About the Film
About the Music
Sound Clips
Get the CD
View the Trailer
Get the DVD
Quotes & Reviews of the Music
I recently collaborated with Mid-America Emmy Award-winning film producer Lane Wyrick and Academy and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Barry Morrow on a new documentary film entitled "A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story." The film had a very successful world premiere on June 7, 2008, at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City, Iowa, with almost 1,200 people in attendance.
This feature-length film depicts the real-life story of a mentally challenged man who escaped the bonds of institutional confinement and overcame many obstacles through the help and love of his friends. With his kind heart and gentle spirit, Bill Sackter touched many people's lives. And yet, because of his great humility, he could never imagine that he would eventually become a national hero — a symbol of hope and inspiration for the entire disabled community.
Bill Sackter was the subject of two famous made-for-TV movies ("Bill" and "Bill: On His Own") that aired on CBS in the early 1980's and starred Mickey Rooney and Dennis Quaid. Now, the fascinating details of Bill's life are explored more fully in this new documentary, which includes newly-discovered footage chronicling Bill's life and many new interviews with those who knew him well.
Barry Morrow was Bill's legal guardian and was the person who rescued Bill from spending the rest of his life in an institution. Morrow (Academy Award-winning screenwriter for "Rain Man") won an Emmy Award for his screenplay for the original "Bill" movie and served as the primary creative consultant for this new documentary.
To learn more about my film score, see below.
To learn more about the film itself, please visit the official website for the Bill Sackter documentary: billsackter.com.
To enhance the stirring emotional journey of Bill's struggles and triumphs as they're portrayed in this film, the producer asked me to create a music score that is rich-sounding, emotionally nuanced, and deeply moving.
In order to create this "filmic" sound, the producer and I agreed on the use of a fairly large orchestra — something that is rather unusual in the world of documentary film scores, but something the producer and I felt was highly appropriate for this project.
I recently recorded this film score, and you can hear excerpts from the score, below. I'm planning on releasing a Soundtrack CD of this score sometime in the near future.
Sound Clips From the entire film score, I've chosen 12 cues (i.e., musical scenes) to share with you. Most of this music is gentle and subdued, befitting the story of Bill Sackter, who was a humble and gentle person.
(Please note: These sound clips are being presented for demo purposes only, and all music on this website is copyright by Peter Bloesch, with all rights reserved. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this music is prohibited.)
All of the following sound clips were composed and orchestrated by Peter Bloesch:
- End Credits (I'm sharing the End Credits here, rather than the Main Titles, because the End Credits music is shorter, and also because it contains more of the musical themes that I used throughout the film score.)
- "Barry Leaves for Iowa" (In this scene, Bill is feeling sad and lonely because his best friend in the world, Barry Morrow, has decided to move from Minnesota to Iowa, and Bill is staying behind.)
- "Bill Moves to Iowa" (This music underscores a reenactment of Bill's car trip to Iowa City, and depicts his feelings of hope and joy as he anticipates becoming a member of Barry's family.)
- "Bill Is Employed" (The gentleness and dignity of this music matches the narrator's description of how Bill got his first job.)
- "Zoey's Coma" (This is an extended scene with varying moods: First, we hear Barry Morrow describe how his young daughter, Zoey, fell suddenly into a coma. Next, we hear Bill saying a heartfelt prayer for Zoey (this is when the strings appear in the music). After that, the music shifts back to a feeling of uncertainty, as Barry describes how he thanked Bill for coming to the hospital, but wasn't sure Bill's prayer would be answered. And finally, when the music shifts to the major key, this is when Barry tells us that Zoey had come out of her coma soon after Bill had prayed for her.)
- "Bill's Trip to Toronto" (In this scene, we learn how exciting it was for Bill to be experiencing all the joys and wonders of the "outside world" after having been released from the institution. Simple things that most of us take for granted — like seeing birds and hearing the laughter of children — were completely new experiences for Bill, and this music seeks to capture that sense of childlike wonder.)
- "Haunted by Memories" (This is the place in the film where Bill shares with Barry one of his worst memories from his years in the institution. The scene starts as we see a porch swing and hear nighttime sounds. Bill describes to Barry how he was pulled down a flight of stairs by an ruthless employee of the institution. However, the music shifts dramatically to a feeling of dignity and affirmation, as the scene ends with the narrator describing how Bill's inspirational story was quickly spreading across the country.)
- "Bill Is a Success" (This music underscores a scene in which Barry and Tom explain that even though Bill and his story had become quite famous, he remained a humble person, completely unspoiled by all the attention he was receiving. The music ends on a playful note as Tom states that even though Bill didn't understand the attention he was getting from people, he loved it.)
- "Bill's Legacy" (In this final scene of the film, the music starts solemnly as Barry describes how Bill — a simple man who worked in a coffee shop — was nevertheless a person who had touched many people's lives in a powerful and positive way. The music ends with a big crescendo, serving to emphasize the triumphant ending of Bill's story.)
- Movie Trailer (excerpt) (Movie trailers are always fast-paced, since they're compressing an entire story into just a couple of minutes. The music for the "Bill Sackter" trailer starts with a somber feeling, as we see a reenactment of a young Bill Sackter realizing he's going to be institutionalized, but the mood of the music changes quickly to one of bittersweet triumph, as we discover that Bill's story will have a positive ending.)
- DVD Menu (When you pop a DVD into your player, you've probably noticed that there is music playing behind the DVD menu. Usually, the company who makes the DVD simply pulls some of the existing film score and uses it for this purpose. However, I wanted to write a separate piece of music that would be used expressly for the DVD menu.)
- Film Company Logo (The producer of this film asked me to create music for the new logo of his film company, and I enjoyed the experience of writing my first-ever film logo music!)
The Soundtrack CD for this film score is not yet available, but if you'd like to be notified when it's released, please let me know, and I will notify you at the appropriate time.
In the meantime, you can hear excerpts from this film score, above. You may also be interested in hearing excerpts from my film & television music demo, "Journeys: The Film-Inspired Music of Peter Bloesch." It's a compilation of various film and television cues that I had written prior to "A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story."
To view the trailer for this film, click here.
This film is currently being entered in various film festivals around the country. At this time, I do not have information about when it will be released on DVD, but I'd recommend that you visit the film's official website for up-to-date information on its release: billsackter.com.
Barry Morrow, Oscar and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter:
"The challenge of a film score is a daunting one. As the moon dictates the tides, so the film composer orchestrates the emotional currents swirling among the images on the screen. When it is done properly, the audience feels rather than hears the music, and the score enhances the film experience in subtle but profound ways.
"Peter Bloesch has met this challenge, and his score for Lane Wyrick's documentary, 'A Friend Indeed,' reveals an artist working at the top of his craft. His thoughtful musical themes and deft emotional interpretations illuminate all the important beats in this heartfelt story, making the journey a magical one."
— Barry Morrow
Award-winning Hollywood screenwriter, and primary creative consultant for "A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story,” which was scored by Peter Bloesch.
Barry Morrow won an Oscar for his screenplay to "Rain Man,” and won an Emmy for his screenplay to the original "Bill” movie.
Lane Wyrick, Mid-America Emmy Award-winning film producer:
"Working with Peter on the Bill Sackter documentary was a wonderful collaboration. The music he's created is brilliantly orchestrated and very moving. His film score will be vital to the emotional power of my film."
Lane Wyrick's general comments about the film music of Peter Bloesch:
"Peter has an incredible sense of passion in his music, which extends to the full range of emotions. As a filmmaker, I get a great sense of satisfaction working with him, as his music adds greatly to the emotional depth and humanization I strive to achieve in my work. He has a refreshing enthusiasm for the creative process, and an ability to produce film scores with tremendous production value. I look forward to working with him on more projects in the future."
— Lane Wyrick
Mid-America Emmy Award-Winning Film Producer and President of Xap Interactive, Inc.
NOTE: To read other quotes and reviews of the film music of Peter Bloesch, please click here.
