Frequent trips to Italy and France provided heaps of musical inspiration for Steffan and Marc Fantini, the composers of Sony Pictures' upcoming family comedy, Moms' Night Out.
With a premise that involves three stay-at-home mothers in dire need of a night out but find themselves in a frantic search for a missing baby, the Fantinis knew that the film's score needed to be unique.
That's where France and Italy comes in. To reflect the film's frenetic and wild moments, Steffan Fantini looked to the small street bands in Italy and France. Fantini was fascinated with their instruments and decided to bring in accordions, mandolins, a stand-up bass, clarinets, a pump organ, and drums played with brushes. Added to that, the duo incorporated guitar riffs, elements of the tango, and orchestral music to enhance the project's voice. A 78-piece orchestra recorded the score in Bratislava, Slovakia, while the Fantinis watched via Skype from Santa Monica.
"With Moms' Night Out, Marc and I got on the same page as the Erwin brothers very early on, knowing we wanted to push the comedic boundaries a bit, and stay away from a normal palette of sounds," said Steffan Fantini, who scores the music for CBS' Criminal Minds with Marc. "I got attached to the sounds at St. Marks Square in Venice, Italy, and the Erwin Brothers liked what we did. Musically, we all agreed on everything and it was natural."
Marc Fantini added: "The movie touched a chord with me. I'm a dad and I have a family, so the vast majority of the scenes in this movie, I've been there. I'm happy that all of the different elements we used gave the music a really special and unique feel."
Opening in theaters on Friday, May 9, the film is directed by Andrew and Jon Erwin, known as The Erwin Brothers. The film stars Sarah Drew (ABC's Grey's Anatomy), Sean Astin (New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Patricia Heaton (CBS' Everybody Loves Raymond) and Grammy-nominated country singer Trace Adkins.
The composers also scored Space Station 76 an independent Sci-Fi dramedy that premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest Film Festival, and will return to compose music for the 10th season of Criminal Minds with Gordon. Marc and Steffan Fantini are also expected to reunite with the Erwin Brothers and the producers of Moms' Night Out for a film that centers on football.