Jump to content

Jill Wisoff

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jill Wisoff
Jill Wisoff at home in Greenwich Village, 2012
Jill Wisoff at home in Greenwich Village, 2012
Background information
Born (1956-04-27) 27 April 1956 (age 68)
Queens, New York
Occupations
  • songwriter
  • film composer
  • director
  • writer
  • performer

Jill Wisoff is an American filmmaker, performer, actress and film composer[1][2] best known for original music and songs in Welcome to the Dollhouse,[3] Todd Solondz's critically acclaimed 1996 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner.

Works

[edit]

Her original musical scores can be heard in such representative work as Second Skin by filmmaker Amy Talkington,[4] a 1999 Sundance Film Festival selection that sold to television worldwide.[5] For producer Alan Sacks, she scored Melissa Gilbert's 1996 directorial debut,[6] Me and My Hormones,[7] an ABC Afterschool Special; in Smart House, a 1999 TV movie for Disney Channel directed by LeVar Burton, she co-wrote the song "The House is Jumpin'"[8] with Barry Goldberg and Joel Diamond, and contributed additional score.[9] Working with filmmaker Adam Goldstein and produced by William Kennedy, she scored Woman Found Dead in Elevator (2000), based on a story by Ruth Tarson with special material provided by Hunter S. Thompson[10] and starring Wit Broadway star Kathleen Chalfant and[11] George Plimpton.[12]

Biography

[edit]

Born in Queens,[13] New York, she studied composition in the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division and at Bennington College[14] under Vivian Fine and Henry Brant. She attended the Neighborhood Playhouse and completed an MFA in Writing, concentration fiction, at the New School. She directed, composed music, performed in stock and off-off Broadway.[15] She was lead guitarist for all-girl reggae band, Steppin' Razor, produced by Chris Spedding,[16] who later produced her band The Con Artists, including some songs heard on the Welcome to the Dollhouse soundtrack.[17] She later toured as bassist for the legendary Johnny Thunders as a member of his last band, The Oddballs.[18] Between tours, she completed reshoots co-starring as Sharon opposite Todd Solondz's Ira[19] in his lesser known first feature film, Fear, Anxiety & Depression,[20] theatrically released in 1989 through the Samuel Goldwyn Company, and was cited for her "comic flair" in Caryn James' New York Times review.[21] She made her film directorial debut with Creating Karma,[22] theatrically released[23] in 2009. Her documentary produced with Harris F.B. Salomon, The Day After, was completed in 2010 with footage shot at Ground Zero on September 12, 2001. Following a screening series by New York Women in Film and Television called Life in the Aftermath of 9/11, it was included in the memorial library collection of the naval ship USS New York, and the archives of the Tribute WTC Visitor Center. She also co-wrote "The Collected Letters of Snaps" with Salomon. The adventures of a retired greyhound racing dog in New York.[24]

Film scores

[edit]
  • The Day After (2010)
  • Creating Karma (2009) (additional music, theme, sitar, ukulele)
  • The New Arrival (2000)
  • Woman Found Dead in Elevator (2000)
  • Smart House (1999) (additional music)
  • Splinter (1999)
  • Me and My Hormones (1996)
  • Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
  • The Doorman (1987)
  • In the Night (1987)[25]

Discography

[edit]
  • Diane Murray (2000) (on selected songs: Arrangements, Bass, Guitar, Keys, Synth Drums)[26]
  • Premears Volume 1 (1999) (House is Jumpin included (co-written with Barry Goldberg, Joel Diamond and performed by Chane Andre) in this compilation of Disney Channel songs with various artists from original movies)[27]
  • IFC In Your Ear Volume 1 (1999) (Welcome to the Dollhouse Theme Song included in album of selected soundtrack music)[28]
  • Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996) (Official Soundtrack co-produced with Todd Solondz: Songs from film and by The Con Artists included: Various Artists)
  • The Con Artists - Above the Stinkin' Law (1992)[29]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Movies". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  2. ^ "NYWIFT Screening Series: Living in the Aftermath of 9/11". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  3. ^ "Sundance Institute". history.sundance.org. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Mcoment.com". Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  5. ^ "amy talkington". amytalkington.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Overview for Melissa Gilbert". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Me and My Hormones (1996) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  8. ^ "AOL Music". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Smart House (1999) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Woman Found Dead in Elevator Cast and Crew,Boxoffice-EntGroup". english.entgroup.cn. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  11. ^ "George Plimpton - Everything2.com". everything2.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Latest Composer and Music Supervisor Assignment". www.soundtrack.net. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Creatingkarma.com". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Jill Wisoff". www.sonyclassics.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Theater for the New City - Production History, 1970 - 1979". theaterforthenewcity.net. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  16. ^ "The Con Artists index". www.chrisspedding.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  17. ^ "original soundtrack / Chris Spedding - Welcome To The Dollhouse". www.chrisspedding.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Planetrock.com". Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Your Early Work: "Fear, Anxiety & Depression"". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Cineplex.com - Sam". www.cineplex.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  21. ^ James, Caryn (8 December 1989). "Fear Anxiety and Depression (1989) Review/Film; Spoofing the Unity of Art and Agony". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Weekly, LA (14 October 2009). "Movie Reviews: Black Dynamite, The Stepfather, Law Abiding Citizen". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Welcome to Laemmle Theatres - Laemmle.com". www.laemmle.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  24. ^ "USS New York Memorial Library - Marine Corps Association". www.mca-marines.org. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  25. ^ Bright, Kimberly (29 September 2006). Chris Spedding: Reluctant Guitar Hero. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595845859. Retrieved 1 August 2018 – via Google Books.
  26. ^ "Compilation - Diane Murray - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  27. ^ "PremEARS, Vol. 1: Music from the Disney Channel Original Movies - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  28. ^ "IFC: In Your Ear, Vol. 1 - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  29. ^ Emusic.com
[edit]