Janal Bechthold is a Canadian composer for film, television, and interactive media most known for creating scores for independent films such as psychological thriller "Art of Obsession", "Martin's Hagge" written by

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and starring

Sheila McCarthy Sheila McCarthy (born January 1, 1956) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has worked in film, television, and on stage. McCarthy is one of Canada's most honoured actors, having won two Genie Awards (film), two Gemini Awards (television), an ...

, and video game "The Rival Books of Aster". Recently, Janal composed the music for the new Canadian web-series '' Begin Again the Series''. She is also known as an advocate for women and female-identifying screen composers in Canada.

Background

Janal Bechthold attended

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campus ...

and received an honours bachelor of music therapy degree in 1998. On May 17, 2016, Bechthold was awarded the Christopher Dedrick Award for Live Musicians in Media Soundtracks. The recipient is selected through a peer review of professional screen composers to "encourage and support the hiring and use of live musicians in the production of media music soundtracks". At the

9th Canadian Screen Awards The 9th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held in the week of May 17 to 20, 2021, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2020.Barry Hertz, "How one Canadian arts institution is rebuilding amid the p ...

in 2021, she received a nomination for Best Original Score, for her work on the film ''

Marlene Marlene may refer to: People * Marlene (given name), including a list of people with the name * Marlene (Burmese businesswoman), Nang Kham Noung (born 1991) * Marlene (Japanese singer) (born 1960), a Filipina jazz singer active in Japan Film * ...

'', and two nominations for Best Original Music in a Non-Fiction Program or Series, for the ''

CBC Docs POV ''CBC Docs POV'' is a Canadian television point-of-view documentary series, which airs on CBC Television."CBC documentary delivers useful, timely primer on pot". ''Edmonton Journal'', October 29, 2015. The series premiered in fall 2015 under the ...

'' episodes "Company Town" and "Cottagers and Indians". At the first-annual Canadian Screen Music Awards (CASMA) held in 2022, Bechthold was awarded ''Best Original Score For Interactive Media'' alongside co-composer La-Nai Gabriel for the interactive graphic novel, "No Reason to Apologize: The Resilient Legacy of Viola Desmond". She also received a nomination in the same category for the virtual reality documentary, "The Choice".

Advocacy

Janal Bechthold has been a member of the board of directors for the

Screen Composers Guild of Canada The Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC) (Guilde des Compositeurs Canadiens de Musique à l’Image) is a national association of professional music composers and producers for film, television and media in Canada. The SCGC has certification und ...

(SCGC) since 2012. Currently, she holds the title of 2nd Vice President and is Chair of the Women Composers Advisory Council. On June 26, 2018, and under the leadership of Bechthold and the Women Composers Advisory Council, the Screen Composers Guild of Canada released the report, "Gender in the Canadian Screen Composing Industry", the findings from a research study which outline the number and proportion of women composers working in the screen-based media industries and demonstrate some differences between genders when looking at career progression. The study was funded by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (Ontario Creates), the SCGC, in partnership with

Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

(SOCAN), and conducted by Circum Inc.

References

External links

www.imdb.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bechthold, Janal Women film score composers Living people Canadian film score composers Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women composers 21st-century Canadian composers