How to be a Score Composer with Jeremy Zuckerman

08/25/22 • 27 min

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Ever wondered how a film score composer becomes a film score composer? Well, Emmy-award winning film and tv composer and sonic artist Jeremy Zuckerman (Avatar: the Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Scream: the Series) is here to talk about his journey to success.
This episode is extra special to me because Jeremy's music is one of the first things that inspired me to work in the film indstury. And when I grew up, I asked Jeremy to score my first feature documentary, This Little Land of Mines, and he did! Listen to the soundtrack here.
In this episode, we cover:

Jeremy's upbringing and Berkeley/CalArts education
How Jeremy overcame pursuing a competitive career path
How Jeremy fell into score composing
Why Jeremy debated not doing Avatar: the Last Airbender
Jeremy's tips for aspiring composers
How to say "no" to balance work + life

This episode was brought to you by B&H — your one stop shop for everything video + photo (and podcasting!)
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Erin McGoff's InstagramErin McGoff's Career Advice Instagram
Jeremy Zuckerman's InstagramGood For The Plot Website (+ newsletter signup)

Jeremy's upbringing and Berkeley/CalArts education
How Jeremy overcame pursuing a competitive career path
How Jeremy fell into score composing
Why Jeremy debated not doing Avatar: the Last Airbender
Jeremy's tips for aspiring composers
How to say "no" to balance work + life

Previous Episode

Good For The Plot Trailer

Welcome to the trailer for Good for the Plot: a podcast where we interview seasoned film and TV industry professionals and have them take us through their career journeys in the hopes of demystifying a very gatekept industry.
I'm your host, Erin McGoff. I'm a documentary filmmaker, director, and editor living in New York City. I'm also a content creator with over 2.2m followers on TikTok where I post career/life/film industry advice.
I started this podcast for one reason: I wanted to listen to a podcast like this, but couldn't find it anywhere.
There are podcasts that interview filmmakers about their craft, and then there are podcasts that discuss the industry as a whole. But I couldn't find one that specifically talked about film industry career journeys.
On TikTok, I get a lot of questions, but the most common one I get is:
"Erin, how do I become _____?"
And I always answer the same way:
"Find someone who already that and ask them how they got there."
Well, that's exactly what I'm doing with this podcast.
I'm going to interview film industry pros & creatives who have reached a summit of success in their career, and ask them to break down step-by-step how they got there.
We're going to talk to everyone — cinematographers, directors, actors, screenwriters, hair and make-up, animators, editors, set designers, executives, SFX, costume designers, producers, film festival curators, score composers, prop masters, documentary filmmakers, marketers, graphic designers, etc.
The film industry is notoriously opaque, gatekeep-y, and nepotistic. It's all about who you know — which makes sense, it's a relationship-driven, competitive, and wonderful industry.
The goal of this podcast is to pry open those gates and make the film industry a bit more transparent and accessible to all people.
So if you're someone who's looking to get into the film industry, but you're feeling intimidated and overwhelmed, or maybe you're already working in the film industry and you just need to get some inspiration — you've come to the right place. I sincerely hope you enjoy the show.
Thanks for joining this episode of good for the plot. This episode was brought to you by B&H your one-stop shop for everything photo and video.

Next Episode

How to be a Props Master with Scott Reeder

Ever wondered who manages all the props you see in movies and tv shows? All the bowls, cups, pencils, car keys, phones, and on and on? Well, that's a Property Master or, for short, props master. Seasoned props master, viral content creator, and Texas-native Scott Reeder is here to tell us about his journey to a career in film/tv props.
In this episode we cover:

Scott's upbringing, growing up in a small town in Texas + college journey
How Scott wiggled his way onto film sets while majoring in Anthropology
How Scott built a sustainable career, and how he continues to get jobs
How unions work (Scott is a member of IATSE)
Scott's reaction to the accidental fatal shooting on the set of RUST in 2021
How Scott balances family and work

This episode was brought to you by B&H — your one-stop shop for everything photo + video (and podcasting!)
Links:
Scott Reeder TikTok
Scott Reeder Instagram
Good For The Plot IG
Erin McGoff IG

Good For The Plot - How to be a Score Composer with Jeremy Zuckerman

Transcript

Welcome to good for the plot, a podcast where we interview seasoned film and TV industry professionals, and have them take us through their career journeys. In the hopes of demystifying, a very gate kept industry. I'm your host, Erin McGoff.
this episode was brought to you by B&H, your one-stop shop for everything photo and video.
Jeremy Zuckerman is an Emmy award-winning composer and musician whose diverse body of work includes music for film, television, and dance, traditional Chin