Interview: Film Composer ROB POTTORF

Composer Rob Pottorf

​By Jenny Leigh Hodgins

Composer Bootcamp
Lexington, Kentucky-based Rob Pottorf has been composing and arranging for years. He spent 11 years working for Paramount Parks, ‘composer and arranger bootcamp,’ where he established his production skills, and a solid regiment to meet tight deadlines.



​“When I started out...I didn’t have the luxury of saying, ‘I...don’t feel creative today.’ ...Others were constantly waiting for me...so I had to...start creating immediately.” Having to deliver a different project every four hours, working from 8am until 10:30pm to get demos out, he “became very disciplined.”



Pottorf says the best and worst aspect of being a professional composer is that he is always working. “It’s not a burden, I love and have a passion for it...But I do get burned out so I take a few days’ off for a needed break.”



Olympic Mental Strategy
What’s impressive about Pottorf is his practice of bold, daily affirmations to combat the typical self-doubt of the artist experience. He acknowledges vulnerability is par for the course for professional composers working against tight deadlines in a fiercely competitive field. Rather than being distracted by that, Pottorf launches a laser-focused determination to bring his total A-game to each project. When competing for a job, he has trained himself to go to a solid, mental zone, convincing himself he is “better than they are.”



He has to feel this at the onset, "But at the end of the project, I feel the doubt...half the battle is dealing with yourself. The neurosis... is needed because that’s what gives you that creative spark...But everyday you have to get up and do affirmations and reaffirmations, to be sure you don’t let that voice that wants to destroy you inside tell you that you’re not good enough...that’s a constant thing...It’s part of being an artist. You’re never as good as you wanna be...so you have to battle that everyday...I go into it with maybe a little fear, but also with the fact that I know I can do this ‘cause I’ve done it before.”



He doesn’t allow writer’s block as a notion; he combats any inclination of it by taking fast action. He knows his strengths; and uses them to get the job done right. Pottorf says doubts come when finished, but refuses to entertain any of these thoughts while working on a project. His positive mindset has worked; out of 17 songs he’s pitched in competition for Disney projects, only two weren’t accepted.



Experience and Discipline
He became a good judge of character using intuition and years of experience. His experience with multiple productions as a performer, composer, producer and arranger, gives him a broader perspective. Now he can read his clients’ needs, and instinctively knows the right thing to contribute musically.



“I’ve been lucky to experience so many different aspects of the industry. Primarily that’s why I get hired by Disney a lot. Because I have experience as both a performer and producer/writer. I get it and they don’t have to spoon-feed me. They can call me and say they need this, and I can jump on it.” He looks at each project “from a production standpoint, as far as...how it will work for them.”



Disney Projects
Pottorf wears two hats for Disney; producing midi orchestration mockups, and composing original music. Recently, he composed and arranged for Disney’s Toy Story Land’s opening and dedication ceremony.



Pottorf scored a marching band medley of Randy Newman’s Toy Story musical themes. For the opening, his original music weaved into his arrangement of Newman’s Buzz Lightyear underscored theme, while in “typical Disney lavish-production-style, nine Green Army men were propelled over a huge cardboard box over the stage.” He composed several original themes, including music for character entrances and exits, soaring to an ending with his arrangement of Newman’s You’ve Got A Friend In Me.



The ceremony was a ‘one-off,’ and they didn’t want to spend $200K” for an orchestra. Pottorf programmed all the music, except for a live trumpet section recorded at Disney that he attended via Skype. Pottorf is honored to be part of the small circle of composers hired by Disney.



For Tokyo Disney’s My Friend, Duffy 2-act live stage show, he composed the entire show for live orchestra. Pottorf’s 2010 original score and songs were recorded with an orchestra in Nashville. The Duffy Bear (formally Disney Bear) character’s popularity in Japan made the show a hit, so Pottorf was asked to create music for a third act in 2012.



The show introduced new characters; Duffy’s girlfriend, Shellie May (2012), and an Italian cat artist, Gelatoni(2016). In 2016, Pottorf composed a fourth act to introduce Gelatoni and continue the story. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”



No Problem
Pottorf achieves successful negotiating by accommodating client demands. He adopted the Japanese phrase, ‘Mon dai-nai’ meaning, ‘No problem’ to navigate difficult client requests.



While this lets them know he’ll do anything to satisfy his client’s needs, he intentionally spells out what that entails, including added expense. He makes it clear that everything is “No problem,” and quotes the essential cost. Clients usually forfeit their requests.



This negotiating strategy both satisfies the client and gets Pottorf off the hook without being the bad guy. “The last thing they want to hear is we can’t do that.” He believes every client “likes to have fun.” Knowing that producers and directors are in high stress situations, he aims to make the process as enjoyable as possible.



Networking Strategy
He approaches marketing ‘chaotically’. He posts a work sample of a finished project to his Rob Pottorf Music social media, and sends a Mailchimp message to inform industry contacts. When he sees something online about a potential gig, he follows up directly.



He looks six months ahead for work, so that he always has “that next project.” Once he gained a track record, he started to get more work. His compares his career to a chess game. He moves “a pawn ‘cause you know your bishop needs to get out," meaning that everything has to be strategic. He finds projects that can develop into more work, like the film he’s currently scoring that has potential visibility with strong cast members.

“My Dad told me every opportunity is an opportunity. Everything you do leads to something else. That path, those opportunities lead to something. If you’re doing a project and a guy needs a car commercial that only pays $500, make sure you do it like it’s $5 Million. When people find out about it, people pay attention to your quality. You are only as good as your last job.”



Tips For Composers
Pottorf suggests the “most important thing is to hone your skills because you get a level of expertise, not only with creating music, but also how to put that music to picture. Drive something--stay out of the way.” Pottorf stresses film scoring is like a language that takes practice and time to master.



He views today’s composing software or DAW of choice, as a musical instrument. He says it’s as important to become proficient with the technology as it is for musicians to master an instrument. Using a DAW is “like practicing an instrument to get the best sound. If you had a Stradivarius, and you don’t know how to play it yet, it will sound like a $14 instrument.”



Creative Process
Pottorf explains his film composing process with an anecdote about Michelangelo’s creation of David; When asked how he created the artwork, Michelangelo said David already existed inside the stone, and he just had to chip away to release him. Similarly, Pottorf feels the music is already in the film, and his job is to release it.



Pottorf composes about two minutes of music per day. “It takes the first few days to work on thematics, flush out things, get a feel for the film, fool around with things, get in the groove.”



He watches the film, listening until he hears something. “It might be one thing. You might hear an oboe. Put that oboe line there as a foothold!” Or he may “hear something, like a chord, or a progression, just put that one piece in there.”



If nothing comes to him, he listens to the end of the film. “Then fill in the middle. Once you have something, you can build on it. Like modeling clay, just massage until you figure out what works. Find pieces that work together, play a bit until you’ve got components within the cue to tie and mold together to become something.”



What’s Next
Pottorf is scoring Brent Christy’s action-drama feature film, Legal Action. It took him two weeks to complete the opening 10-minute action scene. Consisting of many visual starts and stops, it was a challenge to score it without musically chopping it up. He’s also scoring an L.A. comedy, Magic Max, and two of Jeffrey Day’s Kentucky-based films, Joy Cart and The Barefoot Boys. Pottorf’s goal is to “keep working for the rest of my life...that’s the name of the game.”



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Musical Foundation
Originally from Ohio
Played music from age 5
Composed from age 9
Musical family members
Studied at Ohio University and University of Cincinnati
Music Director and Senior Music Composer at Paramount Parks for 11 years
Composer for Film/TV and Live Entertainment since 1999, based in Lexington, KY
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Musical Mentor
Warner’s Bugs Bunny composer, Carl Stalling is Pottorf’s musical hero. Emulating Stalling’s music is “how I learned to write animated scores.”
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A DAY IN THE LIFE
7am - Coffee, dog walk
8am - Work on Projects
Lunch with author wife or while working
Afternoon - Compose/Arrange, Marketing/Communications
5pm - Daily 2.5 mile jog
Dinner & Family Feud with wife
9 -11pm - Composing
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Film/TV:                                                             Live Entertainment:
Mountain Top                                                    Disney
County Line                                                        Tokyo Disney
20th Century Fox’s The Trial                            Nickelodeon
Lions Gate's Unrequited                                   Dollywood
GMC Channel's Trinity Goodheart     
CBS’ Danger Rangers
Little Dogs On The Prairie
Savannah Sunrise
Christmas on The Coast
Legal Action
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FAVORITE TOOLS:
NEW DAW: Cubase
(After 30 years using Digital Performer)

NEW Notation Software: Dorico 
(Switched from Finale, serial #00566, since 1988)

Controllers: 2 iPads
One with a meta systems meta grid, tailored to any specific DAW, the other with Lemur (which Pottorf programmed himself)

Audio Interface: 
Universal Audio’s Apollo

Keyboard:
Roland A88 controller

Additional:
Tap Tempo app
Guitar plug-ins
LA 2A compressers
Vintage gear

Pottorf had a custom-designed console built into an executive desk by a local artist. The desk has a built-in rack mount instead of drawers, the Roland A88 mounted underneath the desk, and pneumatic lifts—for placing wires underneath.
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Summer Film Institute
Since 2015, Pottorf spends a few days as a guest lecturer at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music’s Summer Film Institute. He shares his knowledge, and talks with students about his composing process, music theory and how to write for media. Students score a short film clip using CCM’s (Logic) DAWs, and Pottorf listens to each short score, offering his professional viewpoint.



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