If you visit this site somewhat regularly, it should be news to no one that we love music, specifically theme music for film and television. We also love chatting with composers, songsmiths and performers about their work. As such, we had a blast speaking with Dominic Lewis & Hamilton Leithauser who tag-teamed the superb melody and lyrics for the song in the opening credits of Your Friends & Neighbors on Apple TV+. This mini-series about misdemeanors, mischief, misdirected hostilities and marital troubles is, even in a fictitious sense, proof that what glitters is not always gold. Nobody’s life is perfect and it’s fair to say you never truly know your…
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Interview…Theodore Shapiro Breaks Down the Music and Method of ‘Severance’ Season 2
Season 2 of Severance on Apple+ upped the ante and stakes on everything that Season 1 gave us. We got more characters, more mystery and more twists and turns than Chutes and Ladders. Suffice to say, it was weird and wild and we want to see how deep this rabbit hole really goes. And more waffle parties, please. One of the standout elements helping this dense and sophisticated story resonate is, literally, the sound palette. Composer Theodore Shapiro rejoined this ensemble to expand his catchy four-chord tune and adapted it to this season’s new narrative pathways. He was not afraid to get abstract, and even dove into specific sound design…
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Interview…Director Colleen Thurston on Commodification of Resources and Cultural Connections in ‘Drowned Land’
Winding its way through southeastern Oklahoma, the Kiamichi River is a bastion of eco-diversity. Already twice-dammed, the state of Oklahoma and a Texas corporation continue to try to commodify the remaining water, and build a hydropower plant on the small river. For a group of locals, this isn’t just a fight for a river, it is a lifelong reckoning with the cycle of land theft and displacement that began with the Trail of Tears. Now, in a region in which the community relies on the Kiamichi’s ecosystem for subsistence, taking the water out of the watershed could mean yet another relocation. This eye-opening film, which was awarded “Best Oklahoma Documentary”…
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Interview…Director David Bushell on Passion Projects, Nice Dreams and ‘Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie’
The iconic pairing of Cheech & Chong has been a massive hit with audiences for more than 50 years, and the legendary stoners have gotten back together for a highly entertaining, tell-all documentary. From director/producer David Bushell comes a surprising and hilarious trip down memory lane that, like the two subjects, is anything but conventional. We got to speak with Bushell about his process. As this was very much a passion project and a dream opportunity, this director’s primary focus was, and I quote, “not to fuck this up.” Further, Bushell tells us that this documentary – replete with fourth wall breaking exposition, throwback animation, thirty hours of interviews, archival…
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Interview…Brandi Burkhardt on Singing, Dreaming and Summertime Fun
We had a lot of fun on the show today with Brandi Burkhardt. This seasoned song siren has done it all – from stage to screen to voice overs and more. She’s had a memorable role as ‘Crickett Watts’ on Hart of Dixie and in films like Confessions of a Shopaholic and A24’s Friendship (which is in theaters now). Burkhardt has also done many guest spots on hit television shows such as Mad Men, How I Met Your Mother, Boston Legal, Numb3rs, Brothers & Sisters, The Defenders, NCIS and others. Performing is in her blood, and when she’s not acting, she’s turning heads with her sensational voice that is suited…
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Interview…Molly Rogers on Violin, Vocals and Melodic Brilliance
They say that “practice makes perfect.” Yet, in any profession, practice really just makes you better. The pursuit of excellence and precision is constant for many musicians. They may second guess themselves along the way, but as an audience member, seeing what they do is almost like watching magic. Today we feature one such individual who is so accomplished and proficient, we’re not even sure she’s human. Violinist and vocalist Molly Rogers has incomparable skills, an otherworldly sound, and she works hard at her craft. Like really hard. After all, you don’t get this good overnight. But that last one is important because as a contractor, you never know if…
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Interview…Composer Carlos Rafael Rivera on Piano, Guitar, Teaching and the Sounds of ‘Dept. Q’
Over the years, we’ve become increasingly fond of TV shows for a few reasons. One of which is pretty obvious: we get more time with characters we love. Their arc can be spaced out as the story tops and tails. But another more satisfying reason is that the music can get the same amount of space. Many times, it can find room to evolve and change with the narrative. So let’s look at one such property where the music played an incredibly important role in the production. The Queen’s Gambit was a captivating series whereby the lush musical score captured our imagination, got the heart racing and made chess pretty…
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Interview…Nina Conti and Shenoah Allen on the Monkey Business of ‘Sunlight’
After delighting audiences on stage and on screen for more than twenty years, acclaimed British actress, comedian, and ventriloquist Nina Conti gives the world her feature film debut. Presented by Christopher Guest, Sunlight re-imagines “Monkey” – Conti’s most iconic character – as the human-sized alter ego of a woman on the run from a toxic relationship. Conti stars alongside her longtime creative collaborator Shenoah Allen, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Allen, a Barry Award-winning comedian and one half of the cult comedy duo Pajama Men, plays Roy, a suicidal radio host who becomes Jane’s unlikely companion. Conti, who began her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company before becoming an inventive comedy…
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Interview…Scary Good Fun Talking with Brett Simmons
When film fans get to talking about what we like, time can quickly get away from us. As such, we had a fun-filled chat catching up with our good buddy, filmmaker Brett Simmons. And isn’t that a cool name? If he wasn’t making films, he could very well be a pro wrestler or something else in show business. Anyway, we spent about an hour talking about new projects on his plate and things he’s trying to get off the ground. Right now, he’s writing another fun slasher movie – his cult hit You Might Be the Killer is evidence he knows what he’s doing. Brett also has an awesome…
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Interview…Ernesto Dìaz Espinoza On Directing Fights and Delights in ‘Diablo’
Genre filmmakers speak to us on a level like no other storytellers. They, most times with a shoe-string budget, show that art through adversity is a cinematic technique that will always gain fans. One such filmmaker is Chilean-born Ernesto Dìaz Espinoza. We first came to know the work of Espinoza while covering Fantastic Fest. It was there in Austin where we were treated to the passion and the precision he brought to Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman (yes, that is a real title). We were hooked and, since then, have followed his career with great interest. This year, he gives us another vigilante-esqe story led by regular…
