The team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross leads all nominees for the second annual Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards, the organization of scorers and songwriters active in visual media.
The composing duo (who won an Oscar 10 years ago for “The Social Network” and an Emmy last year for “Watchmen”) received three nominations. They were cited for outstanding original score for a studio film for both their 2020 films, Netflix’s “Mank” and Disney-Pixar’s “Soul.” They share the “Soul” nod with composer Jon Batiste, who contributed the jazz threaded throughout the film.
Reznor and Ross received a third nomination, for outstanding original song for visual media, for their song “(If Only You Could) Save Me,” written for “Mank.”
SCL’s list is notable for the dominance of women composers in the category of outstanding original score for an independent film — three of the five nominees: Lolita Ritmanis for the Latvian international-film entry “Blizzard of Souls,” Tamar-kali for “Shirley” and Sherri Chung for “The Lost Husband.”
The other surprise is the omission of what is believed to be songwriter Diane Warren’s best shot at Oscar glory, “Io Si (Seen),” from the Sophia Loren film “The Life Ahead.” But Warren is not absent from the race — she’s SCL-nominated for another song, “Free,” from the Disney film “The One and Only Ivan.”
The virtual ceremony will be held on March 2 with composer Michael Giacchino (“Up,” “Lost”) hosting.
Terence Blanchard, who is nominated for studio-film score for “Da 5 Bloods,” will be honored along with the film’s director Spike Lee with this year’s “Spirit of Collaboration Award,” given annually to a composer-director duo “for an enduring and distinguished creative partnership.” Blanchard and Lee have collaborated over three decades on an estimated 18 film and television projects.
The full list of nominees in five categories:
Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film:
James Newton Howard, “News of the World”
Ludwig Göransson, “Tenet”
Terence Blanchard, “Da 5 Bloods”
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, “Mank”
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste, “Soul”
Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film:
Emile Mosseri, “Minari”
Lolita Ritmanis, “Blizzard of Souls”
Sherri Chung, “The Lost Husband”
Steven Price, “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet”
Tamar-kali, “Shirley”
Outstanding Original Score for Television or Streaming Production:
Blake Neely, “The Flight Attendant”
Carlos Rafael Rivera, “The Queen’s Gambit”
Laura Karpman, Raphael Saadiq, “Lovecraft Country”
Ludwig Göransson, “The Mandalorian”
Martin Phipps, “The Crown”
Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media:
Gordy Haab, “Star Wars: Squadrons”
Garry Schyman, Mikolai Stroinski, “Metamorphosis”
Ilan Eshkeri, Shigeru Umebayashi, “Ghost of Tsushima”
Outstanding Original Song for Visual Media:
Diane Warren, “Free” from “The One and Only Ivan”
Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus, Rickard Goransson, “Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, “(If Only You Could) Save Me” from “Mank”
Laura Karpman, Raphael Saadiq, Sonia Sanchez, “Tulsa, 1921: Don’t Catch the Fire” from “Lovecraft Country”
Erran Baron Cohen, Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, “Wuhan Flu” from “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
