Featuring Original Music By Ronen Landa
Composer Ronen Landa is proud to announce the release of the MAD AS HELL – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, currently available digitally via Bandcamp and will be released on Amazon and iTunes later this month. The album features original music by Landa, who also scored the uplifting environmental documentary BURNING IN THE SUN (PBS, Winner of the Cinema for Peace International Green Film Award) as well as PARAÌSO (NYTimes Op-Doc; Best Short Documentary at 2012 Tribeca Film Festival & the Seattle International Film Festival).
MAD AS HELL (Hot Docs 2014 Conscious Media Award Winner) by director Andrew Napier is a documentary about The Young Turks, one of the most popular online news shows in the world, who has amassed a YouTube network of millions of subscribers and billions of views.
“With the score for MAD AS HELL we wanted to capture the energy, passion and sacrifice of Cenk Uygur and The Young Turks as they blaze a unique path in the new media landscape,” said Landa. “The electronic textures interplay with the organic vibrations of piano and guitar melodies to help us paint the picture of a technological world where human drive and ingenuity are still at the heart of positive change. We also got scrappy and played some ‘kitchen sink’ funk on buckets, pots and pans.”
“The original music of MAD AS HELL is an important part of the identity, emotion, and passion that I wanted to convey through this film. The score is both moving and fun, I’m proud and excited to be able to share this soundtrack with the audience,” emphasized director Andrew Napier.
Landa’s career as a classically trained composer could not have been easily predicted. Aside from a few years of piano lessons as a youngster, the bulk of his initial musical training came in the form of listening to hordes of rock and jazz albums, teaching himself to play songs on his guitar, and performing with bands in his hometown outside Washington, D.C.
Upon moving to New York City at 17, Landa was reintroduced to classical repertoire, and soon thereafter began composing for chamber ensembles and orchestras. Even as he continued to perform in popular settings, his musical interests broadened to include New York’s improvisational music scene and musical traditions from around the world.
Other feature films Landa has scored include the 2014 film CAVEMEN, the Sundance hit THE PACT, the horror movie AT THE DEVIL’S DOOR (Official Selection: SXSW), the international drama FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, the landmark Iraqi-made documentary THE DREAMS OF SPARROWS (Official Selection: SXSW), and CITY OF BORDERS (Winner of the Teddy Audience Award, Berlin International Film Festival). Landa’s upcoming projects include the romantic drama HELL OF A VIEW and the psychological thriller ELOISE.
MAD AS HELL documents the tumultuous, at times hilarious and altogether astonishing trajectory of Cenk Uygur, The Young Turks’ main host and founder, as he traverses from unknown Public Access TV host to internet sensation by way of YouTube. When he ventures into national television by landing the 6 PM timeslot on MSNBC, Cenk’s uncensored brand of journalism is compromised as he becomes a thorn in the side of traditional news media; his unwavering dedication to speaking the truth puts him at the very nexus of the battle between new and old media.
MAD AS HELL is out in theaters now and available online as well as on DVD, Blu-Ray and Cable VOD. Check out http://madashellfilm.com/order for more info. The MAD AS HELL – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack can be downloaded athttps://ronenlanda.bandcamp.com/album/mad-as-hell-original-motion-picture-soundtrack and will be available on iTunes and Amazon later this month.
