Film.Music.Media

All Access: Daniel Hart (The Old Man & The Gun)

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Daniel Hart may be a relative newcomer to the world of visual media scoring, but he has already established himself as one of the best auteur composers working today. His collaborations with director David Lowery have been extremely notable, and so has his projects with other directors and producers. Daniel is behind the scores to Ain't Them Bodies Saints, A Ghost Story, Pete's Dragon, The Exorcist (TV Series) and many others. We also dissect Daniel's two newest projects. The first is Lowery's latest film The Old Man & The Gun starring Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek. The second is the excellent Forever on Prime Video starring Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen.
On this All Access Daniel talks about his extremely unique path to becoming a composer, and how he still feels like an outsider in this industry from time to time. Daniel talks about his band Dark Rooms, and how it exercises a completely different part of his brain when he's songwriting or going on tour. One of the most interesting things we discuss is how Daniel got the job to score Disney's live-action Pete's Dragon. Daniel talks about how he was initially passed on by Disney for Howard Shore, but that creative differences ended up letting Lowery fight for Daniel and to let Disney give him another shot. Hear how Daniel learned from his mistakes to secure the job, and score his first big studio feature.
Daniel Hart's unique sound palette and intimate way of storytelling makes his scores resonate on a completely unique emotional level. He is such a fresh and talented voice in this industry and it was a pleasure to finally have him as a guest on All Access.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Daniel Hart

Director/Composer Interview: John Carpenter (Halloween)

Composer, producer, writer and director John Carpenter is regarded as one of the most influential auteur filmmakers in all of cinema. He has been behind some of the most iconic films in the horror and sci-fi genre such as Assault On Precinct 13, Halloween, Christine, The Fog, Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China and many more. What sets John apart from most other writers and directors is that he is also the composer on his films. His music has become as iconic as the images he has brought to life onscreen. John makes his long-awaited return to the Halloween franchise that he gave birth to in 1978 by coming onboard to score and executive produce David Gordon Green's Halloween sequel. Green's film is ignoring all the sequels and picking the story up 40 years after the events of the original film. We had a small window to chat with John about his career in the industry, dating back to what made him fall in love with cinema in the first place. We touch on several subjects such as coming up with a story and what makes a great horror film. Hear stories such as what inspired the Michael Myers character, the true story of how John worked with Ennio Morricone on the The Thing, working with Alan Howarth, the difficulties of production across his films, when he starts the composing process on his films, and how he collaborated with Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies to co-score the newest chapter in the Halloween franchise. It was such an honor to have this brief and engaging chat with one of the greatest storytellers of cinema.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: John Carpenter, Storm King Productions

Composer Interview: Terence Blanchard (BlacKkKlansman)

Terence Blanchard is a renowned jazz musician and composer who has paved his own unique path as a musical storyteller. Terence and director Spike Lee have one of the most prolific composer/director relationships in the industry, and their latest project is the critically-acclaimed BlacKkKlansman. Terence joins us for a great chat about his childhood in New Orleans, and how he grew up into the New Orleans jazz scene. We talk about how he found his path to becoming a film composer, and the first time he met Spike Lee. We also dissect the score to BlacKkKlansman among a few other notable scores from Terence's filmography. Terence also discusses topics such as finding inspiration, overcoming doubt to find confidence, and his music outside of film including his journey in writing an opera. Terence is such an amazing talent and voice in this industry, and it was a pleasure to have him as a guest for this chat.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Terence Blanchard, Alisse Kingsley, Muse Media

All Access: Brian Tyler - Episode 3 (Crazy Rich Asians / Yellowstone)

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Brian Tyler sits down for his third All Access interview here on Film.Music.Media. We revisit Brian's path to becoming a film composer including how both his undergraduate and master's degree had nothing to do with music despite his childhood and adolescent years being filled with music. We dive in and examine Brian's approach to Crazy Rich Asians and reuniting with director Jon M. Chu. Hear how Brian and Jon came to the conclusion that this score needed to feel like a throwback to the 1940's but also have an organic emotional undercurrent. We also examine Brian's score to Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone, a new series starring Kevin Costner. Brian talks about scoring a modern western and how he didn't want to go the route of either Americana or spaghetti western. Finally we talk about Brian's work for Formula 1 racing and how he brought drama and emotion to one of his favorite sports. Other topics include how to manage confidence vs self-doubt, how director Jon Chu calmed Brian's hesitations for scoring Crazy Rich Asians being a white man, and how Brian deals with criticism online and via social media. It was extremely fun and inspirational to have Brian back as a guest on Film.Music.Media All Access.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Brian Tyler, Stephanie Bryant, Jeff Sanderson, Chasen & Company

Composer Interview: Lorne Balfe (Mission: Impossible - Fallout)

Composer Lorne Balfe has proven his versatility and talent as a storyteller by delivering amazing scores across all genres and all mediums of visual storytelling. He has delivered the goods in family animation, moving dramas, thrilling horror, engaging biopics, inspiring documentaries, captivating television series, quirky comedies, addictive video games and much more. For his most recent film, Lorne joins the legacy that is the Mission: Impossible series. Lorne follows in the footsteps of some amazing composers to add his own signature stamp to the franchise. Lorne is one of our favorite guests, and it was a pleasure to catch up with him to dissect his biggest and most ambitious score to date in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. We discuss some topics such as confidence and doubt when it comes to being a composer, working with directors, what Lorne learned from his time as an additional composer, and how he handles criticism from people online especially on a big film like Mission: Impossible - Fallout. The majority our interview focuses on Mission: Impossible, including how this film needed a different scoring approach and how he approached utilizing that iconic Lalo Schifrin theme. You'll hear how Lorne structured certain action scenes, including knowing what scenes in the film didn't require score. Lorne shares how director Christopher McQuarrie doesn't use a temp track, and instead utilized an hour's worth of musical ideas that Lorne wrote away from picture to start editing to, and that made sure that music was baked into the DNA of this brilliant exercise in action filmmaking. We wrap up taking a look at Lorne's score for Genius: Picasso and how the score evolved from season 1, which focused on Albert Einstein. Lorne has proven himself as one of the most versatile and talented composers working today, and it's always a pleasure to catchup and pick his brain.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Lorne Balfe, Quennie Li, Ray Costa, Costa Communications

All Access: Steve Jablonsky - Episode 2 (Skyscraper)

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Steve Jablonsky joins us for a second All Access, this time to discuss his score for Skyscraper among many other topics. In this All Access, we get a bit of a refresher of how Steve ended up on the composing path plus his views on the action genre as a whole. We talk about how he approached Skyscraper, which stars Dwayne Johnson as a former FBI agent trying to save his family from a group of terrorists. Steve talks about working with a new director for the first time, finding the right tone that didn't make it too melodramatic and of course how action filmmaking has evolved since when he started working as a composer. We also discuss comedy scoring as well as touch upon some other projects he did recently like Game Over, Man! and the indie documentary Origin Story. Steve is one of the nicest and most humble composers working in the industry, and having him as a guest is always such a pleasure.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Steve Jablonsky, Lori Castro, Jeff Sanderson, Chasen & Company

All Access: Jacob Shea & David Fleming (Blue Planet II)

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Nature documentaries are unique in that the score is more important than ever in creating a narrative structure as well as an emotional pull. This genre is one of the purest forms of image and music working hand in hand, with only narration there as a guide for the audience. With Blue Planet II, Jacob Shea and David Fleming worked alongside Hans Zimmer to craft a hugely powerful and affecting score that brought our aquatic world to vivid life. Learn a little about how Jacob and David worked as additional composers to gain experience. Hear them dissect the process of working on Blue Planet II, and what their approach was to create this sonic world for some of the most breathtaking footage ever captured for a nature documentary. We chat about the collaborative nature of working with Hans Zimmer, how they built thematic structure, and what it means to work on something important from an educational standpoint. Jacob and David are quickly blazing their own paths in the industry. Please enjoy this fun and inspiring discussion with two leading talents in the next generation of composers working today.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Jacob Shea, David Fleming, Andrew Cohen, Impact24 PR

Composer Interview: Peter Boyer

Peter Boyer is a composer, conductor, orchestrator, and professor of music whose work has been performed over 400 times by over 150 different orchestras. As one of the most premiere talents in the concert music world, Peter is sought out and his work commissioned for extremely powerful and unique projects. One of his most recent works that ended up being years in the making is Ellis Island: The Dream Of America; a classical work celebrating the historic American immigrant experience. We dive into Peter's background and what led him on the path to becoming a celebrated concert composer. Peter also talks about how he approached Ellis Island, including incorporating dramatic readings of actual first hand accounts from immigrants who arrived on Ellis Island. Peter also talks about his work as a Hollywood orchestrator and working with composers such as James Newton Howard, Michael Giacchino and Thomas Newman. Ellis Island: The Dream Of America will make its television debut on Great Performances on Friday, June 29 at 10 p.m. on PBS. And you can stream it online afterwards. It was a great pleasure to chat with Peter and get an amazing insight into his process.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas Special
Thanks: Peter Boyer, Jeff Sanderson, Chasen & Company
PBS Great Performances website page on Ellis Island: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/ellis-i...
PBS official YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/KTwCr7NrFBE

Composer Interview: Sherri Chung

Composer Sherri Chung has quickly established herself as a prominent voice in the industry with her storytelling talents. After scoring many short films as well as being an orchestrator for Walter Murphy on shows like Family Guy and The Cleveland Show, Sherri began to work with Blake Neely. She has worked as an additional composer on shows like Blindspot, Arrow, and Supergirl. Sherri is currently is the co-composer of Riverdale with Blake Neely and you can catch her music on the recent album release for Crisis On Earth X, exclusively on La-La Land Records. The massive CW / DC four-part 2017 television crossover event showcases a score composed by Blake Neely, Nathanial Blume, Daniel Chan and Sherri Chung. This interview was a fantastic opportunity to talk to Sherri about her journey to becoming a composer and to explore her approach.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Sherri Chung, Andrea Resnick, Impact24 PR

All Access: John Powell - Episode 2

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
On this All Access we sit down with composer John Powell who returns for his second All Access with Film.Music.Media. In this discussion we talk about topics such as changes in the industry, finding inspiration, his love for chorus and percussion, producing songs, his early days at Media Ventures, working with Harry Gregson-Williams and more! We also go in-depth with his newest score to Solo: A Star Wars Story. John tells the story of when he got involved, how he incorporated John Williams' original theme and all the different themes he wrote. John is one of the most fun and inspiring composers working today and it was an absolute honor to have him return to All Access.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: John Powell, Batu Sener