Fred Topel

The xenomorph from the Alien franchise is one of the most legendary creatures in cinema history. Now it's the star of FX's series Alien: Earth too. Many filmmakers have put xenomorphs on screen and many composers have written music for them. Alien: Earth's Jeff Russo may be the first to use the…

In Peacock's mystery All Her Fault, Marissa Irvine (Sarah Snook) searches for her missing son. Composer Jeff Beal, who conducted some of the series’ music live at Deadline's Sound & Screen Television, said the thriller score was the easy part. He also wanted to convey the characters with…

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains details of Season 2 of HBO Max’s The Pitt. Season 2 of The Pitt features an original song in episode 6. "Need Someone" plays when a recurring patient named Louie (Ernest Harden Jr.) dies. Songwriter Andrew Bird sang and played the song with composer-songwriter…

Apple TV’s Murderbot blends science-fiction, comedy, human emotion and many more elements, so the music is just as eclectic. Composer Amanda Jones conducted a performance of some of her designs at Deadline's Sound & Screen Television, then shared some of her designs. For example, Jones uses a…

Breton Vivian returned to Deadline's Sound and Screen Television after presenting the score for Taylor Sheridan’s 1923. This time around, he conducted the score for another Sheridan drama, Paramount+’s The Madison. For the new series, which centers on the story of a widow, played by Michelle…

SPOILER ALERT: This story includes details from the currently streaming Season 5 of Prime Video’s The Boys. The Boys' final season is currently streaming new episodes on Prime Video. Many of the regulars have already met their fates and more is certainly to come ahead of the series finale…

Unidentified flying objects and Area 51 are conspiracy theories no more. Director Dan Farah interviewed 34 government officials who validate the existence of visitors from space in The Age of Disclosure. He told Deadline's Matt Carey at Contenders Documentary event that it no longer is just…

Abraham Joffe has documented wildlife in the ocean and the Arctic in films including Ghosts of the Arctic, Our Oceans and Big Cat Tales. While on an Arctic trip in 2013, he learned about the polar bear trade and set out to investigate it. The result is Trade Secret, and Joffe told Deadline's Matt…

The documentary short The Hemingway captures co-director Patrick Sean O'Brien's life with ALS. O'Brien reached out to longtime collaborator Evan Mathis with a script asking for help bringing it to fruition. The pair spoke with Deadline's Matt Carey at Contenders Documentary about their short, and…

Dog Warriors is about South Korean markets that sell dog meat. It explores the dog farms that slaughter the animals in inhumane ways. And yet, director Andrew Abrahams assures viewers the film is not as traumatizing as the description makes it sound. At Deadline's Contenders Documentary event…

Ai Weiwei mounted a production of Puccini's Turandot at the Rome Opera House amid the Covid pandemic recovery and the war in Ukraine. It also was Weiwei's first opera. Maxim Derevianko, director of the documentary Ai Weiwei's Turandot, said the very nature of art with a message was what he wanted to…

Maciej Drygas' documentary Trains uses archival footage to depict the history of the locomotive industry in the 20th century. Using private archives, some never-before-seen footage and even educational films, the film takes viewers on a metaphorical as well as historical journey. Drygas spoke with…