January 6, 2012 - SAM official trailer
The official trailer for Sal Bardo's short film SAM can be seen right here. You can also check out and like the film's Facebook page for more inforation on festival screenings and other news.
December 9, 2011 -Alain Furcajg's DANIEL on TV
For those of you in the United States with service from DISH Network (ch375), DirecTV (ch568), or AT&T (ch1789): You can see Alain Furcajg's dark thriller, DANIEL (featuring original score by Jeff Mercel). The film will play December 11 at MIDNIGHT (EST) on the SHORTS HD channel. Check your local listings for other times.
November 16, 2011 - Marvin in London!
Marvin will be screening at onedotzero's Adventures In Motion Festival from November 23-27, 2011 at London's BFI Southbank.
October 27, 2011 - music for Sal Bardo's "SAM" is done.
Stay tuned for news on upcoming festival screenings, but for now you can hear a little bit of the score in the soundcloud audio player (lower right on this very page).
October 23, 2011 - Matt Groening shortlists Marvin
Mark Nute's animated short film made the top three in Shooting People's Film Of The Month for September 2011 as judged by Matt Groening (animator and creator of a little show call The Simpsons).
October 18, 2011 - 5 SHELLS is complete!
Post production for Paul S. Myers' second feature length film, 5 Shells is now complete. The film has an official website where you can check out the trailer, stills from the shoot, read bios about those involved and even hear a few music cues from the film. You can also have a look at a brief interview Paul did recently in advance of the November 30 screening at Anthology Film Archives in New York. More festival news soon!
October 14, 2011 - A New Project In Progress
Jeff is busy writing original music for the short film "Sam" (written & directed by Sal Bardo). “Sam” offers an artistic and unique perspective on gender identity and bullying. The film aims to challenge our perception of the people who inhabit our world and provide encouragement for young people who are still trying to figure out who they are, where their place is, and who they want to be.
September 29, 2011 - Marvin recognized @ OIAF
Although the film did not take the top prize, it did receive Honourable Mention in the category Best Short Animation Made for Children at this year's Ottawa International Animation Festival.
August 22, 2011
So it seems that Marvin has been making the rounds at quite a few festivals this summer and there are still more to come. Click here for more info.
July 13, 2011
Click away to read Skwigly Online Animation Magazine's recent interview with Marvin's animator, Mark Nute.
July 12, 2011
Hooked On The Fly's recent episode, "The Great Gaspe: Fly-fishing for Atlantic salmon on the Restigouche and Cascapedia Rivers" has taken home top honors at the 32nd Annual Telly Awards (best cinemetography & best nature and wild life film). This episode features original music from Jeff Mercel. Congratulations to George Clark and everyone at HOTF!
July 5, 2001
More festival screenings for Marvin... Mark Nute's little gem will be screening at Animation Block Party on July 30 at Brooklyn's BAM Cinematek. The film will also be in competition at Comic Con in San Diego, screening on July 21. More festivals to be announced soon!
June 14, 2011
Mark Nute's short film Marvin recently played at the Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto and received favorable reviews: "Mark Nute's Marvin (United Kingdom) also wins by taking the surreal road, this time exploring Frank Pudney's concept of a boy born with a hole in his head. Featuring narration by British comic Steve Coogan (Tropic Thunder) and music by Mercury Rev's Jeff Mercel, this film also offers a subtle moral that is more geared towards parents than kids."
April 27, 2011
If anyone happens to be in Ohio this evening, 'Marvin' will be in competition at the Athens Ohio International Film Festival. This screeening is also Marvin's U.S. premier!
April 11, 2011
Next month, Jeff will take a break from the studio and hit the road with Mercury Rev as the band presents the 1998 classic, Deserter's Songs in it's entirety at venues and festivals across Europe. The 15 date tour starts in Prague on May 10 and concludes at Primavera Sound in lovely Barcelona.
March 29, 2011
Alain Furcajg, writer/director of the extended short film "Daniel" (with original score by Jeff Mercel) has just inked a distribution deal with SHORTS INTERNATIONAL. Congratulations Alain!
February 26, 2011
Scoring for Paul S. Myers' latest film 5 Shells is now complete. You can hear the end credit music via the audio player below. Stay tuned for news about festival screenings for this film in the very near future.
February 18, 2011
Jeff is very nearly done with work on 5 Shells, look for a little taste of the score some time next week from this very site. Also, there's an IMDB page now, as the film is gearing up for the festival circuit. More news on that to come very soon.
January 20, 2011
Marvin, the animated short from Mark Nute (featuring the voice of Steve Coogan and music by Jeff Mercel) will screen at two prominent European film festivals this spring:
FILMFEST DRESDEN (April
12-17, 2011)
The Stuttgart Festival
of Animated Film (May 3-8, 2011 as a part of the "Best of British"
program)
January 11, 2011
Jeff has recently begun work on new music for 5 Shells. The film is the second feature from writer/director Paul S. Myers. More details to follow...
November 16, 2010
Click HERE to see the official trailer for Mark Nutes latest animated short, "Marvin". This little gem features the voice of the incomparable Steve Coogan (original music by Jeff Mercel).
October 29, 2010
We're gearing up for next weekend's screening at the Big Apple Film Festival in New York! Click HERE to see the official trailer for Daniel.
October 27, 2010
If you're in the UK, you can catch the premiere of Mark Nute's animated film "Marvin" at the Encounters International Film Festival in Bristol (November 16-21, 2010). The film will be presented in a special program in association with Channel 4.
October 26, 2010
I'm very happy to say that Daniel took home the award for Best Horror Short Film at Philadelphia's Terror Film Festival this past weekend!
October 4, 2010
Another festival screening to announce... Daniel will screen at the 7th Annual Big Apple Film Festival at the legendary Tribecca Cinemas in New York, NY. More details to follow!
September 22, 2010
The score for UK animator Mark Nute's upcoming short film "Marvin" is now complete. Look for excerpts from the score on this website very soon!
September 20, 2010
You can see Daniel (a film written & directed by Alain Furcajg and original score by yours turly) at the Terror Film Festival (in Philadelphia October 21-23) and the Sacramento Horror Film Festival (October 21-24).
September 16, 2010
I've recently finished writing a few new pieces of music to be featured in the 2011 season of Hooked On The Fly. These can be heard by clicking on the listen link. Not your typical fishing show, HOTF puts the environment first, often leading the fight against corporate polluters as is the case currently in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Please take a moment to learn more about the proposed and potentially disastrous Pebble Mine from the following websites: Save Bristol Bay, Bristol Bay Alliance and Our Bristol Bay.
Also, scoring for UK animator Mark Nute's latest short film, "Marvin" is nearly done and should see it's first festival screenings this fall!
August 19, 2010
This week I'm teaming up with web-guru Martin Lenclos, creating original music for an upcoming viral ad campaign for RICARD®. Get the glasses, water and ice ready!
July 22, 2010
Starting today, I'll be on the road with Mercury Rev for a series of UK & European festival dates:
Sat 24 July: UK, Steventon, Truck Festival (as Mercury Rev Clear Light
Ensemble)
Sun 25 July: UK, Huntington, Secret Garden Party
Tues 27 July: Italy, Rimini, Verucchio Festival
Thur 29 July: Belgium, Leuven, M-idzomer (M Museum)
Sat 31 July: Ireland, Tullamore, Charleville Castle – Castlepalooza
Sun 1 August: UK, Stockton, Riverside Fringe Festival
June 4, 2010
The 4th and final webisode of Peripheral City episode 1 is now streaming from vimeo.com. Spend a few minutes with Anya, Kwazi, Peri, Gorgeous George and the other fringe dwellers of this strange & beautiful world created by Amanda Cole.
May 28, 2010
Peripheral City, episode 3 is now streaming from this website and other outlets on the internet.
May 24, 2010
Writing for Mark Nute's new animated short, "Marvin" is now underway.
May 21, 2010
Very happy to say that the score for the pilot episode of Peripheral City (a new series written & directed by Amanda Cole) is now complete! In fact, you can LISTEN to samples from the score right now. Just a reminder, web episodes 1 & 2 are already streaming from vimeo and this site. 3 & 4 will be coming very, very soon.
May 19, 2010
Check out this week's episode of RISK! True Tales Boldy Told. I provided the score to Keri Heidecker's story "Downright Squirrelly" in the spirit of the Prokofiev classic, Peter And The Wolf. You can listen to music from this story, as well as other RISK! inspired music right now.
May 18, 2010
"Daniel", the short film by Alain Furcajg (with original score by J. Mercel) will get it's first festival screening on June 20, 2010 at the Provincetown International Film Festival.
May 16, 2010
Episode 2 of "Peripheral City" is now streaming online at vimeo.com.
May 11, 2010
The 1st episode of "Peripheral City" (written & directed by Amanda Cole, featuring original music by yours truly) is streaming on vimeo, and probably a lot of other places on the internet that I don't know about.
May 7, 2010
Listen to the original score from the short film "Daniel" now... click right here or go to the listen page to hear other new music.
May 3, 2010
I'm happy to say that as of 11:00 pm EST, the score for Alain Furcajg's short film "Daniel" is now complete! Look for samples from the score in my reel and the listen page very soon.
April 29, 2010
The next project on the schedule will be a first for me... animation! I'm very excited to say that I'll be collaborating with one of the UK's finest in Mark Nute. Production has begun and it's rumored that the narrator will be a very familiar voice. More soon...
February 16, 2010...
Jeff is scoring "Daniel" a short film written & directed by Alain Furcajg.
January 1, 2010...
Jeff continues his work as a story editor and composer for the new podcast, RISK! True Stories Boldly Told with host/creator Kevin Allison of MTV's The State.
December 1-7, 2009...
Jeff is on the road performing two very special shows with Mercury Rev avant/electro splinter-group, Harmony Rockets. The group will perform in Oslo, Norway on December 3 and December 5 at ATP Nightmare Before Christmas (currated by My Bloody Valentine).
