Anthony Willis (Composer: Promising Young Woman)

Composer Anthony Willis joins us for a special All Access in giving an in-depth and very authentic look at what it's like to be a young composer in Hollywood. Anthony has been a go-to talent for many composers such as Henry Jackman, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams and many others where he has served as an additional composer and various other titles as part of music teams for the industry's top talents.

 

He recently scored the acclaimed Promising Young Woman starring Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge and many others. The film is written and directed by the talented and versatile Emerald Fennell who is making her feature debut.

 

In this All Access Anthony shares his story of how he discovered music, pursued it while growing up in the UK, and made the leap to come study it here in Los Angeles. Get to hear about all the events that led Anthony to meet composers like Harry Gregson-Williams, Henry Jackman and John Powell. Anthony's reflections serve as a wonderful bounty of information for any young composer wondering how to get their foot into the industry.

 

We also dive deep into Anthony's score to Promising Young Woman, and how he approached the film which aims to blur genre lines between thriller, drama, and black comedy. We discuss how he balanced his score with the song choices in the film and how writer/director Fennell's love for the Brittney Spears song "Toxic" led to Anthony doing a haunting orchestral cover of the song for the film (also featured in the trailer).

 

Anthony is an immense talent who has been working and learning under some of today's top composers, and with Promising Young Woman has showcased a heap of promising talent of his own.

 

Due to the pandemic, Promising Young Woman is now available to rent digitally with "Theater At Home".

 

A Film.Music.Media Interview | Produced & Presented by Kaya Savas