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…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…Director Brett Simmons on Music, Muses and Meeting Your Heroes
It should be news to no one that Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Edgar Wright and Brett Simmons are big names in film. Granted you might not know the latter (yet!) but these filmmakers all share the same level of encyclopedic knowledge about the industry and important films which they use to take viewers on rides they’ve never had before. They make films the way they want and, more importantly, the way we fans want to see them. A sometimes hodgepodge of ideas and inspiration from what spoke to them through the years can be an instant hit and keep us talking long after the credits have rolled. Anyway, Simmons belongs…
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Interview…Fest Friends: Natalie Metzger, Joe Badon, Tiffany Kimmel, Dawn Luebbe and Margaret Miller
Fantastic Fest 2022 was one of the very best – it’s certainly tops in my book for all the years we’ve covered and attended. One take away that is more impactful and enduring than seeing some gonzo foreign film, sitting for a secret screening or getting in on the ground floor for the next big genre spectacle is the people. Whether it’s the fans, the festival staff (including those hard-working volunteers!) or the filmmakers, there is a certain kind of magical haze that only exists on the festival circuit. Moreover, I fondly (and sometimes fuzzily) recall the conversations, chance encounters and unexpected friendships that have emerged from being in the…
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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…
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Interview…Barry Burns on Mogwai, Signature Sounds, and Never Reading the Manuals
When it comes to one-of-a-kind sounds, look no further than the Scotland-based, post-rock band, Mogwai. They hit your ear drums with a one-two punch of style and experimentation, and always take you on a true musical journey. We first stumbled on them while I was visiting Japan in 2006. Maybe it was the reference to Gremlins that caught our eye, but once we heard “Auto Rock” we were hooked. Over the years, they have lent their skill and sonic textures to film, shows, documentaries and rocked out plenty of stadiums. In 2016 however, they really outdid themselves with the score to Kin by our friends Jonathan & Josh Baker. Not content…
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Interview…Ultraboss on Strings, Shredding, Bach and Yacht Rock
For those of you on the hunt for new music and sounds you’ve likely never heard, Bandcamp has your fix. It’s an independent music platform that touts and supports thousands of artists from around the globe. My handle is RidgeRacer4, and over the years I’ve been introduced to hundreds of amazing sounds and albums. But the rabbit hole goes infinitely deeper. There’s literally a never-ending sound reservoir that keeps getting filled with more unique music each day. One artist we’ve really taken to is synth and six-string prodigy, Ultraboss. His real name is PJ d’Atri and PJ lives in Austria. Since I’ve been so drawn to the music on Bandcamp,…
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Interview…Joseph Trapanese on Chamber Music, Cellos, and Choir in ‘Spiderhead’
One of the busiest film musicians out there has to be Joseph Trapanese. Let’s call him “Joe.” Joe is a composer. These days, Joe is happy. In fact, he’s very, very happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He’s one of the most sought-after magic makers and has a brilliant track record working on huge films with megastar directors. In Netflix’s Spiderhead, Joe reunites with director Joseph Kosinski (with whom he previously worked on TRON: Legacy, Oblivion, and Only The Brave). Aside from working closely with his good friend Joe K – we’ll call him “other Joe” – Mr. Trapanese had the unique opportunity to get away from the music that…
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Podcast Review: Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’
Well now lawdy, lawdy, lawdy, Miss Clawdy! 2022 has been an such amazing year for film, and more importantly cinematic experiences…and we’re only at the halfway mark. We’ve seen the return of The Dark Knight, Top Gun and now The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. It’s safe to say that going back to theaters is an event again (thank goodness!). Further, seeing Elvis on the big screen is one of the most exciting times you’ll have this year. It sure was for us. Baz Lurhamann‘s long-awaited biopic is headlined by Austin Butler who dons the titular icon’s shoes (and jumpsuit). He delivers the goods and then some! The King casts…
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Interview…Voice Artist Tim Burden on The Legacy of John Williams, Live Orchestras, and La-La Land Records
One of the joys of running this site is that, over the years, we’ve made friends and colleagues in the journalism and entertainment industries. And it’s extra special when you’re able to bond over common interests. In this case, we are happy to know a very experienced and devoted film score fan by the name of Tim Burden. We interviewed Tim years ago, and got to know all about his work championing film music, as well as his other pursuits in the arts. It all started with a discussion about his father, the legendary London Symphony French Horn player, John Burden. We love diving back into our old interviews from…
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Interview…Jake Kaufman on DuckTales, Shovel Knight and Chip Tune Magnificence
Sometimes, life can be tough, a struggle, or worse. Some might even say that life is like a hurricane. How we weather the storm depends on the individual, but to get centered I like movies, music and some video games. On that note, running this site allows us to speak to all manner of people who make the things we love, and that includes video game music. So enter one massively talented and passionate composer, Jake Kaufman. When we say he’s good, we mean it. He’s really good, and to use some ’80s vernacular, he’s gnarly! Jake has written/produced superb music for multiple genres and two massively successful video game…
