Really appreciate this comment - happy to hear my approach resonates

Really appreciate it Brandon 🤘

My pleasure

Appreciate it! Yes all those skills to help build confidence and the capability of being an MD

My pleasure!

It’s my pleasure! Happy to know it’s helpful🤘

My pleasure - hoping to do more as soon as my current projects wrap up

Appreciate it @DanielBastionMusic !

Glad it was helpful!

@thomasj.peters6726 - It's my pleasure! I understand your struggle and the truth is that this is a reality for many composers (hence why I made this channel / Modern Scoring Mastery). Many of the most successful composer's I've worked with have a similar story to be honest. One of them told me how they moved out to LA and scored a Christmas film and then didn't get another gig for 8+ years. They had become a sound designer and then suddenly a chance meeting with a more successful composer (who they went on to assist) changed the course of everything for them. If you're getting let go from multiple studios or not getting multiple opportunities, it's really important to understand why. In a productive way, be critical and analytical of yourself as a professional in this field. What are you missing that is leading to this outcome? I'm not saying this is the case for you, but I've found in my experience MANY composers get replaced because of their attitude and work ethic before it's for their skillset. Skills in many cases can be learned and improved upon, but attitude and work ethic is more often than not baked in deeper. This is why I mention how important it is to be a hyper-focused problem solver. I'm glad to hear this video has been helpful, just remember there's no race to being able to do this work. People find their way at many different points. If you love the work keep going and I hope implementing some of these lessons will be helpful on your journey!

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond Jonas! It means a lot! Everything you said is super insightful and I will definitely apply it to every aspect of my own career and job opportunities. Also what you've created & shared on your channel has been a lifechanging find for me and it's helping to provide tools / valuable lessons for any upcoming composers / musicians who feel stuck or are looking for guidance and mentorship. Means the world that you took time to personally respond to this message. Thank you again and I'll take this all to heart :) @@jonasfriedman

Glad you liked it!

Happy to know it’s helpful

Thanks for watching!

My pleasure - always happy to know it’s helpful

Appreciate it

It’s a slow moving career for everyone I have ever met, so if you’re passionate about it keep at it!

awesome! happy to know it's all helpful

Lol. Ditto.

Love Venus theory so appreciate the compliment! Thanks so much

Thanks @Nathan.Rodrigues, happy to hear it’s helpful!

I learned a ton from Mark. There are more positions happening remotely as I mentioned in the video. Regarding age, I’m not sure how old you are but JXL I believe was in his forties when he began working under hans zimmer - so I don’t believe there’s ever a wrong time although I absolutely appreciate how life becomes more complicated as we all get older. All the best!

Appreciate it 🤘

@JasonSeymore - Happy to know that you've found the information helpful. To answer your questions, yes, having a portfolio of music is absolutely essential. Having a portfolio of score-to-picture is actually less necessary. This is because when pitching for projects people are just reviewing the music. The music you include in your portfolio should be tailored to the opportunity. So for example, don't send a full animated style, orchestral track to a director, producer or other composer, that's looking for very serious, minimal dramatic score. This is why it takes time to build a career, it takes time to build a portfolio of great music that can be used to pitch for various opportunities in different genres. One of the best pieces of advice I've received though was don't try and give meat to a vegetarian. If they're looking for a certain sound, just demonstrate that sound, and if you don't have it...try and create it for the pitch!

Assisting other composers is definitely not the the only way and it’s important to note 99% of my work was as additional music - not a traditional assistant route. I was able to work from my own studio for most of my collaborations other than JXL who sometimes I worked from his studio - other times my own. If going this route it’s important to adopt the philosophy that any sounds the composer you work with is using you will add to your arsenal to make your sound palettes similar. This served me well and ended up paying for itself many times over. This still requires building trust though - getting FaceTime to get to know people in person as much as you can - even if it’s just for lunch - early in a relationship FaceTime matters I think. Other ways forward I think are to really establish yourself as a music artist with something to offer the community - social media is the best way to do this and in doing so you can attract others to your work rather than always trying to cold email. More videos on this to come

@@jonasfriedman Thanks for the reply.

Work life balance early in my career did not exist - I worked literally all day 7 days a week. Now my income and my royalties have given me the ability to pass on projects so I don’t need to over extend myself if I chose I don’t want to for a certain period. I still work a lot, but the truth is that because I am interested in and enjoy lots of different projects. - but I don’t have to do it which feels very different than just five years ago. Also important to note that sometimes shit happens - a project comes in late and over laps with another so I have to just grind hard for a few months, but that’s now the exception throughout the year instead of the rule.

​@@jonasfriedman thank you, that's very insightful -- early on in my career myself and appreciate the work ethic you describe that lead to your current position. warm regards!

This is a great question that requires a more nuanced response, here’s a quick one in the meantime..you can do this job from anywhere but I personally believe spending time in the central hub (LA) is still very beneficial when building a career. I spent 5 years there - I now work from New England and have been busier than ever, but I don’t believe that would be the case had I not made connections by going to where people in the industry hang out most commonly. If you are working from a more remote location as I am now…it’s important to show up when it matters. Big producer / director meeting where people will be together in person? Fly out … scoring session? Fly out… you want to still get FaceTime but it’s less demanding than it used to be by A LOT in my experience and opinion. Games are a totally different beast and you can be anywhere in my experience, they’re very accustomed to having people on their teams from all over the globe

Glad you enjoyed it, I do hope you found the information helpful and inspiring!

This is true - the work is not very glamorous and it is a gig to gig job which is not for everyone -- it’s about being an entrepreneur and being able to handle the ups and downs of owning a business and being competitive. however it’s not as impossible as many think, and I certainly wasn’t wealthy when starting out. You just have to go one job at a time and slowly build a snowball effect for your career which takes long time - it can be at least a decade in a lot of cases. But each year it gets a bit easier and more rewarding creatively and financially in my experience.

@@jonasfriedman …your authenticity is appreciated.

Love this comment because literally a split second before this I was responding to someone complimenting the production. Proves that everyone has their own taste - the side camera allows cuts to be more seemless - I prefer that to jump cuts and while this is an educational channel - the aesthetics are for me an artistic endeavor I enjoy 😊

Thank you so much!!