Film.Music.Media

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

All Access: Atli Örvarsson (September 4, 2017)

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
On this episode of All Access we sit down with composer Atli Örvarsson whose journey to becoming a composer started all the way back home when he was a young boy in Iceland. We discuss Atli's career journey and some of the great projects he's been a part of. Atli talks about starting out working for the great Mike Post and getting his start writing music for classic shows like NYPD Blue and Dragnet. Atli talks about how he was introduced to Hans Zimmer and how that phase of his life took him into an amazing world of working on big budget Hollywood films, and all the challenges that came with it. Topics such as approach, structure and different genre scoring are discussed using examples from scores like Stuart Little 3, Vantage Point, A Single Shot, The Edge Of Seventeen, Chicago Fire, The Hitman's Bodyguard and much more. Atli also shares the personal story of scoring Rams, which was an Icelandic movie that filmed on location in the village where his mother was born. It was a return to Atli's roots in many ways. Here Atli also talks about how he and his wife decided to move back to Iceland, and how he balances his home life in Iceland and part of his work life still in Los Angeles. Atli is one of the most kindest and talented composers, and his life journey and career are an inspiration. It was great chatting with Atli again and to have him as a guest on All Access was even a greater pleasure.
Interview Conducted By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Atli Örvarsson Chandler Poling Adrianna Perez White Bear PR

Composer Interview: Ronit Kirchman (August 25, 2017)

Composer Ronit Kirchman has accumulated a wide array of skills from being a composers that is also a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and orchestrator. Her talents as a storyteller can be heard in her scores for Zen & The Art Of Dying, Finding Neighbors, The Golden Age Of Fish and now on the critically acclaimed mini-series The Sinner starring Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman. Ronit shares her story of how she came to be a film and television composer and she pursued the career. We discuss some of her past projects and how she approaches her writing specifically on the mini-series The Sinner. We discuss where the first note comes from, how she structured the score, and how the tone and style helped flesh out the characters. Ronit is an extremely original voice in the industry and it was such a pleasure to talk to her about her work.
Interview Conducted By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Ronit Kirchman Chandler Poling Adrianna Perez White Bear PR

Composer Interview: Joel P West (August 9, 2017)

Joel P West found an unconventional path to becoming a film composer. He burst onto the scene with his emotionally nuanced score to Short Term 12 with director Destin Daniel Cretton in 2013 while the both of them were kickstarting their careers. Fast forward 4 years later and we're honored to have Joel back on Film.Music.Media as a guest. We revisit his path to becoming a composer, a career that found him vs the other way around. Joel talks about learning different techniques and approaches with the films he's scored since the last time we talked. We dive into The Glass Castle and how he worked with director Destin Daniel Cretton to get the music to a place that emotionally supported the narrative without doing too much. Joel P West's unique voice as a storyteller comes from a background you wouldn't normally associate with a film composer, but he's proven his abilities time and again. It was a great and special experience to catch up with Joel since we interviewed him at the start of his career, and now get to explore how he's grown as a composer.
Interview Conducted By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Joel P West Chandler Poling Adrianna Perez White Bear PR

All Access: Steve Jablonsky (July 18, 2017)

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
The one and only Steve Jablonsky joins us for a fantastic All Access interview. We sit down and Steve shares his unique path to film scoring as he grew up in the Los Angeles area, and was surrounded by film from an early age. He tells the story of how he he phoned up Hans Zimmer's studio to see if they needed any assistant work and how he ended up working for Harry Gregson-Williams for a few years, and through that he learned the business from the ground up. We discuss the early days of working on massive films like Armageddon and Bad Boys II as an additional composer, and how Michael Bay hired him to score The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake based off of great recommendations. Steve shares fun and inspiring stories from many of his scores such as The Island, Pain & Gain, Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, all the Transformers films, Steamboy, D-War, Gears Of War 2 and Desperate Housewives. We also discuss Steve's process for thematic writing and how he approaches certain films from different genres. Steve is one of the kindest and most talented composers working in the industry, and his versatility has been displayed in almost every genre. It was such an honor to have Steve return as a guest on Film.Music.Media, this time for this wonderful All Access interview.
Interview Conducted By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Steve Jablonsky Jeff Sanderson Chasen & Company Lori Castro

All Access: Brian Tyler - Episode 2 (July 15, 2017)

 [Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Brian Tyler (and his cat, KC) join us for another All Access as we catch up on his latest scores, plus dive deep into some fascinating topics. Brian recalls his first jobs ever from starting in construction and finally working his way up into the industry. He dove in by doing coverage on scripts no one had time to do, and learned filmmaking from the ground up before finding his path in film music. We discuss typecasting in the film music industry and how Brian as a composer has had to escape genre typecasting many times in his career. Brian discusses working with the late Bill Paxton and the friendship that they shared, and even shows us the very same piano that Brian used to play his themes on for Bill. We also discuss how to keep a score from falling apart if the edit of the movie changes, and Brian shares some examples from The Mummy including re-writing the main character's theme and replacing it throughout the score in 1 weekend. We talk about composing for ensemble casts, and where the unifying theme comes from on scores such as Power Rangers and The Fate Of The Furious. We also delve deep into music psychology and why Brian got his Master's Degree in Philosophy at Harvard, and how he applies that to what he does in life. Brian is truly one of the most fun, talented and smartest composers working today and his conversations are always a blast!
Interview Conducted By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Brian Tyler Jeff Sanderson Chasen & Company Ave-Marie London KC (Brian's cat)

Composer Interview: Scott Doherty (June 9, 2017)

Composer Scott Doherty takes some time to take us into his world and share about his path to composing including writing the score for Netflix's Orange Is The New Black. Scott's unique path to becoming a composer is a fascinating one. We talk about his involvement in the composing band American Matador, and how as a band they were involved in music for hit series like Real World. Scott then shares how he got work writing additional music on Weeds for composers Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay, and how that collaboration led to him being invited to be part of a composing trio for Jenji Kohan's Orange Is The New Black. Scott's career is a fascinating one, and it was great to explore his approach and processes.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Scott Doherty Sabrina Hutchinson Defiant PR