Get job‑ready as a Composer’s Assistant
Screen Music Program Winter Edition / Los Angeles, Jan 7–9
MAX 70 spots available (first‑come, first‑served)
Registration deadline: Dec 24, 2025
Hosted at Film Independent HQ
Who It’s For
– Emerging composers and producers aiming for assistant roles
– Recent graduates and career‑switchers seeking job‑ready skills
Across three days of lectures, masterclasses, and Q&A conversations, you’ll build practical assistant skills that studios expect: DAW workflow and templates, technical readiness, execution under deadline, professional practice, and career steps.
Guests and Faculty
- Special Guests: Pinar Toprak (Captain Marvel, Fortnite, The Lost City, Thursday Night Football, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Our Living World), Batu Sener (How to Train your Dragon, Star Wars, Bourne franchises, Better Man, Ice Age, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, Don’t Worry Darling), Ryan Shore (Star Wars, Scooby-Doo!, The Prince of Peoria, Elmo, Prime, The Girl Next Door, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer)
- Faculty: Penka Kouneva (Dragon Age: Absolution, Pandora series, Moana 2, Legends of Runeterra, Prince of Persia, Aga, Juror #2), Robbie Teehan (Scarborough, The Babushkas of Chernobyl, Homeland, Jessica Jones, Halo, Bottle Conditioned, Below the Belt)
Format
- Dates/Venue: January 7–9, from 10:00am to 6:00pm, at Film Independent Headquarters, 5670 Wilshire Blvd., 9th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90036
- Sessions: Lectures, masterclasses, conversations with Q&A
Attendance Options
- In‑Room (full access): Complete experience with faculty sessions, interactive Q&A, and the opportunity to meet special guests in person
- Online (special‑guest masterclasses only): Livestream access to special‑guest masterclasses. The platform supports audience questions; submissions are reviewed and selected by our moderators at our discretion, as is standard for streaming events
Tuition
- In‑Room: $599
- Online: $99
Networking Event
End‑of‑program networking reception bringing together invited industry figures and our faculty—exclusively for participants—to support meaningful professional connections.
Registration & Payment
- Registration deadline: Dec 24, 2025
- Registration is first‑come, first‑served; in‑room limited to 70 spots
- Payments processed via Wise
Three concentrated days to become job‑ready as a composer’s assistant—practical workflows, professional mindset, and guidance from seasoned pros. Secure one of the 70 in‑room seats or join online for the special‑guest masterclasses. Join us now!
Join us now!
Pay with Wise below OR → click here to fill out the form ← and receive our bank info!
An SCL member, sign up →here!
Pinar Toprak
Pinar Toprak is a trailblazing Grammy and Emmy-nominated composer, conductor, and performer, renowned for crafting evocative, thematic scores across film, television, and video games. She made history as the first female composer to score a billion-dollar film (Captain Marvel), a multi-billion-dollar video game (Fortnite), and a theme for the NFL (Thursday Night Football), solidifying her status as one of the most influential voices in modern composition. Toprak began her musical journey at age 5, studying violin at Istanbul University State Conservatory, and by 16 earned a degree in classical guitar. She completed Berklee College of Music’s Film Scoring program in just two years, graduating at 19, and then pursued a master’s degree in composition. Her classical training is complemented by a deep love for jazz and electronic music, which remains a vibrant part of her musical identity.
With a career spanning blockbuster franchises, beloved animations, and groundbreaking video games, Pinar’s versatility shines across genres. She recently scored PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, Lonely Planet (Laura Dern, Liam Hemsworth), and the Grammy-nominated Ubisoft video game Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and its expansion Secrets of the Spires. Her work includes the electrifying NFL theme, magical Disney park soundtracks including the new Epcot theme, Christina Aguilera’s Xperience Live Show in Las Vegas, and conducting Billie Eilish’s No Time to Die at the 2022 Oscars. A recipient of the ASCAP Shirley Walker Award and four-time International Film Music Critics Association Award winner, her body of over 60 scores includes The Lost City, Our Living World, Stargirl, Krypton, McMillions, Slumberland, Shotgun Wedding, The Angel, and Family Switch. Pinar Toprak continues to redefine the role of a composer, leaving an indelible mark on every project she touches.
Batu Sener
A protégé of Oscar nominated composer John Powell, Batu Sener has been in the front line of major Hollywood productions, contributing additional music to major franchises like Ice Age, Wicked, How to Train your Dragon, Star Wars, and Bourne. Most recently, Sener scored Sony’s Harold and the Purple Crayon and wrote the original score for the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, for which he won an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for best Original Score.
As lead composer, Batu jumped into composing one of Hollywood’s largest franchises for his first feature motion picture: Ice Age. He scored the sixth film in the series: The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, which premiered on Disney+. Following this film, he was also brought on to score a mini-series in the same franchise: Ice Age: Scrat Tales.
Working alongside John Powell ever since his move to Los Angeles, Batu composed additional music on How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Migration, That Christmas, Pan and Jason Bourne. His other additional music credits include The Call of the Wild, Ferdinand, Locked Down, Don’t Worry Darling, the live action remake of How to Train Your Dragon, Wicked and Wicked: For Good.
Ryan Shore
Ryan Shore is a Canadian-American composer, songwriter, music producer, conductor, and saxophonist known for scoring films, television series, and video games across a wide range of genres. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he began his career assisting and orchestrating for high-profile composers before establishing himself as a lead composer.
Shore’s notable credits include scores for animated and family titles such as Scooby-Doo! franchise entries, The Prince of Peoria, and Star Wars: Forces of Destiny; genre/features like Prime, The Girl Next Door, and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer; and series work spanning Disney, Nickelodeon, and Netflix properties. He has also contributed songs and music direction for award shows and specials.
He has collaborated with major studios and creators, conducting and recording with leading orchestras, and his work has been recognized with multiple award nominations, including Emmy and Grammy nods for music direction, composition, and production on various projects. Beyond screen scoring, Shore performs as a saxophonist and has served as music director for high-profile live events.
Across media, his hallmark is stylistic versatility—moving fluidly from orchestral writing to pop, jazz, and hybrid electronic palettes—supported by hands-on production and conducting experience that bridges the creative and technical demands of modern scoring.
Penka Kouneva
Grammy-winning composer and top studio orchestrator Penka Kouneva has worked in Hollywood for 25 years scoring television (Dragon Age Absolution, Pandora series), films (Aga, Encounter, Tarika), video games (Legends of Runeterra, Prince of Persia) and theme parks (NASA). On IMDB, she has 170+ credits. Her recent orchestrator credits include Moana 2 and Juror #2.
Penka holds a Duke University Ph.D. in composition and is known as a great mentor who’s helped 100+ young film and game composers cultivate remarkable Hollywood careers and become top studio composers. Her orchestral albums The Woman Astronaut and Rebirth of Id are released by Varese Sarabande / Universal Music to great critical acclaim.
Like a great storyteller, her music takes the listener on an emotional journey, with timeless melodies and contemporary arrangements.
Robbie Teehan
Canadian composer Robbie Teehan is known for his nuanced scores to award-winning indie dramas and documentaries, including Scarborough, winner of 8 Canadian Screen Awards including Best Picture, the documentary Bottle Conditioned directed by Academy Award nominee Jerry Franck, the documentary Below the Belt produced by Hilary Rodham Clinton, and the documentary The Babushkas of Chernobyl.
Robbie spent 5 years in Los Angeles as assistant to 4-time Emmy Award-winning composer Sean Callery and contributed to over 300 episodes of network TV on hit series Homeland, Jessica Jones, Elementary, Designated Survivor, Bones, Bull, Halo, and others.
Leveraging his unique expertise in mindset coaching and digital marketing, Robbie founded The Pro Composer in 2020, a thriving online community and boutique career coaching firm that has guided media composers around the world to life-changing career breakthroughs.
Join us now!
Pay with Wise below OR → click here to fill out the form ← and receive our bank info!
An SCL member, sign up →here!
For any questions, please contact Paolo Fosso, Program Director at info@merry-go-sound.com
Travel, meals, and accommodation are not included in the program tuition fee. The program will run with a minimum of 25 participants. In the rare event that this number is not reached, the tuition fees will be fully refunded and you will be notified in advance. The Screen Music Program reserves the right to modify Program guests, conditions and events as necessary.