Sarah Kernochan

Bio:

.. Sarah grew up in Connecticut, the middle child of five. Her father was a law professor at Columbia University, and her mom was a consultant for UNESCO. Her grandfather Marshall Kernochan and her father were both composers, so Sarah grew up steeped in classical music. Sundays in particular were spent reading through chamber music quartets with her father and siblings (she played the cello)..... She began writing early on; in high school she started making films starring classmates like Glenn Close, who was also a member of Sarah's girl group The Fingernails, for whom Sarah wrote the skits and songs. Later she dropped out of Sarah Lawrence to pursue a career as a novelist - but found herself caught up in films instead..... After briefly working at the Village Voice, she co-produced and directed the documentary "MARJOE," which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Sarah then got a recording contract as a singer-songwriter at RCA, which released two albums: "HOUSE OF PAIN" and "BEAT AROUND THE BUSH." She also wrote an erotic song cycle titled "BIOLOGY AND YOU" which she performed at the Boarding House in San Francisco..... Here her adventure in pop music ended. She liked the writing and recording part but not the performing, so she turned to writing prose next. Soon after, William Morrow published her first novel "DRY HUSTLE."..... Next up was the musical theater, where she found that writing songs for fictional characters suited her well. A musical "SLEEPAROUND TOWN" followed, subtitled "Songs of Puberty," which was workshopped at the New York Public Theater and then at Playwright's Horizons. It was during the latter production that she met her future husband James Lapine..... Needing to concentrate on one discipline for a while, Sarah committed to making a living as a screenwriter. Her ensuing credits were: "NINE AND A HALF WEEKS" directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke; "DANCERS" directed by Herbert Ross and starring Mikhail Baryshikov, "IMPROMPTU" directed by her husband James Lapine and starring Judy Davis and Hugh Grant; "SOMMERSBY" directed by Jon Amiel and starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster; "ALL I WANNA DO" (aka "THE HAIRY BIRD") directed by Sarah herself and starring Kirsten Dunst and Lynn Redgrave; "WHAT LIES BENEATH" directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer..... Sarah's last credit represents a return to documentaries, the 40-minute film "THOTH," for which she won a second Academy Award, this time for Best Documentary Short...... Sarah continues to write scripts, and still finds time to record music, posting one song a year on her website www.sarahkernochan.com. She is also completing a new novel, a reincarnation thriller called "JANE AGAIN."

Member Since:

March 09, 2009

Members:

Solo artist who still composes about one song a year.

Influences:

Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Carl Stallings, Stravinsky.

Sounds Like:

Herself.

Record Label:

Formerly of RCA Records.