Mark Korven is a Canadian musician and composer for film and television.
Life and career
During his early career in Winnipeg, Korven performed in a variety of rock and jazz music ensembles, mostly playing the guitar and singing in local bars. In 1977, he started taking formal music education at the
Grant MacEwan Community College
Grant MacEwan University, commonly known as MacEwan University, is a public university located in Downtown Edmonton, Alberta. Originally established as a community college which was named in honor of Dr. Grant MacEwan, 9th Lieutenant Governor of ...
in
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
where he studied jazz and orchestration. After graduating, he developed into a singer / songwriter and recorded his first album of left-of-center pop entitled "Passengers". In 1987 he moved to
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, where he recorded the album "Ordinary Man" with
Duke Street Records
Duke Street Records was a Canadian independent record label"Barren ground for Canada's gutsy record labels". ''Edmonton Journal'', May 10, 1990. established in 1984 by Andrew Hermant, but the record label ceased operating in 1994. The Universal M ...
, and that same year he had his first chance at composing for film, with the score for Patricia Rozema's debut feature ''
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Ive or IVE may refer to:
Music
* Ive (group), a South Korean girl group
* I've Sound (aka "I've"), a Japanese musical group
People
* Ive (given name), a Croatian and Slovenian given name
* Bert Ive (1875–1939), British-born Australian cinemato ...
''. which went on to win the La Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival.
His work includes the music on the sci-fi horror cult film ''
Cube
A cube or regular hexahedron is a three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solid object in geometry, which is bounded by six congruent square (geometry), square faces, a type of polyhedron. It has twelve congruent edges and eight vertices. It i ...
'' (1997), collaborations with director
Robert Eggers
Robert Houston Eggers (born July 7, 1983) is an American filmmaker who has written and directed '' The Witch'' (2015), '' The Lighthouse'' (2019), '' The Northman'' (2022), and ''Nosferatu'' (2024). His films blend elements of horror, folklore, ...
Scott Derrickson
Scott Derrickson (born July 16, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He is known for his work in the horror genre, directing films such as ''The Exorcism of Emily Rose'' (2005), ''Sinister (film), Sinister'' (2012), and ''The Black Phone'' (2021). He ...
's ''
The Black Phone
''The Black Phone'' is a 2021 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson from a screenplay coauthored with longtime collaborator C. Robert Cargill. It stars Mason Thames as Finney, a teenage boy abducted by a serial child ki ...
'' (2022), and
Arkasha Stevenson
Arkasha Stevenson is an American filmmaker and former journalist. She has directed episodes of ''Legion'' and '' Briarpatch'', as well as the third season of ''Channel Zero''. She made her feature directorial debut with the 2024 horror film '' ...
's ''
The First Omen
''The First Omen'' is a 2024 American supernatural horror film directed by Arkasha Stevenson (in her feature directional debut), who co-wrote the screenplay with Tim Smith and Keith Thomas from a story by Ben Jacoby. It is a prequel to ''The ...
'' (2024).
Korven plays several exotic instruments, including the
Sarangi
The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked three-stringed instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, Sindhi folk music, Haryanvi folk music, Braj folk music, and Boro folk music (the ...
, the
Nyckelharpa
''Nyckelharpa'' (, roughly "keyed fiddle" in Swedish language, Swedish, , plural: ) is a "keyed" Bowed string instrument, bowed chordophone, primarily originating from Sweden in its modern form, but with its historical roots scattered across med ...
, the
Duduk
The duduk ( ; ) or tsiranapogh (, meaning "apricot-made wind instrument"), is a double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood originating from Armenia. Variations of the Armenian duduk appear throughout the Caucasus, the Balkans, and the ...
, the
Erhu
The (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, that is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-stringed fiddle''. It is used as a solo instrument as ...
, and the water phone. He was also responsible for the co-creation of "The Apprehension Engine", a custom made musical instrument intended for the creation of unsettling noises to be used on scoring horror films, built by guitar luthier Tony Duggan-Smith.
Works
Film
* 1987 – ''
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Ive or IVE may refer to:
Music
* Ive (group), a South Korean girl group
* I've Sound (aka "I've"), a Japanese musical group
People
* Ive (given name), a Croatian and Slovenian given name
* Bert Ive (1875–1939), British-born Australian cinemato ...
''
* 1990 – ''
White Room
"White Room" is a song by British rock band Cream, composed by bassist Jack Bruce with lyrics by poet Pete Brown. They recorded it for the studio half of the 1968 double album '' Wheels of Fire''. In September, a shorter US single edit (witho ...
''
* 1991 – ''
Sam & Me
''Sam & Me'' is a 1991 Indo-Canadian drama film directed by Deepa Mehta (in her directorial debut) and written by Ranjit Chowdhry, who also stars in the film with Peter Boretski and Om Puri. The film went on to win an honourable mention at the Can ...
''
* 1992 – ''
The Grocer's Wife
''The Grocer's Wife'' is a 1991 Canadian drama film written, produced and directed by John Pozer.Henry & Verlin''
* 1994 – ''
The Michelle Apartments
''The Michelle Apartments'' is a 1995 Canadian black comedy film directed by John Pozer and written by Ross Weber.
The film stars Henry Czerny as Alex Hartwell, a government auditor sent to the small town of Walton to review the books of a chemic ...
''
* 1995 – ''
Curtis's Charm
''Curtis's Charm'' is a 1995 Canadian comedy-drama film written and directed by John L'Ecuyer in his directorial debut. The film won a special jury citation for Best Canadian Feature Film at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival.
Based on ...
Giant Mine
The Giant Mine was a gold mine located on the Ingraham Trail, north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Giant Mine was within the Kam Group, a part of the Yellowknife greenstone belt. Gold was discovered on the property and mineral claims ...
''
* 1997 – ''
Cube
A cube or regular hexahedron is a three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solid object in geometry, which is bounded by six congruent square (geometry), square faces, a type of polyhedron. It has twelve congruent edges and eight vertices. It i ...
''
* 1999 – ''
Win, Again!
''Win, Again!'' is a Canadian television film, which was broadcast by CBC Television in 1999.David Barber, "Father and child reunion: On screen and off, Win, Again! benefits from family ties". ''The Globe and Mail'', January 16, 1999. Directed by ...
Awakening the Zodiac
''Awakening the Zodiac'' is a 2017 Canadian mystery crime drama film directed by Jonathan Wright and starring Shane West and Leslie Bibb.
Premise
A couple buy a storage unit, finding evidence of the Zodiac Killer and try to solve the case.
Cast
...
No One Gets Out Alive
''No One Gets Out Alive'' is a 2014 horror novel by British author Adam Nevill. It was published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by Pan MacMillan and United States in 2015 by St. Martin's Press and focuses on a young woman who moves into a cheap ...
The Black Phone
''The Black Phone'' is a 2021 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson from a screenplay coauthored with longtime collaborator C. Robert Cargill. It stars Mason Thames as Finney, a teenage boy abducted by a serial child ki ...
''
* 2024 – ''
Night Swim
''Night Swim'' is a 2024 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Bryce McGuire (in his feature directorial debut), and based on the 2014 short film of the same name by McGuire and Rod Blackhurst. Starring Wyatt Russell and Ke ...
''
* 2024 – ''
The First Omen
''The First Omen'' is a 2024 American supernatural horror film directed by Arkasha Stevenson (in her feature directional debut), who co-wrote the screenplay with Tim Smith and Keith Thomas from a story by Ben Jacoby. It is a prequel to ''The ...
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
A Scattering of Seeds
''A Scattering of Seeds'', also known as ''A Scattering of Seeds: The Creation of Canada'' is a Canadian documentary television series.
The series explored the contributions of immigrants to Canada. It was produced by White Pine Pictures. A total ...
''
* 1999–2003 – ''
The Nature of Things
''The Nature of Things'' (formerly, ''The Nature of Things with David Suzuki'') is a Canadian television series of documentary programs. It debuted on CBC Television on 6 November 1960. Many of the programs document nature and the effect th ...
''
* ''Love Is Not Enough''
* 2002 – ''New Year's Resolutions''
* 2002 – ''Friday the 13th: The Devil in Dover''
* 2003 – ''The Ex-Factor''
* 2003 – ''Talk Mogadishu: Media Under Fire''
* 2003 – '' Hollywood Wives: The New Generation''
* 2004 – ''Winning''
* ''2005 – The Dark Years''
* 2007 – ''
America at a Crossroads
''America at a Crossroads'' is a documentary miniseries concerning the issues facing the United States as related to the War on Terrorism. It originally aired on PBS.
The miniseries initially consisted of 11 independently produced ''aired'' ep ...
Chapelwaite
''Chapelwaite'' is an American horror television series based on the short story “Jerusalem's Lot” by author Stephen King. It was written by Peter and Jason Filardi, and premiered on Epix on August 22, 2021, and concluded on October 31, 20 ...
''
* 2022 — ''
The Peripheral
''The Peripheral'' is a 2014 science fiction mystery-thriller novel by William Gibson set in near- and post-apocalyptic versions of the future. The story focuses on a young rural-town American woman who lives in the near future, and on a Londo ...
''
Documentaries
* 1990 – ''Transplant, the Breath of Life''
* 1990 – ''Between Two Worlds''
* 1994 – ''Lawn and Order''
* 1994 – ''The Lucky Ones: Allied Airmen in Buchenwald''
* 1996 – ''
Power
Power may refer to:
Common meanings
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power, a type of energy
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
Math ...
Until Dawn
''Until Dawn'' is a 2015 interactive drama survival horror game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players assume control of eight young adults who have to survive on Blackwood Mountain when their ...
''
Awards and nominations
During his career, Korven has received several awards, many at the
Gemini Awards
The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...
,
Genie Awards
The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculpt ...
and the
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...
.
List of Awards
Source:
Gemini Awards
The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...
* 2008 – Won – Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series: "A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman"
* 2008 – Nominated – Best Original Music Score for a Program or Series: The Border For episode "Enemy Contact"
* 2005 – Nominated – Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series: "Continuous Journey", award shared with:
Philip Strong, Kiran Ahluwalia, Ben Grossman, Ravi Naimpally
* 2000 – Nominated – Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series: "The Sheldon Kennedy Story"
* 1999 – Nominated – Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series: "Win, Again!"
* 1992 – Nominated – Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series: "Between Two Worlds"
Genie Awards
The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculpt ...
* 1999 – Nominated – Best Music Score: "Cube"
* 1996 – Nominated – Best Achievement in Music – Original Score: " The Michelle Apts."
* 1996 – Won – Best Achievement in Music – Original Score: "Curtis's Charm"
* 1994 – Nominated – Best Music Score: "Henry & Verlin"
* 1993 – Nominated – Best Music Score: "The Grocer's Wife"
* 1991 – Nominated – Best Music Score: "White Room"
Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival
* 2005 – Won
Golden Sheaf Award
Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada.
In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...
– Best Original Music, Non-Fiction: "Continuous Journey", award shared with: Philip Strong, Kiran Ahluwalia, Ben Grossman, Ravi Naimpally