Film.Music.Media

Composer Interview: Henry Jackman

As the year is winding down, we catch up with Henry Jackman who is one of our favorite guests on Film.Music.Media. Since Henry was recently a guest on our All Access series, we instead focus just on all the happenings in Henry's world since the last time we spoke to him. We dive into Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle where Henry talks about how exciting it was to create a score truly built on themes and melodies. Hear Henry talk about how he channeled the musical spirits of James Horner and Alan Silvestri to really try and make a rousing symphonic adventure score, which we don't get often these days. Henry also talks about returning to the world of Matthew Vaughn with Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Henry talks about how he and co-composer Matthew Margeson tackled the second entry in Vaughn's stylish series. With 2018 almost here we finish up our chat by looking forward to what's ahead!
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Henry Jackman, Ray Costa, Costa Communications

All Access: Rolfe Kent

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Composer Rolfe Kent joins us for the last All Access of 2017! Rolfe talks about his early years and how quickly he knew he wanted to be a composer when he was younger. After securing a job he packed up and moved to Los Angeles where he never looked back. Some of his first scores were for the tantalizing Playboy series called Inside Out where Rolfe Kent would cement his entire career by meeting directors like Alexander Payne and Richard Shephard who directed segments for the sexy series. We talk about how these relationships evolved and how the directors he works with are actually his close friends. Rolfe examines his work with directors like Mark Waters, Richard Shephard, actor Jason Bateman, Jason Reitman and of course Alexander Payne. We talk about the unique premise for Downsizing and how Rolfe approached the score for Alexander's newest film. Other topics include navigating licensed music used in a movie, how Rolfe doesn't look at movies in terms of genre and how boredom usually leads to innovation. Rolfe is such a versatile composer whose work always finds the emotional center of a film, and it was an honor to have him as a guest!
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Rolfe Kent, Beth Krakower, The Krakower Group

Composer Interview: Carlos Rafael Rivera

Composer Carlos Rafael Rivera has had music in his life as long as he can remember, but it wasn't till he became the guitar teacher to writer/director Scott Frank did film composing suddenly enter his life. Carlos takes some time to share his fantastic story of how he composed the score to his first feature with A Walk Among The Tombstones, and how that collaboration with Scott Frank let to their newest project titled Godless. Carlos goes deep into his process of he crafted the score for Godless, a western mini-series that is currently streaming on Netflix. Scott is such a warm and fun person that getting his insight on the process and the industry is extremely engaging and inspiring.
 
Interview Produced & Presented By:
Kaya Savas
 
Special Thanks: Carlos Rafael Rivera, Beth Krakower, The Krakower Group

All Access: Daniel Pemberton

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
On this All Access we sit with the extremely talented Daniel Pemberton who has quickly blazed his own path by always aiming to create new sounds and approaches on the scores that he composes. Daniel talks about finding his interests in creating sounds and music, and how that led to him pursue a career as a composer. Daniel shares a story of how he met John Powell by coincidence when his girlfriend was doing a photoshoot with John's wife, Melinda. The two chatted on a bridge at 2am and Daniel learned a lot from John that evening. We go on to discuss many of Daniel's projects such as his scores for directors like Ridley Scott and Guy Ritchie. Also why Daniel decided to remain in the U.K. and not relocate to Los Angeles. This interview was also conducted on the day it was announced that Christopher Plummer would be replacing Kevin Spacey in All The Money In The World, and Daniel gives his thoughts on Ridley's bold skills as a filmmaker. From composing on a small game called The Movies to honing his inner Ennio Morricone to find the right sounds for Guy Ritchie, we cover lots of great stuff in this fantastic chat.Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya SavasSpecial Thanks: Daniel, for taking an Uber deep into Burbank to make this interview happen even though you were only here on business for a quick trip! Also to Ray Costa and Costa Communications.

Writer/Director Interview: Martin McDonagh

SPOILER WARNING: Please note that we discuss major plot points from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in this interview. Please watch the film before listening.
With films like In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh has very quickly become one of the best auteur filmmakers working today. His dialogue is sharp and focused, and his characters are so individually unique and organic. Over his three feature films he has also established a great working relationship with composer Carter Burwell. We were able to catch Martin very briefly on the phone for a quick discussion on his writing process and how he works with Carter. Martin talks about why he pursued filmmaking after becoming known as a playwright, and how his Oscar-winning short film helped launch his career. We discuss his writing approach and technique to make sure each character feels authentic with their own voice and how he doesn't listen to music during his actual writing time. We then talk about how he and Carter Burwell work together, and how as a director he has full trust in his composer and doesn't interfere in the process beyond giving him his initial direction. Martin is such a great storyteller and a filmmaker who utilizes score in such a brilliant way; it was fantastic to have him as guest for this quick chat about his process.
Special Thanks: Martin McDonagh, Paula Woods, Knight Hall Agency Ltd

Composer Interview: Gordy Haab

Gordy Haab has composed some great memorable scores in film, TV and video games. Gordy along with several other composers tackled the extremely popular Star Wars: The Old Republic video game which was a great stepping stone that lead to Gordy taking the reigns on Star Wars: Battlefront and now the recent followup Star Wars: Battlefront II. Gordy also recently scored Halo Wars 2. We dive into his background and how he found his path to film composing including a focus on his video game scoring approaches. We discuss the immense amount of pressure that comes with following in John Williams' footsteps for a AAA Star Wars game. Hear Gordy explain how the addition of a single-player campaign allowed him to venture into new territory in Battlefront II plus all the work that went into making it feel like a Star Wars experience.
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Gordy Haab, Sabrina Hutchinson, Defiant PR

All Access: Austin Wintory

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Composer Austin Wintory joins us for an incredibly in-depth and engaging discussion on this All Access. Austin talks about his unique path to film scoring and how early on in his career he scored shorts and formed relationships that would lead to great projects such as Captain Abu Raed and Flow. We go into great depth on projects like Journey, ABZÛ, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, Tooth and Tail and more. Austin describes his writing process and how each project comes to him in a different manner. We also talk about the state of video game storytelling and how the medium is evolving, and how games are gaining more and more respect as storytelling art. Austin also reflects on some of the headline-making news when he and the AFM (American Federation of Musicians) had some friction. We go over many details and many topics in this chat, and while it's one of our longest interviews on Film.Music.Media there's so much valuable information within it. It was a great honor to have the fantastic Austin Wintory as a guest! 
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas 
 
Special Thanks: Austin Wintory, Chandler Poling, Adrianna Perez, White Bear PR

All Access: Matthew Margeson

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
On this All Access, we sit down with the wonderfully talented Matthew Margeson. We discuss Matthew's background and how a series of events including his love for musical theater led him to pursue music as a career. After college he finally made the leap to become a film composer by moving to Los Angeles with nothing but $500 in his pocket. Hear Matthew talk about his early days of being an assistant to Klaus Badelt and doing additional music for composers like James Dooley and Henry Jackman. Hear about all the mistakes he made on Skyline, one of his big first solo credits, and how he learned from those mistakes. Matthew talks about all the fundamentals he learned in his early days that he then applied to his own work as a composer whether it was on solo projects like Eddie The Eagle or co-composed projects like Kick-Ass 2, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and the Kingsman films. We discuss working with different directors such as Matthew Vaughn and Tim Burton, and how each director works with composers. We also delve into Matthew's process as he shares how he approaches projects from the start. Whether it's scoring a wacky TV comedy like Wrecked, following in Hans Zimmer's footsteps for Rings, or arranging Stephen Sondheim's classic music for Disney's adaptation of Into The Woods, we cover it all. Matthew has accomplished some amazing feats very early on in his career and it was a great pleasure to have him as a guest on this All Access!
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
 
Special  Thanks: Matthew Margeson, Ray Costa, Jenay Tally, Costa Communications

All Access: Marco Beltrami

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
In this All Access we sit down with Oscar-nominated composer Marco Beltrami as he walks us through his career and shares tons of great stories. Hear how he found the path to becoming a composer as we discuss some of his most beloved scores to films like Scream, 3:10 To Yuma, Blade II, Hellboy, The Homesman, Logan and many more. We also discuss his recent work to the Netflix original films Little Evil and First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. Marco talks about working with high-profile directors like Alex Proyas, Guillermo del Toro, James Mangold, Wes Craven, Tommy Lee Jones and Angelina Jolie. Hear how he and Buck Sanders met and formed a working relationship that has spanned most of his career. We talk about some hilarious stories such as the time he co-composed Resident Evil with Marilyn Manson and Marco's neighbor came running down the driveway to flash Marilyn, or the time Marco went on a rant about temp music used in Scream 2 that got him in hot water. Marco shares his process and thoughts on a variety of topics in this in-depth chat with one of the busiest and most prolific composers working today.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
 
Special  Thanks: Marco Beltrami, Ray Costa, Jenay Tally, Costa Communications

Composer Interview: Ben Lovett

Composer Ben Lovett's unique path to becoming a film composer is a true inspiration as the career found him versus the other way around. Hear Ben's story about how he found himself composing music for The Last Goodbye and The Signal, and how that led to collaborative relationships with filmmakers Jacob Gentry, David Bruckner and Dan Bush. Ben shares if he ever gets discriminated for not being a classically trained composer in today's industry and how he shaped his sound and style. We also dive into his process for The Ritual, a new horror film that reunites Ben with director David Bruckner.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas