Composer Talk

Our next composer is an American born composer (of Taiwanese, Chinese, and Japanese descent) and a nerd at heart. He is known for his work on 4 seasons of Escape the Night (YouTube Originals), 2 seasons of Wil Wheaton's TableTop (Geek & Sundry), co-writing a song with Marvel legend Stan Lee, and is the creator of Star Wars Musical, a spoof of Star Wars as a Disney Musical.

He was selected as one of eight composers to the inaugural class of the universal Film Composer Initiative, the first Hollywood studio program to nurture diverse voices in composing, and includes mentorship with Universal Film Music executives and DreamWorks Animation executives. He actively advocates for the need for diverse voices in composing through his work on the Composers Diversity Collective Executive Committee.

The composer is... George Shaw

A protege of Oscar-nominated composer John Powell, this next guest has become a sought after talent, contributing additional music to many of Hollywood’s major franchises including How to Train your Dragon, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, Wreck-it Ralph, Rio,  & Despicable Me among others.

As a lead composer, he scored the drama thriller Promising Young Woman starring Carey Mulligan which premiered at Sundance 2020. His other credits include NBC/Universal’s How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming holiday special, and Sony Playstation’s action-platformer video game Knack II.

The composer is. Anthony Willis

Our next guest is a German-born film composer based in Los Angeles. He’s best known for his work on the highly successful, romantic comedy trilogy, Netflix' The Kissing Booth. The sequel was released in summer 2020 and once again, achieved a record-shattering number of streams on the platform. The release of The Kissing Booth 3 will premiere in the spring of  2021.

​In 2007, he became an integral part of Aaron Zigman’s team where he earned credits on top-grossing films such as The Proposal, The Ugly Truth, Sex and the City: The Movie, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, and The Shack. The composer’s other credits include Disney’s first nature documentary Earth, the eclectic and intimate score for the Mar Del Plata Film Festival Grand Prize Winner Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), as well as his powerful lyrical score for Der Grosse Kater (The Big Cat). In 2017, he wrote the score for Seaworld’s new documentary-style show Orca Encounter. Most recently, he scored the Swedish survival drama Breaking Surface, the political documentary Welcome to Pine Lake (CBSN), the opioid crime drama Inherit the Viper (Lionsgate), and contributed to the score of the comedy The War with Grandpa, starring Robert De Niro.

As an integral part of the thriving media industry in Los Angeles, he continues to share classic composition techniques and new innovations through both his work as a respected composer and as a professor at the University of Southern California.

The composer is... Patrick Kirst

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My next guest is the best sound designer I know! He’s contributed his unique sounds and synthetic textures to projects including Bloodshot, Dunkirk, Tag, and Marvel’s Iron Man VR game among others

The Sound Designer is... Drew Jordan
If you enjoyed this episode, I please ask that you might go to this link: https://gf.me/u/zanc94
Drew's brother was recently involved in a car accident and I ask that if you are able, that you donate to his Spinal Injury Recovery Fund at the link above. 

Our next guest is one of my favorite composers in the video game world. This ASCAP winning and MTV VMA nominated composer has received widespread industry acclaim for his world-class produced hybrid scores featured in film, television and video games such as Machine Games’ WOLFENSTEIN : Youngblood & Cyberpilot, Microsoft’s iconic HALO series (G.A.N.G. Best Original Soundtrack Award), Ubisoft’s PRINCE OF PERSIA: The Forgotten Sands and RED STEEL (IGN Award for Best Original Score), Tom Clancy’s GHOST RECON and H.A.W.X  series, as well as the epic theme music for the record-breaking online multiplayer game PLAYERUNKNOWN’s BATTLEGROUNDS, which has sold in excess of 50 million units with over 400 million players. His long-time collaborations with 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios include the re-imagined soundtracks to HALO: Combat Evolved Anniversary and HALO 2: Anniversary, as well as composing the original scores for HALO: Spartan Assault and HALO: Spartan Strike (the first HALO video game to be released on Apple devices). Additionally, he returned to the beloved sci-fi franchise to score the animated series, HALO: The Fall of Reach, adapted from the best-selling novel and produced by the award-winning animation studio Sequence. His third solo outing in the iconic HALO universe, he also composed, arranged and produced the first original pop song in the franchise’s history, “Take This Life”, featured exclusively on HALO: The Fall of Reach soundtrack.  

Prior to his composing career, this composer toured with and worked on releases by a diverse array of popular recording artists. After several years of touring, he became increasingly immersed in studio work, producing, remixing and songwriting. Recording under the artist name “Atlas Plug,” he released the critically acclaimed electronic / orchestral music album “2 Days or Die” which quickly caught the attention of leading music supervisors. His album introduced a new hybrid sound to the visual entertainment industry at large, garnering high-profile placements on numerous television shows, international commercials and movie trailers, simultaneously launching his music career in video games, which he continues to embrace as a cutting-edge and powerful musical voice in modern scoring. He also has a new masterclass available on his website teaching you the fundamentals of videogame scoring! 

The composer is... Tom Salta

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Our next guest is one of my favorite composers in the video game world. This ASCAP winning and MTV VMA nominated composer has received widespread industry acclaim for his world-class produced hybrid scores featured in film, television and video games such as Machine Games’ WOLFENSTEIN : Youngblood & Cyberpilot, Microsoft’s iconic HALO series (G.A.N.G. Best Original Soundtrack Award), Ubisoft’s PRINCE OF PERSIA: The Forgotten Sands and RED STEEL (IGN Award for Best Original Score), Tom Clancy’s GHOST RECON and H.A.W.X  series, as well as the epic theme music for the record-breaking online multiplayer game PLAYERUNKNOWN’s BATTLEGROUNDS, which has sold in excess of 50 million units with over 400 million players. His long-time collaborations with 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios include the re-imagined soundtracks to HALO: Combat Evolved Anniversary and HALO 2: Anniversary, as well as composing the original scores for HALO: Spartan Assault and HALO: Spartan Strike (the first HALO video game to be released on Apple devices). Additionally, he returned to the beloved sci-fi franchise to score the animated series, HALO: The Fall of Reach, adapted from the best-selling novel and produced by the award-winning animation studio Sequence. His third solo outing in the iconic HALO universe, he also composed, arranged and produced the first original pop song in the franchise’s history, “Take This Life”, featured exclusively on HALO: The Fall of Reach soundtrack.  

Prior to his composing career, this composer toured with and worked on releases by a diverse array of popular recording artists. After several years of touring, he became increasingly immersed in studio work, producing, remixing and songwriting. Recording under the artist name “Atlas Plug,” he released the critically acclaimed electronic / orchestral music album “2 Days or Die” which quickly caught the attention of leading music supervisors. His album introduced a new hybrid sound to the visual entertainment industry at large, garnering high-profile placements on numerous television shows, international commercials and movie trailers, simultaneously launching his music career in video games, which he continues to embrace as a cutting-edge and powerful musical voice in modern scoring. He also has a new masterclass available on his website teaching you the fundamentals of videogame scoring! 

The composer is... Tom Salta

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Our next guest is a multi-platinum selling record producer, composer, musician, and DJ who challenges categorization; equipped with an instinctual ear for creating music and an insatiable drive to explore the aural spectrum. 

He’s composed music for video games including Dota 2 and Counter-Strike GO and has sound design credits on films ranging from Captain Marvel, Deadpool 2, and Blade Runner 2049 to Incredibles 2 and Motherless Brooklyn. He’s also the host of one of my favorite podcasts, Tap Tempo. Fun fact, we also were the two Matt's tasked by Unfiltered Audio to do the artist presets for the free Pendulate Synth Plug-in! 

The composer is... Matt Lange

Our next guest recently scored Netflix’s Princess Switch: Switched Again, starring Vanessa Hudgens and directed by Mike Rohl; Netflix’s Holiday in the Wild, starring Kristin Davis and Rob Lowe, directed by Ernie Barbarash; and the prestigious BBC program Natural World, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

He has scored more than 50 films and TV shows including Netflix’s The Most Hated Woman In America, starring Academy Award winner Melissa Leo and directed by Tommy O’Haver; Billy Raftery’s documentary Angels In Exile, narrated by Charlize Theron; HBO’s Golden-Globe winning and Emmy Award-winning series Sex and the City, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon; Golden Globe nominee An American Crime, starring Ellen Page and Catherine Keener; 15 seasons of the Real Housewives franchise; National Geographic’s “Best Nature Programming” Emmy-nominated wildlife documentary Swamp of the Baboons, and many more.

The composer is... Alan Lazar

Our next guest recently scored Netflix’s Princess Switch: Switched Again, starring Vanessa Hudgens and directed by Mike Rohl; Netflix’s Holiday in the Wild, starring Kristin Davis and Rob Lowe, directed by Ernie Barbarash; and the prestigious BBC program Natural World, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

He has scored more than 50 films and TV shows including Netflix’s The Most Hated Woman In America, starring Academy Award winner Melissa Leo and directed by Tommy O’Haver; Billy Raftery’s documentary Angels In Exile, narrated by Charlize Theron; HBO’s Golden-Globe winning and Emmy Award-winning series Sex and the City, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon; Golden Globe nominee An American Crime, starring Ellen Page and Catherine Keener; 15 seasons of the Real Housewives franchise; National Geographic’s “Best Nature Programming” Emmy-nominated wildlife documentary Swamp of the Baboons, and many more.

The composer is... Alan Lazar

Our next guest has emerged as a fresh voice in the world of scoring music to picture as evidenced by her score to the upcoming Lionsgate comedy Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar starring Kristen Wiig and Jamie Dornan, co-composed with Christopher Lennertz. Her credits include the Netflix docuseries Trial By Media, the independent film Turner Risk, and the Karen Allen-starred film Colewell, for which she won a 2019 Hollywood Music in Media award. Up next for her is the FX series Pride and the action crime drama Echo Boomers starring Michael Shannon. 

As a score producer and composer of additional music for Chris Lennertz, she has contributed to major motion picture films including Bad Moms, A Bad Mom’s Christmas, the action-comedy sequel Shaft, Amazon's highly acclaimed television series The Boys, Netflix’s sci-fi series Lost in Space, Smurfs: The Lost Village, Baywatch, Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, Pitch Perfect 3, Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, The Happytime Murders, Uglydolls, and A Madea Family Funeral, as well as the long-running CW show Supernatural. In 2015, she was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award for her score on the short film Undetectable, and in 2016, she was asked to take part in Women in Film’s Women Composers in Media concert. In 2018, she was chosen as a fellow for the Sundance Institute Composers Lab and the following year she was chosen as one the BMI Conducting for Composers Fellows.

The composer is... Dara Taylor