“You can score a Hollywood movie out of a bedroom now.”
Brooks Leibee is a media composer for TV, film, and interactive media, currently working out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He describes his role as “virtually building assets that go into another digital process” and is excited by the growing creative community in the region. Originally a filmmaker, he discovered his love for composition during college and now collaborates with local musicians and studios. Leibee defines success as “being happy doing what you’re doing” and believes strongly in the value of creative work in the digital age.
Interview
Transcript
Emma Plutnicki 00:02
Okay, so to start, what do you do for work and where are you currently working from?
Brooks Leibee 00:07
I’m a Media Composer for TV, film and interactive media, like games. This is my first year venturing into that. I’m currently working out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Emma Plutnicki 00:21
Amazing, so what is one thing that you love about working as a creative in South Carolina, specifically?
Brooks Leibee 00:27
Just from the perspective of via composition, there’s not a lot of us here. It’s a very niche job in industry. It’s one of the- it’s like a big three sort of situation where you find them in, like LA, Nashville, New York, or even overseas. So it’s a rare occasion when I, you know, get to meet other people in my field. So it’s, it’s fun talking to, like, local filmmakers and things like that, because they’re like, “oh, wow, I’ve never met someone who does this sort of thing”. So it’s, it’s, it’s fun to be like, the hidden gem or whatever.
Emma Plutnicki 01:10
Yeah, amazing. So how does having kind of a smaller knit community in South Carolina influence your work as as compared to working in New York or LA if you were to work there?
Brooks Leibee 01:22
It’s far less competitive. Obviously, you make friends. Here it is a small knit community, so there’s that little bit of competition there, but I find it more community based. I mean, there’s only a few studios in the area that can fit ensembles or things like that- that you’d find in soundtracks for things like movies, shows and video games and not a lot of for example, like orchestras that are aware of like forming those relationships with media composers and building a work out of that, cities like Nashville, LA, they they have that just naturally because of the culture there. And also working with people like I said, it’s a lot of fun, because when you’re one of a handful of someone that does a certain thing, the excitement is a fun part of it. I mean, it always feels like, you know, working on something with your friends, because it’s, it’s an exciting thing to have original music for your project. It’s, it’s tailor made. It’s, it’s a bit more emotional, far more than what, like library music or something you pull off of YouTube, for example, can do.
Emma Plutnicki 02:47
Yeah, and how would you describe the local professional working community in Myrtle Beach and in South Carolina overall?
Brooks Leibee 02:58
In South Carolina, most of the people that I work with is it’s a lot more commercial in Myrtle Beach. A lot of people seem to, I know right now they’re working on getting more film projects and narrative projects here, but so far, it’s, it’s heavily commercial in the literal sense. It’s, it’s a lot of commercials, promo, that sort of thing. And the people that are making narrative things in Myrtle Beach, they’re super independent. A lot of the time they’re making everything on their own. So you find a lot of well rounded people in film. Before I started getting into music, when I was at Coastal I was making short films, and a lot of the time I was doing it on doing everything myself, filming, writing, and then getting into music. And that’s how I discovered, wow, this is my favorite part of the process. Let me focus on on this thing and run with it. But most of the people that I work with for narrative appear to be from Midlands, the upstate of South Carolina. A lot of narrative work out of the those cities, and same with like festivals and things like that. So I think, like the film culture more inland out of Myrtle Beach you get the more used to they seem to be and familiar with it, yeah, but I’m excited for the future of film in Myrtle Beach.
Emma Plutnicki 04:29
Yeah that’s exciting. And I mean, within a creative career, it can sometimes be hard to define success. So in your opinion, how do you define either professional success or personal success in your career?
Brooks Leibee 04:48
Yeah, I guess it’s like, professional success, it’s like, it’s a comfortability. And I guess that comes in fine with personal success. If you’re happy doing what you’re doing, people always say, if your- if your job- if you have fun with your job, it won’t feel like a job, and when there’s bills to pay and things like that can be tough. It’s not a rare thing for someone to have a day job, and that’s fine. You just you have to live. So if you’re struggling with your creative you know, job, your career in that field, work for it. Never, don’t give up on it. But if you have to get a part time, or even full time job, I know plenty of people that have full time jobs on top of their full time jobs. So it’s, it’s, it’s- it’s overall, it’s okay. And it’s not a failure. It’s not a failure. It’s not a you know, time waster. You have to live. And whenever you have that creative job, it that’s like, what keeps you going. So I think, yes, the personal success is just being happy doing what you’re doing, and professional success, you know, you’re living comfortably if you’re if you’re struggling, that tends to make the creative job harder, because sometimes the creative jobs are more expensive than living so.
Emma Plutnicki 06:11
Yeah, and so when you decided to go into this career, did you have any fears, or did you have, like- What was your biggest fear going into this career?
Brooks Leibee 06:25
Starting out, yeah, the fear of just industry, like in Myrtle Beach, it’s it’s growing, for sure, the last few years, especially, it’s just been rapid shifting, especially in community, with just meeting people, but starting out, yeah, there, you know, just no one here in this industry, even in just like the more, even more niche parts of it, like recording engineers, orchestrators, things, you know, things that go into it, that more behind the scenes, that a lot of people don’t get to see or or know about but we’re thinking about it all the time, and be the prospect of moving to another city. So LA was always on the mind, uh, Nashville, New York, things where, or even overseas, where these industries are flourishing, and that’s where the people are, and there’s an abundance of of culture and facility resources, especially so I’m sure in the future it’ll be it’ll become more localized, and there are more resources than there were just a few years ago. So yeah, starting out, it was just the fear of location, industry, resources, things like that. But career wise, those go hand in hand. But yeah, there weren’t, there aren’t many fears in terms of like choice or like repercussions of career choice, if that makes sense.
Emma Plutnicki 08:03
Yeah and so when you have those fears, were there any people around you giving you advice? What was the best and worst advice that you have received throughout your career?
Brooks Leibee 08:18
Worst advice is going to be is going to take a minute.
Emma Plutnicki 08:20
Yeah?
Brooks Leibee 08:20
Best advice that I hear all the time, and it’s true. I mean, it’s it’s proven true, just in my experience. But with some jobs, you can do it wherever. With this job, especially like in the digital age and post COVID, we’re like working from home became part of our daily lives with this, I’m, you know, I’m virtually building assets that go into another digital process. You know, in editing, people just drop the music in, it lines up, and that’s it. You know, there’s some mixing that other people have to do, but my job can literally be done anywhere, and especially now post COVID, a lot of the things, like the things I was talking about with recording engineers and recording spaces that can fit large ensembles, there are brand new services overseas or even in the states that can record large Hollywood scale orchestras that are used in Hollywood films and TV shows and video games remotely, and these are in major European countries and cities with AAA musicians, some of the best in the world. And that’s a post COVID thing that wasn’t possible pre-2020, so that just yeah, that adds to it. So you can, really, you can write. Like, I’m working out of my bedroom right now. Yeah, you can write anywhere, prepare, do all of your mechanical technical work. And then, I mean, yeah, you can, you can, you can score a Hollywood movie out of out of a bedroom now. And I think that’s crazy. That’s probably the best advice that I’ve heard everywhere. And it’s proven true that you can work from anywhere in this field. And, yeah, worst advice is hard.
Emma Plutnicki 10:29
That’s good, good that you haven’t had anybody tell you-
Brooks Leibee 10:34
I- if I hear or see things, something where, that’s where something you know, rubs me the wrong way. I tend to deflect it, because there’s just no point, you know, in focusing on- on- on our you know, of course, there’s the doubters and people that that are always going to say creative fields aren’t successful. You know, it’s a rare thing. It’s one, one in a million, which I’m sure, I’m sure there’s some statistic truth to that. But if you know, if you work hard, work hard, and you love what you’re doing, and you’re good at what you what you’re doing, that comes with working hard, and over time, yeah, you fly. So it’s, yeah.
Emma Plutnicki 11:17
Yeah, no, I love that. And so throughout your career, have you had any specific project that has made a big impact on on you, or something that you’ve produced that has really showcased your creativity?
Brooks Leibee 11:35
Last year yeah, I worked- I got to work with another Coastal alum on a short film. Name is Jay Bennett, and they made this Gothic Horror short that, yeah, she produced a short film while she was at Howard, and it was the most creative and I think culturally and emotionally rich project that I’ve gotten to write music for, and when things like that have that amount of support creatively, that makes music writing so much easier. So I really enjoyed scoring that one, and also that was a very fun project to produce because worked with a studio in Calabash, North Carolina called Sunset Beach recording. Ironically, it’s not in Sunset Beach, but yeah, and local musicians, five cellists and the bass player. So there’s this cello choir that we called it, but like a low string ensemble, and recorded there for for a few hours, and just got to jam with some cellists and that was a lot of fun. Some were from Wilmington, some were from Myrtle Beach. And, yeah, just the, like, just the Carolina musicianship showed itself there, and that was a lot of fun. So I definitely think that’s where, like, oh, local resources are here. And it was a lot of fun, especially, and I feel more prepared for future projects when that sort of opportunity comes again. That was the second time I got to record with musicians. So you know, if you learn as you go, and that was definitely the more successful session.
Emma Plutnicki 13:36
Yeah amazing. It must be so cool to see the music come to life like that. Very cool-
Brooks Leibee 13:43
Yeah, it’s unreal every time.
Emma Plutnicki 13:44
Yeah, so nowadays, what- What does a typical work day look like? What’s expected of you on a daily basis? What does your work process look like?
Brooks Leibee 13:54
It’s very different. Every day. I don’t have, like, a set process, but I like to set deadlines, so usually days like today is when I’m having calls, having meetings and setting my calendar for deadlines through the week or in the following weekend. So and I live in my calendar and my it’s just the Apple calendar. I live out of that thing. So a lot of the scheduling happen happens through there. So from say, I have a call today for a project coming up in the next couple of weeks, if it’s a film, generally, after the first call, I like to set up what’s called a spotting session, where either the filmmaker or I can screen share. We watch the project. Usually it’s edited. It’s mostly done by the time I’m but I’m brought on board and we set ins and outs for things called cues, where music starts in. Ends, and that’s for every scene. So we just watch the movie and talk about what music could go there, what it’s supposed to do, what it could sound like. And from there, I start sketching, and that’s usually like a week to two weeks most time I’m working on short films. So there they come together pretty quickly, and from then, it’s just a an approval process. So I’m sending drafts, either they- they have notes, or they sign off. And if I’m given the opportunity to record musicians, that’s probably another two weeks of taking the virtual music from my software and transferring it onto paper as legible music for musicians, and then contracting a space the musicians, setting a date, making sure everyone is ready to go on that- sending the musicians the music, and then recording, and after that’s just mixing, mastering the music and then sending it off to the editor. And it’s very similar for for interactive music, a lot more music than your than a short film whenever it’s a game, but that’s generally it’s generally a similar process, only when you’re writing, you’re focusing on interactivity, loops, stingers and the different possible endings for where a player chooses to go in a game. That’s, that’s a whole other, whole other thing. But yeah, generally that’s, that’s the process, and it’s different with each project. But usually it’s a about a month, month and a half for a project.
Emma Plutnicki 16:57
Okay, yeah, so it sounds like pretty busy schedule. So how were you able to kind of manage the work life balance with keeping personal creativity, but then also getting your professional work done?
Brooks Leibee 17:09
Yeah, also days like today, I feel like Sundays generally are like the “life day”. I hang out with my roommates a lot more because most of the scheduling and calls happen in the morning to afternoon. So after that, yeah, anything’s possible. So but, and then also just throughout, throughout weeks. Some, you know, some days are off, or even in off seasons, sometimes there isn’t a project. So it’s a lot of, excuse me, so it’s a lot of like, housekeeping or, yeah, it’s sparse, but like, Yeah, but it’s there. The work, the work life balance is there. And actually had a kind of conversation with a friend online not long ago about the work life balance and how it’s just life. You know, it’s all it’s all life. So if because I can get caught up in the whole work life balance thing like, Oh, am I spending my putting enough time into A or B? But if you, if you are mindful about it, and you don’t spiral over one thing or another, and just making sure that you’re spending time taking care of yourself, touching grass, you know, getting out of getting out of your space, and I’m working out of my bedroom. So, you know, it’s always a work life, a mix. You know, my beds are behind me. My there’s a closet of clothes right there. You know, it’s, but on the opposite side, I have all, all of my instruments and tools and my desk right here. So it and living with a house of roommates, you know, we’re young, we’re saving money. It’s, it’s the intersection of work, like work life balance and Brooks’s life right there. That makes it really interesting, but it but it’s working, and as long as it works for you, won’t work for everyone, but as long as it works for you, and you’ll find that then.
Emma Plutnicki 19:34
Yeah, that’s a great way of looking at it. And just as we wrap up our Is there anything else that you would like to add, or any questions you wish that I might have asked that I didn’t?
Brooks Leibee 19:49
No, I think you asked really good questions. Anything else to add? I- Yeah, the- this, it’s funny with things like social media and like online presence. Since, since you are where, at least from my perspective, I am working out of my bedroom. I amsometimes going overseas for programs or, you know, traveling the country to meet to meet friends. It’s it, but all of these are connected online. So I think having a strong, a strong social media presence is important, but especially today, where social media is in a very strange spot. Yeah, you have to be careful, I suppose, maintain your professionalism. I think more so because in these creative fields where, and especially living in somewhere like Myrtle Beach, where there isn’t an industry for this specific job. It’s all online. You’re going to be talking to people from around the world, around the country, and you never know who’s going to come across you. I was went to a concert in New York last year, very end of last year, and the composer, I’m a huge fan of or, his music, excuse me, and we had a moment to chat after his concert, and he recognized me just from online. He’s like, “Oh yeah, I see you everywhere”. I was like, “Oh, is that a good thing? “Didn’t clarify, so I don’t know, but, but yet, but we had a great talk, and talked about music and things like that. But that made it very clear that you know your presence online is very important now, and if you’re in a creative field, it’s, it’s a weird moment in time where you kind of have to be very active and putting things out there, which is something that I’m personally struggling with, is just writing music that I can just, you know, throw online. Because sometimes with projects, you have this like respectability thing, where you don’t want to throw all your music out there, because the filmmaker is, you know, still processing, and it’s a creative process, and you don’t want to show all of it. It’s a thing also NDAs with larger projects, but, yeah, social media presence is big, and the work life balance thing is also there with- with, like your personal accounts and professional accounts. That’s the one that comes to mind right now. Yeah, not sure of anything else.
Emma Plutnicki 23:06
No, that’s great. Thanks for sharing all that. And so last thing, if there is any other creative that you think we could benefit from talking to, would love to hear of anybody. I could send you a link to that to nominate people. So I’ll give you time to think on it, if you can think of anybody. But other than that, thanks for talking with me today.