Derek Zhao
Derek Zhao
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Music for film, television, and stage

I've been lucky to have had the opportunity to work on many different projects. Below are some of my favorites. They mean something special and remind me why I fell in love with film scoring in the first place.
 
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COLLIDE

Collide was the last film I scored before setting composing aside for data science. While it's about a drug deal gone wrong, the movie itself was a co-production gone wrong. The Chinese, German, and US companies funding the film couldn't agree on the final edit, so the Chinese company, DMG Entertainment, decided to cut their own version of the film for the China release, and brought me on board to write some new pieces.

Were this any typical Chinese film, I would've declined the opportunity, but I couldn't pass on a movie starring Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley, Nicholas Hoult, and Felicity Jones. It was an unqualified joy writing music for good actors; the music can breathe because it doesn't have to work so damn hard all the time. An added bonus was that DMG wanted an all-electronic score, a request I never got in China (overbearing epic orchestra was in vogue at the time), so I was more than happy to try something new.

Kekexili: Mountain Patrol

When I moved to Beijing, aside from student films from USC, I had no body of professional work to show people. How do you build your portfolio if people are only willing to hire you if you already have one? My solution was to just re-score an already existing movie.

Kekexili: Mountain Patrol is easily my favorite Chinese film. It's a tragic story about a group of Tibetan patrolmen trying to track down antelope poachers. The film distinguished itself for its realistic of mountain life and documentary-like cinematography. It's a shame I wasn't around when the film was being made. My consolation is that these few clips landed me plenty of jobs.

Commercials

Commercials were some of my favorite projects to work on. With a turnaround of about a week, two weeks tops, you never had time to get sick of one, and they were great exercises for learning to make a statement fast. In the television commercial world, I got typecast into writing almost exclusively for car advertisements, which was just fine by me. Beats trying to sell the next miracle drug.

A Few More Favorites

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The Legend of Nuwa
The Legend of Nuwa

My final and favorite project at the Beijing Dance Drama & Opera was a ballet called The Legend of Nuwa. It's an ancient Chinese creation myth about the origins of mankind and various power struggles in heaven.

Music for Myself
Music for Myself

Between projects, I wrote my own music just to see what I had to say free of another medium's constraints. Left to my own devices, it turns out all I want to do is write relaxing piano music all day long.

Iron Man 3: The Prologue
Iron Man 3: The Prologue

The Prologue reveals how Shaun Toub's Yinsen and Dr. Wu came to be friends, and provides additional backstory on the creation of the Arc Reactor. The plan was for it to be released as a promotional short, but Marvel killed the project.

Urban Games
Urban Games

Urban Games was the result of a state-backed push to lure Hollywood professionals to the ever-expanding Chinese film industry. That effort successfully convinced stunt director Bob Brown to pen and direct this story about an extreme sports athlete (of course) who uncovers a corporate conspiracy surrounding the death of his brother.

Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey
Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey

Pad Yatra is a documentary about Tibetan monks and nuns who annually trek across the Himalayas to pick up trash, plant trees, and spread a message about global climate change. It's a genuinely moving examination of the lengths people will go to in the name of love for their planet and each other.

What the Forest Says
What the Forest Says

What the Forest Says was meant to be a completely music-driven animated short about two birds trying to build a life together throughout the four seasons and the dangers they face in the forest. These pieces mean a great to me though, because writing them was the first time I felt like a "real" composer.

The Deathday Party
The Deathday Party

The Deathday Party is a psychological thriller that's part battle royale, part police procedural, and part domestic drama. Because of the generous music budget, I had the opportunity to record the score with an orchestra. I put a lot of extra effort into giving the musicians something interesting to play.

The Broken Bureau
The Broken Bureau

The Broken Bureau was both one of my best and worst experiences on a project. The director gave me complete creative freedom, and given the film's rather 90's look and feel, I seized on the chance to pay homage to my composing hero, Jerry Goldsmith.