Jill Wisoff
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.
![](../I/m/Jill_Wisoff.jpeg)
Works
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
Born in Queens,[13] New York, her training in composition began in the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division and continued at Bennington College[14] under Vivian Fine and Henry Brant. She attended the Neighborhood Playhouse and in 2015 obtained an MFA in Writing with a concentration in fiction at the New School. She directed, composed music and performed in stock and off-off Broadway.[15] As a musician, she performed as lead guitarist for the all-girl reggae band, Steppin' Razor, produced by Chris Spedding,[16] who later produced her own band, The Con Artists, some songs of which are included in the Welcome to the Dollhouse soundtrack.[17] She later toured as bassist in Europe and the U.S. 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, for which she was cited for her "comic flair" in Caryn James' review in The New York Times.[21] She made her directorial debut with the feature comedy film, Creating Karma,[22] theatrically released[23] in 2009. Her documentary produced with Harris F.B. Salomon, The Day After, she completed in 2010 with footage she 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 invited to be 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
- 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
- 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
- "Movies". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "NYWIFT Screening Series: Living in the Aftermath of 9/11". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Sundance Institute". history.sundance.org. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Mcoment.com". Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "amy talkington". amytalkington.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Overview for Melissa Gilbert". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Me and My Hormones (1996) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "AOL Music". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Smart House (1999) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Woman Found Dead in Elevator Cast and Crew,Boxoffice-EntGroup". english.entgroup.cn. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "George Plimpton - Everything2.com". everything2.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Latest Composer and Music Supervisor Assignment". www.soundtrack.net. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Creatingkarma.com". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Jill Wisoff". www.sonyclassics.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Theater for the New City - Production History, 1970 - 1979". theaterforthenewcity.net. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "The Con Artists index". www.chrisspedding.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "original soundtrack / Chris Spedding - Welcome To The Dollhouse". www.chrisspedding.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Planetrock.com". Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Your Early Work: "Fear, Anxiety & Depression"". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Cineplex.com - Sam". www.cineplex.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- James, Caryn (December 8, 1989). "Fear Anxiety and Depression (1989) Review/Film; Spoofing the Unity of Art and Agony". The New York Times.
- Weekly, LA (14 October 2009). "Movie Reviews: Black Dynamite, The Stepfather, Law Abiding Citizen". Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "Welcome to Laemmle Theatres - Laemmle.com". www.laemmle.com. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "USS New York Memorial Library - Marine Corps Association". www.mca-marines.org. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- Bright, Kimberly (29 September 2006). "Chris Spedding: Reluctant Guitar Hero". iUniverse. Retrieved 1 August 2018 – via Google Books.
- "Compilation - Diane Murray - Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "PremEARS, Vol. 1: Music from the Disney Channel Original Movies - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- "IFC: In Your Ear, Vol. 1 - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
- Emusic.com
External links
- Jill Wisoff on IMDb