On the latest episode of The Film Scorer podcast, I’m joined by John Paesano (Daredevil, Marvel’s Spider-Man)! I’ve been a fan of John’s for a while, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes being a recent favorite, so it was an extra pleasure chatting with him. His latest score is for the Netflix series The Boroughs, in which he channels an 80s/early-90s big, symphonic, melodic adventure style of scoring. Given that the show itself is designed to be very score-heavy, with music going right in the forefront, it takes full advantage of John’s score, a welcome refresher given how much less-common the style of scoring has become. While he talk a fair bit about The Boroughs, it’s only one of many topics, which include Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the hesitancy of using symphonic scoring, and (my favorite) a chance “encounter” we had more than fifteen years ago.
Since conducting this interview a couple of weeks ago, one thing about The Boroughs really bummed me out. The show premiered near the end of May and John and I conducted this interview a couple weeks later. Then, last week Netflix announced that it was cancelling the series. In about a month, the show went from release to cancellation, which was clearly a surprise since days beforehand they were still doing active press. If, in the streaming era, a show has to find an audience instantly, how can they be expected to succeed?
John’s score for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was one of my favorite scores of 2024, and really shines when listened to on its own. Having just interview Cristobal Tapia de Veer, it looks like I’m slowly interviewing the composers of all of my favorite scores from that year.
John’s score for The Boroughs, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms while the show itself is available on Netflix. You can find out more about John on his website.
Have a listen to our conversation below or wherever you get your podcasts (including Spotify and Apple Podcasts). Enjoying these interviews? Show the love by subscribing and leaving a rating or review!
