I will be using the funds to cover the expenses of producing the score and eponymous title song of the movie Colibrí, directed by David and Francisco Salazar. This is the second independent feature film in which I collaborate with these two multi-talented brothers of Colombian descent. My underscore is derived from the motifs and chord progressions taken from an original song that I wrote for the emotional climax of the film, its melody never fully realized until it is performed by one of the actors. The professionally produced version of this song will then appear in the credits and in the promotion of the movie as well. The generous grant will help cover the cost of the musicians involved (guitars, bass, strings, drum, keys), the singers, the recording studio and its engineers, the co-producer, and the mixing and mastering of the song, in addition to other expenses.

Colibrí, which means hummingbird in Spanish, deals with themes of broken family relationships and fear of confronting the past and the future. The song itself, which was the first thing I wrote for the film, tries to portray these themes with a sense of naivete and nostalgia that contrasts sharply with the grittiness of the city of Bogotá, Colombia, where the film was shot. The underscore is derived from this song – every cue using its main motifs or chord progressions. By the time the audience finally hears the song in full towards the end, their earlier exposure helps bring this air of subconscious nostalgia.

To contrast the crude and abrasive quality of Bogotá, my score consists of a sweet palette that features solo cello, strings, clarinet pads and a soft electric guitar as its main ingredients. The final scene is complex 5 minute cue: first the title song as a flashback, which then turns diegetic as another character picks it up in the present, and as it fades in the distance my underscore slowly appears with coarse solo cello writing, which brings back the thematic material to conclude in a heartwarming finale. When the song is fully heard in the movie, it’s only performed by one actor with an acoustic guitar in a lullaby-like mood, but when we hear the fully-produced version in the credits after this final scene, it takes a more upbeat and modern sound – slightly urban and influenced by Colombian pop. A full transformation in the score that reflects the emotional journey that the lead actors go through.

The beauty of being a film composer is that you get the chance of reinventing your style to suit the story that you are trying to tell. As a film composer I am usually influenced by Ennio Morricone and John Williams the most, but this film required a different sensibility, so I had to ignore my instincts at first.

At the beginning of the process of writing the song from which all the material was going to emanate, I listened to a lot of Hispanic singers and songwriters to be in the right headspace, even if I was not going to emulate their styles. These included Chavela Vargas, Juan Luis Guerra, Juan Carlos Calderón, Natalia Lafourcade, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Armando Manzanero, Cri-Cri, etc. The lyrics are influenced by all of them in some way. Then, when writing the score for the film the directors and I spoke about composers we liked: Nicholas Brittell, Gustavo Santaolalla, Alberto Iglesias, Stephen Rennicks, etc. The movie Decision to Leave by Park Chan-wook also played a role. My previous collaborations with Canadian cellist Roland Gjernes personally influenced me to write lyrical lines that I knew he’d weave beautifully into my score. Consuming all these artists in the gestation period somehow helped me as I worked with the directors in finding the right tone for this story.

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Andrés Soto is a Costa Rican-born composer based in Los Angeles with an active career in both film and concert music. He has scored several feature films, documentaries, shorts, trailers and video games, as well as numerous concert works that have been performed by orchestras around the world. Recent projects include: the score for the video game Wildmender (Muse Games), the documentary King Otto (Cinema Nolita), the sci-fi Orbita Prima (Inventaria) and three albums for Universal Production Music with tracks that have been featured in several networks in the US and around the world. Recent orchestral performances include the Nashville, Seattle, Baltimore, Utah and Phoenix Symphonies, among others.

He has collaborated with award-winning composers like Daniel Rojas, Grammy-winning producer Alex Hitchens, and Tony-nominated composer Max Vernon. In 2024 the New York Philharmonic and Juilliard will jointly premiere a commission as part of a grant from the Sphinx Foundation.