From Pullman to Star Wars

Staring out at Kamiak Butte from Washington State University's campus about 20 years, Pullman native Paul Henning, just like so many other college students, wondered what direction his life was going.

He couldn't have imagined that he would soon be living in Los Angeles, working in the film scoring business, nor that nearly 20 years later, he would be part of the team working on the newest "Star Wars" films.

"I remember being in those seats and having no idea what to do," Henning said of his time at WSU.

Henning, who has now been working in LA since 2000, will return to Pullman next week where he will deliver various presentations throughout the week. His main presentation is set at 7 p.m. Monday in the CUB Auditorium, during which he will share his story of going from Pullman to working on the score for "Star Wars."

"I'm looking forward to talking about what life is like down here," Henning said.

A music major at WSU, Henning took a year off of school after graduation to work and figure out what he wanted to do next. He soon saw a poster for a one-year film scoring program at the University of Southern California. Henning relocated in 1999 and completed his program, forming relationships with other students, directors and faculty. He soon landed an opportunity to orchestrate through one of his professors.

Orchestrating is the process of taking a composer's sketch of the music they've created and writing scores based off those.

"That film didn't do too well," Henning said, recalling he was visiting home for Christmas when the film premiered. He watched his first film credit by himself at the Cordova Theatre.

One of the lessons Henning has learned in California has been about marketing himself for job opportunities.

"You're essentially running a business, which is yourself," he said.

He has learned that success in the film industry comes through the willingness to meet new people and take initiative.

One of his big breaks came through Patrick Russ, a music orchestrator and arranger.

"I've been working with him for 17 years," Henning said. "I started by proofreading scores for him. He's been amazing."

Russ was someone who Henning cold called, and Russ said he would be happy to have Henning work for him.

"It's rare that you find someone in Hollywood who you really connect with and who really takes you under their wing," Henning said. "It's really hard and it's what it takes, but it's also rare."

Working with Russ opened up other opportunities, and Henning has now built up a film scoring and orchestrating resume with more than 50 feature films, including "Chocolat," "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," "The BFG," "The Post" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." He has also composed the original music for the feature documentaries "Foreman," "Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of our Lives" and "The Town That Was." Additionally, he has now performed with the Hollywood Studio Symphony on the soundtracks to "Moana," "Storks," "Furious 7," "Frozen," "X-Men: Days of Future Past," "The Maze Runner," "Monsters University" and "Alice in Wonderland," among others.

"I've been very fortunate to get to work on all of those and especially to work with John Williams," Henning said.

For Henning, it is still somewhat unbelievable that he gets to work with Williams, a film scorer and composer.

"I've respected him my whole life. I've listened to his work my whole life," Henning said, "I never would have predicted that I'd be working with him. But I am."

Henning said Williams completes all his work by hand.

"I take his pencil sketch and enter it into the computer software," Henning said.

For "The Force Awakens," they worked on the music for a year, starting in December 2014.

"With a lot of the music in it, J.J. Abrams, the director, would often recut the movie, and John would have to adjust what he had written, all by hand," Henning said.

One of his most recent accomplishments was completing his first solo piano and orchestra album, "Breaking Through," which features eight original soundtracks.

"I'm working on a Grammy campaign now," Henning said.

The soundtrack, which features a photograph of Kamiak Butte as the album cover, is available for purchase on CDBaby, iTunes and Amazon. Henning will also be performing selections from the album with the WSU Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Bryan Hall Theatre.

Garrett Snedeker, one of the organizers behind Henning's visit to WSU, said he is excited for the presentation and hopes to see many people come out.

"We want this to be an event that inspires kids and students to dream big, and know the possibilities of becoming a film composer and studio musician," he said.

More information about Henning's accomplishments and career can be found on his personal website, www.paulhenning.com.

Kara McMurray can be reached at (208) 883-4632, or by email to kmcmurray@dnews.com.