WSA Film Music Days - WSA Nominees Round Table: Game Music Award

Panellists

Maclaine Diemer

Maclaine Diemer is a Los Angeles based composer for interactive and traditional media. With 15 years of experience in games, he has worked on some of the highest profile titles across multiple game console generations as well as PC. An insatiably curious musician and multi-instrumentalist, he works in a wide variety of styles. Whether performing stripped down arrangements of his Guild Wars 2 score at the first Twitchcon or conducting a full orchestra in Boca del Rio, Mexico, Maclaine lives to carry the torch for game music all over the world. Notable credits include ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2, Firmament from Cyan Worlds, Harmonix’s Rock Band franchises, Riot Games’ League of Legends, and Amazon Game Studios’ first major original title Crucible.

Narayana Johnson

Narayana Johnson is an Audio Director at Massive Monster. Scored and produced the award winning music for Cult of the Lamb along with working on voice overs, atmospheres and many of the SFX. Background in pop as one half of Willow Beats. Toured Australia multiple times and played festivals such as Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festival. Played support for Tash Sultana, Flume, Alison Wonderland and more.

Nainita Desai

2021 WSA Discovery of the Year winner Nainita Desai’s recent projects include the hit Netflix documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, which earned her a Primetime Emmy, and Oscar winning feature The Deepest Breath (A24, Netflix). Desai’s other credits include the Oscar nominated doc For Sama and Sundance winning The Reason I Jump. She has recently garnered many award nominations for her score for the acclaimed video game Immortality.

Grant Kirkhope

Grant Kirkhope, a BAFTA-nominated British composer, is celebrated for crafting soundtracks for video games. His impressive repertoire spans from classics like GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie, and Donkey Kong to recent hits like Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Yooka Laylee, and World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Notably, Grant composed the memorable Donkey Kong Rap in Donkey Kong 64 and ventured into film composition with the upcoming release of The King's Daughter. Grant's exceptional work has garnered accolades, including a BAFTA nomination for Viva Piñata's score (2007). He's received recognition for his game compositions from the International Film Music Critics Association and Cue Awards.

Gregory Nicolett

Greg Nicolett, mentored by Disney composer Buddy Baker, has become a notable composer for Disney, with his music featured in four animated series, including Pupstruction. His impressive work garnered attention from Aryo Jati Darmawan, leading to an ambitious score for Potionomics, featuring over 80 musicians and spanning multiple genres. The score has earned nominations for the WSA, HMMA, and GANG awards. Greg's diverse portfolio includes a neo-noir score for Chicago Overcoat, contributions to Smallville and RocketJump's Video Game High School (Golden Reel nominee), and scores for over 40 short films, including the Sundance film Above and Beneath, HBO award winner Muted, Ridley Scott Parallel Lines winner Porcelain Unicorn, and the adaptation of The New Yorker's short story Adams with Patton Oswalt and Fred Arminsen.

Annette Gentz - Moderator

Annette Gentz is one of Germany’s premiere agents for film and stage music. Her company Annette Gentz Music & Film Arts has been producing and supervising score productions for more than ten years. She has worked with composers including Michael Nyman, Dasha Dauenhauer and Max Richter. One of her most recent achievements was supervising the score deal for Volker Bertelmann that won him the 2023 Academy Award for Best Original Score for All Quiet On the Western Front. In 2023 Annette Gentz joined Universal Music as General Manager GSA, Classics & Screen / Ricordi. She is also active as a mentor and moderator at (inter)national festivals, conferences and networking events, and is an advisory board member of the World Soundtrack Academy.