Doyle Donehoo is a rocker-turned composer who gets to live out one of his greatest scoing gigs to date. He grew up with the Alien franchise and that certainly made an impact. Starting with Ridley Scott‘s masterpiece – which he saw in the theater – he’s lived in this world. Ask his about his memorabilia and that would start quite a conversation. Years later, like a kid in a candy store, he gets to expand the palette established by Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Elliott Goldenthall and others while adding his own spice to the mix. The difference in his efforts here is that his music is crafted for a video…
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Interview…John Powell Composing the Score to ‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’
While technically Canadian, Michael J. Fox is one of America’s most beloved actors. Fueled by an inability to be still, he’s been moving since the day he was born. That tenacity propelled him through his childhood and, years later, the difficult and nebulous waters of Hollywood. Rejections would have sent many young hopefuls packing…but not Mike. Perseverance and attitude prevailed and Fox was rewarded with film and TV work that charted an unparalleled course few actors have been able to replicate or even follow. One of the best words that could describe this pint-sized Canuck is “joyful” – his delivery and smile elicits a laugh every single time. Fox may…
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Interview…Composer/Music Editor Robinton Hobbs on Score Production and Joy House Music
These days, regardless of the industry, we all need a little help. Whether that is outsourcing entire productions or a few hours of assistance and consulting, we can all use a support system. As the world grows ever more hungry for entertainment, the talented tradespeople making movies/shows, games, and music are in a flurry trying to deliver what’s needed. So to help with that project flow, Joy House Music has helped plenty of features and shows get the musical attention needed to finish the job. JMH is a woman-lead business working towards innovating the world of score production with a commitment to community, diversity and equality. Their company is a…
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Interview…Composer Sandro Morales-Santoro on Heritage, Heartstrings and Versatility
Sandro Morales-Santoro is an award-winning Venezuelan composer based in Los Angeles. This creative multi-instrumentalist specializes in music for film and television as well as interactive and new media. His most recent scoring projects include hit TV-shows like WeTV’s ‘Kold x Windy’ and National Geographic/Disney+’s ‘Restaurants At The End of the World’. Sandro has also composed original music for Marvel Animation’s film ‘The Secret History of Venom,’ as well as co-composing World of Wonder’s ‘Explant,’ a documentary exposé about the breast implant industry. His most recent film ‘The Shadow of the Sun’ will premiere at LALIFF in June 2023. His skills as a composer are evident throughout his lush orchestral scores,…
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Interview…Composer Nitin Sawhney on ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’
We love it when a film serves as a vehicle to say something deep and meaningful. One such story is the latest from Shekhar Kapur. His direction of the story from writer Jemima Khan – about the modernity to arranged marriages in Indian cultures – give What’s Love Got To Do With It? its tangible emotional core. Adding to the success of that is the score from composer/songwriter Nitin Sawhney (who wrote the original score for the film and three original songs). Shazad Latif and Lily James carry the film, yet it is the subtle worldly vibe the music adds to certain story beats which “marries” well with many pivotal…
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Interview…Paul Haslinger on Electronic Soundscapes, Subtext, and Scoring Processes
If you were around in the ’80s, few things defined “cool” like music did. And, film fan or not, the top of that list is most likely going to be Tangerine Dream: the German electronic music outfit who dominated airwaves and theaters with their cutting edge electric sound. One key member of that ensemble pushing the electronic side of the band was young Paul Haslinger who joined up with them after their big hits like Sorcerer and Risky Business. Bringing a younger video game sensibility, he helped change the course of their sound for the better and contributed plenty including scores to Near Dark, Miracle Mile and Three O’Clock High.…
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Interview…Composer Randy Edelman on Songs, Scores and Career Retrospective
Most of the time, a film would be nothing without the musical score. We hold the music in higher regard than the narrative itself, and our heroes have always been film composers. Getting to run this site for almost fifteen years, I can admit to just plain geeking out when speaking to people in the film music community. Case in point. Randy Edelman is a legendary singer, songwriter, orchestrator, conductor, and a seasoned music man who has quite literally scored our childhood. Just looking at the impressive list of titles to his credit (Dragonheart, Beethoven, Troop Beverly Hills, The Mask, My Cousin Vinny, Angels in the Outfield, Shanghai Noon, Daylight)…
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Interview…Composer James Allen Roberson on Horses, Hoedowns and ‘Heart of a Champion’
James Allen Roberson is a composer and multi-instrumentalist working in film and television. With a diverse background in pop, rock, contemporary, and orchestral music he has carved out a unique niche in the current media landscape. James grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee playing classical violin and electric guitar from an early age. He studied film scoring and composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston where he received a bachelors of music degree. And from there he moved to Los Angeles and began working at Remote Control Productions with renowned composer Rupert Gregson-Williams as well as helping out on projects for Heitor Pereira, Guillaume Roussel, Deborah Lurie, and Hans Zimmer.…
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Interview…Composer Nathan Johnson on Harpsichords, Travelogues and ‘Glass Onion’
For those of you needing a classically clever whodunnit to add to your cinematic plate this holiday session, look no further than Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion. The next installment in Benoit Blanc mystery series is whip smart, hilarious, exquisite and layered…you know, like an onion. Herein, Johnson and company outdo everything in their last detective yarn. Bigger stakes, bigger laughs, bigger onions – it’s an exceptional outing! Every element just sings, and again Rian enlists his cousin Nathan Johnson to write a fitting score to accompany the masterful story. While subsequent yarns in the series are meant to be stand-alone events, the further adventures of the Kentucky-fried character required Johnson…
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Interview…Composer Theodore Shaprio on ‘The School for Good and Evil’, ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits’ and Cracking Musical Puzzles
For more than two decades, Shapiro has been solving cinematic puzzles both light and dark. He scored some of Hollywood’s classic comedies—including Idiocracy, Old School, Tropic Thunder, and Dodgeball—with regular collaborators such as Paul Feig, Todd Phillips, and Jay Roach. He’s also cracked the code of political dramas (the Emmy-nominated Game Change, Trumbo), adventures both animated (Spies in Disguise), and unconventional (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), as well as sexy, stylish mysteries (A Simple Favor). Shapiro is like a character actor, putting on different musical costumes and adopting accents to disappear into roles much like Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, which he scored with rays of…
