Tag Archives: SoundWorks Collection

Ludwig Goransson on “Black Panther”

Just a week before he won two Grammy Awards (one for Song of the Year, one for Original Score), I interviewed Swedish composer Ludwig Goransson about his acclaimed, Oscar-nominated score for the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther. We shot it for Michael Coleman’s SoundWorks Collection at Goransson’s studio and incorporates on-location footage of him recording musicians in Africa. The day after the Grammy Awards, I discovered that Ludwig’s wins set a record for a musician working in two vastly different genres and wrote about it for Variety.

Marc Shaiman on “Mary Poppins Returns”

Composer-songwriter Marc Shaiman earned his sixth and seventh Oscar nominations for music in the long-awaited Mary Poppins Returns: for original score, and original song (“The Place Where Lost Things Go” with his co-lyricist Scott Wittman). It was a long odyssey, involving months developing the storyline, writing and rewriting the songs, flying to London to rehearse with the actors, and finally recording the dramatic score. We discussed all of this in a video interview for SoundWorks Collection — interestingly, at Shaiman’s former Los Angeles studio where he had written the music and songs for his earlier Oscar nominees. (A few days later, I was able to interview both Marc and Scott at a SAG-AFTRA screening of the film in Beverly Hills.)

Nicholas Britell on “If Beale Street Could Talk”

Composer Nicholas Britell earned his second Oscar nomination this year for the intimate, emotional score for If Beale Street Could Talk. This was his second film (after Moonlight) with director Barry Jenkins, who was a close collaborator on the music, Britell says in this video interview taped three weeks before the Oscars. Britell not only discusses the composing process, he performs one of the score’s main themes at the piano.

Video interviews with Oscar-nominated composers

Justin Hurwitz talks about composing the songs and score for La La Land; Dustin O’Halloran discusses the complexities of writing the music for Lion with another composer on the other side of the world; and Nicholas Britell explains how a hip-hop technique informed his piano-and-violin score for Moonlight. SoundWorks Collection offered a rare opportunity to go in-depth with each of these Oscar-nominated composers, talking about the unique challenges of each film and even playing their key themes at the piano. Here is the Hurwitz video, shot in a unique North Hollywood location; here is O’Halloran, in his Los Angeles studio; and here is Britell, talking and performing in L.A.’s legendary Nightbird studio. The series is called “Road to the Oscars,” and I was delighted to be its host.

The editor is also the composer!

John Ottman, who is as skilled an editor as he is a composer, has filled both jobs again (as well as being a co-producer) on the action-packed, visual-effects-filled X-Men: Apocalypse, which opens this weekend. In this fascinating interview for SoundWorks Collection, Ottman talks about his triple-threat role, how complex the job was, whether he thinks about music while he’s cutting the film, and much, much more. This was his third X-Men film (after X2 and Days of Future Past) and his 10th project with director Bryan Singer.

Henry Jackman on “Captain America: Civil War”

The first of my online video interviews for SoundWorks Collection this year is with composer Henry Jackman, whose massive, muscular score is helping to drive Captain America: Civil War to the top of the summer box office. Jackman is a smart, funny, classically educated Englishman whose additional experience in pop music has helped to make him a bankable composer for such A-list movies as Wreck-It-Ralph and Big Hero 6. His earlier Marvel movies included X-Men: First Class and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Our lengthy conversation took place in his Santa Monica studio and is punctuated with the composer playing his themes at the piano as well as plenty of behind-the-scenes footage.

The Danna brothers and “Good Dinosaur”

It must be awards season, because the screenings are now nonstop and I’m being asked to conduct composer Q&As almost every week. This week it was the new Disney/Pixar film The Good Dinosaur, which has a unique score by composers Mychael and Jeff Danna; the Society of Composers & Lyricists sponsored the well-attended screening. The Montana-like landscapes helped inspire them to create a folk-style score that includes fiddles, guitars, hymn-like piano and other “Western” sounds (along with the usual 85-piece orchestra for the bigger, grander moments in the score). The Dannas were, as always, thoughtful and gracious. Here, too, is my on-camera interview with them for SoundWorks Collection.

Carter Burwell Q&A for “Carol”

CarterBurlingameNew York-based composer Carter Burwell flew out to L.A. to talk about his score for director Todd Haynes’ new film Carol. We did an on-camera interview that is now on SoundWorks Collection, but Friday night we also did an audience Q&A after a screening sponsored by the Society of Composers & Lyricists. Burwell — who is well-known for his scores for many Coen Bros. films including Fargo, as well as two in the Twilight series — was, as always, thoughtful and articulate. The Carol score, written for a small ensemble including strings, piano, harp and a few woodwinds, may well be a contender in this year’s awards season.

Harry Gregson-Williams on “The Martian”

JBwithHGWMartian2Ridley Scott’s new film The Martian is not only getting great reviews, it’s his biggest commercial success in years. Last week I sat down with English composer Harry Gregson-Williams (Scott’s collaborator on such past films as Kingdom of Heaven) to discuss his music for The Martian. It’s for my partners at SoundWorks Collection and is our best video to date, incorporating scenes from the film, musical excerpts, and footage of Harry conducting a large ensemble in London’s Abbey Road. Harry talks about the hybrid nature of the score (partially electronic, partially orchestral, some choral work), how his musical approach changed during the scoring process, and why he likes to conduct his own work.

Interviewing Tom Holkenborg on “Black Mass”

JBwithHolkenborgBlackMassMy latest SoundWorks Collection interview is with Dutch composer Tom Holkenborg (formerly known as producer-performer Junkie XL). His latest film is Black Mass, which stars Johnny Depp as Boston crime lord James “Whitey” Bulger. It’s very different from his Mad Max: Fury Road score in that it prominently features solo cello (played by Steve Erdody), a large string orchestra, piano and even pipe organ. Up next for him: a collaboration with Hans Zimmer on Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice for next year.