Film.Music.Media

Composer Interview: Fred Coury (June 9, 2017)

Composer Fred Coury's path to becoming a film and television composer is a fascinating one. Fred was the drummer for the rock band Cinderella and had an entire career as a rockstar before moving his focus to composition. Fred discusses his approach and process for the NBC series The Night Shift as well. We talk about the process of transitioning from being on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans to working alone in a studio. Fred talks about how his skills as a drummer and his background in classical composition helped him when he started writing to picture. Fred also shares the amazing story about how fellow rockstar Gene Simmons got him his first job as a composer to write for Gene's reality show. Fred's story is an inspiring one, and he brings an amazingly versatile background to the music he writes today.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Fred Coury Sabrina Hutchinson Defiant PR

Composer Interview: Brian McOmber (June 9, 2017)

Brian McOmber's voice as a composer is unique, but he has followed a similar path by coming from the world of being part of a band and now being in a career as a composer. Brian is the former drummer of the band Dirty Projectors, and now has built up a collaborative relationship with director Trey Edward Shults. Brian discusses his work on Trey's first feature titled Krisha, and now how he approached scoring It Comes At Night. Brian explains how he built the very layered and atmospheric score, and how he knows when a piece is finished when writing in that style. Brian talks about his background as a drummer and how he applied that to his skills as a composer. Brian's path to composing is an inspiring one, and he shares all the ins and outs of how he started his unexpected career as a film composer.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Brian McOmber Terra Lopez Terrorbird Media

All Access: Geoff Zanelli (May 25, 2017)

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Geoff Zanelli is one of the most prolific and busy composers working in the industry. He is also one the kindest, hardest working and supremely talented people in this industry and his career is a reflection of that. We sit down to discuss it all, from the early days of cleaning the bathrooms at Media Ventures / Remote Control Productions, becoming John Powell's assistant, and all the way to helming Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Geoff recounts some amazingly fun stories from his films with David Koepp, working with David Duchovny, Into The West, The Pacific, the madness of The Lone Ranger and William Tell Overture, his history on the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise and more. Geoff was in fact our very first interview ever on Film.Music.Media, so it was an honor to go all out here with this immensely inspiring All Access.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Geoff Zanelli Zak McNeil Emilie Erskine Jordon Von Netzer Impact 24 PR

All Access: Elik Álvarez & Freddy Sheinfeld (May 2, 2017) *Video Interview Available

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
On this All Access we dive into the world of two composers who have successfully established both a composing partnership as well as their own solo career paths. Elik Álvarez and Freddy Sheinfeld are behind some of the most popular animated series such as Ultraman: Tiga, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The two of them have also worked on fantastic nature documentaries hosted by the great David Attenborough including Kingdom Of Plants, Galapagos, Micro Monsters and David Attenborough’s Conquest of The Skies. While Elik and Freddy frequently work together with the amazing Joel Douek, it’s their bond and friendship over the years that has made their story a unique one. They are both from Venezuela but didn’t even realize they were both from the same country at first until others told them. Hear their unique journey of moving to Los Angeles, getting their degrees, going through composing bootcamp by composing for animated series such as Yu-Gi-Oh!, starting their own company and still maintaining their careers as solo composers. Elik and Freddy are two extremely talented musical voices, and their insights shine an amazing light on what it’s like to carve your own path in this industry.
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Elik ÁlvarezFreddy SheinfeldBeth KrakowerThe Krakower Group

Composer Interview: Cris Velasco (May 1, 2017)

Composer Cris Velasco is one of the most respected and in-demand talents in the video game composing world. For this discussion we re-visit Cris’ own journey to becoming a composer and why he decided to start his career with a focus on vide game composition. We chat about the different techniques and approaches Cris uses when he writes music including letting the music play in loops around his house while he does chores so he can see if any of his melodies become annoying or irritating. We dive into Cris’ recent projects such as his involvement in Overwatch, the approach he took while working on Resident Evil 7 and his new series Dimension 404 which airs on Hulu. Dimension 404 is a unique anthology series that follows in the footsteps of classic series like The Twilight Zone where episodes are a standalone story requiring a different style of music for each narrative. Cris is one of the most fun and creative minds in the business and it was so great to get a glimpse into his world once again!
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Cris VelascoGreg O’Connor-ReadTop Dollar PR

Composer Interview: Vivek Maddala (May 1, 2017)

Composer Vivek Maddala has created wonderful scores in the world of film, especially in documentary filmmaking. Hear about his unique background where he was on the path to becoming a scientist, and was extremely successful in his field when he felt the call of composing pull him into that career path. Vivek talks about his approach and techniques to scoring, and we dive into his recent project which is scoring The Tom And Jerry Show which airs on Cartoon Network. We discuss the amazing history of Tom And Jerry and how the original series' style of scoring cartoon shorts has lived on through the years. Vivek talks about how he approaches this modern take on the classic cartoon duo, and how he focuses on keeping the traditions of Scott Bradley and "mickey-mousing" slapstick alive, while still adding character and thematic touches. Vivek shares some amazing and fun insights in this great discussion!
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Vivek MaddalaChandler PolingAdrianna PerezWhite Bear PR

Composer Interview: Heather Christian (March 30, 2017)

Composer Heather Christian is behind the score to the acclaimed Sundance hit Lemon! Lemon is directed by Janicza Bravo and stars Brett Gelman, Judy Greer, Michael Cera, Nia Long, Rhea Perlman Martin Starr, Megan Mullally and many more. Heather enters the film music industry as a fresh voice bringing a unique background and passion to the field. Hear her path to becoming a composer and how she tackled working on a unique film like Lemon. Heather also shares her personal views as a female composer starting her career in a male-dominated profession.
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Heather ChristianBrielle SchiavoneThe Music Sales Group

Composer Interview: Fil Eisler (March 25, 2017)

Composer Fil Eisler takes some time to discuss two of his recent projects with CHiPs and Newtown. Fil talks about his unique path to film composing and how his love of playing in bands meshed with orchestral music. We dive into Newtown which revolves around the Sandy Hook tragedy. Fil discusses the role of documentary filmmaking and how it can help start a conversation about an important subject such as gun control. We also discuss CHiPs and how Fil worked with director Dax Shephard to create a score with both band elements and orchestral action. The whole goal of CHiPs was to stay away from the conventional "studio rock" sound that is in modern R-rated comedies these days. Fil is one of our favorite guests and it was so great to have him back to catch up on his recent projects.
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Fil EislerJason KimAllie BloxbergCW3PR

All Access: Jeff Rona - Episode 2 (March 17, 2017) *Video Interview Available

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Jeff Rona returns to join us once again on another episode of All Access. We visit Jeff at his studio to discuss his newest score to the film Veeram, an Indian film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Jeff walks us through the journey of scoring a major Indian blockbuster and why they sought out an American composer for the film. Jeff walks us through some of the score including the thematic structure as well as how 3 versions of the score exist since the film was shot in 3 languages, shot not dubbed. Beyond that we discuss some broader subjects such as working with directors and navigating working relationships with all the different personalities out there. Jeff also shares his love for world instruments and how he utilizes certain sounds in his music. Also hear how Jeff learned some basic scoring fundamentals when he visited his friend who happened to be scoring hardcore porn at the time. Jeff is a treasure trove of amazing insight and fun conversation and it was an honor to have him back on as a guest.
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Jeff RonaKelly SealCody Johnson

All Access: Klaus Badelt (March 1, 2017) *Video Interview Available

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
On this episode of All Access we are incredibly honored to be welcoming Klaus Badelt. Klaus quickly rose to prominence while working under great composers such as Hans Zimmer and Michael Kamen. Hear Klaus share what led him to pursue film music as a career, and stories from some of his most beloved scores. We dive into such scores as Ned Kelly, The Time Machine, Beat The Drum, Invincible, The Pledge, Rescue Dawn and Pirates Of The Caribbean. Klaus shares details about the hectic journey of working on the first Pirates Of The Caribbean, what Werner Herzog is like as a director, living in China to compose The Promise and the 2008 Olympics Closing Ceremony, the bizarre experience of working on Basic with John McTiernan, and the approach he took on his newest score to The Warrior’s Gate. Klaus has built an amazing career and has always continually pursued new opportunities that appealed to him, from composing for French cinema to starting his own tech company with Kinonation. Klaus' current focus is with his company Kinonation where he is solving the issue of worldwide distribution by letting content makers keep ownership of their content while getting it front of a wide audience via top streaming companies such as Amazon, Hulu and Netflix for no cost. We hope you enjoy this fantastic discussion with the kind, passionate and talented Klaus Badelt.
Interview Produced & Presented By: Kaya Savas
Special Thanks: Klaus Badelt