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©2009 M.G. Espar Music LLC.  All Rights Reserved.

Mickey Rourke Has Nothing on These Women!


"If you thought Mickey Rourke portraying a wrestler was something to talk about, wait 'til you see Mamachas del Ring."             --BAFICI 2009 program 

I just finished the score for a feature documentary by director Betty M. Park, Mamachas del Ring.  The film, a mix of cinema verité and claymation, follows a group of indigenous Bolivian women as they struggle to make it in the male-dominated world of lucha libre wrestling. For the score, I mixed elements of Latin folk and dance music with dramatic orchestral writing.  It came to life thanks to the talents of Naren Rauch (acoustic guitar), Micah Killion (trumpet), and Brian Griffin (percussion).

Mamachas will be making its world premiere at BAFICI, a respected independent film festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 26.  Steaks and wine are still cheap down in Buenos Aires, so book your ticket now!




Sneak Preview of Polka King in Boston 3/21
Move over, Madoff!  This Polish Ponzi-schemer had sequined suits and a song in his heart while he swindled people out of their savings.  The Man Who Would Be Polka King, a fascinating feature-length crime documentary that I scored, will be having a special sneak preview screening at the Boston Underground Film Festival this Saturday, March 21 (at Kendall Square Cinema, Cambridge, 12:30pm).

As directors John Mikulak and Joshua (von) Brown tell it, the film “is an irreverent look at the rise and fall of Grammy-nominated polka music superstar Jan Lewan, whose defection from Poland to the West in the 1970’s led to fame, fortune and an international Polka Empire. But when Lewan's empire collapsed under a cloud of scandal, the polka world was stunned to learn of the greatest polka-related financial crime in history.”  Now that’s some white-collar crime with an oom-pah beat!

Altamont Now Named “Film of the Year” 
Underground film journal Bad Lit selected Altamont Now, an indie feature I scored, as their “Film of the Year” for 2008.  They wrote: "Nothing compares to the sheer anarchic joy of Altamont Now... Every scene bursts and pops with a manic punk rock energy that blasts out of the screen."

More recently, the film screened at the Backseat Film Festival in Philadelphia, and was part of screening/concert event in Austin during South By Southwest that also featured performances by some of the bands on the soundtrack.


Over Half-a-Million Views on YouTube! 
During the last two weeks of August, three short films featuring my music were viewed a total of over half-a-million times. Two of them were documentary-style shorts for the Ford Models website, directed by Sasie Sealy. One featured "Fashionista", a song by my electro-rock band, Swell Mob, and the other used "Look Good", an original alternative rock tune with vocals by Alison Grace Bradley. The third film was Aquarium (Honorable Mention, Sundance Film Festival), Rob Meyer's short that showcased singer Katrina Art on the original bubblegum pop tune "Praying Mantis". 



"Luv My Levi's" Campaign Grooves to M.G. Espar’s Tunes
Levis's jeans new online ad campaign, "Luv My Levi's", features three original instrumentals I composed, augmented by the talents of versatile guitarist Naren Rauch. The music underscores nine short documentary-style videos about women's fashion, directed by Rob Meyer. 





Aquarium in Top Ten at Sundance!
Rob Meyer's short film, Aquarium, for which I wrote & produced the pop song "Praying Mantis", received an Honorable Mention at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Of over 5100 shorts submitted to the festival this year, 84 were selected for competition, and 10 were recognized with awards.http://www.mamachasdelring.comhttp://www.narenrauch.com/Home.htmlhttp://www.brinoceros.comhttp://www.brinoceros.comhttp://www.bafici.gov.ar/home09/es/index.htmlhttp://www.polkakingmovie.com/http://bostonunderground.org/2009festival/http://www.badlit.com/?p=1951http://www.altamontnow.comhttp://backseatfilmfestival.com/http://www.fordmodels.tvhttp://www.myspace.com/swellmobhttp://www.robmeyerfilms.comhttp://www.sundance.orghttp://www.myspace.com/mgesparmusichttp://www.myspace.com/mgesparmusichttp://levi.glam.com/stylingvideos/http://www.robmeyerfilms.comhttp://www.mamachasdelring.comshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5shapeimage_1_link_6shapeimage_1_link_7shapeimage_1_link_8shapeimage_1_link_9shapeimage_1_link_10shapeimage_1_link_11shapeimage_1_link_12shapeimage_1_link_13shapeimage_1_link_14shapeimage_1_link_15shapeimage_1_link_16shapeimage_1_link_17

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