Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast FilmMusicSite.com: Composer Talk

Composer Joseph Trapanese is known for building distinct musical worlds through intentional design, bridging organic instrumentation and modern electronics across film, television, and interactive media. His work includes landmark collaborations with Daft Punk (Tron: Legacy), Anthony Gonzalez of M83 (Oblivion), and Mike Shinoda (The Raid), alongside co-writing the score and producing songs for The Greatest Showman and crafting a thoughtful dramatic counterpoint to N.W.A. in Straight Outta Compton. He wrote music for television shows such as Netflix’s The Witcher, Shadow and Bones, Tron: Uprising and NBC’s Brilliant Minds. For films he scored Finding ‘Ohana, Insurgent, Allegiant, Robin Hood, David, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice… One of his recent projects is the film Whalefall.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Joseph Trapanese dives with us in the world of Whalefall. How did he compose the music for this epic film. Next to that we talk about Tron: Legacy and David.

Enjoy listening to this new episode!

Trevor Jones is a South African born composer of film and television scores. He is best known for his music written for films such as Excalibur, Runaway Train, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Mississippi Burning, The Last of the Mohicans, Brassed off and In the Name of the Father. Jones has collaborated with filmmakers like John Boorman, Andrei Konchalovsky, Jim Henson, Alan Parker, Jim Sheridan, Barbet Schroeder and Michael Mann.[3] He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards for Best Film Music and has also been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards - Best Original Score. During the 2026 World Soundtrack Awards he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his music.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Trevor Jones talks about receiving the WSA Lifetime Achievement Award, about his music career and about working with singer/songwriters David Bowie, Elvis Costello and Sting. How it was to work on The Last of the Mohicans with Michael Mann. 

Enjoy listening to this great conversation that was recorded during the WSA Music Days.

Christopher Young is a six-time BMI Award-winning, Golden Globe nominated and two-time Emmy-nominated composer, who has scored more than 160 films spanning every genre and emotional register. Christopher has also collaborated with acclaimed filmmakers such as Norman Jewison, Barry Levinson, Lasse Hallström, Curtis Hanson, John Amiel, and Bruce Robinson. Honored by BBC Classical Magazine as “the greatest horror film composer of our time,” Christopher’s name has become synonymous with the art of cinematic horror. His scores for Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, The Fly II, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, The Dark Half, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Species, Sinister, Pet Sematary, The Piper, and Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror . Other credits are Spider-Man 3, The Shipping News, Ghost Rider, Jennifer 8,… Recently he wrote the score for the horror film Passenger and Marvel’s Deadpool VR.

In this new edition of Composer Talk composer Christopher Young takes us on a journey through his scores for Passenger and Marvel’s Deadpool VR. We look back at 4 decades of writing music for film and how things have changed.

Enjoy listening to this great new episode. 

Matthew Atticus Berger is a film and television composer whose work spans drama, documentary, and unscripted television. A Berklee College of Music alumnus and jazz guitarist by training, Berger has built a prolific career scoring for the screen, with credits including 58 episodes of NBC's Chicago P.D. across four seasons (2019–2023), Bride or Die, Dead in the Water, Yuletide the Knot , and Broken Land. His scoring work extends into documentary television as well, with early credits on National Geographic series exploring the natural world, including Kingdom of the Oceans and Patrick and the whale. Most recently he wrote the score for the film April X.

In this new episode of Composer we dive with Matthew Atticus Berger into his latest score April X. How he created the music for this futuristic thriller. We also look back at the score he wrote for Patrick and the Whale. 

Enjoy listening!

Jared Michael Fry is an award-winning composer who from his humble beginnings in a high-school band to studying music education at Berklee, Fry has garnered an appreciation for all music genres. After graduating from Berklee, Fry moved to Los Angeles and worked as a staff composer at Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Music where he earned a News & Documentary Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music and Sound for his work on PBS’s Super Cats: A NATURE Miniseries. He has collaborated with renowned composers like Benjamin Wallfisch, Steve Jablonsky, Joseph Trapanese and electronic artist Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun. His diverse credits include blockbusters like "The Flash" and "Red Notice", action thrillers like "Thirteen Lives" and "The Invisible Man", the horror sequel "It Chapter 2" and many more. Fry has collaborated on three films with renowned director David Ayer: A Working Man, The Beekeeper, and most recently, Heart of the Beast which stars Brad Pitt and releases this fall.

In this new episode of Composer Talk we talk with Jared about his latest score Heart of the Beast. How he created the score and how it was to work with Pamyua.

Enjoy listening!

Mikael Carlsson is the man behind the Swedish record label MovieScore Media which is now around for 20 years. MovieScore media is specialist in releasing music for films and it’s primarily focus is on music composed by up and coming composers and from smaller, independent feature films. Some of the first albums they released was music written by Benjamin Wallfisch, Daniel Pemberton and Pinar Toprak.

In this special edition of Composer Talk we talk to Mikael Carlsson, who’s the founder of MovieScore Media. He takes us through the history of his filmmusic label and some of it’s memorable moments.

Enjoy listening

Olivier Derivière is an award-winning French composer renowned for his innovative and emotionally evocative music in video games, film, and other multimedia. Through his unique blend of classical training, avant-garde experimentation, and deep understanding of interactive storytelling, Olivier has established himself as a leading figure in the world of contemporary music composition and music design, with a specialty in creating immersive experiences for gamers. He has written music for games such as Remember Me, Assassin’s Creed - Freedom Cry, Alone in the Dark, Vampyr, Dying Light 2, A Plague Tale: Innocence. Recently he wrote the music for A Plague Tale Resonance.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Olivier Derivière talks about his score for the videogame A Plague Tale: Resonance. He shares some details on how it was to work on this great score. We also look back to his earlier work on the videogame Remember Me!

Enjoy listening!

Steven Price is a prolific composer whose unique, story-driven approach to the craft of film scoring has led him to work with many of Hollywood’s leading directors on some of the most innovative productions. From his Oscar-winning score for Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity to his scores for Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver and The Running Man, Price’s music, collaborative process, and experimentation have enhanced the ideas and images of great filmmakers in bespoke ways. He has written music for films such as Fury, Suicide Squad, Over the Moon, The Running Man, but also for documentary’s such as Netflix Our Planet, David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet and National Geographic’s Ocean with David Attenborough. Currently he as been working on the score for the film Coyote vs. Acme.

In this episode of Composer Talk composer Steven Price explains how much fun it was to write the music for the film Coyote vs. Acme and how he used the original Carl Stalling sound. Next to that we look at his work for documentaries such as Oceans and we dive into the world of The Running Man.

Enjoy listening

Stephanie Economou is a Grammy-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist whose music has been praised for its eclectic sophistication and emotionally immersive qualities. Her creative identity is born out of the exploration and study of many diverse musical styles, including classical, experimental, folk, electronic, and rock. Stephanie is the composer of DreamWorks’ animated features Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, as well as Lionsgate’s About My Father and Universal’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.  She has written the music for the Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla  DLCs The Siege of Paris and Dawn of Ragnarök, the latter of which earned her the historic 2023 Grammy Award for “Best Score for Video Games and Other Interactive Media,” making her the first-ever winner in the new category. Most recently she has completed the score for the highly anticipated HBO/DC Studios series “Lanterns”. 

In this episode of Composer Talk composer Stephanie Economou takes us into the world of Lanterns, the new HBO Max series about DC’s Green Lantern. Next to the superhero series we talk about the coming of age film Everything to Me.

Enjoy listening.

Takeshi Furukawa is a Tokyo born composer who works and lives in Los Angeles. He composes music for stories told through film, television, and interactive media. Drawing on a deeply lyrical musical voice and a lifelong affinity for the orchestra, he creates scores where melody, beauty, and emotional storytelling remain at the heart of every work. His recent projects include Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix), Mythic Quest and Side Quest (Apple TV+), Planet of Lana (Wishfully), and the critically acclaimed The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment). Coming up soon is the soundtrack for Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf and just released on Netflix is the second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

In this new episode of Composer Talk composer Takeshi Furukawa takes us into his musical world. We talk about his score for the videogame Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf and we dive into his music for Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2.

Enjoy listening.

Double Danger is a duo of composers and producers based in Paris that emerged in 2023 through the collaboration of Xavier Caux and Douglas Cavanna. These self-taught musicians joined forces with the aim of transcending conventional and academic approaches to music composition. Their project seeks to push the boundaries, providing the works they support with an artistic experience beyond the usual norms. In 2023, the duo made their mark by crafting the soundtrack for the film Vermines. It won numerous prizes around the globe (including Sitges, Austin Fantastic Film Fest, Imagine Film Festival). Their projects include next to Vermines (Original Soundtrack); Dans L’ombre (Original Soundtrack); Le Roi Fourchette (Original Soundtrack); Tohsca ‘Sippin’’ (Produced by); Polar Park (Original Song by); and Je Sais Pas (Original Soundtrack). Recently they wrote the score for the horrorfilm Evil Dead Burn.

In this episode of Composer Talk Xavier and Douglas talk about their close collaboration when writing music for film. They share a lot of insights about their score for the film Evil Dead Burn.

Enjoy listening.

Bruce Broughton is a composer who writes music for film, television, video games and he is best known for his many motion picture scores, which include Silverado, Tombstone, The Rescuers Down Under, The Presidio, Miracle on 34th Street, Homeward Bound, and Harry and the Hendersons. His television themes include The Orville, JAG, Steven Spielberg’s Tiny Toon Adventures, and Dinosaurs. With 24 nominations, Broughton has won a record 10 Emmy awards. His score to Silverado was Oscar-nominated, and his score to Young Sherlock Holmes was nominated for a Grammy. His music has accompanied many of the Disney theme park attractions throughout the world, and his score for Heart of Darkness was the first recorded orchestral score for a video game. One of his latest projects is Soarin’ Across America, music he wrote for the a new version of the Disneyland Attraction Soarin’.

In this new episode of Composer Talk composer Bruce Broughton gives us an inside view on how it is writing music for popular Disneyland attractions. We zoom in on Soarin’ Across America and Le Visonarium (From Time to Time). We talk about his music and his view on life.

Enjoy listening to this new fantastic episode!

Jessica Rose Weiss is a composer who’s music blends the emotional depth of orchestral storytelling with the texture of electronic and folk influences, creating a style that’s both cinematic and deeply human. Her credits include Sony/Amazon’s Cinderella, the Jennifer Lawrence comedy No Hard Feelings, Ryan Murphy’s anthology series American Horror Stories, and Nicol Paone’s stylish crime caper The Kill Room, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman. Recently she wrote the music for the film Girls like Girls.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Jessica Rose Weiss takes us to the beginning of her career. We talk about the mentorship she had from Mychael Danna. She talks about her latest film Girls like Girls and how her composing process works. 

Enjoy listening!

David Fleming is an American Born composer who began his career in New York writing music for commercials and creating ringtones tones. In 2017 David composed the score for the BBC's internationally acclaimed Blue Planet II alongside Hans Zimmer, which marked the start of a collaborative relationship with the Academy Award-winning composer, encompassing music for films such as Dune, Hillbilly Elegy and Top Gun: Maverick. He wrote music for films such as Damsel, The Alto Knights,… He worked together with composer Gustavo Santaolalla on the HBO series the last of us. Last year he co-wrote the music for the DC summer blockbuster Superman followed by Anaconda. Recently David wrote the music for the Apple TV+ series Widow’s Bay. 

In this episode of Composer Talk composer David Fleming takes us to Widow’s Bay. We dive into the music he wrote for this new Apple TV+ series. Next to that we look back at his music for Superman and Anaconda.

Enjoy listening to this new episode of Composer Talk!

Högni Egilsson is an Icelandic composer and performer working across concert music,

film, and contemporary songwriting. His work moves between acoustic and electronic worlds,

often exploring the relationship between musical language and narrative form. His film and television work includes the score for Touch (2024), directed by Baltasar Kormákur, the most attended film in Iceland that year. He also wrote music for the Netflix series Katla, the historical drama King and Conqueror. Recently he composed the music for the Netflix film Apex, a film starring Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton.

In this episode of Composer Talk Högni guides us through his composing process for the Netflix film Apex. We take a look at the recording process for this great score.

Enjoy listening!

Tomás Videla is a Los Angeles based composer for film, television and media, who creates highly elaborate orchestral music often mixed with hybrid and electronic elements. He is also an experienced orchestrator and skilled conductor. He scored several short films from live action to animation. He wrote the music for Apple TV+ documentary series The Dynasty: New England Patriots, Mattel’s He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe, which is streaming on Netflix, Disney’s LEGO Star Wars: Terrifying Tales, Netflix’s A Tale Dark And Grimm, HBO’s Documentary Series The Invisible Pilot and the short documentary Superhuman Body: World of Medical Marvels. Recently he wrote the music for the 8 part series La Casa de los Espíritus (The House of the Spirits which will start streaming on Amazon Prime soon.

In this new episode of Composer Talk composer Tomás Videla talks about his latest score The House of the Spirits. He created a mix between raw, rhythmic soul of South American and Argentinian folk music and the sound of a traditional orchestra. He gives us a lot of great insights in his way of working. 

Enjoy his great new episode of Composer Talk!

Composer Jeff Beal is a Five-time EMMY® winner who is born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jeff was a self-taught pianist and spent countless hours in the library learning music theory and composition on his own. At the age of 17 he composed a trumpet concerto. Jeff writes music for the concert hall but also for film and television. He worked with directors such as Ed Harris, Lauren Greenfeld, David Fincher, Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner. He wrote music for films and television shows such as Pollock, Appaloosa, House of Cards, The Putin Interviews, The Queen of Versailles, Shock and Awe, Blackfish, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel, Rome, Carnivàle, Rule Breakers, All Her Fault and many more. Jeff will premiere, during this year’s composer summit in Prague, new symphonic music that he has written for the 1927 film classic Metropolis.

In this new episode of Composer Talk composer Jeff Beal takes us into the composing process for the 1927 silent movie classic Metropolis which will be performed live in Prague during the Composer Summit. Next to that we go into the piece he wrote for Pictures at an Exhibition: The paintings of Bob Peak project and his latest volume of New York Etudes for piano.

Enjoy listening this new episode of Composer Talk!

Brian Tyler is an award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist, and conductor who has scored over 100 films grossing $17B worldwide, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man 3, Crazy Rich Asians, The Fast and the Furious franchise, The Super Mario Bros. Movie. He is also the composer behind the themes for Formula 1 and the U.S. Open Golf Championships. He has worked on hit series such as Yellowstone, immersive live shows such as Awakening at Wynn Las Vegas, and his own high-energy audiovisual project Are We Dreaming, which debuted to 30,000 fans at Lost Lands Music Festival. Recently Brian wrote the score for Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, Nuremberg, the serie Marshal and opening soon in theaters is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

In this episode of Composer Talk Brian Tyler takes us on a musical journey through Nuremberg, The Mario Galaxy Movie, Are We Dreaming, Formula 1 and Marshals. We also talk about health and life. 

I hope you enjoy this almost 56 minute Composer Talk conversation with the amazing Brian Tyler!

Photo Credit: Adam Fox

Paul Leonard-Morgan is a composer who writes music for  film, television and video games. His unique cinematic style of fusing orchestra with electronica has put him in high demand as a score composer & band producer, as well as a performer and artist in his own right. His film scores include Dredd, Limitless, Cyberpunk 2077, Boston Strangler,… Recently he has been working on the score for Amazon Prime’s Pretty Lethal and the Louis Theroux documentary Inside the Manosphere. Paul Leonard-Morgan won a BAFTA award and was nominated for an Emmy and Ivor Novello. 

In this episode of Composer Talk composer Paul Leonard-Morgan talks in-depth about his score for the film Pretty Lethal which is now on Amazon Prime. We talk about how he was able to mix ballet with action and suspense. We also take a look at his music for the Louis Theroux hit documentary Inside the Manosphere which can be seen on Netflix.

Enjoy this fantastic conversion in this new episode of Composer Talk!

Two-time Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Grammy-winning composer Alexandre Desplat is one of the most respected film composers in the world today. Desplat first captivated American audiences with his score for The Girl With The Pearl Earring and Birth. He has since scored a range of acclaimed films, twelve of which have been Oscar-nominated: The Queen, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, The Imitation Game, The King’s Speech, Argo, Philomena, The Painted Veil for which he received a Golden Globe, and Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs, and The Grand Budapest Hotel which won the 2015 Oscar for Best Original Score. Desplat’s thematic score to Guillermo del Toro’s film The Shape of Water won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Original Score. Alexandre joined forces again with director Guillermo del Toro for the film Frankenstein. Next to that he wrote recently the music for Jurassic World: Rebirth, The Phoenician Scheme and many more.

In this episode of Composer Talk Alexandre Desplat talks about working with Guillermo del Toro on the film Frankstein. How it is to be nominated again for an Oscar. We zoom in on his score for Jurassic World: Rebirth and The Phoenician Scheme.

Enjoy listening to this new Composer Talk!

Danny Elfman is an Oscar nominated composer who has written more than 100 film scores and is widely celebrated for his four-decade collaboration with director Tim Burton on films including Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Alice in Wonderland. Next to that he also wrote music for films such as Spider-Man, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Good Will Hunting, Milk, and the Men in Black franchise, along with iconic television themes for The Simpsons, Desperate Housewives, and Wednesday. Recently he has worked on Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, Sam Raimi’s Send Help, and Luc Besson’s Dracula: A Love Tale.

In this episode of Composer Talk composer Danny Elfman talks about his latest films Dracula: A Love Tale, Send Help and Dead Man’s Wire. We take a look back at the beginning of his career as a composer and he shares some details about a project he’s working on with John Powell and Marco Beltrami.

Enjoy listening to this great new episode of Composer Talk! 

Photo Credit: Ethan Benavidez

Nicholas Pike is an Emmy Award-winning Hollywood composer who has scored films ranging from the family-oriented Captain Ron, Return to Me and Virginia’s Run to darker films like Fear Dot Com, The Shining mini-series and The I Inside. He has scored large scale music videos like Michael Jackson’s Ghost, Rock My World and Will Smith’s Wild, Wild West. He won in 2013 the  Outstanding Music and Sound Emmy for the HBO documentary In Tahrir Square. He wrote music for the Apple TV+ reboot of Amazing Stories for Steven Spielberg and Bonnie Hunt’s Amber Brown for the Apple streaming service, as well as the documentaries 100 Years about Native American activist Elouise Cobell and Fiddlin’ about the roots of Bluegrass music. His current releases include Viva Verdi!, which features his composition, the OSCAR® Nominated Best Song Sweet Dreams of Joy, performed by Grammy-winning soprano Ana Maria Martinez and the romantic comedy Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off, written and directed by Liz Guest.

In this new episode of Composer Talk composer Nicholas Pike talks about how he got into film scoring and we focus on his song Sweet Dreams of Joy for which he is nominated this year for an Oscar for Best Song. He wrote this and the score for the documentary Viva Verdi!

Check out this great conversation with Nicholas Pike in this new episode of Composer Talk!

Blair Mowat is a composer from Scotland, Edinburgh who writes music for television and film. He studied at Durham university and Bristol University. He is a BAFTA nominated, award-winning composer with over 17-years’ experience. His work includes Class, an acclaimed 8-part Doctor Who spin-off series on BBC One, ITV’s international hit show McDonald & Dodds and SKY’s The Amazing Mr. Blunden. He composed the score to Russell T Davies’s drama Nolly, starring Helena Bonham Carter earning him a TV BAFTA nomination for the score in 2024 and winning the prestigious Camille Award for ‘Best TV Score’ across Europe. Recent projects include the revelatory documentary The Age of Disclosure, the gripping drama series The Guest,

and After the Flood, for which the second season 2 is about to air.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Blair Mowat talks about his music for the documentary The Age of Disclosure which is a hit in rental on Amazon. Next to that we deep dive into his music for the tv series The Guest.

Enjoy listening to this new episode of Composer Talk!

Maurizio Malagnini is an in Italia born composer. He developed a deep passion for music through opera particularly the lyrical traditions of Rossini and Puccini and the work of legendary film composers Ennio Morricone and Nino Rota. After a decade of study at the Italian conservatoire, he moved to the UK in 2006 to attend the Royal College of Music, graduating with a Master’s Distinction in Composition for Screen. He first gained widespread acclaim with his score for

The Paradise, earning an EMMY® Award nomination. His recent projects also include Coppelia, an ambitious animation and live-action ballet adaptation that received two IFMCA Awards, including the prestigious Film Score of the Year. Malagnini is the composer of Call the Midwife

A long running series which can be seen on BBC and PBS. On Christmas Day BBC and PBS aired a Christmas Special of Call the Midwife.

In this first edition of Composer Talk for 2026 Maurizio Malagnini talks about his passion for music. We talk in-depth about his score for Coppelia and how it is to score the BBC hitseries Call the Midwife.

Enjoy this new edition of Composer Talk!

Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch is a London-based, Ivor Novello and BIFA nominated French composer, pianist and recording artist.  In addition to scoring Prano Bailey-Bond’s debut feature "Censor", Emilie has created the original scores for Harry Wootliff’s 2018 BAFTA-nominated debut feature "Only You", WWII feature "The Forgotten Battle" (Slag om de Schelde) (dir.Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.) which has been released on Netflix, and the critically acclaimed "Rocks" directed by Sarah Gavron. This year some of her music was performed live in Ghent during the Minimalism in Motion concert. She has written music for films and series such as The Assessment, All of Us Strangers, The Agency, The Strays, Heldin and many more. Recently she has worked with director Philippa Lowthorpe on the film H is for Hawk.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Emilie talks about her passion for writing music. We zoom in on her scores for H is for Hawk and on the Assessment. 

Enjoy listening to this new episode of Composer Talk.

Laurent Bouzereau is an award-winning filmmaker and best-selling author. Laurent Bouzereau and his producing partner/husband, Markus Keith, run Nedland Media, a production company based in Los Angeles. He is the author of several books on cinema, including Steven Spielberg: The First Ten Years (2023), De Palma Decade (2024), Hitchcock: Piece by Piece, The Art of Bond, and others. As a filmmaker he made the documentaries such as “Faye,” a feature documentary on legendary actor Faye Dunaway for HBO/Amblin which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. This year he made “Jaws @ 50,” a feature documentary for NatGeo/Amblin. Last year Disney+ released the documentary Music by John Williams where Laurent Bouzereau gave us the story of a lifetime, that of legendary composer John Williams. John’s music is known all around the world.

In this episode of Composer Talk director Laurent Bouzereau gives more insights on the creation of his feature documentary Music by John Williams. We talk about John Williams and his music. He’s also the director of Jaws @ 50 on which we also zoom in.

Enjoy listening this new episode of Composer Talk! 

Simon Franglen is a multi-award-winning composer and record producer whose work spans some of the most acclaimed films of the recent decades. Franglen composed the celebrated score for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, for which he received a 2023 World Soundtrack Award. His score was praised for expanding the sonic world of Pandora with both epic scale and profound intimacy, and was a global hit with the soundtrack album surpassing 750 million global streams.  Over the past two years, he has continued his collaboration with Cameron on the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash, composing over three hours of music that introduces major new themes, textures, new instruments and groundbreaking electronica to the Avatar musical universe. Previous scores include multiple projects with directors such as Terrence Malick, Antoine Fuqua, and Jean-Jacques Annaud. 

In this new episode of Composer Talk Simon Franglen gives us an in-depth look at his composing process for the third Avatar movie Fire and Ash. How he succeeded in writing 1900 pages of music for this film. He gives us some insights on the soundtrack releases.

Dave Porter is a Los Angeles based composer for film and television. He began his classical musical training at the piano at age five, but it was his interest in electronic music as a teen that led him to start composing his own music. He studied both classical and electronic music composition at Sarah Lawrence College under John Yannelli and started his professional career as an assistant in Philip Glass’ recording studio in New York City. Dave is perhaps best known for his enduring creative relationship with Vince Gilligan. They’ve worked together on Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. Dave Porter also wrote music for Murf the Surf, The Blacklist, Marvel’s Echo and many more. 

In this new edition of Composer Talk composer Dave Porter talks about his music for the new Apple TV+ show Pluribus. How it was to work again with Vince Gilligan and how his music came to live. Next to that we also focus on his music for the Marvel mini series Echo. 

Enjoy listening to this episode of Composer Talk!

Oli Julian is a UK based composer who is an RTS award-winning and Ivor nominated composer, producer and arranger of music for TV and film. He has written scores for a wide range of drama and comedy projects, as well as collaborating with other composers and songwriters such as David Byrne, Nick Cave and Ezra Furman. He has written music for films and series such as Sex Education, Renegade Nell, The Full Monty, Alma’s not Normal, Plebs and many more. Recently he wrote the music for the animation film The Twits, a story based on the Roald Dahl classic.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Old Julian talks in-depth about his music for the Netflix animation film The Twits. We also zoom in on his music for the Disney+ series Renegade Nell. 

Enjoy listening!

Natalie Holt is a multi-award-winning British composer, known equally for large orchestral arrangements and intimate, textural and at times experimental electro-acoustic compositions. Natalie Holt has written music for the Disney+ Marvel series Loki Season one and two and the LucasFilm Series Obi-Wan Kenobi. She was nominated for nominations for two Emmy Awards, as well as a BAFTA, SCL Awards, and the World Soundtrack Awards for “Television Composer of the Year”. In 2024 Natalie won the World Soundtrack Award for Television Composer of the Year with her music for Loki season 2. Natalie also worked on films and series such as Cordelia, Herself, Family Ties, Rivals and recently Chad Powers. A series on Hulu starring Glen Powell.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Natalie Holt talks in-depth about her music for the Hulu series Chad Powers. How it was to write a triumphant ’90s-inspired score. We also zoom in on her score voor Rivals and she incorporated classical influences in her score. 

Enjoy listening to this great new episode!

Composer Jeff Beal is a Five-time EMMY® winner who is born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jeff was a self-taught pianist and spent countless hours in the library learning music theory and composition on his own. At the age of 17 he composed a trumpet concerto. Jeff writes music for the concert hall but also for film and television. He worked with directors such as Ed Harris, Lauren Greenfeld, David Fincher, Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner. He wrote music for films and television shows such as Pollock, Appaloosa, House of Cards, The Putin Interviews, The Queen of Versailles, Shock and Awe, Blackfish, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Sequel, Rome, Carnivàle and many more. This year he wrote the music for the film Rule Breakers.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Jeff Beal talks about the 20th anniversary of his score for the HBO series Rome. We go back and talk about how it was to write this great score for this epic series. Next to that we talk about his beautiful score for the film Rule Breakers and the song he wrote for the film We Believe in Hope. A song that was was honored by the UN for the International Day of Hope this year.

Enjoy listening!

Austin Wintory is an American composer who started with music at a very young age. After nearly a decade scoring independent films and games, Austin’s career took a leap forward on the back of thatgamecompany’s hit PS3 title Journey. The soundtrack album debuted on the Billboard charts higher than any prior game’s original score, and in December 2012 became the first game score ever nominated for a GRAMMY. He is a 3x GRAMMY-nominated and BAFTA-winning composer who writes music for film and videogames. Music for films such as Captain Abu Raed, Grace, The Last Movie Star and videogames such as Journey, ABZU, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Aliens Fireteam Elite, LEGO Fortnite, Towerborne, and many more. Recently he rejoined forces with studio Giant Squid, with whom Wintory collaborated for beautiful gaming experiences like ABZU and The Pathless, on a new game called Sword of the Sea.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Austin Wintory takes us in his creative process when he was writing the score to Sword of the Sea, a new game from Giant Squid. We also talk in detail about his music for Towerborne, a game developed by Stoic. For that game he wrote a big classical score!

Enjoy listening to this new Composer Talk!

Debbie Wiseman grew up in a vibrant cultural environment in north west London, where she discovered an early passion for music and started composing at only eight years old.Wiseman is also known for her regular collaborations with British directors Peter Kosminsky, John Hay, Brian Gilbert, Simon Hunter and the late Lewis Gilbert. Her work has been recognized with wins and nominations at the Grammys and the Ivor Novello Awards. Wiseman has been Composer in Residence at the UK's number 1 classical music station Classic FM since 2015. Debbie is know for her scores to Wolf Hall, Arsène Lupin, Wilde, Flood, Father Brown, and many more. Wiseman doesn’t just operate in the constraints of film and television, as she is frequently asked to compose albums for special occasions. She composed The Music of Kings and Queens, an album honouring the 95th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, and was the official composer and musical director of the Platinum Jubilee Celebration at Windsor in May 2022. It was in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2018 that Wiseman was awarded the OBE for her services to music. Wiseman was commissioned by His Majesty the King to compose the two Gospel Alleluias which were performed in Westminster Abbey at the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla. 

A brand new album with her music for film and television will be released in October this year for the World Soundtrack Awards. In this new edition of Composer Talk I have had the opportunity to talk to her just before the start of the recording sessions for that album with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dirk Brossé. She talks about her passion for music, her music for Wilde, Mythos and Arsène Lupin. How it was writing music for the coronation and off course the new album that has been recorded for the WSA.

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Photo credit: Film Fest Gent / Anne Vandepitte

Sam Slater is a composer and producer working at the intersection of experimental music, sound design, and contemporary storytelling. His musical journey began in his teens with record production, followed by studies in Experimental Composition at Leeds University. He started his professional career in Germany, initially collaborating with Johann Johannsson as a principal musical sound designer and creative engineer. He is a two-time Grammy Award winner, his work has shaped critically acclaimed projects including Joker, Chernobyl and Battlefield 2042. He has also received the SCL Award for Battlefield 2042, the Icelandic Music Award for Producer of the Year, and the Filmfare Award for Best Original Soundtrack for Netflix’s The Railway Men. His recent project, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, created with Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov, integrates frontline documentary footage from Ukraine with immersive spatial sound design.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Sam talks about writing the music for the award winning documentary 2000 Meters to Andriivka. He takes us into his composing process and how he created this unique mix of sound and score. Next to that we also talked about OSMIUM, a music collective he is apart of together with his wife Hildur Guðnadóttir, Rully Shabara and James Ginzburg.

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Photo: Camille Blake

Dara Taylor is a composer who lives in the USA. Dara Taylor has emerged as a fresh voice in the world of film and television scoring, as evidenced by her work on Amazon Studios’ The Tender Bar, directed by Academy Award - winner George Clooney, and Universal Pictures’ Strays, starring Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx. Her most recent scoring project is the Netflix film Straw directed by Tyler Perry. Dara is also the composer for Marvel Studios’ highly anticipated series Ironheart. Dara is a proud Governor of the Recording Academy’s Los Angeles Chapter and a member of the Alliance of Women Film Composers.

In this new episode of Composer Talk, Dara Taylor talks about her music for the Marvel series Ironheart, which is currently on Disney+. She also talks about the Netflix film Straw and how she composed the music.

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Composer Michael Abels is well known for the opera, Omar, and his genre-defying scores for the Jordan Peele films Get Out, Us, and Nope. The score for Us won a World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination, and was named "Score of the Decade" by The Wrap. Both Us and Nope were shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Original Score, and Nope won Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film at the 2023 Society of Composer & Lyricist Awards. Most recently, Michael Abels has scored Netflix's Sirens starring Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy and Milly Alcock; he also scored the Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte which won the NAACP Award for Outstanding Original Score. 

In this new episode of Composer Talk Michael Abels talks about writing the music for the Netflix series Sirens and how he created the theme’s for the show. We look back at his music for the Acolyte and how it felt to write music for a Star Wars series.

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As protégé of Randy Newman, Rivera earned a DMA in Composition at USC's Thornton School of Music,where he studied with Donald Crockett and Stephen Hartke. Carlos is a 3 time Emmy Award winner who writes music for Film, TV and Performing Arts. He wrote the music for the immense popular Netflix limited series The Queen’s Gambit. He worked on Apple TV’s series Lessons in Chemistry, Netflix Griselda, The Netflix film Chupa and AMC’s Network’s Monsieur Spade. Recently he worked again with director Scott Frank’s Dept. Q. 

In this new episode of Composer Talk, Carlos Rafael Rivera talks about working with writer director Scott Frank. We zoom in on their work for The Queen’s Gambit, Dept Q and Monsieur Spade. This results in an open and fun conversation with the composer which makes this episode of Composer Talk worth while listening to. 

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Marcelo Zarvos is a composer who writes music for film and television. The subtle nuances of composer Marcelo Zarvos’ style are exemplified in his recent scores for Hulu’s Good American Family, Netflix’s critically acclaimed The Diplomat, May December directed by Todd Haynes, and Nonnas starring Vince Vaughn. Zarvos’ musical training began by studying classical music followed by exploring jazz, rock and world music. This expansion inspired Zarvos to create his trademark sound – a seamless blend of classical, orchestral, rock, electronic and various ethnic elements, including his Brazilian roots which fueled emotionally charged music for film, TV, and the concert stage. Zarvos became the go-to composer for filmmakers including Todd Haynes, Antoine Fuqua, Nicole Holofcener, Tod Williams, Ross Katz, Cary Fukunaga and Barry Levinson.

In this new episode of Composer Talk, composer Marcelo Zarvos gives you an inside look in his score for the Netflix film Nonnas. He also talks about the challenges on writing the music for Hulu’s Good American Family.

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Max Aruj is a Los Angeles based composer known for his work in film, television, and video games. A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music, he began his career working under Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe, and Rupert Gregson-Williams, contributing to Top Gun: Maverick,

Mission: Impossible-Fallout, Black Widow and The Crown. Among his varied projects, Aruj has written music for ,Crawl, Lansky, The Ice Road, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids, MoviePass, MovieCrash and Mech Cadets.

Alfie Godfrey cut his teeth at 14th Street Music in Los Angeles under the leadership of Lorne Balfe who co-owned the company with Hans Zimmer. Alfie worked his way up the ranks working in various music department roles on dozens of projects, notably Top Gun: Maverick, Ron Howard’sRebuilding Paradise, Disney Plus hit Dopesick, Rowan Atkinson comedy Man vs Bee, and many more. Alfie has frequently collaborated with writer and director Nick Love, working on Sky TV’s A Town Called Malice, and recently Danny Dyer rom-com Marching Powder.

Recently Max and Alfie wrote the score together for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. In this new episode of Composer Talk both composer talk in-depth about their music for this new Mission: Impossible film.

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Raphaelle Thibaut is a French composer who started already playing the piano at the age of 4. She graduated the music conservatory of Lille in 2002. 2021 was a landmark year for her because she wrote the score for the Emmy Award-winning Disney+/National Geographic nature docuseries Secrets of the Wales. She continued with projects such as the documentary Introducing, Selma Blair, Fantastic Beasts: A Natural History, Tomb Hunters, Wild Dogs, Three Mothers and many more. In 2023 she wrote music for the Netflix series Heart of Invictus and Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford for Lucas film and Disney+. Recently she worked on the Disneynature film Sea Lions of the Galapagos which is released on Disney+.

In this episode of Composer Talk Raphaelle Thibaut talks about how she got into filmscoring. We talk in-depth about her music for the Disneynature film Sea Lions of the Galapagos. She told me how she created this beautiful score. 

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Raashi Kulkarni is a composer, classical pianist, and flautist based in Los Angeles. She has established a distinct compositional voice that can be heard across a variety of genres including drama, comedy, science fiction, adventure, thriller, action, and animation. Raashi’s global perspective, study of different music disciplines, and passion for storytelling have been instrumental in the compositions she has developed for a vast spectrum of film and television projects. She has written music for films such as Wedding Season, Barefoot Empress, World’s Best, the documentary iFine: Beauty and many more. Her latest film is A Nice Indian Boy, directed by Rohan Sethi.

In this edition of Composer Talk Raashi talks about her passion for music and how it was to work on different superhero series with Blake Neely. We also zoom in on her music for the film A Nice Indian Boy, a blend of Western orchestral traditions and added with rich Indian musical elements.

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Photo credit: Betsy Newman

Filmmusicsite.com has had the opportunity to talk to composers Diego and Lionel Baldenweg. he siblings Diego Baldenweg with Nora Baldenweg & Lionel Baldenweg are a Swiss/Australian composer team. The Baldenwegs are a very versatile team and have composed unique scores for a wide range of different film genres. Their contemporary sound often blends theme based orchestral compositions with a palette of unique instruments and electronic sound scapes. In 2019 they were nominated for a Public Choice Award at the WSA for the film Zwingli. In 2024 they were nominated twice for a WSA with the film In the Land of Saints and Sinners. One time for a Public Choice award and one time for the Discovery of the Year Award. They have written music for films and series such as The Life Underground, The Unlisted, Head Full of Honey, Born to Spy, In the Land of Saints and Sinners, Home is the Ocean, Aiming High and many more. One of their latest films is The Safe House, a film which had it’s world premiere at the Berlinale Film Festival.

In this new edition of Composer Talk Diego and Lionel Baldenweg talk in-depth about their music for the film The Safe House (La Cache). You’ll get to know from where the idea came to create a jazz score and how it was developed. 

Check out this really interesting conversation with the Baldenweg brothers.

Photo credit: Jeroen Willems

Tom Howe is a UK born composer who is a multi-instrumentalist. He writes large-scale orchestral scores, which he can easily combine with his talents in writing pop and rock music, and electronic sound design. Tom is not only a composer but also a songwriter who co-wrote f.i. the Emmy-nominated Ted Lasso theme, with Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons. Tom Howe has scored over 100 projects for film and television. His projects include Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso and Shrinking, Amazon Prime’s Daisy Jones and the Six, Focus Features’ Polite Society and Book Club: The Next Chapter, and Paramount+ series Knuckles. He worked together with the Aardman animation studio on films such as Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon and Early Man. He has most recently scored the Dreamworks’ animated film Dog Man. 

In this new edition of Composer Talk composer Tom Howe talks in-depth about his music for the animation film Dog Man. A film which is two weeks in a row number one at the box office. Next to Dog Man Tom also talks about his work for season two of the Apple TV+ serie Shrinking. 

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Hannes De Maeyer is one of Belgium’s most versatile composers, best known for his collaboration with director duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. They worked together on films such as  Patser, Rebel, Black, Gangsta. Hannes also collaborated with director Dries Vos on projects such as the drama Professor T, both the Belgian as the English version. His work ranges from contemporary electronic scores such as Women of the Night and The Racer with pop and hip hop influences, to rich, orchestral and symphonic works such as Torpedo and Immenhof. Hannes wrote the score of the psychological thriller series The Couple Next Door, which just premiered on Starz. Hannes De Maeyer also co-wrote the music for the Channel 4 crime series Patience with composer Ruben De Gheselle. On February 19th the sequel to Gangsta will be released for which Hannes wrote the music.

In this new episode of Composer Talk composer Hannes De Maeyer talks about his music for The Couple Next Door. He also talks about working with composer Ruben De Gheselle on the music for Patience. Next to that he tells what to expect from Patsers, the sequel to Gansta (Patser)! You can listen to a short exclusive clip from that score.

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Atli Örvarsson is an acclaimed Icelandic film and TV composer, conductor, and musician, with a vast body of work spanning film, television and video games. He has collaborated with artists including Hans Zimmer, RZA, Ólafur Arnalds, Khalid, and Talos. Örvarsson’s film credits include the political thriller 'Vantage Point,' Netflix’s ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,’ ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ and its sequel ‘The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard.’His television composing credits including Apple TV’s ‘Defending Jacob’ and long-running procedurals like NBC’s ‘Chicago Fire’, ‘Chicago P.D.’, ‘Chicago Med’, and ‘Chicago Justice’, along with the CBS ‘FBI’, ‘FBI: International’, and ‘FBI: Most Wanted.’ In 2023 he wrote the music for the acclaimed Apple TV+ series Silo. Now airing on Apple TV is the show’s second season for which Atli wrote the music.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Atli Örvarsson talks about his music for the Apple TV+ serie Silo, about how it was to build the musical world for Silo. We also talk about his initiative INNI and his collaboration with SinfoniaNord orchestra.

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Ruben De Gheselle is an award-winning film and television composer who lives in Belgium. With a background in contemporary classical music, he knows how to create magic with just a few notes. With his intimate and hypnotic scores, he has contributed to several international productions, such as “Clara Sola,” which was selected for Cannes, the DOC NYC-nominated film “A Cops and Robbers Story,” the Golden Horses Awards-nominated “Tiong Bahru Social Club” and the Cannes-series-winning series “Lockdown. His most recent projects include the Belgian-Irish co-production series “Northern Lights,” the documentary “A Cautionary Tale,” or “There Was, There Was Not”. Moreover, Ruben just finished the music for the brand new British crime series 'Patience' (in co-composition with Hannes De Maeyer) for Channel 4 and is currently working on the music for the German series 'Verlangen' (co-composition with Eloi Ragot) and the Irish children's series 'Showkids' by Hugh O’Conor. Recently he wrote the music to Young Hearts, his first ever full feature film directed by Anthony Schatteman.

In this new episode of Composer Talk Belgian composer Ruben De Gheselle talks about his score for the film Young Hearts. He wrote a beautiful score for this coming of age story. Next to that Ruben is very busy with other projects like Patience, Showkids and Verlangen. He gives us a preview on what to expect.

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Dave Metzger is a seasoned composer and a true Disney veteran, Dave’s extensive experience as an orchestrator and composer includes projects such as Wish, Frozen (1&2), Moana, Tarzan and Brother Bear. He is also a highly regarded song arranger and orchestrater, having crafted the songs for many films, including the Academy Award winning “Frozen”, “Tarzan”, “Frozen 2”, “Moana”, “Wish”, and “Spirited”. Many of the songs, film soundtracks and Broadway cast albums that Dave has worked on have won Academy, Grammy, and Tony Awards – among them “Let It Go” from “Frozen”, “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana”, “You’ll Be In My Heart” from “Tarzan”, the “Tarzan” and “Frozen” soundtracks, and the cast album from “The Lion King”. Dave Metzger was the perfect choice to write the music for Mufasa: The Lion King

Composer Talk Dave Metzger talks about his score for Mufasa: The Lion King but we also go back to the beginning when he got the job to work on the Broadway Musical of the Lion King. Dave talks about his music for the Disney Animation Studio film Wish and the many songs he worked upon in the past.

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John Powell is an Oscar nominated composer who writes music for film. He is born in the UK and lives in Los Angeles. He has written music for more than 90 films and worked with directors such as John Woo, Ron Howard, Paul Greengrass, Joe Wright, James Mangold, George Miller, Doug Liman, Dean Deblois and many more. He wrote music for films such as Face Off, the Jason Bourne trilogy, Solo: A Star Wars Story, the 3 How to Train Your Dragon movies, Ferdinand, Mr and Mrs Smith, Still and many more. This year John wrote the score to the animation films Thelma the Unicorn and That Christmas. John also worked on the music for the hit musical Wicked for which the first part has just been released and is already becoming the highest grossing musical in America and the film is loved all around the world.

In this new episode of Composer Talk composer John Powell talks in-depth about his music for the hit musical Wicked! We deepdive in his Christmas score for the Netflix film That Christmas and look forward to 2025 for his score to Wicked part 2 and How to Train Your Dragon (live action).

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Photo credit: Rebecca Morellato

Mark Mancina is a three-time Grammy Award Winning American film composer and Tony Nominated music producer. Mancina has scored over sixty films and television series including Speed, Bad Boys, Twister, Training Day, Con Air, Criminal Minds, Blood+, Shooter, August Rush, Planes, and recently Clint Eastwood drama Juror #2.

He has collaborated with Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), composing scores for Moana, Brother Bear, and Tarzan. He also produced the original songs written by Elton John and Tim Rice for the 1994 blockbuster The Lion King. He also produced songs for upcoming prequel Mufasa. One of his latest scores is the music for the film Moana 2, which is currently playing in cinemas everywhere.

In this new Composer Talk Mark talks about his work on Moana to and how it was to collaborate with Opetaia Foa’i and Emily Bear. He also gives us an insight on working with Clint Eastwood on Juror #2 and the upcoming songs he worked upon with Lin-Manuel Miranda for Mufasa. Next to that we look back at his work on The Lion King Musical!

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Photo credit: Larry Mah

Lorenz is classically trained in composition and he is a multi-award-winning composer, 

renowned for his versatility, creating music for film, concert performances, and ballet.

After the early success of his score to Tim Fehlbaums Thriller “Hell”, he showed his stylistic range in movies of different genres, among them “A Fortunate Man” by Bille August,

“Me and Kaminski” by Wolfgang Becker and the epic family drama “Dying” by Matthias Glasner for which he won his third German Film Prize for Best Music.

Recently he worked on the music for the film September 5, a film directed by Tim Fehlbaum.

In this new edition of Composer Talk, Lorenz talks about his very interesting score for the thriller September 5 and about the family drama Sterben (Dying).

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