Episode Details

Joe Trapanese is a friend, colleague, and film composer who has worked on some of the coolest project and film scores of the last 5-10 years including The Greatest Showman, Jean Claude Van Johnson, Straight Outta Compton, Tron: Legacy, Oblivion, Only the Brave, Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., and The Raid series (which is my #1 secret weapon as a film editor). Rarely is there an episode of TV where I don’t use a track from The Raid if I’m working with a fight scene or a suspense sequence. It’s MONEY.

In this interview Joe and I break down his path from a kid in New Jersey to moving out to Los Angeles and how he climbed from nowhere to the top of his profession in record time. In addition, Joe and I also do a deep dive into the creative process of collaborating with composers.

If you have ever wondered how composers approach their work, or more importantly if you’re an editor like me and you want to know some cool tips for working with composers, this is an incredibly useful and insightful interview.

Win a One 1-Yr Subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud or Frame.io

» Click here to leave a review of this episode in iTunes (or Apple Podcasts)

Here's What You'll Learn:

• Focusing on what is in your control
• It's about who you know, so start meeting people
• Establishing relationships rather than networking for jobs
• "You won't get hired until you are the solution to someone's problem."
• Confidence vs. arrogance
• Keeping your cool in the reputation-driven world of professional composing
• How to searching for the best solutions in collaboration, rather than just inserting your own
• Dedicating yourself to a specific career ladder
• How to know when you're not getting enough in return for your work
• "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture"

Useful Links:

Joe Trapanese's IMDb Page

Our Generous Sponsors:

This episode is made possible by our proud supporters Adobe. Leave a review of this episode in iTunes or Apple Podcasts and you’ll be entered to win a yearly subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, an essential package of video creation tools that I personally can’t live without. What’s so cool about creative cloud is how easily you can move from ingest to editing, and from color grading to 3D compositing, thanks to smooth integration between Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition. To win yourself that yearly subscription, just leave an honest review of this show in iTunes or Apple Podcasts.

You can also enter to win the 12 month 'Pro Plan' from our sponsor Frame.io, an amazing online collaboration tool where you can comment and interact directly with your videos providing instant feedback, rather than constantly going back and forth via endless email chains. (And you know how I feel about email and productivity.) Even cooler your comments can be imported directly into your editing software of choice, and it’s so intuitive, easy to use, and dare I say “pretty” that Frame.io won an Apple Design Award. Leave a podcast review in

Listen Now