VARIETY: COMPOSERS CONVERSE AS SEASON 2 OF ‘SCORE: THE PODCAST’ LAUNCHES

From left: Robert Kraft, Kenny Holmes, James Newton Howard

“Score: The Podcast” is perhaps the most popular of the many film-music series in the audio marketplace. Helmed by Oscar-nominated composer Robert Kraft and Emmy-winning news producer Kenny Holmes interviewing the top composers in the field, it launches a second season on April 16.

On deck are composers Bear McCreary (“Godzilla”), Justin Hurwitz (“La La Land”), Kris Bowers (“Green Book”), Pinar Toprak (“Captain Marvel”) and John Ottman (the composer-editor who recently won an Oscar for editing “Bohemian Rhapsody”).

“It’s a conversation, a deeper dive into the inner workings of how film music is created,” says Kraft, “and into the lives of composers who have to wrestle with issues of writing, rewriting, brutal schedules, filmmakers who don’t understand the process, and more.”

In addition to being a 1992 best song Oscar nominee, Kraft was head of the 20th Century Fox music department from 1994 to 2012. That history places him far ahead of other film music podcasters. “I can sit with these composers and, with few exceptions, I’ve actually done a film with them. I can talk with them about experiences that we’ve shared,” he adds.

An outgrowth of Matt Schrader’s “Score: A Film Music Documentary,” which was released in 2016 and co-produced by Kraft and Holmes, guests during its first 20-episode season included James Newton Howard, Harry Gregson-Williams, John Powell, Tyler Bates and Christophe Beck. Today, says Kraft, “There’s a line around the block of composers, filmmakers, music supervisors and songwriters who would like to be included [on the show].”

The show boasts an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 downloads per episode, and Kraft says his team expects to produce 15-20 podcasts for its second season. He is also hoping to extend the brand into television and is collaborating with Hans Zimmer to propose a series titled “The Sound of Emotion.”