The Film Scorer

The Angel

The Angel (Boiler Room, Kidulthood) joins The Film Scorer! Angel's latest score is for the crime thriller Heist 88, which came out last year but her score only released last month. As such, we spend much of our conversation talking about the score, including the hybrid palette, influences from Chicago's 1980s club/house music scene, and getting into Courtney B. Vance's head. We also touch on some of her other film and TV projects, her long career as a record producer and DJ, obtaining her early publishing catalog from Sony, and plenty more!

Angel's score, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms. Heist 88 is currently available on Paramount+ or on demand. You can find out more about Angel on her website.

Wilbert Roget, II

In the latest episode of The Film Scorer podcast I'm joined by Wilbert Roget, II (Star Wars: Outlaws, Helldivers 2, Mortal Kombat). While Wilbert is best known for his work scoring video games, including recently receiving a Grammy nomination for Star Wars: Outlaws, our focus is on something a little different. Wilbert has just made his first foray into scoring for tv, with the limited series Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance! As such, we dig deep into his score for the six-episode series, including building out the eclectic sonic palette, working closely with the Japanese team, being the first non-Japanese composer to score a Gundam project (and the pressures that come with that, and plenty more. He even lists some of his favorite Gundam series, both in terms of overall show as well as primarily for their score. We also drive down other avenues, such as his work on other games, scoring 48-hour game jams, and how Japanese music his significantly impacted him.

Wilbert's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is currently on Netflix (at least in most territories). You can find out more about Wilbert on his website.

Kris Bowers Scores The Wild Robot

Season 5 of The Film Scorer Podcast continues to pick up steam as Kris Bowers (Bridgerton, Green Book) joins the show! The Academy Award winner and nominee (who was just nominated for a Grammy for his score to The Color Purple a few days ago) recently scored the hit animated film The Wild Robot. As such, Kris and I spend much of our conversation talking about his score, which is both adventurous and a tearjerker, and filled with thematic exploration. The conversation touches on the challenges of scoring for animation, the increasing amount of space the film made for Kris's score, how it let Kris run wild with his passion for thematic and melodic scoring (drawing a number of Star Wars parallels), and plenty more.

Kris's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. The Wild Robot is currently in theaters, and available to watch at home now. You can find out more about Kris on his website. Kris's score for The Wild Robot has since been nominated for a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Oscar!

Amelia Warner Scores The Young Woman and the Sea

Season 5 of The Film Scorer Podcast is here! In the Season 5 premiere I chat with composer Amelia Warner. Amelia's latest score is for the Disney sports biopic Young Woman and the Sea (starring Daisy Ridley), about Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel. As such, we spend much of our conversation focused on that score, including how her score and approaches developed over time, balancing the film's sports and family aspects, working closely with legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and plenty more. Along the way, we also talk about things like Mary Shelley and the pros and cons of temp music.

Amelia's score, and much of her other music, is available on all major platforms, and Young Woman and the Sea is currently available on Disney+. You can find out more about Amelia on her website.

Season Five Trailer - The Film Scorer Podcast

Season Five of The Film Scorer Podcast is almost here! The new season launches on Sunday, October 27th, with new episodes continuing every other Sunday after that (more or less). Given the breadth of guests in season three, including Academy Award nominated actor-turned-composer Viggo Mortensen, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Abels, 2024 Academy Award nominees Jerskin Fendrix and Laura Karpman, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, you never who will show up this time around - all I can say is I already have some great guests lined up!

So subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, follow The Film Scorer on Instagram, Twitter, and Threads, and keep those ears open!

Film Score Review III: 'She Dies Tomorrow' by Mondo Boys

Dipping back into the well again, reaching to September 2020, here's the audio version (cleaned up and shortened) of my review of Mondo Boys' score for She Dies Tomorrow. Again, the audio is still a little rougher but after thirty seconds or so you don't really notice (or at least I didn't as I was editing). There's also a nauseating little cue thrown in the middle - which I embarrassingly called a "song", which Sony was kind enough to give me permission to use when I first recorded this.

I don't have a written review of this one, but I did end up reaching out to Mondo Boys shortly after and interviewing them: https://thefilmscorer.com/an-interview-with-mondo-boys/

This is one of my favorite interviews, because we recorded for about two and a half hours on a Saturday night, drinking whiskey. How I turned it into a tight, coherent, sub-hour interview I don't know...

Brooke & Will Blair (The Blair Bros.) Score Rebel Ridge

Just because the podcast is between seasons and on a brief hiatus doesn't mean that the work stops. To keep me busy, I chatted with Brooke Blair and Will Blair (Blue Ruin, Green Room), the very rare sibling composer duo, about their latest score: Rebel Ridge. Rebel Ridge marks the fifth collaboration between the Blair Bros. and director Jeremy Saulnier, and is arguably their best. As such, we spend much of our time talking about their score, including developing the palette, experimenting with and avoiding musical clichés, and mimicking cicadas as a “symphony of terror”.

Beyond that, though, we discuss what it's like to build your career alongside a director, how to uncover a director's preferences (and the benefits in doing so), working as brothers (including when their third brother, Macon (I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore) gets added to the mix, and plenty more. I even try to get a little inside information about the forthcoming Toxic Avenger film, which they scored and their brother Macon directed, but no luck. For your benefit, the first long answer you'll hear comes from Will.

Brooke and Will's score, and much of their other music, is available on all major platforms, and Rebel Ridge is currently available on Netflix. You can find out more about Brooke and Will on their website.

Film Score Recap: January Through March 2024

Welcome in the new year (and forget that it's already September) by hearing about some of the best and most notable film scores kicking off 2024, including Dune: Part 2 by Hans Zimmer, Spaceman by Max Richter, and plenty more, both big and small. Remember: the show is still in hiatus between seasons, but hopefully this can hold you over a little bit.

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

January: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-january-2024/

February: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-february-2024/ 

March: https://thefilmscorer.com/the-best-film-scores-of-march-2024/

For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

• Dune: Part 2 - Hans Zimmer
• Kung Fu Panda 4 - Steve Mazzaro and Hans Zimmer
• The Primevals - Richard Band
• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - Dario Marianelli
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - Antonio Di Iorio and Tom Holkenborg
• How to Have Sex – Jakwob
• Happy Palace - Adrian Leung
• Silent Love - Joe Hisaishi
• The Seeding - Tristan Bechet (aka TRZTN)
• Night Swim - Mark Korven
• When Evil Lurks - Pablo Fuu
• Out of Darkness - Adam Janota Bzowski
• Femme - Adam Janota Bzowski
• Drive-Away Dolls - Carter Burwell
• Spaceman - Max Richter
• Love Lies Bleeding - Clint Mansell
• Problemista - Lia Ouyang Rusli
• Cop vs. Killer - Shaun Hettinger
• The End We Start From - Anna Meredith
• Home Sweet Home - Michael Kamm, Paul Rischer, and Maximilian Stephan
• Custom - Ted Regklis
• Des Teufels Bad - Anja Plaschg (aka Soap&Skin)
• Asphalt City - Nicolas Becker and Quentin Sirjacq
• Vivre avec les loups - Armand Amar

Film Score Review II: ’Five Shaolin Masters' by Yung-Yu Chen

Somewhat early on in The Film Scorer days, I did a few video reviews of film scores. The first was the 1974 score for Five Shaolin Masters, by the prolific Chinese composer Yung-Yu Chen. Given that the show is currently between seasons, there's a bit of time to kill (and I know you're all clamoring for new episodes), so I've decided to clean these up a bit and release them through the podcast as well. First off: Chen's score.

The audio here is a little rougher than you're used to, as it may have been before I even owned a mic. But that's balanced out by a nice little capture of the main motif of the score that comes about halfway through. This also went surprisingly "viral" on YouTube, racking up nearly 60,000 views. If you enjoy this and want some more, just let me know - I've been meaning to record some more reviews and keep procrastinating...

You can also read my review here: https://thefilmscorer.com/five-shaolin-masters-yung-yu-chen-1974-film-score-review/

Daniel Hart

We've reached the end . . . of season 4. To commemorate the occasion, Daniel Hart (The Green Knight, A Ghost Story) joins The Film Scorer! Daniel is fresh off of scoring season 2 of Interview with the Vampire, which itself had its season finale only a couple of weeks ago. As such, Daniel and I spend a lot of the interview discussing his scores for both seasons of the show (and some hints about what's to come in the newly-announced season 3). We then break out from there, discussing Philip Glass, the prospects of writing a recorder concerto, and plenty more.

Daniel's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms, and the series is available on AMC. You can find out more about Daniel on his website.