On March 26, Oliver and Simon English visited Marlborough to speak about their documentary “Feeding Tomorrow” in a Pushing Perspectives alongside Music Instructor Luke Rothschild. The documentary, whose score, a written representation of musical composition, was written by Rothschild. Released in 2024, it follows various stories of farmers across the United States as they pursue regenerative agriculture, the process of maintaining soil health as a way to mitigate climate change and improve the flavoring of agricultural products.
Rothschild first met the English brothers when they toured a house neighboring his in 2018. He was initially wary of sharing the property with the brothers, given their youth, but soon came around to the idea.
“I immediately liked them. They had so much energy,” Rothschild said. “It became clear very quickly that our energetic connection was going to be even deeper than it initially seemed.”
Once they became neighbors, Rothschild and the English brothers quickly became friends, and it was during one of their regular meetings that Rothschild first heard about “Feeding Tomorrow.”
Rothschild wrote the score for “Feeding Tomorrow” not only because of his relationship to the filmmakers but also because of the powerful message the documentary was trying to convey: If the world takes action against climate change, the results will be definite.
“As awesome as ‘Feeding Tomorrow’ is, it isn’t the same as Congress passing bills. But [Simon and Oliver English] decided not to be defeated,” Rothschild said. “It is very empowering to choose action and to choose positive momentum to make changes.”
Despite his excitement over the content of the documentary, Rothschild was also hesitant. He has scored many documentaries throughout his life and wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to take on the project with people so new to the industry.
“I’d been scoring documentaries for almost 10 years before I met them,” Rothschild said. “I knew that they were going to make a really cool film, but I also knew that they were new filmmakers.”
Rothschild said that music never used to be recognized as being a significant contributor to the making of a film and he’s happy to see a more appreciative perspective toward scores in recent years. Background music is indispensable to the music industry because it can shape the audience’s reactions and emotions toward any given scene, according to the National Institutes of Health, and Rothschild agrees.
“Music is the invisible lead actor of the film,” Rothschild said. “The emotionality of the music is hugely impactful and is oftentimes not front of mind for the viewer. So it’s really a stealth device to lead the emotional narrative.”
