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Randy Newman scores
By Larry
Getlen • Bankrate.com
Considering the acerbic nature of his songs, its amazing
that Disney allows Randy Newman to see their films, let alone score
them. But Newman has earned 13 Oscar nominations for scoring and
writing songs for wholesome family fare such as A Bug's Life, Babe:
Pig In The City, Pleasantville, and both Toy Story films.
Newman's songs showcase a relentless cynicism, a sense
that the world is a bitter place designed for bitter people. "Short
People," his biggest hit, was a slam at racism that nevertheless
brought him accusations of the very injustice he was satirizing.
At the same time, his soundtrack work uses that songcraft to express
optimistic views and declarations of love by cartoon cowboys and
computer-generated talking ants for the world's most family friendly
conglomerate. His collaboration with Disney/Pixar has produced three
tremendous hits, and proved that one can be a tireless curmudgeon
and still keep a sentimental spot in his heart.
While the 56-year-old Newman had already had success
as a songwriter before he scored his first film, "Cold Turkey,"
in 1971, it was inevitable that he would wind up in film composition.
His uncle, Alfred Newman, is widely regarded as the best composer
in film history, earning a staggering 34 Oscar nominations (he won
nine), and composing one of pop culture's most recognizable pieces
of music, the 20th Century Fox fanfare. Alfred's two brothers were
also Oscar-nominated composers, as his two sons are today. So for
Randy Newman, film scoring wasn't just a job -- it was the family
business.
Newman's dual careers have allowed him to profit handsomely
from both music and film. We spoke to Newman about the lucrative
world of film scoring, and his not-so-cynical attitude to being
smart with your money.
GREEN: How financially lucrative is film scoring?
RANDY NEWMAN: At the top it's very lucrative. But
you have bosses, so it's like being a well-paid lackey. I'll fight,
I'll say "no, you're wrong, it should be this way," but eventually
if the director wants to push it, you lose. And sometimes they're
right. Financially, top guys make around a million, for 10 or 12
weeks.
Is that your range?
Yeah, I'm around there.
Did the scoring aspect of your career move you
into an entirely new financial realm?
It wasn't a new realm, because the old songs I've
written make a lot of money.
What type of investment strategy have you used
over the years?
I let someone do it. Even the house I bought -- I
was working at the time, so I went through it and looked at it,
I saw what neighborhood it was in -- and then my wife tore it down.
I didn't even know it was a tear down. We built another one, a better
one. She was right, I think, but I wasn't even paying attention,
I just walked through and said all right, I'll buy it. I don't...I
almost said I don't care about money. I care about getting paid
every dollar I can for what I do, but I sort of don't have a tremendous
interest in it. That's going to sound awful and ridiculous. For
investments, somebody at Merrill Lynch does the stock stuff.
One time, I had an idea. I wanted to buy Gillette
(NYSE: G) years ago,
because the Trac II, and the other Trac razors, they were just better.
There was no doubt about it -- people were talking about it in stores
like it was a commercial. So I called my broker, and this was the
first idea I had had in 25 years of being with the guy, and I said
I'd like to buy Gillette, I think it's a really good product, and
he said "Why don't you put out your own market letter." The one
idea I ever had. I said listen, don't bother about it. He was right
actually -- Gillette fell out. Or I went to Europe and used the
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) phone,
and called the guy about buying some.
Do you know what stocks are doing really good for
you right now?
On the TV as you say this, I see Medimmune (Nasdaq:
MEDI) has lost 25 points,
from being at 56 or something, and I have Medimmune. Medimmune has
done very well for me. It's some kind of biology company, I assume.
I know stocks I've had that had gone to nothing, and stocks I've
had that I don't know what they do. I sometimes think, I like numbers
so much -- baseball statistics I always loved and I liked gambling
too much when I was a kid -- that if I retired, I'd like to sit
around and just play numbers, and look at products and things and
think, oh, this is by Gillette.
Did you make any big financial mistakes along the
way?
Really big, like Garry Marshall, who lost $24 million
from a crooked guy? No. But I had an accountant who was bad, maybe
criminally bad, I don't know. Yes, probably was. I had a cattle
thing that was going to save us on taxes that did nothing, that
we lost money on. But nothing
that really wrecked me. Dave Grusin had something that completely
wrecked him, I can't remember what it was. Billy Joel, of course,
got hurt very badly, with a family thing. I had the divorce, but
I didn't begrudge her anything.
What's the most important piece of financial advice
you would offer to an up and coming musician?
When people who are very young make a lot of money,
I have never seen anyone handle the process well emotionally. I've
never seen anyone get rich overnight and just be all squared away
and together, and it had no affect on them. It just doesn't seem
possible. Financially, maybe some of them have, I don't know. I
would find an established place, make sure they're not crooks, look
around at more than one, and let them manage your money. What do
we know about it? I don't have great faith in my financial acumen.
If I have a high IQ in terms of music or show business, it doesn't
necessarily carry over. Though I'll tell you, I wouldn't mind, after
I'm done, sitting around and saying here's $100,000, I'll put it
on so and so, like a horse race. Because that's what it is.
-- Posted: Dec. 21, 2000
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