Duet for the Emmys: composer Laura Karpman and music editor Shannon Halwes, both up for Emmys this year, make beautiful music together - Fall television preview

"Our neighbors said they heard a lot of screaming at 6 in the morning," recalls lesbian composer Laura Karpman with a slight smirk. The four-time Emmy winner is far from complacent about her nomination for Odyssey 5. (She's "also received a news and documentary nomination for PBS's The Living Edens--Big Sur: California's Wild Coast.) Compounding the thrill is that this year Karpman's longtime girlfriend, Shannon Halwes, received her first nomination, as music editor for the miniseries Steven Spielberg Presents Taken, for which Karpman composed the score. The Emmy nods acknowledge months of meticulous work that saw the couple collaborating on the Odyssey 5 and Taken scores simultaneously. "We're still in recovery," says Halwes, only half joking.

One of the few female composers working in the industry, Karpman is unique not only for her sound but also for being out. Based in Playa del Rey, Calif., Karpman and Halwes met through a mutual friend seven years ago. "I thought she was calling for work, so I had her fax over her resume," says Karpman, chuckling. "It's a great idea--pre-first date! I thought she sounded interesting. We met and we hit it off."

It wasn't long before the partnership also became a working relationship. But do the ramifications of business put a strain on the romance? "We've certainly had times when we've said, 'OK, let's not talk about work,' which actually is hard," says Karpman. "But in an odd way, I think working together actually helps defuse pressure because we can talk it out. We have very intense meetings in the bathtub!"

As women picking their way in the male-dominated movie industry, have they encountered discrimination? "Hard to know," admits Karpman. "It's so hard to detect bigotry unless it's terribly overt. However, you have to look at the fact that there are so few women composers. There has to be a reason for that. But the fact remains that I'm being hired to score these projects, which certainly aren't female-skewed. I think that's a really good sign."

Professionally, would life be easier in the closet? "For me, it's not an option, just in terms of my personality," says Karpman. "I think changes are made in society in all kinds of ways--by people marching in parades, by taking tremendous political stances on things, and just living life as a loving couple. Even my 5-year-old niece knows that we love each other, though I think she thinks lesbian has something to do with wearing the same kind of shoes."

No matter how things turn out for the Karpman-Halwes household at the Emmys, the couple is philosophical about the outcome. "I know everyone says it's an honor just to be nominated," says Halwes, "but it's really true. Whether we win or not, I never expected any of this, so for me it's just Disneyland."

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