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Watch: Zimmer, Elfman and More Talk Composing in Upcoming Doc ‘SCORE’


"Standing on the podium and hearing it for the first time, I guess it’s like seeing your child for the first time," Oscar-nominated composer John Debney ("The Passion of the Christ") says in the trailer for "SCORE." Fittingly enough, the feature-length portrait of the power of film music, in the works from a Los Angeles-based team of journalists, producers, and photographers, is a passion project in itself. Director and executive producer Matt Schrader and executive producer Trevor Thompson have thus far used their personal savings to fund the movie, after first discussing working on a documentary together while classmates at the University of Southern California.

"There’s clearly a sacrifice there," says Schrader, who left a career in journalism in Sacramento to work on "SCORE." "Trevor and I have both had to do some freelance stuff here and there to keep the money flowing." (Full disclosure: I was acquainted with Schrader at USC, where we both worked at the student newspaper.)

The idea for the film originated with Schrader and Thompson’s shared interest in film scores, including the sonic innovations of Zimmer’s music for "The Dark Knight." Zimmer is the latest composer to agree to appear in the film, which will also include interviews with Debney, Danny Elfman ("Good Will Hunting," "Milk"), Howard Shore ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy), John Powell (the "Bourne" trilogy), and many others.


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