Scoring Films on a Shoestring Budget

Composer and music editor Shie Rozow discusses the ins and outs of scoring an independent feature on little to no budget, and making it sound like a studio-funded film.

Throughout the past 20 years, composer and music editor Shie Rozow has worked on major international blockbusters including Avengers: Age of Ultron, OZ: The Great & Powerful, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. As a music editor, he has earned 16 Golden Reel Award nominations, including two wins for Chicago, and IMAX: Deep Sea. He is currently the music editor of Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and the upcoming series Stargirl. As a composer, he previously scored the award-winning indie features Jasmine, and Captain Hagen’s Bed & Breakfast, as well as John Singleton’s Rebel.

Shie studied at Berklee College of Music, and then moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a composer, music supervisor, and music editor at Alan Ett Music Group (now Spirit Music Collective), overseeing more than 650 hours of music for series including Intimate Portrait, Biography, History’s Mysteries, and Modern Marvels. Later he became music editor Richard Ford’s assistant, helping on films such as Training Day, and About Schmidt. Shie quickly went on to become an in-demand music editor himself on films including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, The Kingdom, and the Oscar®-winning drama Hustle & Flow. A fan of superheroes and comics, Shie was also the music editor on Krypton, Arrow, and Spider-Man 2 & 3.

In addition to composing and music editing for film and TV, Shie also writes concert music and released his first concert album Musical Fantasy in 2016.