Meet Mara Keen

We recently connected with Mara Keen and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Mara with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

My dad is a mortgage broker and I grew up listening to him brokering deals. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was learning the importance of persistency and resilience. Many times something unexpected would happen delaying the deal or people would back out/not be willing to come up with a solution. Similar situations such as the need for problem solving happen in the majority of careers, and this is especially true for composing. I believe in order to have a successful career you have to be easy to work with, kind, and able to quickly problem solve. Most importantly, watching my dad work so hard to get deals done left a huge impression on me.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

The most special thing about composing for film and tv it is being able to evoke emotion in others through sound. I got into composing because I love the idea of making people feel something. One of my most prominent memories of this was watching HBO’s “Band of Brothers”, through the series’s soundtrack I felt as if I was really there with the characters and was overcome with emotion. When I was in college, my composition professor Dr. Glenn Smith mentioned the best way he knew how to contribute to the music world was to give back into it. That stuck with me ever since and I love being able to contribute back to a world that has given me so much.

Most recently, I just came back from a trip to the UK where I attended Music Week’s Women in Music 2024 Awards which was a lot of fun. I also spent some time working out of Kensaltown studios, visiting BMI’s UK office, and met with the folks over at Siren Music. ABKCO and the Guild of Music Supervisors hosted an amazing event at London’s Groucho Club which I’m so thankful I was able to attend. I was also recently selected as a GRAMMY U Ambassador for the NY Chapter, and was just accepted into SCL’s NY Mentorship program for the 2024-2025 year!

I am currently working on a few upcoming projects that I can’t publicly announce yet – however one I can announce is Scrappack Productions’ “Just One More Thing”, written by Madeline Coronato and Sadithi de Zilva, and directed by Cat Yudain. I am really excited for this to be released, so please look out for more info on my social media!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Persistency is one of the most important qualities to posses. There are so many talented and amazing musicians out there that will remain unknown. The only difference between the ones who make it and the ones who don’t is persistency. There is going to be so many no’s and tons of frustration, but allowing that to take over your career means you will remain at a standstill. You can’t give up. You have to be in it to win it, and as long as you are continually working towards your goals, you are in it!

Collaboration and Communication is vital for sustaining a career in music. I personally feel the way you treat people says the most about you, and may actually be the reason you get the job over someone else. Don’t underestimate the value of being kind and considerate when speaking with others. You also have to be willing to collaborate – part of being a good musician is being able to take constructive criticism/opposing ideas and being able to create something great together.

For folks who are early in their journey, my best advice would be to keep your head up whenever you hear a no, and use that frustration to fuel you towards your next project. I would also start reaching out to people to collaborate with. If you are currently a student get to know your classmates better. These can go on to become some of your best friends, collaborators, and may get you future jobs!

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

Networking! I’ve always considered myself a pretty extroverted person, but that changed when covid started. I noticed that once places started to open back up, speaking with people and seeing people in person gave me a ton of anxiety. Over the past 12 months, I have been forcing myself to get out there, meet new people and network. Something I find very useful is joining different organizations and reaching out to new people from there. I started doing that with NYWIFT (New York Women in Film and Television), they have a great database and every other week I find a new person in the entertainment industry to get coffee and chat with. I am really proud of how far I’ve come with my social anxiety, but it definitely hasn’t been easy haha.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

For the “Just One More Thing” film poster – please credit “Cat Yudain”

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