The Big Bear Lake International Film Festival (BBLIFF) has announced composer Michael Giacchino as the recipient of their inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in Film Music.

MICHAEL GIACCHINO’s melodies have enhanced entertainment of all genres, including feature films, television shows, animated shorts, video games, and stand-alone symphonies with themes that run the gamut from driving, melancholic, and suspenseful to serene. He has been nominated twice for an Academy Award® – first, for his score to the animated blockbuster “Ratatouille,” and more recently, for his score to the critically acclaimed “Up” for which he garnered an Academy Award in the Best Original Score category. This Oscar win was the highlight of an award season in which Giacchino collected all of the top prizes for his work on “Up” – the Golden Globe Award, BAFTA Award, Broadcast Film Critics Choice Award, and two Grammy Awards. Giacchino served as Music Director of the 81^st Academy Awards.

Fans of the hit ABC TV shows “LOST” and “Alias” are well acquainted with his work and enjoyed his tense and emotional compositions for the run those popular shows. The acclaim for ABC’s “LOST” and the music that Giacchino created for the series inspired two symphonic events. “The LOST Symphony” was performed in September of 2007 by the Honolulu Symphony, and “LOST Live: The Final Celebration” was presented at UCLA’s Royce Hall in May 2010. Both concerts incorporated themes and passages written by Giacchino for the hit TV show, and included readings by LOST actors Terry O’Quinn, Michael Emerson, and others.

His feature film composing breakthrough came in 2004 with his acclaimed score for “The Incredibles.” From there, he went on to compose music for the live-action superhero film “Sky High,” the comedy-drama “The Family Stone,” the thriller “Mission: Impossible III”, “Speed Racer,” “Star Trek” and the thriller “Let Me In”. He recently completed Tom Bezucha’s “Monte Carlo,” and is currently scoring Pixar’s “Cars 2”, directed by John Lasseter. Upcoming projects include “Super 8” and “John Carter of Mars.”

Previously, Giacchino composed many orchestral scores for interactive media, including the highly successful “Medal of Honor” series, a World War II simulation game created by Spielberg. Of this collaboration, Spielberg said, “I listen to a lot of music from aspiring composers, and one day I received a CD of sample tracks from a new composer named Michael Giacchino,” Spielberg said. “I thought his stuff was stunning and the orchestral arrangements were already on a par with some of Hollywood’s best working composers. So I did what anybody in their right mind would do. I found him an agent and signed him up to score Medal of Honor — and the rest of Giacchino’s history belongs to him.”

Giacchino studied film production at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and subsequently pursued composition and music studies at both the Juilliard School, and UCLA. He sits on the Advisory Board of Education Through Music Los Angeles.

About the newly added category of Film Music, BBLIFF Board member Vanessa Finney said, “Music’s ability to influence emotions makes it a crucial part of any movie, and the Festival is excited to start recognizing this with a Lifetime Achievement Award. We chose Michael Giacchino as the Festival’s first-ever recipient of this award for his ability as a composer to underscore the feeling of a scene and capture the spirit of an entire film  — a talent that has already earned him many accolades.”

Other 2011 honorees include John Bailey, ASC (“Ordinary People,” “Groundhog Day,” “In the Line of Fire,” “As Good As It Gets,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” “He’s Just Not That Into You”), who will accept the Lifetime Achievement Award in Cinematography. For a list of past honorees visit the “Past Festivals” link on our website.

The Big Bear Lake International Film Festival attracts an average of 5,000 attendees to its scenic location yearly and will be celebrating its 12th anniversary at this year’s event; September 15th – 18th, 2011. Tickets can be purchased online at bigbearlakefilmfestival.com; at the Big Bear Lake Performing Arts Center Box Office (39707 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake, CA 92315); or by phone: 909-866-4970. For more information about the festival call 909-866-3433 or email bigbearfilmfest@aol.com.

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