I will be using the funds to record the orchestral score of ‘For the Love of Christopher’, a film shot in Memphis with a Memphian cast and crew, with the hopes of recording the entirety of the 30 minute score and some of the main standalone themes.

The hope is to do it in the US, hopefully in LA, but if not elsewhere, in order to bring scoring work back to the country and the city. I feel that this is very relevant to our current situation now. We are also exploring the option of scoring in Memphis itself.

While it would probably be easier to do the whole thing in Eastern Europe somewhere, I am willing to work with my team of orchestrators/copyists to figure out the best way to do it here in the US, even if that means using a smaller section and overlaying it on top of the digital score.

The costs that the grant will cover are that of payroll, orchestration, copying, studio/equipment rental and the players themselves, as well as any incidental fees and time spent preparing for the session.

The score was inspired by the groundbreaking music for Moonlight, by Nicholas Britell, as it paired classical music with black characters while also giving a clear nod to modern cinematic stylings.

For some context, our project ‘For the Love of Christopher’ is about a black family in Memphis, parents Deontae (M) and Janelle Campbell (F) and children Brianna (F) and Christopher (M), as they go through some tough times as a family. It strives for realism in not shying away from tough topics such as addiction and domestic abuse, while still conveying a sense of hope and beauty.

I had the pleasure of working on the music without listening to any temp, as there was none when I started, and the director Michael Brown wanted me to approach it with a truest sense of originality.

I then wrote a theme for each of the family members, with each person represented by a specific instrument – Janelle (Cello) Deontae (Violin) Brianna (Harp/Winds) and Christopher (Clarinet and bells). Each theme features the solo instruments but also a lush orchestral section, which I also did very deliberately to allow for the greatest flexibility when recording.

Central to the film is a ballet sequence, where the daughter Brianna dances alongside the Collage dance troupe (based out of Memphis) along with shots of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra players. All of this was filmed on location at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Memphis and I had the pleasure of adapting one of the themes to fit this sequence after the fact: an enjoyable puzzle of turning a piece into a waltz and then working to fit the timing to hit moments on the screen.

I would be delighted to have the ballet sequence fully recorded, at the very least, and one of the other main themes currently called Deontae Variation 1 – which is an epic cinematic ending piece we are using in the second half of the film a lot. It is basically the centerpiece of the film.

As such, having this grant is a huge boost for the film and of course, for my music as I don’t often get an opportunity to write and score for full orchestra in my own personal projects. So I am truly very grateful for it, and excited for the months ahead!

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Jon Ong is a Singaporean composer and multi-instrumentalist with over 12 years of experience in film, TV, and commercials. He recently scored The Accidental Getaway Driver, directed by Sing J. Lee, which won the 2023 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Award for Best Director, and had a theatrical release on February 28, 2025.

Jon also composed the score for Border Hopper, a 2024 Sundance selection directed by Nico Casavecchia. His film credits include additional music for Paddington, Love The Coopers, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Chain, and 17 Blocks.

Jon has contributed music to TV projects like Dopesick, The Wheel of Time, and Pennyworth, and worked on commercials such as McDonald’s The Hamburglar. He also composed music for Chase Champion, a Nickelodeon web series.

Originally from Singapore, Jon now resides in Los Angeles and has worked with renowned composers like Lorne Balfe, Nick Urata, and William Ross.