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THE EARLY YEARS - ". . . and that's how I backed into movies."
- Juilliard at 7 ". . . I was never going to be Horowitz"
- "Music 101 is High Noon"
- What music adds, or doesn't
- The Big Break - The Swimmer
COMPOSING FOR FILM - "If Chopin were in the business of movies, he says to the producer, 'Listen, I've got this great Minute Waltz.' And the producer says, 'But I only need 57 seconds, so Freddy, do another one.'"
- Timing is everything
- To see or not to see dailies
- What the director wants
- Writing for Barbra Streisand
A CHORUS LINE - "When he wrote this line, I went, 'we're going somewhere.'"
- Stage to film: What works and what doesn’t
- Favorite song from A Chorus Line
- The special lyric that can shape a show
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS - "My wife said to me, 'Marvin, the clock is ticking and you haven't written one note.' And I said, 'Well, that's not true exactly. I've decided what notes I'm NOT writing.'"
- From Moviola to DVD
- Write it, then sleep on it
- Keeping it fresh: The Informant!
- Comedy is hard (but fun)
THE WAY WE WERE AND OTHER GREATS - "I gave back most of the money that I made on The Way We Were, and to this day, I'm happy about it. Because now I can sleep."
- Changing the last cue of The Way We Were:
- Cinema Paradiso: "The ultimate home run"
- Filmmakers I'd love to work with
CHANGING TIMES, TECHNOLOGY, AND MUSIC - "Writing for film is still 60% hoping God will be good to you that day and you'll get some inspiration, and 40% mathematics."
- Music packaged in film
- Hit songs, stories and Broadway
- Technology makes the math easier, but you still need inspiration
- Advice for young filmmakers