A Magical Project

Composing music is a passion for me and having a genuine excuse to compose is exhilarating! Recently, I had the opportunity to score the music for an intriguing documentary by Jeremy Workman, Magical Universe.

Ironically, I met Jeremy in 2012 when he was making a holiday video for Etsy featuring wreaths.  I had a wreath in my shop and he was interested in using it in the video.  I sent him some images of wreaths and happened to mention that I compose music if he needed any for the project.  After hearing some samples, he asked me to create a few cues for the video, which I gladly obliged.  He mentioned something about a long term project featuring an artist who took photos of Barbie dolls.  I thought that sounded a bit odd, but I was impressed with Jeremy's work and figured it must be something pretty cool.  A few months went by and I figured Jeremy had forgotten about me, then one day I received an e-mail from him opening with "I have a weird question for you!"  


I was eager to preview the film and jump right in.  When I first watched, I had to pause the film a couple of times to process what was going on.  It wasn't because the film itself was hard to follow, on the contrary, it's elegantly rendered and captivating!  Without giving too much away, I was awed in the end with what Jeremy had accomplished in this film.  It is truly beautiful and it deserved a beautiful score.
An excerpt from the film's website...

MAGICAL UNIVERSE is a portrait of Albert Nickerson Carbee -- an elderly, eccentric artist living in a ramshackle converted barn in the fading town of Saco, Maine.  Al spends each and every day alone in his cavernous home creating elaborate photographs and collage art -- most of which feature Barbie Dolls in provocative yet complex dioramas.  Few have seen Al's unique art. Even fewer have met Al himself.

When New York filmmaker Jeremy Workman and his girlfriend Astrid arrive on Al’s doorstep for an unplanned visit in the late 1990’s, the stage is set for the beginning of a strange and wondrous decade-long friendship between Al and Jeremy, an unlikely pairing in which the filmmaker goes on to become the reclusive Carbee's closest friend and his only link to the outside world.

MAGICAL UNIVERSE is a feature-length documentary about Carbee's amazing body of work and his relentlessly creative lifestyle. Its story is explored through the prism of Al’s strange but intensely devoted friendship with Jeremy and Astrid, with whom his bond is just as passionate as the one he has made with his art.

Something like a cross between the Henry Darger documentary "In the Realms of The Unreal" and a first-person documentary, MAGICAL UNIVERSE is, at its core about wonder, friendship, and the transcendent power of creativity. The film culminates with Al Carbee's greatest triumph as an artist and a man: the day when Carbee's Barbies are briefly revealed to the world.

All photos are from the film's website and facebook page.

Magical Universe from Wheelhouse Creative on Vimeo.


Read about Jeremy Workman.
Magical Universe website
Magical Universe on facebook