“Good guy, very good ears,” says composer Howard Shore about Paul Broucek, president of music at Warner Bros. Pictures, who will be honored by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at its annual gala April 26 in Los Angeles.
Shore should know. At his previous position as president of music for New Line Cinema, Broucek oversaw all of the music in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, which won Shore three Oscars. In fact, for the finale, “Return of the King,” Broucek produced the sessions for flutist James Galway, opera star Renée Fleming and singer Annie Lennox while Shore was busy with a 96-piece orchestra and 60-voice choir for the dramatic score.
“He really guided the whole production in terms of the timetable and the budget,” says Shore. “He was always supportive and helped me get the job done.”
Says Broucek: “I’m pretty certain that unless I live another hundred years, I will have overseen the biggest and most expensive film music project in the history of cinema. We produced well over 15 hours of music, and there was no expense spared. Nobody ever questioned what we spent.”
One of the reasons Broucek is trusted with both creative and operational oversight of music at one of the world’s legendary movie studios is that he’s done practically everything one can do in music over the past 50 years.
He played guitar and studied with legendary Stan Kenton arranger Bill Russo back in his native Chicago. He then worked as an assistant to sound designer Walter Murch on “Apocalypse Now,” witnessed such icons as Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder while toiling at L.A.’s famous Record Plant studio, helped modernize and re-open Paramount’s music stage and ultimately worked as a music supervisor on such series as “TV 101” and “Baywatch.”
He became a music executive at New Line in 1996, was elevated to president of music in 2001, and when New Line merged with Warner Bros. in 2009, he was named president of music at WB, where he also oversees its in-house WaterTower record label.
Broucek, right, with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt at “Barbie” scoring sessions in Abbey Road Studio 1, London.
It was in the late 1980s, while serving as president of Fairlight, the synthesizer company, that he met composer Hans Zimmer in London. “We had this long-standing friendship, and he had to go and be the reasonable grownup,” quips Zimmer. “But I knew, at heart, there was this anarchic musician lurking underneath all this man-in-suit stuff.”
Zimmer relied on Broucek to “facilitate my somewhat insane ideas,” especially on the Christopher Nolan movies “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Inception” and “Interstellar.” “There are so many things I wouldn’t have been able to pull off had I not had such a strong and passionate ally.”
Broucek will receive LACO’s Hollywood Ally Award for championing the orchestra’s musicians in their professional studio work. LACO, which plays classical and chamber music throughout the year, consists largely of top studio musicians, and “we’ve made a very intentional choice to honor the people who allow our musicians to make a living here in Los Angeles,” says executive director Ben Cadwallader.
Other movie-music people recently honored by LACO include composers James Newton Howard and Danny Elfman, and agents Michael Gorfaine and Sam Schwartz.
“When the Hollywood studios thrive, our musicians thrive musically and also we, as an arts institution, are able to thrive,” Cadwallader explains. “There is a direct connection between the tremendous skill and artistry of our musicians and the quality of incredible music coming out of Hollywood.
“When they come back from a LACO weekend and step back into the studios on Monday, they show up refreshed and renewed,” he adds. “It’s a beautiful relationship.”
Paul Broucek, left, and composer Hans Zimmer in action.
Broucek’s latest projects have included such diverse titles as “A Star Is Born,” “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” “Wonka” and two installments of “Dune.”
Composers and filmmakers alike praise Broucek’s professionalism and generosity of spirit regardless of the specifics, and often the complexity, of each project.
For composer Steven Price, the opportunity of a lifetime might have been lost were it not for Broucek’s willingness to say “yes” when he could easily have said “no.”
Director Alfonso Cuarón wanted an unconventional score for “Gravity,” and Price — who then had few credits as a composer — came on board to assist in finding a fresh approach. “There was a moment when he had to say to Warner Bros., on this ambitious, multi-million-dollar space project, ‘I’d like this totally unknown guy to work on it,’” Price tells Variety.
Luckily, 12 years earlier, Broucek and Price had spent endless evenings at London’s Abbey Road studios, while Price was a music editor on the “Lord of the Rings” movies and Broucek was head of music at New Line Cinema. “I got to know Paul pretty well from lots of late-night mixing sessions. He was just this great enthusiast, and you’d end up chatting with Paul about albums, and about recording.”
Broucek’s decision paid off, and Price won the original-score Oscar for “Gravity.”
John Debney recalls getting the job to score “Elf,” and Broucek visiting his studio armed with “a little toy piano and a couple of funny, quirky instruments.
“He proceeded to play them, and he came up with an idea that I thought was brilliant: being a little left of center, a little offbeat with music. Why not a whistler or two? Some interesting vocalizations? That became the sound of ‘Elf.’ He gave me the keys to the kingdom for what has become a very beloved film.”
Alexander Desplat, standing, far right, in the control room with Broucek
Mark Ronson, whose song “Shallow” (for “A Star Is Born”) won an Oscar and who co-wrote “I’m Just Ken” for “Barbie,” describes Broucek as “a voracious music fan. He turns into a kid anytime he talks about music. I instantly felt a kindred spirit there.
“He’s great at a lot of jobs,” says the Grammy-winning producer. “It’s really hard to wear all those hats, to be a friend to artists and musicians, and still be able to run the whole division of a studio, but he really straddles that line in a special way that few people do.”
Producer David Heyman, whose films include not only “Barbie” but seven in the “Harry Potter” franchise and three more in the “Fantastic Beasts” series, describes him as “filmmaker-leaning. He works tirelessly in support of their vision.
“Paul is wonderful at translating what I say into language that can be understood by composers and musicians,” he adds. “It’s a real gift, and I don’t think I’ve ever found an ally in the music world quite like him.”
Notes Julianne Jordan, who with Julia Michels was music supervisor on “A Star Is Born”: “Paul is one of the most respected figures in the film music world for a reason: his passion for music, deep respect for artists and steady creative hand make every collaboration feel seamless.”
Says Broucek: “My happy place is a recording studio, whether we’re recording a full orchestra or a soloist,” he says. “I grew up wanting to work in the studios and around music, and that’s what I did. I never tire of it.”
