us for three hours and made us think for three weeks”. This sentence summarizes it all.
My focus is on projects that can ignite ideas, spark inspiration, lift hopes and positivity, and contribute to change.
My Hollywood dream is not the conventional dream you read about in glossy magazines.
Hollywood for me represents the doors that can be opened for you to create social impact content that helps change people’s mentality. Content that raises awareness.
With this in mind, keeping on doing the job means serving the community already.
The film industry and the Film Composers Community are male dominated ( women composers represent less than 5%) and as a woman, ‘un-known, un-man and also un-young’ as I say, you are basically invisible. Building my network and my business day by day means helping change this status, this mentality, as creating and sharing high quality content proves that, no matter the gender, the age, the look, we are all pros.
To keep contributing, with my honest work, to this change, means to me to contribute to make life easier for the future generations, too.
In this sense, I am fortunate enough to be hired to make music for so many social impact projects.
I recently scored “Aria”, the animation segment for the feature “Tell It Like a Woman” an anthology of 7 films all written and directed by women and produced by the non profit organization We Do It Together with Iervolino Entertainment. The film is going to be distributed in the USA and Canada by Samuel Goldwyn Films and a theatrical release is being planned for this winter. It is a fantastic, touching team effort and it features amazing actors: Eva Longoria, Jennifer Hudson, Pauletta Washington, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacqueline Fernandez and more and the theme song for the movie is written by the legendary Dianne Warren. Overall, the seven stories in the film are incredibly inspiring: I can’t wait for the world to see it!
For We Do It Together and in collaboration with the Italian Consulate of Italy in Los Angeles and the Embassy of Italy in Washington, I am also the composer for the documentary Tv Series “One of Us” this year in its second season. The series features Italian women who broke the glass ceiling in the United States, like the Italian Ambassador herself , Mariangela Zappia, TV host Giada De Laurentiis and actors Stefania Spampinato, Gabriella Pession and Isabella Rossellini to name some.
In 2020 I composed the original score for “In Dubbio”, an Italian film written and directed by Lorenzo Bombara, a compelling story on violence against women. The film was screened at Film Festivals worldwide and was presented with 45 awards. Meaningful projects can entertain and also raise interest and appreciation and such a recognition for In Dubbio proves it.
Starting this autumn, I will write the music for another Italian film, “Cuore Segreto”, from the novel by Luca Vargiu and directed by Alessio Bertoli whom I worked with for many years in theatre. “Cuore Segreto” tells the sweet and touching story of the people involved in a heart donation and it is produced by AIDO Piemonte ( Italian Association for Organ Donations) and funded by the “Chiesa Valdese” a non profit religious organization which, on top of other social services, has been traditionally involved in providing free health care in Italy.
I am also looking forward to scoring “Miss Happy” by writer director Wendy Wolverton, the empowering story of a woman in the Old West, a story of courage, honor and redemption. The film is truly unique all around and I really can’t wait to work on it.
I am deeply grateful for all these films ( you can check the section for social impact projects on my website), because at the same time they are making my Film Scoring career move forward.
And by moving forward I mean being given the opportunity to grow both as a Composer and as a person, since freelancing makes you meet with some amazing people.
As an example, this spring I wrote the music for “Meteoric”, a fabulous modern western shot in Marana, Arizona, by Tucson based writer-director Philip Sedgwick and produced by Christina July Kim, who also stars in it. Working with Philip was incredibly rewarding, since the moment I read the script… I absolutely love it when I find out about new things and I have to research and learn new topics because of a script. This is what happened with Meteoric. The film also opens the door to some reflections on the use that humanity does of the gifts from the Universe. Philip introduced me to another fantastic writer, director, and actor, Ritu Singh Pande. I am currently collaborating with her on “Borrowed Plumes”, a beautiful and intense female driven story.
Good people in your life bring more good people in your life, which will help you grow, while valuable, significant, great media content is created and shared with the world. Win win!
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Los Angeles is definitely the place to go if you love the film industry and the history of the silver screen.
I would drive my friend around ( you can’t easily commute in LA if you don’t have a car because distances are huge) to give them a sense of it.
These are some places I would include: the Hollywood Sign and Hollywood Boulevard, Beverly Hills and Los Feliz and the houses of Old Hollywood Stars.
If you love movies, you have to drive by places like The Chinese Theatre, The Dolby Theatre, the Roosevelt Hotel and Chateau Marmont and then the Jim Henson Studios, the Raleigh Studios, Sunset Bronson Studios. You can visit some of these venues as well if you have time.
And speaking of studios, how about a tour of Universal, Warner Bros, Paramount or Fox Studios?
Griffith Observatory is a must to me, for the place itself and for the never-ending view of the city from there.
Last but not least, Los Angeles is close to the Ocean and Malibu is definitely worth a trip. Then if you have a day or two to spare, you can drive north to Oxnard and jump on a ferry to the Channel Islands.
There is much more to see in the area and much more history, just think about the heritage left to us by the First Peoples in California.
Now that I think of it, I haven’t been able to see all I wanted to and I have been here six years, a visit from a friend would be the perfect excuse to do that!
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First of all my parents: my dad with his passion for theatre and opera and his integrity and work ethics, and my mum with the same moral values plus the love for Hollywood movies, of course!
I owe a lot to my friends from theatre in Italy: Alessio Bertoli and Loredana Bosio . They believed in me and we started collaborating in 2011 and still do, even with the Ocean in between. Working with them I learned how important teamwork is and not to take professional critiques or disagreements personally. As a working Film Composer this is essential, as the music is not about you, about your worth, but it is about the story you are scoring and how the music you are composing can serve it.
I am very grateful to a collaborator turned true friend, Wendy Wolverton, for the amazing work we are sharing (Miss Happy) and for her support.
She also introduced me to Brandon Jarrett, a great composer who gave me the opportunity to write music for Television. So a big “thank you” goes to him, too!
Last but not least, I want to give credit to my husband Marco Valerio Antonini (a composer as well, whom I met in Los Angeles in 2017 at an Industry Event) for his constant support and for believing in me even in my most difficult moments when I was crushed and I started questioning my choice. If things are going well for my business now it is because he is always there for me making it easier to never give up.
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Image Credits
Dayana Marconi Image, Adrienne Alivia Photography
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