07 Sep 2020
Dickson College alumnus, Antonio Gambale, has received two Emmy nominations for his composition work on the successful Netflix show ‘Unorthodox’.
Antonio is nominated for Outstanding Music Composition for A Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score) and Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music at this year’s Emmy awards.
An Italian and Australian composer currently based in France Antonio grew up and studied in Canberra, and described how music had always been a big part of his life.
“I had private music lessons as a kid and I always loved movie scores from as early as I can remember. I was also enrolled in music electives in both high school and college. I had some quite influential teachers, especially at Dickson College, who really opened up our eyes to a lot of things including the realities of what a career choice in the arts can mean,” Antonio said.
Antonio also described how school and theatre productions helped lay good foundations for working collaboratively in television and film.
“I even recall a couple of theatre productions that were original works written by the teachers - including the music - which was all the more impressive to us at the time. Everyone was really excited to be involved in that,” said Antonio.
“The best thing about the Emmy nominations for me is that it means [Unorthodox] really did connect with a lot of people. And also, since it’s nominated by peers in the industry, it’s nice to feel that the work I put in has been noticed and given a thumbs up. It means a lot,” said Antonio.
Antonio graduated from a Screen Composition course at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, and has a career in the film and television industry spanning decades. He described how access to technology and the internet to produce high quality work has brought down barriers he had to overcome when he left school, including distribution and learning new skills.
His best advice to current school leavers who are looking at creative careers is to take advantage of how easy it is to make creative works today but not count solely on their talent to stand out.
“Instead, take advantage of the ease of access to learn to be as good as you can be. If you’re not doing that already, then you should always remind yourself that there are plenty of other people who are doing it. Your great ideas might never get noticed if you don’t back them up with the skills to realise them to their fullest.”