LISTEN
MIND OVER MURDER
Logline: Chronicles the bizarre and psychologically complex story of six individuals who were convicted for the 1985 murder of a beloved 68- year-old grandmother, Helen Wilson, in Beatrice, Nebraska.
Directed by: Nanfu Wang.
View trailer here. Full series on HBO here.
Series Accolades: Gotham Awards (Breakthrough Nonfiction Series), Film Independent Spirit Awards (Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series), and Cinema Eye Honors (Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Series). Score nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award (HMMA) for Documentary Series Score - TV/Digital. AwardsWatch article here.
Score description: Features a cello quartet with an array of gritty, close-mic’ed strings, woodwinds, and percussion. Dark and scary but with emotional reprises, particularly near the end of the series. Additional music by Joep Sporck.
AMERICAN FACTORY
Logline: Hopes soar when a Chinese company reopens a shuttered factory in Ohio. But a culture clash threatens to shatter an American dream.
Directed by: Julia Reichert & Steve Bognar.
Film Accolades: Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Documentary; Emmy Award: Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program; among many others. Score nomination for Cinema Eye Honors.
Score description: Quirky Americana focused on woodwinds and low strings, designed to cut through the film’s factory noise and intense dialogue.
Score Press: Composer features in the Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, Film Music Central, Premium Beat.
“Filmed with extraordinary attention to environmental detail and revealing human interactions, “American Factory” is that rare documentary that’s [...] compelling in its [...] profound sensory pleasure, with its themes of transparency and reflection aptly captured by the sparkling sheets of glass and spotless machinery [...], a visual backdrop echoed in the woodwinds that dominate Chad Cannon’s graceful musical score.”
“Aided by Chad Cannon’s playful score, the movie oscillates from an amusing portrait of institutional dysfunction to reveal just how little sympathy Cao has for the concerns of his staff.”
“What also shines, and gives American Factory some of its simmering power, is Chad Cannon’s score.”
“““American Factory” is political without being self-servingly didactic or strident, connecting the sociopolitical dots intelligently, sometimes with the help of a stirring score from Chad Cannon that evokes Aaron Copland.”
“Manufacturing lines, technological equipment and warehouses become pieces of art set to a score crafted by Chad Cannon. ”
“Chad Cannon’s score for ‘American Factory’ captures the humor and worry at the heart of an unusual Rust Belt reclamation”
“The mood is enhanced by Chad Cannon’s orchestration that echoes Philip Glass in its suggestion of the rhythm of automation but which is also imbued with a certain nostalgia that fits the workers’ emotional landscape.”
TOKYO COWBOY
Logline: A Japanese businessman goes on an unwitting journey of self-discovery when he takes a company trip from Tokyo to a Montana cattle ranch.
View the trailer here. Full film available on Apple.
Directed by: Marc Marriott.
Film Accolades: Osaka Asian Film Festival Premiere, Best Narrative Feature & Audience Award - Tallgrass International Film Festival, Best Feature Drama - Sedona International Film Festival, Best Music - Boston Film Festival. Theatrical release throughout Japan, and in select cities in North America with AMC.
Score description: Warm, modern fusion of electronica, guitars, and opera. Theme song features Mai Fujisawa, daughter of Joe Hisaishi.
Full album available on all streaming platforms. Score available for licensing.
“The music composed by Chad Cannon is atmospheric and nice on the ears, as is the theme song “Tokyo Cowboy” performed by singer Mai Fujisawa.”
Roleplay
Logline: a feature documentary that follows a group of college students as they confront sexual violence on their campus through a transformative theater process.
Directed by: Katie Mathews.
Film Accolades: SXSW 2024 Premiere. College campus screenings around the U.S.
Score description: Small, modern string ensemble (mostly quartet) contrasts with poppy beats and electronics that evoke late-night college life.
PAPER LANTERNS
Logline: the story of atomic bomb survivor, Shigeaki Mori, and his life long calling to tell the story of Normand Brissette, Ralph Neal and the ten other American POWs killed by the bombing of Hiroshima.
Directed by: Barry Frechette.
Film Accolades: Screened at various United Nations functions and many festivals worldwide, including Hiroshima International Film Festival and Hot Springs. Helped create the momentum that led to President Barack Obama’s special moment with Shigeaki Mori in Hiroshima. IFMCA nomination for Best Score for a Documentary.
Score description: A western chamber orchestra carries dialogue with Japanese traditional soloists, such as shakuhachi player Kojiro Umezaki. Vocalise by Mai Fujisawa, daughter of Joe Hisaishi.
“...haunting, mystical [...], with echoes of Philip Glass and Aaron Copland and sounds from a Buddhist temple””
“...moving and beautiful, elegantly written, artfully orchestrated...”
SINGING IN THE WILDERNESS
Logline: After hiding in the mountains for a century, a Miao Christian choir in Yunnan Province is discovered by an official and becomes a national sensation in China.
Trailer here. View entire film on Qwest TV.
Directed by: Dongnan Chen.
Film Accolades: International Film Festival Rotterdam, New Director/New Films (MOMA & Lincoln Center), LA Asian Pacific Film Festival (Special Jury Award), Millenium Docs Against Gravity (ETNOMATOGRAPH Award), Doc Edge Film Festival, Thessaloniki Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, and Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM).
Score description: Ambient soundscapes are interwoven with more straightforward classical pieces. “Ping Photographed” uses the language of 16th-century Renaissance polyphony, while “Going to Beijing” is a 19th century waltz.
SURF NATION
Logline: As China trains its first generation of Olympic surfers, two promising young athletes - Alex and Lolo - navigate adolescence, freedom and their love of the sport.
Trailer here. Watch the full film on Amazon here.
Directed by: Jessica Chen and Jeremiah Bogert.
Series Accolades: Mountainfilm Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Audience Award: Santa Cruz Film Festival, SLO Film Fest, Portland Film Festival, PBS World Channel Broadcast.
Score description: Combines analog synthesizers with raw acoustic drums, bass, guitars, and trumpet - paying tribute to surfing culture, but giving it a more cinematic feeling of wonder and also 21st century youthfulness and playfulness.
Score available for license sync placements.
THE DATING GAME
Logline: Three perpetual bachelors join an intensive seven-day dating camp led by one of China's most sought-after dating coaches.
Directed by: Violet du Feng. View trailer here.
Film Accolades: 2025 Nominee - Sundance Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema - Documentary. The New York Times created a short film based on The Dating Game, called “Only the Lonely.”
Score description: Poppy electronics help guide us through the sleek, nighttime cityscapes featured in the film, while comedic, woodwind-infused orchestral cues add commentary on awkward social situations. Additional music by Teane Maseko, San Miguel Pérez, and Bolun Zhang.
EXPOSING MUYBRDIGE
Logline: tells the story of trailblazing 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who changed the world with his camera. Features interviews with Muybridge enthusiast and actor Gary Oldman.
View the trailer here. And watch the film here. Read The Guardian’s review here.
Directed by: Marc Shaffer.
Film Accolades: Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay. News and Documentary Emmy Nomination for Best Score, worldwide festival screenings including Sheffield DocFest, Film Fest Ghent, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Milwaukee St. Paul International Film Festival, Santa Fe Film Festival, and DOC NYC among many others.
Score description: A twangy chamber orchestra with out-of-tune pianos and 19th century waltzes. Recorded with LA Philharmonic guitarist Paul Viapiano and a Hollywood studio orchestra. Features Tlingit artist Ed Littlefield.
“Chad’s score injects energy into the stillness of Muybridge’s photographs, amplifies the film’s emotional tone, and sharpens its critical analysis. It is so original and cinematic, so beautifully composed and rendered, and manages to stand out without calling undue attention to itself. It was a genuine joy to collaborate with such a talented artist and I look forward to doing it again.”
GHOST OF TSUSHIMA: IKI ISLAND
Logline: Set in 1274 on the Tsushima Island, the last samurai, Jin Sakai, must master a new fighting style, the way of the Ghost, to defeat the Mongol forces. Game expansion features new Mongol villains on Iki Island.
Directed by: Nate Fox and Jason Connell. Co-composed with Bill Hemstapat, using themes from the original game by Ilan Eskheri.
Game Accolades: Millions of copies sold. Score nominated for IFMCA awards in 2022.
Score description: Recorded during the pandemic - with soloists in Tokyo and Beijing, orchestra in Nashville, and taiko drummers in Los Angeles. Female throat singing from Inner Mongolia colors the main villain, “The Eagle”.
Score Press: read about the score on the official PlayStation blog. Vinyl available on Milan Records.
“Whilst incorporating Ehskeri’s original themes and staying close to his orchestrations, Cannon and Hemstapat have created an impressive sequel to Ghost of Tsushima. ”
“...wall to wall engaging, adrenaline pumping action themes.”
NIGHT IS NOT ETERNAL
Logline: For seven years, award-winning Chinese-American filmmaker Nanfu Wang followed Rosa Maria Paya, daughter of the five time Nobel Peace Prize nominated activist, Oswaldo Paya, in Rosa's fight for democracy.
Directed by: Nanfu Wang.
Film Accolades: Montclair Film Festival premiere, followed by HBO broadcast. Peabody Award winner. Nominee for Best Song for a Documentary Film at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.
Score description: Soulful collaboration with Cuban tres guitar player, singer-songwriter, and composer San Miguel Pérez. Dark and moody to reflect the difficulties Rosa Maria Paya must endure as she carries on her father’s legacy of democratic activism.
THE CARMAN FAMILY DEATHS
Logline: A fishing trip ends in tragedy when Linda Carman vanishes at sea leaving her son Nathan adrift for days. His rescue stirs up questions about his grandfather's murder and ignites a battle over inheritance that leads to shocking revelations.
Trailer here. View entire film on Netflix here.
Directed by: Yon Motskin.
Film Accolades: Debuted at #1 in Movies on Netflix.
Score description: Dark and pulsey, with lots of synths textures to capture the depth and mystery of this oceanic true-crime story. Co-credited with H. Scott Salinas.
QINGHAI: OUR NATIONAL PARK
Logline: In this 3-part TV docuseries, viewers experience the grandeur and beauty of Qinghai National Park, located high on the Tibetan Plateau.
Directed by: Xiao Li.
Series Accolades: Widely broadcasted throughout mainland China. Score received an IFMCA nomination for Best Score for a Documentary.
Score description: Recorded in Prague with the Czech Symphony, and in Los Angeles with the Lyris Quartet. Broad, sweeping, orchestral score to accompany the beautiful natural landscape and wildlife.
Soundtrack available on MovieScore Media.
“…a gorgeous tapestry of music and melody, full of beautiful orchestral colors and majestic themes.”
“An astonishing orchestral work that blows most mainstream film scores out of the water! Big, symphonic, thematic, beautiful, playful, exciting, melodic. Best score of 2021 so far!”
WOMEN IN BLUE
Logline: Focuses on Minneapolis Police Department’s first female and openly gay police chief, Janée Harteau, and three of the women in her department as they each try to redefine what it means to protect and serve.
Trailer here. View entire film on PBS here.
Directed by: Deirdre Fishel.
Film Accolades: Festival screenings at Minneapolis St. Paul Intl Film Festival (incidentally just a few days before George Floyd was killed), Tribeca, DOC NYC, AFI DOCS, Virginia Film Festival.
Score description: Utilizes harps in an unusual way, to subvert their typically “feminine” quality (e.g. bowed strings, using mallets on the strings, etc.). Recorded by a chamber orchestra in Los Angeles.
“Bouyed by Chad Cannon’s lush and powerful score, ‘Women in Blue’ is at its best when it highlights the efforts of Harteaus’s former hires to continue her legacy.”
JOIN OR DIE
Logline: A film about why you should join a club…and why the fate of America depends on it. This documentary examines social scientist Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone" theory of how declining community engagement created an American civic crisis.
Trailer here. View entire film on Netflix here.
Directed by: Pete Davis and Rebecca Davis.
Film Accolades: SXSW premiere, News & Documentary Emmy Nomination, IFF Boston, Milwaukee Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Tallgrass Film Festival, Warsaw International Film Festival, along with hundreds of community screenings. Netflix worldwide distribution.
Score description: Strong character pieces to match the wonderful animated sequences by Mark Lopez. Lots of Americana orchestration and color, recorded by a Hollywood studio chamber orchestra.
“Chad Cannon composed a terrific score...you may find yourself humming the film’s upbeat leitmotif.”
ALGIERS, AMERICA: THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT
Logline: Algiers, America chronicles the journey of Coach Brice Brown and the Edna Karr Cougars (a predominantly Black high school in Algiers, New Orleans) as they chase their future, their dreams, and a fifth state championship in six seasons.
Trailer here. Watch the full series on Hulu here.
Directed by: Jackson Fager.
Series Accolades: International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards: Nominee - Best Multi-Part Documentary. Winner: Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA), Special Mention, Best Song for a Documentary Series.
Score description: Features a cast of local New Orleans musicians, including Shvkiel, Pro$per Jone$, Josh Kagler and Harmonistic Praise Crusade (recorded at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans), trumpet virtuoso Trevon Sullen-Trotter, and hip-hop activist Aisha Fukushima. Strings and brass sections recorded in Burbank, CA.
Score Press: Variety - How the Music of ‘Euphoria’ Composer Labrinth Inspired the Score for Football Docuseries ‘Algiers, America’ (By Jazz Tangcay), Interview with The Film Scorer (podcast).
“...composer Chad Cannon threaded in a whirlwind of sound and emotion, with Labrinth‘s “Euphoria” soundtrack serving as inspiration in the way that it fuses gospel, orchestral and electronic music.”
CYBERWORK AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
Logline: looks at the impact of robotics and artificial intelligence on the future of work. Since the Industrial Revolution, new technology has increased wealth, freedom and life expectancy. But it has also destroyed outdated businesses and automated jobs. How can the U.S. best prepare for the challenges of this new technological disruption?
Directed by: James Shelley.
Film Accolades: Widely distributed/broadcast on PBS. IFMCA Nomination for Best Score for a Documentary.
Score description: Busy minimalist Americana score: Copland meets Bernstein meets Glass. Live chamber orchestra, including saxophones and banjo. Recorded at Hollywood Scoring Stage in Glendale, CA. Mixed by Adam Michalak, Soundtrack Remix by William Chen.
“Chad Cannon’s CyberWork and the American Dream is a rare entry in the increasingly dwindling use of American minimalism in film music. Cannon uses recurring themes constructed with a level variance in instrumentation and tone not commonly seen in the genre, staging the issue of technology’s ever-increasing encroachment into daily life.”