ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A portrait of the author, a man with glasses, wearing a brown leather jacket and a black shirt, against a dark background.

Yes, that’s me

I’m a teacher and a coach and I’m accustomed to speaking directly to students. If you’re reading this book, you’re a student in spirit, as we all should be, even if you’re a pro. I’ll be brief. I cut my teeth in rock ‘n’ roll, but it was always film music first and last.

I lived the dream of working as a score producer/music exec during a second “golden age” in Hollywood, when three generations of great film composers converged.

Two men standing arm in arm, both wearing glasses and dark sweaters, smiling in front of a stone wall.

On the stage with Maurice Jarre, Jerry Goldsmith, Thomas Newman, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer. Learning from every cue.

After this, I made up my mind to teach what I’d learned to people who—as had been true of me—had the passion but not the access. I’m a composer, but even more, I’m an advocate for composers.

I’ve launched four masters programs for film and game composers: Columbia College, Berklee Valencia, the Film Scoring Academy of Europe, and now, the Screen Scoring Institute of Atlanta. Being a midwife to creative genius is my favorite pasttime.