Stephen Rennicks Explained

Stephen Rennicks
Nationality:Irish
Occupation:Musician
Film score composer
Awards:British Independent Film Award for Best Technical Achievement – Music
Irish Film & Television Award for Best Music

Stephen Rennicks is an Irish musician and film score composer based in Dublin.[1]

Early life

As a boy, Rennicks predominantly listened to and sang what he described as "Irish Protestant Baptist gospel music, choruses and hymns", and later claimed it was an influence on his process of learning harmony.[2] During the later years of the 1980s, Rennicks was a member of a band called the Prunes, which traveled through nightclubs in France and Germany playing punk music.[3]

Film career

Rennicks worked with director Lenny Abrahamson on What Richard Did (2012).[4] For Abrahamson, he later served as music director for the 2014 film Frank, where he was tasked to write songs that were a hybrid of pop and experimental rock music.[3] Rennicks was inspired by musicians he met while in the Prunes, wrote the score and supervised the recordings of his original songs.[3] For Frank, Rennicks won the award for Best Technical Achievement – Music at the 2014 British Independent Film Awards,[5] and was nominated for Original Score at the 12th Irish Film & Television Awards.[1]

Abrahamson and Rennicks collaborated again on the 2015 film Room. As a Canadian co-production, Rennicks was nominated for the Canadian Screen Award for Best Score in January 2016.[6] In April, he then won for Original Music at the 13th Irish Film & Television Awards.[7]

Awards and nominations

Year AwardCategoryWorkResult Ref
2004Irish Film & Television AwardsBest Original ScoreAdam & Paul
2008Garage
2011Maverick Movie AwardsBest Original Score: ShortThe Pipe
2013Irish Film & Television AwardsBest Original ScoreWhat Richard Did
2014British Independent Film AwardsBest Technical AchievementFrank
Les Arcs Film FestivalBest Music
Las Vegas Film Critics SocietyBest Song"I Love You All" from Frank
2015Seattle Film CriticsBest Original Song
Chlotrudis AwardsBest Use of Music in a FilmFrank
Irish Film & Television AwardsBest Original Score
2016Canadian Screen AwardsAchievement in Music – Original ScoreRoom
Irish Film & Television AwardsBest Original Score
Viva
2018Maze
2020The Little Stranger
Rosie
2021Normal People
2022An Cailín Ciúin[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Original Score . 2015 . 8 May 2017 . Irish Film and Television Academy.
  2. Web site: BIFA winning composer Stephen Rennicks talks to IFTN . Brosnan . Seán . 15 December 2014 . 8 May 2017 . Irish Film and Television Network.
  3. Web site: The Story Behind the Bizarre Songs Michael Fassbender Sings in Frank . Mroch . John . 20 August 2014 . 8 May 2017 . LA Weekly.
  4. Book: Jason Wood . Ian Haydn Smith . Director filmographies (features only) . New British Cinema from 'Submarine' to '12 Years a Slave': The Resurgence of British film-making . Faber & Faber . 2015 . 0571315178.
  5. Web site: Frank (2014) . BIFA.org.uk . 8 May 2017.
  6. Web site: 'Room' leads Canadian Screen Awards film nominations with 11 . Mejaski . Chris . 19 January 2016 . 8 May 2017 . etalk.
  7. Web site: Brie Larson's 'Room' Sweeps Irish Film and Television Awards . Barraclough . Leo . 11 April 2016 . 6 May 2017 . Variety.
  8. Web site: And the IFTA nominees are.... Mike McGrath. Bryan. February 22, 2022. Irish Examiner.