Bobak Lotfipour

Happy Mothers Day to my most favorite person and most incredible mom 💐❤️ @ziggy_roxanne the love you pour into our family shapes every part of our lives. You love so deeply and you carry that with you everyday, making everyone around you feel this love. To see you with Zephyr, raising such a wonderful goofball son is the greatest experience of my life. We are endlessly grateful for you and endlessly in love with you 🥰

@mothermarymovie @a24 directed by David Lowery is released nationwide today! I’m proud to be a part of this striking film, contributing additional music to the stunning original score by my dear friend Daniel Hart. As always, thank you for bringing me on @danielmwenda Also, so grateful to work alongside my friends @jinaaaaaaaaaaaa @gooddannys @kaelasmusic @_meernaa_

Thank you @mspfilmsociety for an amazing and meaningful weekend, from finally sharing the stage with our incredible composer Bobak Lotfipour and meeting his lovely partner Courtney, to reconnecting with my former WNET colleagues. Thank you @meganbthompson123 for showing me around your resilient city! I also happened to sit next to Alan Berliner at a filmmaker brunch. We discussed editing our own films, debated Avid vs Premiere, and talked about our experiences bringing our films out into the world. And he told me something that I know will stay with me. He said he never tries to start seriously thinking of a new project as his film is making its way through festivals because essentially, he is still in the filmmaking process. He learns so many new things about his own film from going to screenings and listening to his audiences. And I realized that has been true for me as well. So to all the people who have shared your reactions, your questions, your tears, your own family stories with me, I am truly thankful. I have learned so much from you all! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 And a special shout out to my driver Eric, who not only picked me up at 4am to take me to the airport but also came to my screening! I really enjoyed meeting you and hearing about your Dad. *** The Gas Station Attendant A co production with @itvsindies @firelight_media @caamedia Directed, Edited and Produced by: @karlamakingstuff Producer: @rajalpitroda Original Music: @bobak____ Executive Producers: @geetagandbhir @djrekha Cinematography: @karlamakingstuff @aw_fredericks @andysarjahani raulpazpastrana Consulting Editors: Francisco Bello @aw_fredericks Story Consultant: @goodtalkthanks Additional Editing: @pegahpas Music Supervisor: @konsonantmusic Sound Design: @chobanstagram Music mix: @gooddannys Colorist: Samuel Gursky @bradfordoperations Poster: @yentanpics With support from @nyscouncilonthearts @economichardship @ChimaeraFilms @inmaatfoundation @womenmakemovies @yaddotoday

SURPRISE UPDATE! Our incredible composer @bobak____ (who also composed the music for the Oscar winning short Two People Exchanging Saliva 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽) is joining Karla this weekend in Minnesota! So excited for him and his partner Courtney @ziggy_roxanne to finally see the film on the big screen.  He’ll be joining @karlamakingstuff for the Q&A for the Saturday screening. Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival @mspfilmsociety April 11th, 1:50pm April 12th, 1:20pm Link in bio for tickets! The Gas Station Attendant A co production with @itvsindies @firelight_media @caamedia Directed, Edited and Produced by: @karlamakingstuff Producer: @rajalpitroda Original Music: @bobak____ Executive Producers: @geetagandbhir @djrekha Cinematography: @karlamakingstuff @aw_fredericks @andysarjahani raulpazpastrana Consulting Editors: Francisco Bello @aw_fredericks Story Consultant: @goodtalkthanks Additional Editing: @pegahpas Music Supervisor: @konsonantmusic Sound Design: @chobanstagram Music mix: @gooddannys Colorist: Samuel Gursky @bradfordoperations Poster: @yentanpics With support from @nyscouncilonthearts @economichardship @ChimaeraFilms @inmaatfoundation @womenmakemovies @yaddotoday

Two People Exchanging Saliva has won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film! A massive congratulations to the directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh and the whole Saliva Team! Wow wow wow 💐🎉❤️😭

Oscar-Nominated short film, Two People Exchanging Saliva original soundtrack is out today! In early talks with directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh, before their film was shot, we discussed the script, inspirations for the film, music and musical tone, family, life, and friends in common. I really enjoyed these conversations and getting to know this sweet couple, who also made a brilliant film! Also, I quickly learned that the film had Iranian representation (lead actress Zar Amir), and its writings were influenced by real world events including the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement in Iran, Iran’s brutal oppressive government, and the rise of the Far-right in the U.S.. Therefore, this film became personal and I was grateful for the opportunity to be involved and learn of its deep meaning, and for the opportunity to write a contemporary classical score. The challenge for this score, was that pre-recorded music by @carolineadelaideshaw was going to be used and I needed to write music that could both hold a torch to these powerful pieces and to be seamlessly threaded together. I learned so much during this process, and with the help of our incredibly talented string players, Jina An and Roman Soto, we where able to make something special, handmade, and meaningful. I hope you all enjoy the music, and you can currently watch the short film on YouTube distributed through @newyorkermag Strings performed by @jinaaaaaaaaaaaa , @rs.cello and me Percussion by me Soundtrack mixed by @briantaylormix

This Sunday Hear works by @bobak____ , @savannahjolack , @jeff.bernstein , and Joan Huang. A little about the composers: Bobak Lotfipour is a composer and performance artist whose work bridges experimental percussion, electronics, and orchestral writing. After launching his career assisting Daniel Hart on The Exorcist, he went on to contribute music to films and TV series' like A Ghost Story and The Green Knight. Known for his handmade, percussive sound world using unconventional objects, Bobak continues to expand into larger scale orchestral work while also creating ambient and meditative solo music. Savannah Jo Lack began her career as an orchestral violinist before shifting toward and composition. After earning a master’s degree in film composition from University of Southern California, she was selected for the prestigious Sundance Composer Lab in 2022. Her recent work includes feature films, documentaries, and series such as Chef’s Table. Savannah’s music blends cinematic lyricism with bold textures drawn from her background as a performer and soloist. Joan Huang grew up in Shanghai and received her earliest musical training from her parents, later learning folk music while working on a farm during China’s Cultural Revolution. She went on to make history as the first woman to earn a master’s degree in composition from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music before continuing her studies and earning a doctorate at University of California Los Angeles. Joan’s work is known for fusing Chinese traditional musical language with Western contemporary techniques, and her music has been commissioned and performed internationally. Jeffrey Bernstein grew up in Vermont, where the natural landscape shaped his musical voice, and he began composing at the age of eight. His formal studies took place at Harvard University with Peter Lieberson and James Yannatos, Yale School of Music, and UCLA. Deeply committed to music as a communal practice, Bernstein has written extensively for young performers through his Waldorf education work and for choirs close to him, including the Occidental Glee Club, Los Angeles Daiku, and Pasadena Chorale, as well as songs for the PBS Kids.

@marshalscbs percussion session with incredible composer & percussionist @bobak____ ! Check out some of the instruments he’s been bringing into the #yellowstone world! #drums #percussion #recording

Up Next: Join us for UNISON, An LA Fires Recovery Concert. UNISON is an evening of connection and reflection on the Eaton and Palisades fires on March 1st at the @wendemuseum . Four newly commissioned works will be presented by composers who lost their homes in the fires, offering their contemplations on this experience and creating a space for others to mourn, gather, and contemplate. UNISON features new commissions by Jeffrey Bernstein, Bobak Loftipour, Joan Huang-Kraft, and Savannah Jo Lack. Lyris Quartet, Aron Kallay, and Bobak Lotfipour will perform these new works. Through music, we will build solidarity and connection in the ongoing recovery process. All proceeds will be donated to the LA Fire Relief Fund at MusiCares. Link in bio for reservations and donations.

Meet our incredible composer, Bobak Lotfipour. He is half Iranian, half Mexican, and a longtime collaborator of Daniel Hart, having worked together on the score of « A Ghost Story » (one of our favorites), as well as « The Green Knight », among many many others. He composed over half the music in our film, TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA, and is as warm and kind as he is incredibly talented. Here are some behind the scenes videos and photos from when Roman Soto and Jina A came by Bobak’s studio to experiment and record the music. Many of the instruments used in the making of this score were one-of-a-kind builds by Bobak himself, and unfortunately all of them were lost along with Bobak’s home in the devastating LA fires earlier this year. Thank you Bobak for being such a wonderful and supportive collaborator. Bobak and our music supervisor, Taylor Rowley, have come to cheer on our film again and again at all of our LA screenings to date (and there have been quite a few!). @taylor.rowley FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT WATCH on THE NEW YORKER #foryourconsideration #fyc #bestliveactionshortfilm #oscarshortlist

3 days of rock drums 🥰

It’s been an honor to have created the score for Karla Murthy’s @karlamakingstuff deeply personal film, The Gas Station Attendant. This film reflects on Karla’s father’s life, a story of an extraordinary journey from the streets of India to the realities of life in America. The film uses recorded phone calls with her dad while he was working nights at a gas station along with home movies past and present. This deeply intimate film is a meditation on family, the immigrant experience, and the dreams we carry with us. In conversations I had with Karla before the film was made, we shared in the experience of having family in the gas station business. My father was also an immigrant to America and eventually owned a gas station where my mother, aunts, uncles, brother, cousins, friends and I worked. My first job was at nine or ten years old putting up merchandise. I could see myself in this film. I could see my family in this film. In particular, I could see my father in this film, including the many struggles and dreams that are carried while being an immigrant. The deep devotion and dreams that my father had for our family and himself I could also see in Karla’s father. Our family worked so hard in this business. Holidays, birthdays (see last pic), and graduations were never an excuse for a day off. We missed so much just for the business to be open and serve. This score was deeply special to me and I’m grateful to be a part of it. Majority of the instruments I used in this score were lost in my home studio in Altadena due to the Eaton Fire. I am happy that the instruments last hurrah took place in this film. Instruments used were the Persian santoor, vibraphone, gamelan strips, resonator bells, kalimbas, mbira, marktree, chimes, electric and acoustic guitar, tape machine, gongs, metal balafon, ceramic drums, frame drums, drumset, hollowed logs, bamboo, violin, viola and cello. Casey Trela @caseytrela - ambient electric guitar and noise efx. Christopher Hunter @christophermichaelhunter - electric guitar and tape machine. Contributing vocals on track “Names” by Ganavya Doraiswamy @ganavya Roman Soto @rs.cello - cello Score mixed by Danny Reisch @gooddannys