FilmMusicSite.com: Composer Talk

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.

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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!

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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.

Enjoy listening to this new episode of Composer Talk!

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.

Enjoy listening to this new episode of Composer Talk!

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.

listening to this Composer Talk!