Veteran publicist Beth Krakower, a respected and tireless promoter for media-music composers and soundtracks, died Wednesday morning at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 46.
Krakower was beloved in the film-music community as a smart, kind and eloquent spokesperson for composers and their projects. Among her clients were “Mission: Impossible” composer Lalo Schifrin (who was just announced yesterday as the recipient of an honorary Oscar) as well as composers Bear McCreary, Blake Neely, Jeff Beal, Cliff Martinez, Kurt Farquhar and Ryan Shore, among others.
Beal, who won Emmys for his TV music with Krakower as publicist, wrote earlier today about “being in her orbit of joy, dedicated work, and brilliance.” He spoke of “working so hard for so many of us collectively.” Neely called her “a wonderful human [who] lived life the right way: optimism, kindness, laughter and love.” Shore referred to her as “passionate, talented, insightful, courageous, generous, dedicated, fearless.”
Krakower was born in New York City, Dec. 5, 1971, attended Farmingdale High School and graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1993. While still in college, she worked in radio, eventually becoming general manager of 99Rock in Hanover, N.H.
During the mid-’90s, she worked as director of promotion at Pipeline Records, King Biscuit Flower Hour Entertainment and Mechanic Records. In January 1996, she joined Milan Entertainment as national director of radio and web promotions, and acting director of media relations, where she fell in love with the soundtrack business.
She left Milan in 1998 to form her own company, CineMedia Promotions, which specialized in publicity, radio and web promotions for soundtracks, crossover artists and cast-album recordings. In 2015 she founded The Krakower Group, which strategized public relations efforts for composers, ran award-season campaigns, coordinated events and oversaw social-media marketing for film, TV and game soundtracks as well as musical-theater recordings.
Krakower served for eight years as New York chapter manager of Film Music Network and was assistant program director of filmmusicradio.com. She was also an adjunct professor at Baruch College in New York City, where she taught Entertainment Marketing and Marketing Music on the Web. In addition, she worked for the Telluride Film Festival for several years.
Her volunteer work included serving on the Executive Board of the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, The Teak Fellowship, Dartmouth Alumni in Entertainment and Media Association, and the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. In 2008 she earned the Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award from Dartmouth College.
She is survived by her parents, Barbara and Michael Krakower of Boca Raton, Fla.; a sister, Stacy Bradley of Cornelius, N.C.; and a nephew.
A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Harmony Gold, 7655 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation or TEAK Fellowship, a free NYC-based program that helps talented students from low-income families achieve their potential.
Source : Variety
