Germaine Franco is an American film composer, conductor, songwriter, arranger, record producer, and percussionist. She is a Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated composer. Her extensive resume, coupled with her curiosity, and inventiveness, has made her a trailblazer. Franco was the first Latina to win a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media with her score for Encanto (2021),[1] and the first to receive the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature with Coco in 2018. In addition, Encanto received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, an SCL Award for Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film, an Annie Award for Best Music in a Feature, a Billboard Music Award, and a World Soundtrack Awards nomination for Film Composer of the Year in 2022. She is also the first Latina to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score, as well as the first to join the music branch of the Academy.[2] She recently completed work on the Netflix smash hit The Mother directed by Niki Caro. The film is one of Netflix's most successful releases to date, going No.1 in 82 countries.[3]
Germaine Franco | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Franco at the 2022 Santa Barbara International Film Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Genres | Film score, ambient, classical, tango, Latin |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, Songwriter, Music Producer |
| Instruments | Piano, keyboards, percussion, accordion, guitar |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Website | germainefranco |
In 2018, Univision named Franco one of the Top 15 Latinas who are changing the world.[4] Other film and television scores Franco has contributed to include Coco (2017), Tag (2018), Dope (2015), Vida (2018), Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019), and Little (2019).[5][6] Her work has been performed at concert halls such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall with The Los Angeles Master Chorale,[7] The Puerto Rico Symphony, The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra, and The Chicago Philharmonic, among others.
Early life
editFranco was born in California.[8] She attended the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she studied percussion and composition, earning a bachelor's degree in 1984 and a master's in 1987. It was during this time she started writing music in addition to performing.[9]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 3 Américas | Cristina Kotz Cornejo | — |
| 2009 | Entre Nos | Paola Mendoza and Gloria La Morte | |
| A Crushing Love | Sylvia Morales | ||
| 2010 | Visions of Aztlan | Jesus Salvador Treviño | |
| 2012 | Margarita | Dominique Cardona Laurie Colbert |
— |
| 2013 | Living on One Dollar | Zach Ingrasci, Sean Leonard, and Chris Temple | |
| 2014 | The Book of Life | Jorge Gutierrez | |
| East LA Interchange | Betsy Kalin | composer: additional music | |
| 2015 | Dope | Rick Famuyiwa | Nominated — Black Reel Award for Outstanding Original Score |
| 2016 | Shovel Buddies | Adam Townley Simon Atkinson |
— |
| 2017 | Coco | Lee Unkrich | Score composed by Michael Giacchino Additional music and Songwriter with Adrian Molina and Giacchino Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production (Shared with Giacchino, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, and Molina) |
| Walk with Me: On The Road With Thich Nhat Hanh | Marc Francis, Max Pugh | ||
| Coco VR Experience | |||
| Motiongate | Steve Hickner & Gary Trousdale | ||
| 2018 | Tag | Jeff Tomsic | — |
| Public Disturbance | Danny Lee | — | |
| Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor's Quest | Steve Hickner & Gary Trousdale | ||
| Chiefs | Zenta Fuentes | Composed with John Debney | |
| Life-Size 2 | Steven K. Tsuchida | ||
| Vida | Various | ||
| 2019 | Epcot Center: The Music of Coco | Music Producer, Arranger and Curator | |
| Little | Tina Gordon | — | |
| Someone Great | Jennifer Kaytin Robinson | ||
| Dora and the Lost City of Gold | James Bobin | Composed with John Debney | |
| Curious George: Royal Monkey | Doug Murphy | — | |
| The Casagrandes | Miguel Puga Mike Nordstrom |
Main Titles Theme Composer/Songwriter; Score Composed by Jonathan Hylander | |
| The Loud House | Michael Rubiner | Songwriter/Composer – "Greatest One Of All Time" | |
| 2020 | Work It | Laura Terruso | — |
| The Sleepover | Trish Sie | — | |
| Curious George: Go West, Go Wild | Michael LaBash | — | |
| Kung Fu Panda Land of Awesomeness - Theme Park | Dean Orion | ||
| Yearley Departed – TV Special | Linda Mendoza | ||
| 2021 | Encanto[10] | Byron Howard Jared Bush |
Composer Songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Nominated — Academy Award for Best Original Score Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score |
| 2022 | A Cloud Never Dies | Marc J. Francis and Max Pugh | |
| 2023 | The Mother[11] | Niki Caro | — |
References
edit- ^ "Encanto Composer Germaine Franco on the New Disney Classic". 25 January 2022.
- ^ "Germaine Franco Talks Scoring 'Tag' & The Lack of Female Composers in Hollywood: 'It's Not a Glass Ceiling, It's Made of Cement'". Billboard. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Why The Mother Broke A 2023 Netflix Streaming Record". ScreenRant. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- ^ "Germaine Franco: For bringing Mexican music to the big screen".
- ^ "Interview with Germaine Franco :: Film Music Magazine". Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Dora and the Lost City of Gold". People en Español. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ "Composer".
- ^ "Germaine Franco".
- ^ "Oscar nominee Germaine Franco on building a career in music: 'Whatever it is you love to do, that's what you should be doing'". Rice News | News and Media Relations | Rice University. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- ^ "Germaine Franco Scoring Disney's 'Encanto'". filmmusicreporter.com. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
- ^ "Germaine Franco Scoring Niki Caro's 'The Mother'". Film Music Reporter. 1 May 2023.
Further reading
editExternal links
edit- Official Website
- Germaine Franco on Twitter
- Germaine Franco at IMDb
- Germaine Franco on Discogs
- GERMAINE FRANCO - Getting into the business. Orchestral Tools (Mar 5, 2019). YouTube video.