Adding music to films and TV: Jemma Burns talks working as a music consultant and her future projects.

Photo credit: IMDB

Written by: Gracie Lowes

The entertainment industry is a place of opportunities, for some it’s acting, others is directing or writing, but for Jemma Burns, her passion is her work as a music consultant and supervisor.

Since starting her career Burns has worked on A-list projects such as Wizards, Beau is Afraid, Netflix's Boys Swallows Universe, The Stranger, Love Me, Heartbreak High, and most recently Foe.

I had the chance to sit down (virtually) with Burns, to talk to her about her career, how the TV and film industry benefits from music, future projects, and more.

You can read the full interview below.

Photo credit: Prime Video

Gracie Lowes: I have to say, I loved this film. It was shown at Windsor International Film Festival, so that was the first time I got to see it, and I just thought the whole thing was brilliant.

Jemma Burns: “That's fantastic! It's probably the project I'm most proud of in terms of the music, not only because of how well it turned out but because of my involvement. It was a very satisfying project to work on.”

Gracie: Well, congratulations on the project. I know you said it's special to you, but what is it like building up to that release and now getting to hear people's reactions to it and getting to watch the full thing?

Jemma: “I was obviously very passionate about the music, but it's certainly not the most mainstream sound. I was very curious to see people's reactions because, being a music nerd, my taste can be a little esoteric at times, so it was really rewarding to hear that it connected with a broader audience. 

Even if I am working in a sphere that is a little avant-garde, I often try to still find elements in the music or examples of the style of music that will connect with an audience. 

Although some of those unusual sounds in the score are perhaps a little odd, they fit beautifully into the film, so I knew they would affect the audience as well.”

Gracie: Can I ask what drew you specifically to want to take on this project? Because obviously, there's the script, but there's the musical aspect as well. What was it for you that made you want to work on this project?

Jemma: “It was really the idea. The director, Garth Davis, and I have known each other for over 10 years. I have worked with him on his previous two feature films, ‘Lion’, which was a commercial success because of its compelling storyline, and ‘Mary Magdalene’, which was a more challenging project. I've found him to be one of my favorite collaborators. 

A director's level of collaboration varies. Some directors are more controlling in the creative process than others, and some, like Garth, love to collaborate. 

Garth came to me about two years before the film was fully financed during lockdown. I read the script, and then we spent a lot of time experimenting with the sound of the film by playing many different score references and ideas. He is such a wonderful collaborator because he allows my fingers all over the film, so collaborating with Garth was the main thing that drew me to the project.”

Gracie: Could you describe the overall sound of the film and how you came up with it?

Jemma: “We actually had three composers working on the film. Firstly, the central female character in the movie plays the piano throughout the film. The piano is symbolic of her emotional journey, awakening from the life she's been living. It was important to us that the piano music was composed by a female composer, and it had to be perfect. We searched high, low, old, new, young, all sorts of female pianists. We landed on Agnes Oble. She's a very popular pop singer in Europe. I know her music well, and the piano is her instrument. 

She'd never written to a brief before. But Garth is a wonderful communicator who is great at explaining the emotional backstory of the character. Agnes nailed it the first time. We asked her to record every little thing she did, all the little mistakes and things she was figuring out because the character is also reconnecting with the piano and is a little apprehensive at first. The music she wrote was spot-on for the plan. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Working with a Korean musician called Park Ji-ha is one of the things I am proud of. She plays many traditional Korean instruments that are quite reedy, and some hammered strings. I have been a fan of hers for many years and wanted to work on a film with her. When I played her music to Garth, he fell in love with it instantly, and she fell in love with the project. We even used some of her pre-existing music as a temp while editing, and it fit in like it was made for the film, so that was wonderful. She also hadn't worked on a film before, worked to a brief, or been involved in the whole process before, so we felt that her sound was going to need a kind of counterpoint.

I suggested we work with Oliver Coates, another wonderful composer I've worked with before. He's probably most well-known now for ‘Aftersun’. He's also the cellist for Johnny Greenwood and Mika Levi. He is absolutely brilliant. I knew he and Park Ji-ha would work well together since they both come from quite an experimental background. His music is so rich and moving, but never in a saccharine way. 

In the end, Ji-ha's music was the voice of the earth, and Olly's music, being so rich and romantic, really lent itself to the relationship story, which is obviously the central plot of the film. Somehow, all three came together so beautifully and created a cohesive sound. I'm incredibly proud of the outcome. It's so satisfying to bring together a composer and director and find they have a wonderful love with each other and see their relationship flourish. Being involved in the whole process is incredibly rewarding."

Gracie: I feel like music is a huge part of not only life in general but also movies and how successful their story is. I'm wondering, for you personally, what advice would you give to someone who wants to get into music and films or trying to be a music supervisor?

Jemma: “My biggest piece of advice is to always try and find people starting out at the same level as you. Try and find any of the exciting young filmmakers making awesome short films or others coming up at the same time as you. That way, you can figure it out on your early projects and learn from your mistakes.

And hopefully, if you find someone that you really gel with, like a director, I find that they tend to be very loyal. Once you have a close relationship with a director on the music side of things, they tend to work with the same music supervisor again and again. So, hopefully, if you forge a relationship with someone at the same stage as you, you'll come up together and, when they start getting funding for bigger and bigger projects, they'll take you along with them.

You can't expect necessarily to work with a leading director off the bat, even if you're a very cool DJ or anything like that, because you have to earn the trust of the directors on the creative front. I've worked with some directors that I haven't known very well or haven't even met before, and it feels quite odd to send them these playlists of songs and say ‘This is what I think you should use.' If they don't know you yet, it's a weird proposition, so you have to earn the creative trust of the directors. But then also with the producers because you need to prove that you can pull the thing off logistically.”

Gracie: Do you have any future projects that you can hint at or talk about?

Jemma: “Yes, I've got a whole load of projects. One that I'm super excited about is an American indie sci-fi film starring Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun. It's such a special movie. They've been quite secretive about the plot so that one is very, very, very exciting. It's been a real labor of love. There is also a husband and wife filmmaking duo that you won't be aware of yet because this is their first feature, but that one is very exciting. 

And an A24 and Plan B comedy film with director David Michaud, who tends to do a lot of quite heavy or quite serious projects. I think they all decided it was time to have some fun. They've made a very funny comedy about two stoners on a beach in far North Queensland, starring Pete Davidson and Franz Rogowski.

So those are two films I'm very excited about.”