Film and game composer Penka Kouneva has worked for 15 years in Los Angeles on a variety of projects from games, to shorts, to feature films. Her own music is a blend of her Eastern-European upbringing, classical training, modern film & game music, and influences ranging from rock, electronica, Medieval chant to non-Western music. A woman composer role model on the vanguard of the rising momentum for women creatives in entertainment, Penka Kouneva made Hollywood history as the first woman Lead Orchestrator on films with a budget over $100M – Ender’s Game and Elysium. In various capacitites, she has had notable collaborations with the celebrity composers Hans Zimmer (orchestrator: Pirates 3,…
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Interview…Composer Patrick Doyle on His New Collection of Solo Piano Themes
Patrick Doyle has scored over 50 international feature films, including Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, BRAVE, Indochine, Carlito’s Way and A Little Princess. His work has led to collaborations with some of the most acclaimed directors in the world, including Brian De Palma, Alfonso Cuarón, Ang Lee, and Robert Altman. On July 24, Varèse Sarabande released The Film Music of Patrick Doyle: Solo Piano. The first of two planned albums features original performances and arrangements by the Oscar-nominated composer, the collection features some of Patrick’s most revered compositions performed on piano by Doyle himself. This exceptional album highlights eighteen tracks which include music…
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Interview…Composer Bill Brown Scores Season 2 of Dominion for Syfy
Bill Brown is an award-winning composer and creative force behind the musical scores of fan-favorite TV, film and video game thrillers, dramas and super-hero adventures. Widely recognized for his experimental approach to developing a unique sound and for creating dynamic orchestral landscapes, Bill is best known for composing the compelling musical backdrop for all nine seasons of the hit CBS series CSI: NY. Bill’s passion for composing is followed closely by his interest in cutting-edge sound technology. Developers regularly approach him to beta-test new music and sound design products; many in the music community as the go-to resource consider him when a product or technology recommendation is needed. Continually experimenting…
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Interview…Film Composer Patrick Doyle Weaves Magic for a Whole New Generation with ‘Cinderella’
If you visit the site often, or know me personally, you know that I love film…but I love film scores a whole lot more. Our “Composer Series” has become a larger part of the site, and it has been incredibly rewarding being afforded the opportunity to speak with those who have created some of the most iconic and indelible themes of the last half century. Case in point. When we spoke with Patrick Doyle last year, we discussed his and Kenneth Branagh’s efforts to reboot the Jack Ryan franchise. His hybrid approach to the tech-thriller score was an exercise in tension and excitement, and everything you could want in a…
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Interview…Composer Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) on the Emotion Behind the Adrenaline in ‘Run All Night’ and ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’
When it comes to working in the film industry, and if you happen to be a talented and in-demand composer like Junkie XL, 16-to-18 hour days are the norm. Suffice to say, a composer’s work is never done but they also need to carve out time for necessary levity. A bit of a practical joker when it suits him (just ask his then assistant and now good friend Sam Estes about the in-office pranks), Tom Holkenborg has put his stamp on the music world with his bombastic drum kit and adrenaline-themed cues. He also knows how to help the director get to the heart of their story. Whether it’s a segment or two in The Animatrix,…
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Interview…Film Composer Mark Adler on Robert Kenner’s ‘Merchants of Doubt’
Mark Adler brings to his work as a composer a broad background in both film and music. At 16 he created an award-winning animated short which the New York Museum of Modern Art acquired for its permanent archive collection. A year later, he was the recipient of an American Film Institute grant for his original screenplay. He studied piano privately for fifteen years, and was initially a music major. His return to music followed graduation from film school at UCLA, where he studied film scoring with David Raksin. The 1980s were a renaissance for documentary film in the San Francisco Bay Area and Mark was soon scoring many of those projects. During…
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Interview…Composers Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson Bring New Life to the Old-Fashioned Spy Game in ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’
When it comes to larger-than-life comic book universes playing out on the big screen, both Henry Jackman and co-composer Matthew Margeson are the reigning champions of super hero themes and kick-ass action sounds. Kingsman: The Secret Service tells a story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined, but promising street kid into the agency’s ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius. While they intended to make this score their own, they still included a fair amount of hat tips to the likes of John Barry, and David Arnold. Well, Kingsman is a movie about the spy world so some things can’t be helped. It’s a…
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Interview…Film Composer Ilan Eshkeri on the Emotional Depth and Makeshift Magnificence of ‘Black Sea’
Kevin Macdonald‘s Black Sea, which hits U.S. theaters this week, features top-notch acting and, like the submarine, is air-tight, but music is also another highly effective component to the thrilling story. In addition to pulse-pounding sounds and pensive themes, British composer Ilan Eshkeri also adds a thick layer of humanity to the story about about greed, hard metals and icy depths. Best known for his film scores to Stardust, The Young Victoria and Kick-Ass, as well as his collaborations with recording artists and his concert work Eshkeri’s career is notable for its diversity; recently Eshkeri scored Still Alice starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart, 47 Ronin starring Keanu…
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Interview…Composer Reinhold Heil Discusses Scoring Helix for Syfy
Reinhold Heil is a German-born, L.A.-based Golden Globe nominated film and television composer. Prior to Reinhold’s career as a film composer, he was well known throughout Germany and Europe for his monster synth chops. At 21, he became a fixture in the Berlin music scene as the keyboardist of a popular jazz funk fusion band, marrying jazz, rock, and electronica into a sound all his own. Soon after, Reinhold toured Europe as the keyboardist, co-producer, and co-writer of the legendary German punk band The Nina Hagen Band and later Spliff, one of Germany’s most popular rock bands of the 1980s. Reinhold was also a prolific music producer. “99 Luftballoons,” which…
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Interview…Composer J. Ralph on Documentaries, Real Life Heroes and the Call to Action
J. Ralph is an Academy Award-nominated composer, singer/songwriter and producer. He is also the founder of the internationally award-winning music production company The Rumor Mill, and has written and produced the music for numerous Grammy winning artists, Oscar-winning films, and The President of The United States, Barack Obama. Considered by many to have had a profound impact on the documentary medium, J. Ralph has helped elevate the experience of what it feels like to watch a documentary through his scores. Incredibly he has written and produced the music for 4 out of the last 5 Oscar winning/nominated documentary feature projects. In the 85 year history of the Academy Awards, J.…
