May 8, 2021 - Mark Watters

"How did we get Mark Watters to mentor at Inception?" people at ASMAC kept wondering.

I asked him... during a zoom chat at one of the ASMAC events.

Mark was one of my instructors for the UCLA Extension film scoring certification program. It was a shock to have him. Many of the guest musicians who had come in the previous three quarters would always talk about playing for Mark on "Tiny Toons", and here he was in the flesh.

I believe Mark to be some sort of genius. At the time, I couldn't believe I was taking classes from someone who was working on a current TV show. I think he probably laughed secretly at my conducting and orchestration.

Through the same program, Chuck Fernandez became Mark's first assistant. I should have applied myself more.

Mark brought the Inception students clips of his animation projects and really dug into his process. He also gave excellent feedback on our kids' pieces and remarked on how the young composers were laying out their music at the level of his students at Eastman.

Kate Bacich came back because I wanted Mark to hear her music to picture. And June Kuramoto made a guest appearance to prep herself for an upcoming workshop, as she had never done zoom before.

Mark Watters is a heavy, heavy hitter. It just takes asking the question.