“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,

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Composer John Murphy Channels Rocket’s Emotional Journey

“It felt, to me, that this might be the most important of the Guardians for James [Gunn],” says Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 composer John Murphy after reading the script. “What struck me was how much darker the story was compared to the first two films. When I say darker, I mean emotionally within the characters. It became obvious the story descended upon Rocket [voiced by Bradley Cooper] and it was fascinating to have all this backstory revealed and to find out how Rocket came to be and what shaped the character.”

Exploring Rocket’s emotional roots became the North Star for Murphy in composing the score for Gunn’s third and reported final installment to the space saga.

“Hypnotic” Composer Rebel Rodriguez on Scoring The Robert Rodriguez/Ben Affleck Head-Trip Thriller

Rebel Rodriguez knew about Hypnotic even before the screenplay was written. The composer is one of the sons of its writer-director Robert Rodriguez, the famed helmer behind countless cult classics like From Dusk Till Dawn, the neo-noir stylized Sin City, Planet Terror, and the blood thirst avenge tour Machete. “This idea has been gestating for like 20 years,” says Rebel of Hypnotic,

“Awkwafina is Nora From Queens” Composer Tangelene Bolton Drops the Needle

“I’ve been playing music since I was two or three, piano specifically, and then I was really into film starting in middle school, and I thought, ooh, maybe I’ll be a director one day,” says composer Tangelene Bolton, whose work can currently be heard on season three of Awkwafina is Nora From Queens. “I started experimenting with making a bunch of short films, and I realized the music heavily influenced how I approached cutting the footage and telling the story.

“Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham” Composer Stefan L. Smith Draws out the Darkness

Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham submerges Bruce Wayne (David Giuntoli) in a world of magic, myths, and monsters. Set a century ago in the roaring 20s, the glamour and grandeur of Gotham glimmer beneath an evil awakening set to consume the city. The edgy animated style based on the 2000-2001 comic book miniseries by Mike Mignola and Richard Pace is appropriately avant-garde and calls for an epic, atmospheric score. Composer Stefan L.

“Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” Composer Christophe Beck on Kang, the Langs, & Depeche Mode

Christophe Beck is one of the most prominent composers in the Marvel sandbox. He not only scored all three Ant-Man films but co-composed Hawkeye and, to great acclaim, WandaVision. After eight years of collaborating with the Marvel team, Beck is well-versed in the MCU’s sonic landscape.

The composer’s first collaboration with director Peyton Reed was years before he composed themes for Ant-Man’s miniaturized adventures.

“Babylon” Composer Justin Hurwitz Deconstructs His Oscar-Shortlisted Score

“I’m very obsessive, and I can only do one thing at a time, so when Damien has a movie to work on, I go all in.” That’s composer Justin Hurwitz talking about his ongoing collaboration with filmmaker Damien Chazelle, and clearly, the laser vision has paid off. Hurwitz started working on his Oscar short-listed score for Babylon back in 2019, a few years after winning two Academy Awards for the Chazelle-directed La La Land.

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” Composer Chanda Dancy on Scoring Whitney Houston’s Complex Life

When the shortlist for the 2023 Oscars was announced, composer Chanda Dancy was included for her work on the film Devotion. If she is nominated, she’ll make history as the first Black female composer to be nominated for an Academy Award. Dancy brings that winning streak into 2023 with her score for the new film Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Naomi Ackie as Houston.

Best of 2022: “Stranger Things 4” Music Editor Lena Glikson on Cutting Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”

It’s that time of year—we look back on a few of our favorite interviews from 2022 in our annual year-end list.

From the get-go, Netflix hit Stranger Things has excelled in the art and craft of needle drops. Encompassing eighties classics from David Bowie’s “Heroes” in Season One to “Everlasting Love” in Season Three, song choices curated by three-time Emmy-nominated music supervisor Nora Felder have consistently amplified the characters’

“Devotion” Score Mixer Alvin Wee on Letting the Music & Emotion Take Flight

Growing up in Malaysia, Alvin Wee was drawn to “big action movies” such as the Harry Potter series and Transformers. “I liked sensory overload, the loud, visual spectacle. My favorite movie was Superman with Christopher Reeve. It’s also my favorite score, by John Williams,” says Wee, the Score Mixer on Sony’s Devotion, now in theaters. Wee was also the score mixer for Disney’s Encanto,

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Composer Ludwig Göransson on the Score’s Secret Weapon

One of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler’s closest collaborators throughout his entire Marvel journey has been composer Ludwig Göransson. Beginning with Coogler’s 2018 Black Panther, Göransson has been by his side, helping him breathe life into the music and sounds of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Along with other key collaborators like costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler,

“Women Talking” Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir on Scoring Sarah Polley’s Astonishing New Film

Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, writer/director Sarah Polley’s new narrative Women Talking considers how a group of women can move forward after the shocking betrayal and abuse by men in their isolated religious community. The backstory of the novel and subsequent film, which is set in 2010, mirrors horrific true events that took place at a Mennonite colony in Bolivia. For over four years, nine men secretly sedated over a hundred girls and women,

How “Causeway” Composer Alex Somers Cued the Cellos for Jennifer Lawrence’s New Drama

Jennifer Lawrence reanimates a no-frills acting style harkening to her 2010 breakthrough performance in Winter’s Bone with the new indie film Causeway. Directed by Lila Neugebauer and set in New Orleans, Causeway (in theaters now [Oct. 28] and streaming November 4 on Apple TV+) casts Lawrence as a soldier who’s returned from Afghanistan to her hometown burdened with physical wounds and PTSD. 

Lawrence’s solemn performance opposite Brian Tyree Henrys enjoys subtle boosts from composer Alex Somers’

“Coco” and “Encanto” Composer Germaine Franco on Finding Musical Inspiration at its Source

In 2016, composer and multi-instrumentalist Germaine Franco was the first Latina and first woman of color invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences music branch. With 2021’s Encanto, she was the first woman to score a Disney animated feature and the first Latina to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. In a world where female composers still make up only a fraction of those hired for studio projects,

“She-Hulk” Composer Amie Doherty on Blending Megan Thee Stallion With Marvel’s Orchestral Bombast

With 2021’s Spirit Untamed, composer Amie Doherty became the first woman to score a DreamWorks animated feature film. Known for her work on The High Note and Happiest Season, she has also made a name for herself as an orchestrator. Her most recent project is as the composer for the Marvel series She-Hulk, where she has combined the bombastic, orchestral Marvel style with a very modern and beat-driven aesthetic that gives the show its unique sound. 

Best of Summer: “Elvis” Composer Elliott Wheeler on The King’s Music & That Doja Cat Collab

As we’ve done for the past few summers, we’ve compiled a few of our favorite interviews to highlight in this last week of August. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but a little taste of some of the great conversations we’ve had during these hot summer months. Bring on sweater season. 

The dazzling visuals of director Baz Luhrmann’s spine-tingling biopic of Elvis, which were beautifully shot by cinematographer Mandy Walker,

Best of Summer: “Stranger Things 4” Music Editor Lena Glikson on Cutting Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”

As we’ve done for the past few summers, we’ve compiled a few of our favorite interviews to highlight in this last week of August. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but a little taste of some of the great conversations we’ve had during these hot summer months. Bring on sweater season. 

From the get-go, Netflix hit Stranger Things has excelled in the art and craft of needle drops.