THE BEGINNING
A few years ago I received an email from Pedro Hernández asking if I would consider scoring a film he had directed. He gave me a short introduction of himself and a quick summary of the movie, then he simply said “watch the film and if you like it call me back”. I watched a rough cut without any expectations and found myself fully engaging with the film. It was honest and unpretentious and I completely fell in love with the story. Shortly after, I called Pedro and agreed to score the film.
At the very beginning Pedro had envisioned only one scene at the end of the movie needing music, a total of about 4 minutes of original score. The film has a lot of source music which is why he didn’t anticipate that much underscore. However, after watching the movie, I knew there were several other scenes that could be enhanced by adding music. As a composer, for me music is the soul of a film and because this movie had made such an impact on me already, I knew that by adding music to more scenes it could have an even deeper impact on the audience.
RECORDING THE SCORE
We recorded at 4th Street Recording Studio in Santa Monica, CA with Sejo Navajas as recording engineer. Orlando Perez Rosso mixed the music for me at Loud Mono in Los Angeles. Here’s a shout out to the talented musicians who were part of the score!
Ian Charlie, Guitar
Alyssa Katahara, Harp
Edgar David López, Clarinet
Cara Batema, Accordion
Aya Kiyonaga, Violin
Jennifer Fagre, Viola
Bingxia Lu, Cello
Dalton Daniel, Music Prep
Candy Emberley, Music Prep
Jina Choi, Music Prep
Soundtrack album and video of behind the scenes making the score coming soon!
Here are a few tracks from the score
THE FILM
On the side of a lonely road in the Colombian desert, under a blazing sun, Alirio and Raúl work at a rustic car shop. This shop doubles as their home and they live there together with their dog named Capitán, and a stereo that never shuts up. Both arrived to this place escaping from their troubled pasts. One day, without warning, a young woman named Carmen arrives who will dramatically change the course of their lives.
The film was released in Colombia on July 25, 2019.
In 2010, Rio Seco won a grant from the FDC (Fondo para el Desarrollo Cinematográfico) for best script.
FESTIVALS
• Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara (FICG). Mexico.
• Festival Iberoamericano de Cine de Huelva. Spain.
• Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana. Cuba.
• Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias (FICCI). Colombia.
MAKING THE FILM
Watch this video with some of the best moments of the cast and crew during the making of Rio Seco!
andresmonteromusic.com 