Personal details
- Professions: Composer, Music Department, Soundtrack
Joseph Trapanese doesn’t just write music—he fuses it together like some mad scientist. Electronics, live instruments, all tangled up in these wild, cinematic soundscapes that just hit different. You want examples? Think Tron: Legacy (that Daft Punk teamwork—iconic), Oblivion with M83, The Raid with Mike Shinoda. The guy knows how to bring in the heavy hitters and still stamp his own vibe on everything. He’s also gone solo on projects like No One Will Save You, Arctic, a couple of Divergent flicks, and Straight Outta Compton—which, by the way, snagged him a Black Reel Award. If you’re binge-watching, you might’ve caught his work in The Witcher or Shadow and Bone. But TV and movies aren’t enough; the man’s dipped into video games and interactive stuff for Disney Animation, EA, Lucasfilm, Ubisoft—basically, the major leagues. NASA even called him up for some tunes, and he’s done Super Bowl National Anthem arrangements. Not to mention his choral piece about climate change that opened Björk’s tour. Yeah, he’s everywhere. He’s not just behind the scenes either—producing, arranging, conducting for acts like The Greatest Showman (Grammy winner, no big deal), working with Dr. Dre, Aloe Blacc, Haim, Janelle Monae, and more. World Soundtrack Award nods, Grammy nominations, you name it. Somehow, he still finds time to teach at schools like UCLA and USC, runs The Echo Society, and just generally lifts up the whole creative community. Honestly, the dude doesn’t sleep.
Snagging the Jerry Goldsmith Award at UCLA back in 2007 is no small feat. That’s not just a trophy collecting dust—it’s serious bragging rights in the film world. The Goldsmith Award is basically a stamp of approval for scoring and composition, so whoever nabbed it likely cooked up some killer music for their movie. Think about it, Jerry Goldsmith himself scored everything from “Star Trek” to “Planet of the Apes.” Anyone winning an award with his name on it has to bring some heavy firepower. It means the film’s music probably didn’t just fill background noise—it amped up every scene, twisting your emotions, making you sweat or swoon right along with the action. UCLA doesn’t hand this out to just anybody, either. So, when you see “Winner of the 2007 Jerry Goldsmith Award from UCLA” in the credits, you know you’re watching something where the soundtrack’s got some real muscle.
Konidela Ram Charan