Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mark Kueffner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mark, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

Film composers typically start their careers composing for student and micro-budget indie films. Many times, filmmakers will ask them to compose music for free. This can be a challenge as indie filmmakers will gravitate towards free composers so that they can increase spending of their budgets elsewhere.

Film composers’ modern tools can become very expensive. Computers, audio interfaces, speakers, mics and cables, along with sound libraries can run into many thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars. On top of these expenditures, many composers attend school to gain the needed skills in their chosen field.

Once a film composer achieves a certain level in the industry, profitability does increase and can be quite lucrative. However, the first years in a composer’s profession can be quite financially challenging.

Mark, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a life-long musician, beginning on piano and accordion at age 6. By age 12, I had performed on national television and performed all over the Southern California area.

By my early 20’s I was performing on records such as the LA Boppers. A few years later, I wrote and produced music for acts like Emanuel Rahiem LeBlanc (GQ), Greg Walker (Santana) and many others.

Around 2013, I turned my concentration towards composing music for film. In 2022, Since then I have composed music for films such as Anomaly, Against All Odds: Surviving the Holocaust, Ghost of a Chance, and many others. Some of my TV credits include American Greed, Bachelor in Paradise, The Bachelor, Bachelorette, Homicide Hunter,

In 2022, I earned a Berklee certificate for Advanced Orchestration for Film and TV. Also, in 2022, I joined with Level 77 Music, a boutique music library who recently won Best Pop Track of the Year at coveted Mark Awards. Level 77 Music added the Sonic Score division, which will concentrate on film scoring.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 1998, I moved from California to Georgia. Although there was a good music scene in Georgia, musician’s pay was lower than what I enjoyed in California. For that reason, I decided to go back to school, concentrating on Information Technology. I spent the next 18 years in IT, performing music mostly on weekends.

When I started creating music for film in 2013, I would regularly get up at 2:00 a.m., work on the film until it was time to go to work at my “day job”. I would then return home and continue working on the film until bed time.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met Patrick and Anthony of Level 77 Music at at Georgia Production Partnership industry partner. I remember saying with a smile on my face, “These guys look important!” as my wife and I were walking up to them. And although it was somewhat meant in humor, I was right!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://markkueffner.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkKueffnerComposer/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-kueffner/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mkueffner/videos

Image Credits
Vernon Collins