This topic always makes for interesting conversation.
My $.02 is that studios nowadays are in a precarious position. On the one hand they're continually obligated to "up the ante" in these big tentpole pictures, and greater effects/marquee stars/etc. means higher budgets. But at the same time, attendance is down, which means studios aren't guaranteed to make the profits they could usually bank on in past years. In light of this I think they're looking to cut corners in every way possible. Music is therefore in an equally precarious position because it's not a visual medium. The dollars spent are for what you see on the screen, and the score, even playing as vital a role as we all know it does, doesn't seem all that necessary to the studio exec. So I think, with the industry in the state it's in, that it's harder not only for new talents not associated with Hans Zimmer to break in, but even for first-rate composers (like Folk, Eidelman, Broughton, and so many other we can name) who aren't "names" to get plum assignments.
I also think there's something to be said for the fact that the sensibilities of today's younger filmmakers are different than those of yesteryear who used to hire the "biggies." Now you've got people like Steven Soderbergh, Darren Aronofsky, Brad Anderson, etc., who use music in a different way. I mean, I don't think you'd find Robert Folk writing a score like SOLARIS.
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