What's the Score Podcast

P Andrew Willis has been a composer for film since the early 2000s. He uses unique instruments and likes scores that feature the same. Listen in for fascinating conversation and an episode that features more music than any episode before it.

Anyone who is interested in life behind the camera needs to listen to this episode. Our guest is Assistant Director Jason Allen who provides insights into life behind the camera as well as advice for getting into the film/tv industry. Additionally, he has some terrific choices of film music including cues from Barry, Williams, Zimmer and Morricone. Join us for a fascinating conversation as well as some great music.

This independent filmmaker has turned a hobby into a full time passion. His short films have generated literally millions of views on social media. The self proclaimed "Americas Movie cop", based on his "look", John Armijo has dozens of credits to his name as a background actor, actor, writer and producer. We cover a wide variety of music and John shares some great stories about some fan favorite films such as Pulp Fiction, Star Wars, Forrest Gump and more. Be prepared to listen, laugh and learn!

Our guest is Composer Sharon Farber who hails from Israel, studied music in the USA and has become an award winning composer. She writes and orchestrates for film, TV as well has written concert pieces. Listen to our fascinating conversation about her journey and her approach to writing for film...as well as some terrific cues of her favorite scores.

With all the craziness going on in the world, the Christmas season is a welcomed relief. I thought it might be fun to explore some music from Christmas films and TV specials. So I've chosen some of my favorites to share with you. I'm sure I missed some favorites of yours but I hope you enjoy this wide array of music that captures the spirit of the season. Merry/Happy Christmas to all! 

Our guest is Composer Andrew Morgan Smith. He's scored over 90 projects from films to TV to Video games. His selections of cues will delight you and include music from films such as Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tropic Thunder and more. We'll also play a cue from his upcoming film, a western starring Nik Cage, called The Old Way. Our discussion will interest those listeners who want hear some of the behind the scenes material of scoring films which I found interesting. Join us for great conversation and fabulous film music! PLEASE DOWNLOAD and listen at your convenience.

We do something a little different in this episode at the request of our guest Actor Creek Wilson. Creek is someone who later in life changed careers and decided to follow his dream of being an actor and he's been successful at it, having been in numerous TV shows, films and commercials. The music will bring back memories of those great Burt Reynolds films of the 70s and the music that was in them. Toe tapping music with Creek's great stories make a for an interesting episode.

Most fan music fans know of John Williams work from 1975 on...but are you are aware of his early work on TV? Returning guest Bill Koenig shares some great early Williams recordings and the stories behind them. Any film music fan is sure to enjoy these cues!

Returning guest podcaster/author Jon Auty helps us explore the filmography of one of America's finest composers, Henry Mancini. IMHO, Mancini doesn't seem to be appreciated enough so we decided to dedicate an episode to him. Jon did some great research for background info and chose some terrific cues. Listen and enjoy. DOWNLOAD now!

A returning guest, Raymond Benson is an accomplished author and film historian with a broad knowledge of film music. For this episode, Raymond decided he wanted to focus on Italian cinema and 2 composers, Ennio Morricone and Nino Rota. You'll have chance to hear some fabulous music you probably haven't heard before. Plus, you'll learn plenty about Italian cinema. Join us for interesting conversation and music!