Gravitas Ventures

Gravitas Ventures, LLC is an international film distribution company formed in 2006 by Nolan Gallagher.

Background

Gravitas Ventures, LLC is a film distribution company owned by Nolan Gallagher and Michael Murphy. Gravitas Ventures was founded by Nolan Gallagher in 2006 to aggregate entertainment content for worldwide Video On Demand (VOD) distribution via cable, satellite, telco and the internet. Content represented by Gravitas Ventures includes feature length narrative and documentary films.

Gravitas' theatrical distribution and key VOD partners include Hulu, Google, Vudu, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox Cable, Amazon, AT&T, Verizon, DirecTV, Dish, iTunes Netflix and Microsoft Xbox.

News

In April 2011, in partnership with Variance Films, Gravitas Ventures released their first in-theaters title, the documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story. That title was also released simultaneously on VOD.

In August 2011, Gravitas was ranked #208 in Inc. Magazine's Top 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. Gravitas would once again be named to the Top 500 in 2012, moving up to #198. The following month, Nolan Gallagher was named by the Producers Guild of America as a member of its Digital 25 which recognizes leaders in emerging entertainment. In October 2011, Nolan Gallagher was named by Variety as one of Hollywood's New Leaders.

Gravitas

Gravitas was one of the Roman virtues, along with pietas, dignitas and virtus. It may be translated variously as weight, seriousness and dignity, also importance, and connotes a certain substance or depth of personality.

See also

References

The Ventures

The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling instrumental band of all time. In 2008, the Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Their instrumental virtuosity, experimentation with guitar effects, and unique sound laid the groundwork for innumerable groups, earning them the moniker "The Band that Launched a Thousand Bands". While their popularity in the United States waned in the 1970s, the group remains revered in Japan, where they tour regularly to this day.

History

Formation and rise to fame

Don Wilson and Bob Bogle first met in 1958, when Bogle was looking to buy a car from a used car dealership in Seattle owned by Wilson's father. Finding a common interest in guitars, the two decided to play together, while Wilson joined Bogle performing masonry work. They bought two used guitars in a pawn shop for about $10 each. Initially calling themselves the Versatones, the duo played small clubs, beer bars, and private parties throughout the Pacific Northwest. Wilson played rhythm guitar, Bogle lead. When they went to register the band name, they found that it was already taken. In 1959, they ended up calling themselves The Ventures.

Film score

A film score (also sometimes called background score, background music, film music or incidental music) is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score forms part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects, and comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question. Scores are written by one or more composers, under the guidance of, or in collaboration with, the film's director or producer and are then usually performed by an ensemble of musicians – most often comprising an orchestra or band, instrumental soloists, and choir or vocalists – and recorded by a sound engineer.

Film scores encompass an enormous variety of styles of music, depending on the nature of the films they accompany. The majority of scores are orchestral works rooted in Western classical music, but many scores are also influenced by jazz, rock, pop, blues, new-age and ambient music, and a wide range of ethnic and world music styles. Since the 1950s, a growing number of scores have also included electronic elements as part of the score, and many scores written today feature a hybrid of orchestral and electronic instruments.