Journal
What the people who commission music actually say: supervisors, publishers, A&R directors. Plus writing analysis, from the bench.
Inside the industry
How the industry picks, pays and directs a composer.
Original Score vs Production Music: A Producer's Decision Guide
Original score or production music? A practical guide for producers weighing clearance, picture lock, temp tracks, deliverables and stems.
Custom Music for Advertising: Brief, Bidding, Usage and Deliverables
Commission custom advertising music with a clear bid, approval path, usage scope and delivery list. Plan cutdowns before the final audio handoff.
How to Hire a Film Composer: Checks Before You Commit
Assess a composer for hire through scene evidence, clear credits, revision decisions and delivery planning. A practical checklist for independent producers.
Film Score Budget: What a Composer’s Quote Covers
Compare composer bids by scope, production costs, picture changes and deliverables. A practical way to budget an original score for an independent feature.
Film Composer From Demo to Master: A Producer's Workflow
How a score actually moves from the first phone call to a delivered master file, what a demo is really for, and why the choice between orchestral and electronic is never mine to make first.
When should you bring the composer in? A post-production timeline
Script, shoot, first assembly or picture lock? What each entry point does to your schedule, your budget and your temp track problem, from a composer who has worked at all four.
How French productions actually pick a composer
Nobody hires the best composer. They hire the one they can survive six months with. What that changes if you want to score in France.
Workshop
Writing, orchestration and production decisions, case by case.
How to Prepare a Film Score Spotting Session
A practical spotting-session checklist for directors and producers: picture version, temp track, cue intent, approvals, notes and next steps.
Scoring Minimalist Comedy Without Explaining the Joke
A practical guide for directors and producers briefing an intimate comedy score without flattening performance, silence or awkward timing.
From Mockup to Live Players: When Real Musicians Change the Score
A producer's guide to deciding when soloists, ensembles or a full orchestra add enough value to justify the recording workflow.
Scoring Animation Before Picture Lock: A Practical Workflow
A practical producer workflow for bringing a composer into animation early, tracking animatic changes and protecting final score delivery.
Original Music for Live Performance
How to commission original music for theatre and live performance: rehearsals, stems, contracts, live players, playback and practical first-call questions.
The First Email to a Film Composer: A Brief Template for Producers
What to send a film composer before the first call: a usable email template, a fictional example, picture status, score scope and delivery questions.
News from the bench
What is moving in music for picture, read by someone who does the job.
HBO's Harry Potter: Building a New Musical Identity Without Imitation
Hans Zimmer plans to move HBO's Harry Potter music away from John Williams's writing. Franchise continuity, temp tracks and long-form themes.
Camille Awards 2026: Reading Three Scoring Categories
The Outrun, My Life as Siw and Reservatet win at the Camille Awards. A practitioner's reading of feature, documentary and episodic scoring.
Brothers: What a Two-Composer Team Changes in Episodic Comedy
Nick Sena and Zachary Dawes score Apple TV's Brothers. What an established composing partnership can change in episodic comedy production.
The Blame: How Can a Score Build Suspicion Without Giving the Game Away?
Sarah Warne scores ITV's The Blame. How can a police thriller build suspicion without using music to identify the culprit too early?
MobLand: Clint Mansell Scores Season 2
Clint Mansell scores MobLand Season 2 after Matt Bellamy and Ilan Eshkeri composed for Season 1. What a new music team means for a returning series.
Shaun the Sheep: Natalie Holt Scores Largely Wordless Comedy
Natalie Holt's new Shaun the Sheep album reveals an unusually broad music team and palette built to support wordless animated storytelling.
One Last Shot: Austin Wintory returns to James Nunn action
Austin Wintory is scoring James Nunn's One Last Shot. The craft question is how music carries action under pressure without flattening it.
Seven sessions over six months for the new Spielberg score
For Disclosure Day, the thirtieth Spielberg and Williams collaboration, recording was spread across six months. At 94, Williams recorded two hours twenty of music for the 82 minutes that made the film.
Nanni Moretti hands his music to Alberto Iglesias
Since 1976, Moretti has alternated between Franco Piersanti and Nicola Piovani. His new film, screening Sunday in Venice, is scored by Alberto Iglesias. A very closed circle has just opened.