Bill Conti
FameRank: 6

"William "Bill" Conti" is an American composer and conductor best known for his film scores, including Rocky (and all but one of the five sequels), For Your Eyes Only (film)/For Your Eyes Only, Dynasty (TV series) and The Right Stuff (film)/The Right Stuff, the latter of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Score. He also received nominations in the Best Original Song category for "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky and for the title song of For Your Eyes Only (film)/For Your Eyes Only. He has served as musical director at the Academy Awards a record nineteen times.

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In the back of your mind, when you say you want to write music for the movies, you're saying that you want a big house, a big car and a boat. If you just wanted to write music, you could live in Kansas and do it.

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All you have to do is open up a little bit and then you'll be experiencing a part of that person's soul. It's just there -- in the presence of a beautiful painting, a creation, something created by someone else. This is insight into not who they are physically, but who they are on this other plane, so, what makes it magic, always, is to hear music performed live.

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Music is anti-intellectual. It's non-literal, and you have to find out what makes the director happy. You want to let someone hear what you're thinking about. Because if you get to the stage, and the director says "I wasn't thinking like that," then your score won't be in the movie.

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Making a living is not a career. It might be for an accountant, but it's not for someone who says "I want one thing." The guy who feels that his career hasn't happened yet. The guy who has that kind of hunger, who wants money and fame.

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Mozart's job classification was to write music, which he did for ballets and operas. He got paid to do that, and taught on the side. He wasn't a waiter. He didn't sell mutual funds. Those are all noble professions, but if you want to be a professional composer, then you're writing dramatic music for film and television.

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There's a higher place that I have no illusions about reaching. There's a sophistication and aesthetic about composers who only write only for the music's sake.

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