Fred Topel

Appearing for a panel at Deadline’s Sound & Screen Television live-music event, Jeff Russo described how he adapts to Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley's requests. Noting several times that he adjusted the show's music per Hawley's ideas, Russo also addressed a cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic" in the…

Ahsoka composer Kevin Kiner discussed his Star Wars influences for the Disney+ series at Deadline's Sound & Screen Television live-music event. He also revealed an homage to Star Wars composer John Williams in episode 5. "I kind of do this Williams lick," Kiner said during a panel discussion. "I know…

Based on a True Story composer Sherri Chung brought a typewriter to the orchestra to perform her score during Deadline's Sound & Screen live-music event. The typewriter was just one of the unusual instruments she included in the music for the Peacock comedy mystery. "I just wanted find something that…

Composer Blake Neely called his score for Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air a tribute to his mentor, the late Michael Kamen. Kamen gave Neely his first job as an orchestrator on Band of Brothers, the first in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' World War II series trilogy. "It's a love letter to Michael,"…

Apple TV+'s Lessons in Chemistry is the story of biogeneticist cooking show host Elizabeth Zott. Composer Carlos Rafael Rivera said he had to answer the question "what would a biogeneticist sound like?" when pilot director Sarah Adina Smith asked him to write the series’ music. This led him to some…

Composer Atli Örvarsson wrote the music for Silo, the Apple TV+ series about a post-apocalyptic society living within a giant silo so old they don't even know who built it. For the tale, Örvasson said he thought of musical instruments that could represent loneliness. "I tried to imagine possibly…

Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul marveled at Steve Martin's ability to perform their rapid-fire song in Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. Martin's character, Charles-Haden Savage, struggles with "Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It" until episode 8 of the season. Unlike Savage, though…

Star and executive producer David Oyelowo and Lawmen: Bass Reeves creator, showrunner and executive producer Chad Feehan said Reeves' family values were what made him stand out. Oyelowo plays Reeves, a U.S. Marshal after the abolition of slavery. "The way in for a global audience should be not just…

Cixin Liu's 3 Body Problem trilogy was considered unadaptable, but D.B. Weiss, David Benioff and Alexander Woo did it for Netflix. Even though Season 1 is streaming, that doesn't mean they've solved Season 2. The trio joined Deadline’s Contenders TV event Sunday to discuss the adaptation, and Weiss…

Taylor Zakhar Perez said he was thinking about Pride and Prejudice, 10 Things I Hate About You and more classic romances when filming his big romantic scene in Prime Video’s hit Red, White & Royal Blue. Perez plays Alex, the son of the President (Uma Thurman) who falls in love with British Prince Henry…

Lily Gladstone, creator and EP Quinn Shephard and showrunner/executive producer Samir Mehta joined Deadline’s Contenders TV to discuss their Hulu series Under the Bridge. Based on Rebecca Godfrey's account of the murder of Reena Virk, all three said they were careful not to sensationalize Virk's…

Creator Victor Levin and star Andrea Riseborough discussed their Masterpiece on PBS miniseries Alice & Jack at Deadline Contenders TV on Saturday. Riseborough plays Alice and Domhnall Gleeson plays Jack in the six-episode show that follows their relationship over 16 years. Riseborough said she often is…