Richard Baskin

Aaron Richard Baskin (born December 1, 1948) is an American film composer and producer, best known as the musical director and producer of the Academy Award winning soundtrack for the Robert Altman film Nashville, and other creative film scores in the 1970s and 1980s. He eventually became a film director, directing music videos for Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, Elton John, and many others, as well as feature films. He produced Elton John's concert special, Elton John Live at the Greek Theatre, with Ray Cooper. Collaborating again, he wrote and directed Elton John's music video for Disney's The Lion King, "The Circle of Life". In the mid-1990's, he was a pioneer of streaming video, and co-founded Intertainer, the first broadband video-on-demand program service in the U.S. While chairman of that company, he co-authored key patents and technology fundamental to streaming video that are widely used today in all major streaming services. He is a long-time environmental activist, and founding board director of the LA Waterkeeper, and other private philanthropies. He lives in Santa Monica, California, and Sun Valley, Idaho.