Film.Music.Media

All Access: Heitor Pereria - Episode 2 (May 16, 2016) *Video Interview Available

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Heitor Pereira returns as a guest to Film.Music.Media's All Access series. If you haven't checked out Heitor's first All Access interview, be sure to do so! This time around we discuss two of Heitor's recent projects that include The Angry Birds Movie and the documentary Sonic Sea. Get to hear and see Heitor's melodic process from conception all the way to the final product. Heitor demos his bird call flutes that he used to create the themes and melodies in The Angry Birds Movies then plays us a piece from his score. Following that we talk about his score to Sonic Sea, the powerful documentary examining noise pollution in our oceans and how it's killing mammal life underwater. Heitor plays us some samples from his score and his thought process behind the cue structures. We finish up by sitting down in Heitor's acoustic instrument room where he samples some of his favorite and most unique instruments that he uses to start melodic ideas and build sonic textures. It was such a pleasure to have Heitor Pereira be our first returning guest to the All Access series where this time it's definitely less talk and more play!
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Heitor PereiraLeah DennisRay CostaAndrew P. AldereteCosta Communications

All Access: Brian Tyler - Episode 1 (April 6, 2016) *Video Interview Available

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Brian Tyler is one of our favorite guests here at Film.Music.Media, so it's an absolute joy and honor to have him be part of the All Access series. Get ready to experience a fully immersive and detailed interview focusing on Brian's path to film scoring plus many industry trends and his views on them. Brian shares that while music was his true passion, he never went to school for it and got his education in completely different fields. Brian grew up in a family surrounded by music and film, and that left its mark on him very early. We talk about the popularity of superhero films and why Brian believes they are as popular now as ever. Plus we discuss how after so many car chases and shootouts, how do you make action scoring unique and different each time you approach a new action film. We also discuss some of his upcoming projects like Criminal, Now You See Me 2 and his upcoming concert in London. Many of the other topics discussed include negative criticism, director relationships, scoring for ensemble casts of characters, interacting with his fans, balancing business and creativity, performing live and his alternate artist name Madsonik. If you were ever looking for the definitive interview with Brian Tyler, then you found it!
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Brian TylerMarissa FernandezSeth Glennie-Smith

All Access: Fil Eisler (March 17, 2016) *Video Interview Available

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Fil Eisler has quickly become one of the most versatile and sought after composers working in the industry. His range for storytelling can be heard in almost any genre such as TV shows like Revenge and Empire, and in films like Newtown and How To Be Single. This All Access is truly special as we welcome back Fil to Film.Music.Media and converse with one of the most fun personalities in the composing world. Fil talks about his childhood, being born Czechoslovakia and then his family moving to England at a very early age. We discuss industry trends such as reboots and remakes since Fil is currently working on CHiPs based off the classic TV series. Fil gives insight to the challenge of scoring comedies as well. We then go into great detail on his work on the powerful documentary, Newtown. Newtown is an emotional look at how the community of Newtown came together following the tragedy of the Sandy Hook mass shootings. It's a heavy subject, and Fil talks about how he ended up wanting to bring 17 composers together to work on the score to symbolize a community. Gun control is a passionate subject for Fil, and we talk about how he hopes the documentary will spark a debate to better society. We touch upon violence in film and television, and some grand overall views of what the film industry is doing right these days and possibly what they are doing wrong. Even though the subject matter is heavy at times, this is one of the most enlightening and engaging All Access interviews on Film.Music.Media. And it was such a great pleasure to sit down with Fil Eisler once again.
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Fil EislerJana DavidoffCW3PR

Composer Interview: Hanan Townshend (March 17, 2016)

One of the most prominent and rewarding director/composer relationships in recent years has been with legendary auteur director Terrence Malick and composer Hanan Townshend. Hanan takes some time to chat about his most recent collaboration with Malick for Knight Of Cups. Hanan tells the story of how he simply answered an ad for a composer for an unnamed director, and it just so happened to be for Terrence Malick. We discuss what it's been like working with one of the most secretive and reclusive directors of our time, and how Hanan approached scoring Knight Of Cups. Some of the challenges scoring a Malick film of course are that Hanan isn't scoring to picture, and has to navigate between Malick's use of classical pieces. Hanan provides some amazing insight here and talks about the discussions he and Malick had, and what Hanan wanted the music to accomplish. Hanan also sheds some light on Malick's upcoming projects. It was a true pleasure to welcome back such a fantastic composer to Film.Music.Media.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Hanan TownshendJC ChamboredonMilan Records

Composer Interview: Kaveh Cohen & Michael Nielsen (March 17, 2016)

Kaveh Cohen & Michael Nielsen are two composers who are paving a path by bringing new approaches and unique sounds to their projects. The composing duo talks about their journey to becoming film composers and talk about how they met, and why they decided to form a partnership. We discuss how the two of them compliment each other's talents and the benefits of working with a composing partner. We speak briefly about Ninja Tracks, which is the production music company the two formed together. It's a whole different approach to the "production music library" model, and they are truly succeeding with their music in huge campaigns such as The Martian and Hardcore Henry. We dive into their score for Forza Motorsport 6 and all the challenges that come with scoring a racing game, and a franchise that is on its 6th entry. This is truly a fascinating and fun chat for anyone wanting to learn more about working relationships and how to truly bring emotional weight to the challenging genre of racing games.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Kaveh Cohen & Michael NielsenBeth KrakowerThe Krakower Group

Composer Interview: Sven Faulconer (February 15, 2016)

Composer Sven Faulconer takes some time to talk about his recent score to Blood Father starring Mel Gibson. Over the past seven years, Sven has showcased his great talent by scoring several short films and documentaries. Sven has gained invaluable experience working on scores providing synth programming and/or additional music and arrangements on some of the biggest films in the industry. Through this, he was given the chance to perfect his talent working with some of the most high profile composers in the industry. From working as a scoring assistant on Ridley Scott's Robin Hood as well as Despicable Me at Remote Control Productions, to his current ongoing collaboration with James Newton Howard. Sven has worked on many of James' scores such as Nightcrawler, The Hunger Games, The Bourne Legacy, What Lives Inside, The Green Hornet, Snow White And The Huntsman, The Tourist, Maleficent, After Earth, Cncussion and many more.
Interview Conducted By:Michael Hollands
Special Thanks:Sven Faulconer

Composer Interview: Tree Adams (February 15, 2016)

The talented and versatile Tree Adams has quickly made a name for himself by creating a unique voice and sound as a storyteller. Having Tree has a guest is a great pleasure as we discuss his unique path from performing in a band to focusing on the composing path. What sets Tree apart from other rockers is that he was classically trained when he was younger, which is now allowing him to take all his life experiences and craft some incredibly engaging music for film and television. We focus on Tree's score to the current season of The 100, which is the incredibly popular post-apocalyptic drama on The CW. The show is a dream canvass for a composer and Tree shares his approach to creating thematic arcs and building the sonic world. We touch on some of Tree's other scores such as Legends and Californication as he explores his approach over different genres. If you're a fan of The 100 be sure to find Tree Adams on twitter where he live-tweets every episode! It was a real treat and enlightening chat to delve into the musical world of Tree Adams.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Tree AdamsSabrina HutchinsonDefiant PR

All Access: Harry Gregson-Williams (February 15, 2016) *Video Interview Available

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Film.Music.Media: All Access is honored to welcome Harry Gregson-Williams as our guest. Harry has carved a path for himself in the industry by building one of the most unique sonic styles as a composer, and crafting some iconic working relationships with top directors. We discuss Harry's beginnings in England and how he went to a boarding school to be trained in a children's choir. As he grew older he found himself working with composer Richard Harvey, which led to a phone call from a German composer named Hans. Beyond his journey to the United States and setting up shop with Hans Zimmer then branching out on his own, we discuss in detail many of the approaches with the different directors Harry has worked with including the late Tony Scott. Harry talks about his love for teaching and why he decided to shutdown his mega studio and scale it back to a home studio to be near his family, and we also get an official word if he is scoring Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant or not. Harry is one of the true auteur composers working today and his sound is instantly recognizable, getting to sit down and experience his charm in person was a true joy.
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Harry Gregson-WilliamsStephanie Economou

All Access: Tim Wynn (February 5, 2016) *Video Interview Available

[Watch the video interview on our YouTube Channel]
Composer Tim Wynn sits down with Film.Music.Media for another fantastic episode in the All Access series. Tim's work in video game, film and television composing has given us some amazing scores that have stood the test of time. We spend some time here focusing on Tim's newest score to the anticipated science fiction turn-based tactical game XCOM 2. Tim talks about how he wanted the score to feel retro yet modern at the same time and talks about being influenced by Blade Runner and other classic scores of the sci-fi genre. Beyond that, Tim talks about how he found his path to film scoring. And how he and his best friend composer Christopher Lennertz roomed together, schooled together and now opened up their own dream studio together. We delve into industry talk such as how to be creative and have a voice when you have so much pressure coming from your directors, producers and studio executives. Many other industry trends and approaches are also discussed in another fantastic All Access interview.
Interview Produced & Presented By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Tim WynnGreg O'Connor-ReadTop Dollar PR

Composer Interview: David Newman (January 14, 2016)

Composer David Newman takes some time to sit down and talk about his body of work, and how being born into one of the most recognized musical families ignited his love for the craft. David goes into detail discussing topics ranging from industry trends, schedules and his approach to film scoring. We also discuss the ideal composer/director relationship while working including his body of work with director Danny DeVito. We dive into his most recent score to 5 Flights Up, and the type of approach he took to the heart-warming film starring Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton. David's career has been so rich and varied, and it has resulted in a body of work that has allowed fans worldwide to fall in love with his amazing music. It was a true pleasure to have him as a guest.
Interview Conducted By:Michael Hollands
Special Thanks:David Newman