Theodore Shapiro | Composer: Severance

Spoiler Warning: Skip 29:22 - 30:48 to avoid some Severance spoilers. There is an audible warning before spoilers within the interview as well.

Theodore Shapiro's versatility as a storyteller spans across genres from slapstick screwball comedies like Dodgeball all the way to nuanced character dramas like The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. Recently he re-teamed with director Ben Stiller for the acclaimed Severance on Apple TV+. The series is a wonderfully executed thriller that blends science fiction in a grounded modern reality with plenty of social commentary on top of well-developed characters and storytelling.

Theodore shares a bit about his path to becoming a composer including taking us into his general approach. We discuss the great traits he loves in his regular collaborators like Paul Feig and Ben Stiller, and why he loves working with them.

Theodore tells the story of how he first met Ben Stiller, which led him to scoring Dodgeball and eventually working with Ben when he was in the director's chair on Tropic Thunder. We look back at projects like Tropic Thunder, Zoolander 2, and do a bit of a dive into Severance.

For Severance, we examine the approach Theodore took musically including how that intense season 1 finale was crafted, developing character arcs, working on the source music in the show, how the extraordinary main title sequence came together, favorite moments, and much more!

A Film.Music.Media Interview | Produced & Presented by Kaya Savas

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