Best Thomas Rivera Podcasts (2026)

1
Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) Talks Marty Supreme 25:44

Play Pause

15d ago25:44

25:44

Here we are, in the dead zone between seasons, where all should be silent. But a voice calls out from the darkness. Who could it be...? Well my friends, that voice belongs to one Daniel Lopatin, also known as Oneohtrix Point Never (alongside your humble host, of course). Daniel has just scored Marty Supreme, and I can vouch that both film and score…

1
Max Richter Talks Hamnet 20:01

2M ago20:01

20:01

The end is here! Well, the end of season 5 at least. That's right, after over twelve months the season is finally over (making it, I think, the longest season of The Film Scorer yet), and what better wait to celebrate than to chat with Max Richter? Max's (Ad Astra, The Leftovers) latest score is for the incredible historical drama Hamnet, a fiction…

1
Chat Pile 45:27

3M ago45:27

45:27

There are a few perks to running every aspect of this site and podcast, the biggest being picking who I want to interview (and avoiding whomever I don't). Part of that, sometimes, is using film music as an excuse to interview bands that I just broadly like. Enter: Chat Pile. The Oklahoma noise rock band has one score under their belt, the 2022 indi…

1
Jesper Kyd (Hitman, Assassin's Creed) 46:04

3M ago46:04

46:04

Although this podcast is called "The Film Scorer", every so often it's nice to chat with someone who does significant work in another medium instead. Today, that someone is Jesper Kyd (Hitman, Assassin's Creed). Jesper has been scoring for games for over thirty years, working on some of the biggest video game franchises around. But he's also worked…

1
Jeremiah Fraites (The Lumineers, The Long Walk, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere) 44:12

4M ago44:12

44:12

I know I keep saying that the end of this season is imminent. And it is, but it seems like every time I think it's about dead it springs back to life for a little while longer. Reviving it this week is Jeremiah Fraites. Jeremiah is going to be best known as being one of the founding members of the hit alternative folk band The Lumineers, but lately…

1
Jeff Danna Talks The Hunting Wives, Silent Hill 36:32

4M ago36:32

36:32

Composer Jeff Danna (The Good Dinosaur, The Boondock Saints) joins me on The Film Scorer podcast just before we wrap up season 5! Oddly enough, I've listened to quite a bit of music from the Silent Hill franchise over the last 15 months or so, and it turns out that Jeff "scored" the two film adaptations from earlier in the 2000s (I used "scored" in…

1
Daniel Pemberton 31:40

5M ago31:40

31:40

In a Film Scorer first, a repeat guest joins the show! Daniel Pemberton (the Spider-Verse films, King Arthur) comes onto the show for a second time, after chatting with me back in 2023 about his score for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. Even though we're just over halfway through the year, Daniel's already scored about a half dozen projects, s…

1
Electric Youth 37:31

6M ago37:31

37:31

Today I'm joined by Electric Youth! Well, one half of the electronic/synth pop duo - Austin Garrick - without his co-member Bronwyn Griffin. Their latest project is the score for North of Normal, a true coming-of-age drama that jumps between timelines in a forest commune in the 70s and city life in the 80s. Some of you may think that the band's sou…

1
Carlos Rafael Rivera 26:49

6M ago26:49

26:49

Carlos Rafael Rivera (The Queen's Gambit, Hacks) is one of the few composers my mom has asked me about, so I'm extra excited to have him join the show! Carlos's latest project is Department Q, his fourth series with writer-director Scott Frank (joining Godless, The Queen's Gambit, and Monsieur Spade, as well as the film A Walk Among The Tombstones)…

1
Thomas Newman and Julia Newman 28:16

7M ago28:16

28:16

What a surreal moment - getting to chat with Thomas Newman and Julia Newman! Whether you're a big film music fan or a casual film goer, I'll guess that you're familiar with Tom, having been nominated for fifteen Academy Awards (I accidentally say fourteen...) and scoring projects like The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Finding Nemo & Findin…

1
Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey Score Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning 44:19

7M ago44:19

44:19

The Mission Impossible franchise has been going strong for nearly thirty years, so it's a bit surreal to see it apparently come to an end, with Tom Cruise hanging up the mantle as Ethan Hunt. To celebrate the final entry, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, the film's composers Max Aruj and Alfie Godfrey join the show! Naturally, the three o…

1
Scoring Squid Game with Jung Jae-Il (Parasite, Mickey 17) 18:54

8M ago18:54

18:54

Ahead of the premiere of the third and final season of Squid Game, I chat with the show's composer, Jung Jae-Il (Parasite, Mickey 17). Obviously Jae-Il and I spend much of the conversation talking about Squid Game, including the palette, the differences in score and approach between the seasons (due to different games and loads of character deaths)…

1
Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson (Cobra Kai, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man) 50:26

8M ago50:26

50:26

Composers Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson join The Film Scorer Podcast to round out the unofficial (and accidental) trilogy of duo interviews (joining Meg Remy & Grace Glowicki and Aaron May & David Ridley). Leo and Zach are fresh off of scoring the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai as well as the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-M…

1
Adolescence with Aaron May and David Ridley 41:55

9M ago41:55

41:55

For my second of three consecutive duo interviews, I chat with composers Aaron May and David Ridley. While they've been composing together for a while, their biggest project is also their most recent - the viral Netflix series Adolescence, from director Philip Barantini and starring Stephen Graham. It's not surprise, then, that we spend a lot of ou…

1
The "Best" Film Scores of 2024 28:08

10M ago28:08

28:08

Although we're now a couple months into 2025, I finally present you with the "best" film scores of 2024. As usual, there are some very mainstream scores in here that most observers would agree with and there are a few left field choices. If you're a longtime listener, that shouldn't surprise you. As with all of these lists, although I say they're t…

1
The Best Film Scores of the 2020s (So Far) (with Piecing It Together) 54:37

10M ago54:37

54:37

It's a bit worrying to realize that we're now over halfway through the 2020s - where has the time gone? Well, I suppose we all know one collective reason why it feels like a blur... But rather than lament the passage of time, I've decided to celebrate what's been released during the last five years; specifically, celebrating the "best" film scores …

1
Dead Lover with Meg Remy (aka U.S. Girls) and Grace Glowicki 36:19

10M ago36:19

36:19

In an absolute coincidence, during International Women's Month Meg Remy (U.S. Girls) and Grace Glowicki join me on The Film Scorer Podcast! Our primary focus is the film Dead Lover, for which Grace is director, co-writer, and lead actress and Meg provided most of the score. As such, we talk about the film itself, the music (and how Meg and Grace wo…

1
Rihards Zalupe Scores Flow 46:12

11M ago46:12

46:12

Rihards Zalupe joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Rihards' latest score is for the Oscar and BAFTA nominated animated film Flow, which he co-composed with the film's writer and director Gints Zilbalodis. As such, Rihards and I spend much of our conversation talking about the score, including creating themes or specific sonic palette choices for each of…

1
Awards Season 2025: Best Original Scores at the BAFTAs and the Oscars 13:47

11M ago13:47

13:47

The BAFTAs air on February 16 and the Oscars on March 2. I'd never consider myself a big awards season guy, but I love that it's the one time of year where film music is widely celebrated and has a little spotlight, if only briefly. As such, here's a little peek into the six nominated scores between the two awards. I've also done interviews on two …

1
Film Score Recap: April Through June 2024 27:33

12M ago27:33

27:33

Although we've just entered 2025, this series is deep in the middle of 2024. The months of April, May, and June released some of my favorite scores of the year (feel free to guess which) as well as arguably the most popular score of the year in Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's Challengers, and plenty more scores, both big and small. I also noticed t…

1
Bryce Dessner (The National, The Revenant, The Two Popes) Scores Sing Sing 27:09

12M ago27:09

27:09

In a quick 1-2 punch after talking with Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist), Bryce Dessner (The National, The Revenant, The Two Popes) joins The Film Scorer podcast! Bryce released two scores last year, for the films Sing Sing and We Live In Time. However, Bryce and I were under a tight time constraint and so had to pick and choose what we chatted abou…

1
Daniel Blumberg Builds The Brutalist 40:35

1y ago40:35

40:35

Much to my dismay, The Brutalist is not an industrial grindcore band. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to talk about it. As such, composer Daniel Blumberg joins the show! It should be no surprise, then, that we spend much of our time talking about his BAFTA and Academy Award winning and Golden Globe nominated score to Brady Corbet's 3.5 hour epic, whi…

1
Donna McKevitt 44:53

1y ago44:53

44:53

Composer Donna McKevitt joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Donna is someone that I've chatted to here and there over the last few years, so it was a treat having her on the show and finally getting the chance to "meet" her. Her latest scores are for The Swimming Diaries and My Name is Alfred Hitchcock, two very different documentaries and very differen…

1
The Angel 47:51

1y ago47:51

47:51

The Angel (Boiler Room, Kidulthood) joins The Film Scorer! Angel's latest score is for the crime thriller Heist 88, which came out last year but her score only released last month. As such, we spend much of our conversation talking about the score, including the hybrid palette, influences from Chicago's 1980s club/house music scene, and getting int…

1
Wilbert Roget, II 45:07

1y ago45:07

45:07

In the latest episode of The Film Scorer podcast I'm joined by Wilbert Roget, II (Star Wars: Outlaws, Helldivers 2, Mortal Kombat). While Wilbert is best known for his work scoring video games, including recently receiving a Grammy nomination for Star Wars: Outlaws, our focus is on something a little different. Wilbert has just made his first foray…

1
The Making of American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez with Stuart Zicherman, Nina Jacobson, and Brad Simpson | 11 38:33

1y ago38:33

38:33

Patty Wen goes behind the scenes with the creators of FX’s American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez. Showrunner Stuart Zicherman shares his process of translating the Gladiator podcast for television, including the exhilaration of bringing the Patriots’ locker room to life. And Executive Producers Brad Simpson and Nina Jacobson join Patty to discuss …

1
Kris Bowers Scores The Wild Robot 25:59

1y ago25:59

25:59

Season 5 of The Film Scorer Podcast continues to pick up steam as Kris Bowers (Bridgerton, Green Book) joins the show! The Academy Award winner and nominee (who was just nominated for a Grammy for his score to The Color Purple a few days ago) recently scored the hit animated film The Wild Robot. As such, Kris and I spend much of our conversation ta…

1
Amelia Warner Scores The Young Woman and the Sea 40:08

1y ago40:08

40:08

Season 5 of The Film Scorer Podcast is here! In the Season 5 premiere I chat with composer Amelia Warner. Amelia's latest score is for the Disney sports biopic Young Woman and the Sea (starring Daisy Ridley), about Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel. As such, we spend much of our conversation focused on that score, inc…

1
Season Five Trailer - The Film Scorer Podcast 1:02

1y ago1:02

1:02

Season Five of The Film Scorer Podcast is almost here! The new season launches on Sunday, October 27th, with new episodes continuing every other Sunday after that (more or less). Given the breadth of guests in season three, including Academy Award nominated actor-turned-composer Viggo Mortensen, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Abels, 2024 Academy Awa…

1
Film Score Review III: 'She Dies Tomorrow' by Mondo Boys 4:21

1y ago4:21

4:21

Dipping back into the well again, reaching to September 2020, here's the audio version (cleaned up and shortened) of my review of Mondo Boys' score for She Dies Tomorrow. Again, the audio is still a little rougher but after thirty seconds or so you don't really notice (or at least I didn't as I was editing). There's also a nauseating little cue thr…

1
Norbert Leo Butz on Becoming Coach Bill Belichick and Thomas Sadoski on Tackling Hernandez’s Agent Brian Murphy | 10 29:32

1+ y ago29:32

29:32

Actors Thomas Sadoski and Norbert Leo Butz join Patty Wen to talk about the new FX series American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez. Sadoski, who plays Hernandez’s agent Brian Murphy, and Butz, who plays Patriots' coach Bill Belichick, discuss how they brought these complicated, larger-than-life figures to the screen — and the complex ethics of their …

1
Josh Rivera on Becoming Aaron Hernandez in FX’s American Sports Story | 9 28:39

1+ y ago28:39

28:39

Patty Wen is joined by actor Josh Rivera, the star of the new FX series American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez, adapted from the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc. from Wondery and The Boston Globe. They talk about his preparation to play football star Aaron Hernandez, what it was like on set, and how he found humanity in such a c…

1
Brooke & Will Blair (The Blair Bros.) Score Rebel Ridge 53:39

1+ y ago53:39

53:39

Just because the podcast is between seasons and on a brief hiatus doesn't mean that the work stops. To keep me busy, I chatted with Brooke Blair and Will Blair (Blue Ruin, Green Room), the very rare sibling composer duo, about their latest score: Rebel Ridge. Rebel Ridge marks the fifth collaboration between the Blair Bros. and director Jeremy Saul…

1
Film Score Recap: January Through March 2024 23:10

1+ y ago23:10

23:10

Welcome in the new year (and forget that it's already September) by hearing about some of the best and most notable film scores kicking off 2024, including Dune: Part 2 by Hans Zimmer, Spaceman by Max Richter, and plenty more, both big and small. Remember: the show is still in hiatus between seasons, but hopefully this can hold you over a little bi…

1
Film Score Review II: ’Five Shaolin Masters' by Yung-Yu Chen 5:18

1+ y ago5:18

5:18

Somewhat early on in The Film Scorer days, I did a few video reviews of film scores. The first was the 1974 score for Five Shaolin Masters, by the prolific Chinese composer Yung-Yu Chen. Given that the show is currently between seasons, there's a bit of time to kill (and I know you're all clamoring for new episodes), so I've decided to clean these …

1
Daniel Hart 43:46

1+ y ago43:46

43:46

We've reached the end . . . of season 4. To commemorate the occasion, Daniel Hart (The Green Knight, A Ghost Story) joins The Film Scorer! Daniel is fresh off of scoring season 2 of Interview with the Vampire, which itself had its season finale only a couple of weeks ago. As such, Daniel and I spend a lot of the interview discussing his scores for …

1
Viggo Mortensen 23:38

1+ y ago23:38

23:38

As season 4 draws to a close, I'm joined by someone all of you should know: Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, The Road)! One thing you might not know about Viggo - it was certainly news to me - is that he's also a musician, making a number of albums with famed guitarist Buckethead and even scoring a couple films, including his latest director…

1
Jason Graves 55:27

1+ y ago55:27

55:27

On the latest episode, I'm joined by Jason Graves! Jason is best known for a number of different video game scores, such as the Dead Space games, Tomb Raider, Far Cry Primal, and Moss 1 and 2, so it's no surprise that we spend much of our conversation talking about his latest game scores: Still Wakes the Deep and No Rest for the Wicked. They're two…

1
Carla Patullo 42:51

1+ y ago42:51

42:51

Recently anointed Grammy winner Carla Patullo joins The Film Scorer podcast! While Carla has over thirty scores under her belt, she might be most known for her non-score album So She Howls, for which Carla won the Grammy for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album earlier this year. Unsurprisingly, then, Carla and I spend a fair bit of time talking a…

1
Suvi-Eeva Äikäs & Ben Steiner 39:55

1+ y ago39:55

39:55

In a Film Scorer first, a composer-director team joins the show! Composer Suvi-Eeva Äikäs & director Ben Steiner recently worked together on Ben's film Matriarch (which Ben directed and which Suvi scored). As such, we primarily talk about Suvi's score for Matriarch from both the director and composer perspectives (and with them each touching on sou…

1
Film Score Recap: October Through December 2023 25:56

1+ y ago25:56

25:56

While 2023 ended several months ago, here at The Film Scorer it's only just happened. Tune-in to hear about some of the best film scores that rounded-out the year, included Poor Things by Jerskin Fendrix, Killers of the Flower Moon by Robbie Robertson, Godzilla: Minus One by Naoki Sato, and plenty more that you may not be quite as familiar with. Ke…

1
Eiko Ishibashi Scores 'Evil Does Not Exist' 17:08

1+ y ago17:08

17:08

Fresh off of scoring Evil Does Not Exist, composer Eiko Ishibashi joins The Film Scorer podcast! Evil Does Not Exist is Eiko's second collaboration with acclaimed director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and the film itself actually stemmed from Eiko approaching Ryusuke regarding providing visuals for her live performance. Evil Does Not Exist grew out of that, …

1
Gareth Coker Scores Ark 46:03

1+ y ago46:03

46:03

To celebrate his first full-length tv series score, Gareth Coker joins The Film Scorer podcast! You video game fans in particular may know Gareth from his work scoring games like Ori, Ark, and Halo Infinite, but Gareth hasn't stopped there. Given that he's already scored the various Ark games, it's no surprise that he was tapped to score Ark: The A…

1
An Interview with Mike Post 52:41

2y ago52:41

52:41

Five-time Grammy winner Mike Post joins The Film Scorer podcast! A lot of you will probably be familiar with Mike already, who boasts one of the most impressive tv resumes of all time. For those of you that aren't, Mike's responsible for the two-note “dun-dun” sound in Law & Order, as well as themes and scores for shows like The Rockford Files, Hil…

1
Andrew Scott Bell Spills Blood and Honey 55:28

2y ago55:28

55:28

Last year's Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey drew a pretty divisive reception, but my favorite part, Andrew Scott Bell's score, rose above all the noise and discord. With Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 about to release, Andrew joins me on The Film Scorer podcast. Unsurprisingly, Andrew and I spend a good chunk of the interview talking about his…

1
The Best Film Scores of 2023 37:23

2y ago37:23

37:23

Another year, another list of the ten "best" film scores, this time I'm running through 2023. These scores aren't presented in any particular order - I intended to go alphabetically, but instead ended up going by vibes instead, wherever the solo conversation took me. At the end of the day, even though these are described as the "best", they're real…

1
In-Person with Tom Schraeder 52:07

2y ago52:07

52:07

Composer Tom Schraeder joins me for my first-ever in-person interview. Tom and I broke the ice by chatting for about an hour in my kitchen before heading downstairs and hitting record, and I think the comfort really shows up here. Tom has scored a number of horror films particularly, in addition to a long career as a folk musician, and we use both …

1
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch Talks "All of Us Strangers" 29:05

2y ago29:05

29:05

Composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch joins the show! Emilie's latest score is for the film All of Us Strangers, a sort of romance-fantasy-supernatural film that I found absolutely moving. As such, we primarily talk about her score for that film, including talking about striking an emotional balance (one that feels organic but not manipulative), avoi…

1
Awards Season: Best Original Scores at the BAFTAs and the Oscars 10:02

2y ago10:02

10:02

The BAFTAs air on February 18 and the Oscars on March 10 - I know many folks don't necessarily like the awards season, but it's the time of year where film music has the spotlight on it and is celebrated in the mainstream. As such, here's a little peek into the seven nominated scores between the two awards. I've also done interviews on four of the …

1
Ep.5: Grammys, Taylor Swift, El Paso Paranormal High and the Defoors Murder 57:49

2y ago57:49

57:49

Hello W.T.F Fans! Kristen and Sydney here, excited to bring you another thrilling episode. In this latest installment, we dive into a diverse array of topics. We get into the Grammys and why the media is dragging poor Taylor Swift. We also have another compelling 'Am I the Asshole' story straight from Reddit. Plus, we're shedding light on two fasci…