Film.Music.Media

Composer Interview: Ramin Djawadi (December 22, 2012)

The always delightful Ramin Djawadi talks about his busy year that includes Game Of Thrones, Person Of Interest, Red Dawn, Safe House and Medal Of Honor: Warfighter. We chat extensively about the differences between working on a cable show and a network show. He shares a lot about his process for Game Of Thrones, what it's like scoring a procedural type show like Person Of Interest and his return to the Medal Of Honor franchise. Ramin was the first composer ever to have an audio interview on Film, Music & Media and it was a pleasure to talk to him once more. Ramin will be composing the highly anticipated Pacific Rim for Guillermo del Toro next year. Enjoy!
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Ramin DjawadiBeth KrakowerCinemedia Promotions

Composer Interview: Joshua R. Mosley & David Kates (December 2, 2012)

Composers Joshua R. Mosley and David Kates talk about their teaming up for the feature length animated film, Mass Effect: Paragon Lost. The film, which further explores the Mass Effect universe through the backstory of James Vega from Mass Effect 3 played by Freddie Prinze, Jr. The two talk about how they came to collaborate together. Joshua talks about what he wanted to add to the Mass Effect universe and David talks about how he wanted to continue what he and previous collaborators established in Mass Effect 1 & 2. The duo also explains scoring an animated feature and how they've actually never met the director Atsushi Takeuchi who hails from Japan. A great interview with two fantastic composers.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Joshua R. MosleyDavid KatesGreg O' Connor-ReadTop Dollar PR

Composer Interview: J. Ralph (November 17, 2012)

Composer J. Ralph talks about his recent score to Chasing Ice. Chasing Ice is a fascinating look behind James Balog's quest to gain physical proof of climate change. Ralph talks about his approach for documentaries including his work on The Cove and Man On Wire. He describes what he wanted to achieve musically especially here with Chasing Ice and all its amazing cinematography. We touch on Hurricane Sandy, which devastated his hometown in New York and how Sandy was a sobering wakeup call that echoes the message of the film. Ralph is a self taught composer with no training or classical music knowledge and to hear his approach as a musician who works based off feeling was supremely interesting.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:J. RalphJeff SandersonDan BarryChasen & Company
Photography Credit:C. Taylor Crothers

Composer Interview: Yoav Goren (November 7, 2012)

Yoav Goren is an amazing composer who is also the co-founder of Immediate Music, a music production company that specializes in trailer music. Immediate Music a true original in the market of trailer music companies. Since the early 90's you have probably heard their iconic music in tons of advertising campaigns. Yoav talks about the nature of the business and we chant about how trailers are an underappreciated art form. We discuss how trailers have changed over the years and trends that have come and gone. I also ask Yoav to share is thoughts on the Inception trailer trend that has just recently started to die down. We also discuss how demand for this music from the public has grown and why he decided to start releasing their music on albums, including the recent Trailerhead: Triumph album. A great and insightful interview with a composer who has been part of my musical listening for as long as I've been listening.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Yoav GorenGreg O' Connor-ReadTop Dollar PR

Composer Interview: Penka Kouneva (October 5, 2012)

Penka Kouneva takes some time to talk about her new album, A Warrior's Odyssey. Penka is no stranger to blockbusters as she has worked on films like Transformers, The Matrix Revolutions and Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End. She composed Midnight Movie and co-composed Prince Of Persia: The Forgotten Sands with Steve Jablonsky among many other projects. We talk about the inspiration for doing the album, which leads into a detailed discussion of sound and image. She explains how images inspire sound and how it works the other way where sound inspires images. Since the album is not composed for a specific picture she shares what her visual inspirations were for writing the pieces. She shares a bit about her upbringing and how she incorporated that into the music to make the musical journey a personal one. A terrific interview from a terrific composer.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Penka Kouneva

Composer Interview: Paul Leonard-Morgan (September 28, 2012)

Paul has scored a bevy of fantastic projects including Limitless, the hit show MI-5 (Spooks) and now the sci-fi action extravaganza Dredd. We talk about his approach for the score and how he wanted to do a different kind of blockbuster. He makes his case for his electronic-heavy sound and what he wanted to do to escape the traditional sound Hollywood usually goes after in action movies. We also chat about how his music had to compete with sound effects in the final mix and if action score should work precisely with the heavy editing or sort of flow underneath. Paul is always great fun to chat with and it was an honor to have him back on F.M.M. Enjoy!
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Paul Leonard MorganCaroline GormanDianne Stevenson
Photography By:Alexander Newton

Composer Interview: Marcelo Zarvos (September 20, 2012)

The always amazing Marcelo Zarvos takes some time to talk about his recent score to The Words and his upcoming score to Barry Levinson's The Bay. We chat about his upbringing and how he came to compose for films. He describes his approach and goal for The Words. He then shares about his working relationship with Barry Levinson who he has composed 3 films for and counting. He shares what it was like to venture into found footage territory with Barry, which is a new area for both storytellers. A really great interview with an amazing composer.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Marcelo ZarvosBeth KrakowerCinemedia Promotions

Director Interview: Mark Nistico (September 16, 2012)

Director Mark Nistico talks about his new film, Blue Collar Boys. His film revolves around a construction worker trying to keep his family's business afloat while doing whatever is necessary to bring money in. The tense drama won Best Picture in the micro budget category at the Toronto Independent Film Festival. Mark talks about the inspiration for the film and what it's like being the director, writer, producer and editor. He shares how he worked with composer Joe Lapinski to craft the score as well. Mark gives a lot of great and insightful information for any independent filmmakers out there and it was a real pleasure to talk to him.
Interview Conducted By:Kaya Savas
Special Thanks:Mark NisticoChandler PolingWhite Bear PR

Composer Interview: Anton Sanko (August 30, 2012)

Emmy winning composer Anton Sanko shares some insight behind his score for The Possession. The composer is no stranger to the genre with amazing work on film like The Last Winter. He shares his approach and we chat about the challenge of humanizing characters while still achieving the goal of thrilling the audience. He talks about the duality of the piano and how it can be dark or warming plus describes certain scenes that relied almost on 100% score with no diegetic sound. Some great insight from a composer who knows how to execute within the thriller/horror genre.

Composer Interview: Tony Morales (August 29, 2012)

Tony Morales takes some time to chat about his recent Emmy nominated score for Hatfields & McCoys, which he co-composed with John Debney. Tony explains the research that went into the music in finding the style of the setting and era through instrumentation. He also shares how John and him structured the score for such a massive mini-series and how they condensed the score for an album release. A great talent and a great interview.