Bryony Marks is an Australian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s and

theatre music Theatre music refers to a wide range of music composed or adapted for performance in theatres. Genres of theatre music include opera, ballet and several forms of musical theatre, from pantomime to operetta and modern stage musicals and revues. Ano ...

, for which she has won several awards and been nominated for many others. Among her television credits is ''

Please Like Me ''Please Like Me'' is an Australian television comedy-drama series created by and starring Josh Thomas. Thomas also serves as a writer for most episodes. The series premiered on 28 February 2013 on ABC2 in Australia and is now available on Netf ...

'' and ''

Barracuda A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was ...

'', and films include '' Berlin Syndrome'' and '' 2040''. She has also composed the music for many of the films directed by her husband,

Matthew Saville Matthew Saville (born 1966) is an Australian television and film director, known for ''Noise (2007 Australian film), Noise'' (2007) and ''A Month of Sundays (2015 film), A Month of Sundays'' (2015). Early life and education Saville was born ...

Early life and education

Marks' parents own(ed) a vineyard in

Gembrook Gembrook is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Gembrook recorded a population of 2,559 at the 2021 census. Gembrook is a popular ...

, in the Dandenongs, near

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. She was born in around 1971. She completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Music Composition for Film and Television at the

Melbourne Conservatorium of Music The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is the music school at the University of Melbourne and part of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne City Centre on the Southbank campus of the University of Melbourne. Degree ...

, part of

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, achieving first class honours. In 2001 she attended the inaugural program for composers at the

Australian National Academy of Music The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) is a classical music performance training facility situated in Melbourne. History ANAM was established in 1994, as part of prime minister Paul Keating's "Creative Nation" initiative. On 23 Oct ...

, where she studied under

Simon Bainbridge Simon Bainbridge (30 August 1952 – 2 April 2021) was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in the United St ...

and

Karen Tanaka Karen Tanaka (born April 7, 1961) is a Japanese composer. Biography Karen Tanaka was born in Tokyo where she started piano and composition lessons as a child. After studying composition with Akira Miyoshi and piano with Nobuko Amada at Toho Gak ...

. She first met her future husband, filmmaker Matt Saville, at the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the ...

Career

Marks composed music for several stage productions in the 1990s, and in 2004 participated in MODART05, an event hosted by Song Company and the

Australian Music Centre The Australian Music Centre (AMC), formerly known briefly as Sounds Australian, is a national organisation promoting and supporting art music in Australia, founded in 1974. It co-hosts the Art Music Awards along with APRA AMCOS, and publishes '' ...

. In September 2007, she composed the music for Saville's opera, ''Crossing Live''. Staged at the

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD. ...

, the work won Victorian

Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

in New Operatic Work and Best New Australian Opera Work. Marks has written the scores for several films and TV series directed by Saville, including his debut feature film, ''

Noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

'' (2007); ''

Felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

'' (2013); ''Please Like Me''; and his 2007 documentary '' The King: The Story of Graham Kennedy'', about Australian entertainer

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

. She composed the music for the Chris Lilley series '' We Can Be Heroes'' (2005), ''

Summer Heights High ''Summer Heights High'' is an Australian mockumentary television sitcom written by and starring Chris Lilley. Set in the fictional Summer Heights High School in an outer suburb of Sydney (based on Summer Hill), it is revolves around high scho ...

'' (2007), and ''

Angry Boys ''Angry Boys'' is an Australian television mockumentary miniseries written by and starring Chris Lilley, continuing the mockumentary style of his previous series. In ''Angry Boys'', Lilley plays multiple characters: S.mouse, an American rapper; ...

''. She teamed up with the creator of ''Please like me'', Josh Thomas, for the second time, to create the music for his TV series made in the US, ''

Everything's Gonna Be Okay ''Everything's Gonna Be Okay'' is an American comedy television series created by Australian comedian Josh Thomas. Thomas previously created, wrote, directed and starred in the semi-autobiographical award-winning series ''Please Like Me''. ''Ev ...

'', in 2020–2021. In 2021 Marks released ''LOCKDOWN Birdsong'', featuring

Kristian Chong Kristian Chong is an Australian concert pianist who has performed extensively throughout Australia, the UK, and in China, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, USA, and Africa. Early life His early studies were at the Elder Conserv ...

and Erica Kennedy, which reflected on the first Melbourne COVID-19 lockdown. Other film and TV credits include: *

Damon Gameau Damon Gameau is an Australian actor, director, and producer, known for his documentaries ''That Sugar Film'' and ''2040''. Gameau has also appeared in a number of award-winning TV shows and films, such as ''Love My Way'', '' The Tracker'' and ...

's '' 2040'' * Tori Garrett's 2017 film '' Don’t Tell'' *

Cate Shortland Cate Shortland (born 10 August 1968) is an Australian screenwriter, film director, television director, and television writer. She received international acclaim for her 2004 romantic drama film ''Somersault'', her 2012 historical drama film '' ...

's '' Berlin Syndrome'' *''

Lambs of God ''Lambs of God'' is a 2019 Australian television drama series on Foxtel's Showcase (Australian TV channel), Showcase. The series was adapted from Marele Day's 1997 novel of the same name about three eccentric nuns living on a secluded and remote ...

'' *the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

miniseries ''

'', based on the book by

Christos Tsiolkas Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for '' The Slap'', which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and t ...

* '' The King: The Story of Graham Kennedy'', a 2007 documentary directed by Saville Marks has said:

Awards

*2017:

Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

, Best Original Score, for '' Berlin Syndrome'' *2019: 2019 AACTA Awards, Best Original Score in Television, for ''

'' *2019: AACTA Awards, Best Original Score in a Documentary, for '' 2040''

Personal life

Marks married Australian film director

in 2003 at her parents' vineyard, and they have two sons.

References

External links

*
Bryony Marks
on

AusStage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...