Paul Zaza
Paul Zaza | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Songwriter |
Paul Zaza (born 1952) is a Canadian Genie Award-winning film score and songwriter who worked frequently with director Bob Clark and with fellow composer Carl Zittrer. He has composed scores for more than 100 films.[1]
Early life and education[]
Originally from Toronto, Zaza trained as a classical pianist, graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Music.[2]
Career[]
In 1980 Zaza won the Genie Award for Best Music Score alongside Carl Zittrer for their work on Murder by Decree.[3] That year the pair teamed up again to write the score for the film Prom Night.[4]
In 1981 Zaza composed the score for the slasher film My Bloody Valentine;[5] in 1983 he once more collaborated with Zittrer to write the score for the well-known film A Christmas Story, which was released as an album much later in 2009.[6]
He was nominated for the same award in 1985 for Isaac Littlefeathers. In 1987 he received a Genie nomination for Best Original Song alongside Peter Simpson for the film Bullies.[7] In contrast, in 1986 he was nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst Musical Score for the film Turk 182. He also composed the theme music for Mr. Wizard's World.
Zaza wrote the new television theme song and composed an all-new soundtrack for the 1993 Canadian English dub of Osamu Tezuka's anime, Kimba the White Lion in Toronto, originally released in 1965 in Japan.
Selected filmography[]
- The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) – 1997 score for home video release
- Three Card Monte (1978)
- Murder by Decree (1979)
- Stone Cold Dead (1979)
- Title Shot (1979)
- Prom Night (1980)[8]
- The Kidnapping of the President (1980)
- Ghostkeeper (1981)
- My Bloody Valentine (1981)
- Gas (1981)
- Porky's (1981)
- Melanie (1982)
- Curtains (1983)
- American Nightmare (1983)
- A Christmas Story (1983)[9]
- Turk 182 (1985)
- The Vindicator (1986)
- Bullies (1986)
- Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986)
- The Pink Chiquitas (1987)
- From the Hip (1987)
- Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)
- Blindside (1987)
- The Brain (1988)
- Norman's Awesome Experience (1989)
- Mob Story (1989)
- Loose Cannons (1990)
- Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)
- Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders (1990)
- Popcorn (1991)
- To Catch a Killer (1992)
- Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil (1992)
- Blown Away (1992)
- Liar's Edge (1992)
- Cold Sweat (1993)
- It Runs in the Family (1994)
- Iron Eagle IV (1995)
- Baby Geniuses (1999)
- In Her Defense (1999)
- Grizzly Falls (1999)
- Now & Forever (2002)
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Canadian Composer. 4. Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. 1993. p. 16.
- ^ "Chords of Fear: An interview with composer Paul Zaza". Terror Trap, February 2010
- ^ "Genie sweep scored by 'Changling'". Ottawa Citizen. Postmedia Network Inc. CP. 21 March 1980. p. 81. ISSN 0839-3222. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
- ^ In Comparison: Prom Night 1980 vs Prom Night 2008". Fansided, by Avery McReynolds, September 2028
- ^ "The Soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino’s Favourite Slasher Film Is Finally Getting Released". Noisey, 1 Jun 2016
- ^ "Oklahoma celebs spice up Christmas CDs". NewsOK, by BRANDY McDONNELL, 27 November 2009
- ^ "Canada's Awards Database Paul Zaza". Awards. Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 4 May 2011.CS1 maint: postscript (link)
- ^ "The Savage Stack - PROM NIGHT (1980)". Birth-Movies-Death, Jacob Knight 17 Oct. 2018
- ^ "Our history: More Christmas songs have Cincinnati connections". The Inquirer, via Cincinnati.com, 15 Dec. 2017
External links[]
- Canadian film score composers
- Male film score composers
- Best Original Score Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
- Living people
- 1952 births