Composer John Paesano on Scoring A Hero’s Journey in “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”

Editor’s note: This article contains light spoilers for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

“What’s interesting about this film, and it played into our favor, is you couldn’t score it like you could a normal film that’s been done the last ten years,” says composer John Paesano about director Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. “A lot of it wasn’t conceived by the time we started working on it because it was so visual effects heavy.”

What that meant for the composer was coming up with ideas that were emotionally connected to the characters rather than composing for pictures on a screen.

Composer and Virtuoso Guitarist Byeong Woo Lee on Scoring Films For Bong Joon Ho

Byeong Woo Lee is a man of many talents. He’s a virtuoso guitarist and guitar designer, a successful pop musician, a graphic designer, and an educator. As a classical guitarist, he’s performed with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Korean Symphony, and more. After stints in Vienna and Seoul, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he continued his ongoing study into musical traditions at Johns Hopkins’ Peabody Conservatory. It was there that he broadened his musical aperture to include film composing.

Legendary Composer Charles Fox Gets His Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

On Friday, April 5, composer Charles Fox was awarded a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in recognition of his remarkable career creating themes for television series like Love, American Style, Happy Days, The Love Boat, scores for more than 100 movies like Foul Play and 9 to 5, and the Grammy-winner, “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” His orchestral compositions include three full-length ballets. His awards include two Emmys,

“Shōgun” Score: Atticus Ross & Co Meld Ancient Soul to Modern Tech

Composer Atticus Ross teamed with Trent Reznor over the past 15 years to conjure dread-filled tension in David Fincher thrillers The Social Network, Gone Girl, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before plunging into afterlife limbo with their Oscar-winning score for Soul. But Atticus was on a new journey to the realm of feudal Japan when, in 2021, producer Jamie Wheeler approached him about scoring Shōgun in collaboration with his younger brother Leo Ross and longtime engineer Nick Chuba.

Hans Zimmer on Unearthing New Sounds for “Dune: Part Two”

If you’ve seen any notable film in the past 40-something years, chances are you’ve heard Hans Zimmer’s work. 

From his two Academy awards (The Lion King in 1994 and Dune: Part One in 2021) to his three Golden Globes, four Grammys, a BAFTA, and various other accolades — his resume extends beyond any category, label or genre and becomes almost a style all on its own. 

“The Last Repair Shop” Co-Composer & Co-Director Kris Bowers on his Perfectly Tuned Oscar-Nominated Doc

Composer Kris Bowers has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most versatile film scorers with a stunning list of credits, including Ava DuVernay’s Origin, The Color Purple, and the upcoming Bob Marley: One Love. But Bowers is also the Oscar-nominated co-director of this year’s documentary short The Last Repair Shop, which spotlighted a story right in Bowers’s backyard.

“The Color Purple” Composer Kris Bowers on Creating a Melodic Symphony Fit for Celie’s Journey

Composer Kris Bowers didn’t have to read the script before saying yes to Blitz Bazawule’s emotionally captivating version of The Color Purple. He was already a fan of his work, particularly the director’s debut, The Burial of Kojo, and Beyoncé’s visual album Black is King.

For this collaboration, early discussions focused on “being innovative musically” and connecting themes to one of the two dozen plus songs featured in the heartfelt musical that sees actor Fantasia Barrino playing the role of Celie,

Best of 2023: Hit Makers Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt on Adding a Pop Punch to “Barbie” Soundtrack

*It’s our annual “Best of the Year” look back at some of our favorite interviews from the year. 

Before Barbie, before producing Bruno Mars and Adele, before winning an Oscar for co-writing Lady Gaga’s duet “Shallow” for A Star Is Born, Mark Ronson made a living in New York City as a deejay pulling from his encyclopedic knowledge of musical genres from many eras. Ronson’s talents earned wide acclaim when he co-produced Amy Winehouse’s breakthrough album “Back to Black”

“Wish” Composer David Metzger on Getting the Stars to Align for His Heartfelt Score

The Walt Disney Company celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and, in honor of the milestone, released a new animated feature, Wish, just before Thanksgiving. Directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn (both of Frozen) and written by Jennifer Lee and Allison More, Wish is set centuries ago in the magical Spanish Mediterranean island kingdom of Rosas. Until heroine Asha (Ariane DeBose) gets her bearings,

Hit Makers Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt on Adding a Pop Punch to “Barbie” Soundtrack

Before Barbie, before producing Bruno Mars and Adele, before winning an Oscar for co-writing Lady Gaga’s duet “Shallow” for A Star Is Born, Mark Ronson made a living in New York City as a deejay pulling from his encyclopedic knowledge of musical genres from many eras. Ronson’s talents earned wide acclaim when he co-produced Amy Winehouse’s breakthrough album “Back to Black” in 2006. Since then, Ronson and his frequent collaborator Andrew Wyatt have gained a reputation as studio-savvy hitmakers in collaboration with a wide range of high-wattage talent.

“Dumb Money” Music Supervisor Susan Jacobs Takes it to the Bank With Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar, & Unknown Artists

In telling the true story of the 2021 Wall Street GameStop meltdown, Dumb Money (in theaters now) needed to transport audiences straight back to their Pandemic-era head spaces when grassroots investors led by Keith “Roaring Kitty” Gill (Paul Dano) defied hedge fund managers to boost the stock value of a previously obscure company. Intent on setting a period-perfect tone, director Craig Gillespie asked music supervisor Susan Jacobs to wrangle hip-hop tracks redolent of the COVID era.

Composer Kelly Mac Captures the Celestial Spirit of “Donyale Luna: Supermodel”

Donyale Luna was a whimsical invention. Born Peggy Ann Freeman in Detroit, she molded herself into a star. Luna conceived of and then captured remote dreams of glamour, fame, and adventure in the fashion industry. A tragically forgotten figure, the new documentary Donyale Luna: Supermodel – from director Nailah Jefferson – is a much-needed exploration into the making of an icon.

Composer Kelly Mac absorbs and reflects the complexity of Luna’s life through the film’s score.

Best of Summer 2023: “Oppenheimer” Composer Ludwig Göransson Creates a New Kind of Atomic Scale

*It’s our annual “Best of Summer” look back at some (not all) of our favorite interviews from the past few months. This non-comprehensive look back includes the Barbenheimer phenomenon and the wonderful interviews that followed those two history-making films, chats with the talented folks behind Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, our profile of MPA Creator Award Recipient and filmmaker extraordinaire Gina Prince-Bythewood and more.

When Chris Nolan wrapped Tenet in 2919,

Beyond the Craft With Emmy Nominees From “The Last of Us,” “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” & More

A ruined world, decimated by a fungi-borne plague and teeming with zombified hordes and hardened survivors who can be just as dangerous. A biopic about one of the all-time greatest musical tricksters who created an astonishingly successful career parodying hit songs. A reality show where contestants move into a palatial castle and need to cohere as a team to complete a series of increasingly difficult missions to earn big money, with some in the group committed to thwarting their ambitions from within.

“Oppenheimer” Composer Ludwig Göransson Creates a New Kind of Atomic Scale

When Chris Nolan wrapped Tenet in 2919, actor Robert Pattinson gave him a book of J. Robert Oppenheimer speeches as a parting gift. That tome led Nolan to Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.” For the next three years, Nolan used the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography as the foundation for what critics are hailing as his most mature, emotional work. 

Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) as the brilliant physicist who was tapped to run the Manhattan Project,

“Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” Songwriter Justin Tranter on Capturing That ’50s Musical Magic

The Tony-nominated Broadway musical Grease captured a generation following its theatrical release in 1978, an era-defining film that starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John as a pair of unlikely teens falling in love. Since then, the beloved musical has been revived on Broadway, produced a movie sequel, and turned into a live television show. Debuting this April on Paramount+, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies continues the 1950s nostalgia with a new cast and storyline that takes place four years before the original film.

“The White Lotus” Emmy-Nominated Music Supervisor Gabe Hilfer on Mia’s Musical Chops, Tanya’s Swan Song & More

Season two of Mike White’s killer satire The White Lotus established, from that gorgeous opening title sequence, that it was going to be a thing of beauty to hear as well as behold. Sure, you can hardly find a more lush location than Sicily, where this particular outpost of the titular resort chain is located, but Italy is more than just a feast for the eyes and, if you’re lucky enough to visit,

“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” Composer Jongnic Bontemps Lets the Emotion Ride

Paramount’s Transformers franchise was conceived by Michael Bay as a maximalist epic of crunching, crashing, morphing metal beasts and the humans caught in the metallic whirlwind of their drama. With director Steven Caple Jr. in the director’s chair for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the series now strives to balance the character and the spectacle in a fashion similar to director Travis Knight’s spinoff film Bumblebee,

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” Composer Daniel Pemberton Reveals a Few Score Secrets

Daniel Pemberton knows how to create energy. The composer, who’s frequently worked with filmmakers Aaron Sorkin, Danny Boyle, and Guy Ritchie, is a musician with an ear for the eclectic and electric. For proof, look and listen no further than his lush score for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Pemberton scores different universes, Spider-Men and Spider-Women—and everything Spider-Inbetween. The thematic throughline is capturing the journey of Miles Morales’ (voiced by Shameik Moore) as he swings across the multiverse.

Music Supervisor Alex Patsavas Gives “Queen Charlotte” a Majestic Soundscape

While gossip is the prevailing currency on Bridgerton, the emotional depth of Queen Charlotte is Her Majesty’s greatest asset. For a woman who can seem quite cold in the original series, a peek into her own lonely bedchamber is, at times, searing.

The intertwining pasts of the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel), Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), and Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) reveal the women as tender,