MIDDLEBURG FILM FESTIVAL TO HONOR COLLEEN ATWOOD WITH COSTUME DESIGNER AWARD
AND MARCO BELTRAMI WITH FILM COMPOSER AWARD

Celebrations will include in-depth conversations and career retrospectives for the Oscar-winning costume designer and Oscar-nominated composer

The Middleburg Film Festival announced today Colleen Atwood and Marco Beltrami as this year’s Distinguished Costume Designer and Distinguished Film Composer, respectively. The Distinguished Costume Designer Award will be presented to Atwood on Friday, October 31. The event will feature an in-depth conversation with Atwood with a retrospective of her most memorable costumes, followed by a Masquerade Ball in her honor. Beltrami will receive the Distinguished Film Composer Award on Saturday, November 1. The Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra will perform world premieres of concert suites from Marco Beltrami’s scores including THE GIVER, THE HOMESMAN and WORLD WAR Z. In addition, in honor of Halloween, his score for SCREAM will be performed. The Middleburg Film Festival, now in its second year, will run from Thursday, October 30 to Sunday, November 2 in Virginia’s historic wine country, located one hour from our nation’s capital and attracting filmmakers and filmgoers from all over the world.

“The Middleburg Film Festival is committed to recognizing creative artists who make movies memorable,” said Executive Director Susan Koch. “Colleen Atwood is a long-time collaborator with director Tim Burton on his dark and quirky films such as SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET and SLEEPY HOLLOW. Marco Beltrami is known for his horror and thriller scores, including the SCREAM movies. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the Halloween weekend than with these two fantastic artists.”

From Johnny Depp’s black leather body suit in EDWARD SCISSORHANDS to Roxy and Velma’s sequined flapper dresses in CHICAGO, Atwood has designed some of the most iconic costumes during her thirty-year career. Atwood has been involved in developing or has been the lead designer for producing costumes on over 50 films to date. She is best known for her collaborations with director Tim Burton with whom she has worked on ten films and counting. Atwood has won three Academy Awards for Best Costume Design for her work on ALICE IN WONDERLAND, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA and CHICAGO. This year’s films include BIG EYES and INTO THE WOODS.

Marco Beltrami composed scores for five films coming out in 2014 alone: SNOWPIERCER, THE GIVER, THE HOMESMAN, THE DROP and NOVEMBER MAN. Filmmakers have come to know Beltrami for his unconventional approach to film music, particularly his humanistic touch for horror and science fiction features. His pursuit of music composition then lead him to Venice for a period of time to study with the Italian master, Luigi Nono, and then finally to Los Angeles to undertake a fellowship with Academy Award-winning composer, Jerry Goldsmith.

Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, Marco Beltrami landed Wes Craven’s SCREAM, embarking on what would become the widely successful terror franchise. In addition to Craven, Beltrami has collaborated with leading directors including Guillermo del Toro (HELLBOY, MIMIC), Kimberly Peirce (CARRIE), James Mangold (3:10 TO YUMA, WOLVERINE) and Katherine Bigelow (THE HURT LOCKER). He received two Oscar nominations for Best Original Score for THE HURT LOCKER and 3:10 TO YUMA. He is currently scoring TRUE STORY.

About The Author

Dean Rogers

Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter

I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!

My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.

Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.

As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.

All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.

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