Berklee Named a Top School for Film and TV Scoring by the Hollywood Reporter
Image by Craig Bailey
In its 2021 ranking of top college programs for film and TV composition, the Hollywood Reporter placed Berklee close to the top of the list, noting that, in Berklee's case, you don't have to be located near to L.A. to be close to Hollywood. The article quotes Utamed Spirit composer Amie Doherty M.M. ’13, who said, "I come from a small town in the west of Ireland, so how does one get to Hollywood?" The answer for Doherty was studying at Berklee's campus in Valencia, Spain, which allowed her to get a foot in the door, even from halfway across the globe.
Growing up near Boston, Berklee was the school to go [to] if you wanted to be a serious musician.
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But for the many Berklee artists that make their way to Los Angeles itself, the article lauded the institution's strong alumni network as a boon for recent graduates looking to break into the industry. As Joy Ngiaw B.M. ’15 told the magazine, "[For] students who moved to L.A. after graduating, there’s a lot of events here and really good resources to help us get started. Whether it’s to find our first internship or find our first job, I feel that the community is really helpful in bridging that connection."
The article also cites the critically acclaimed film CODA, written and directed by Siân Heder, as an example of how Berklee offers not just a professional scoring program and robust network, but has asserted itself as a holistic creative environment that serves its community as well as its students.
“Growing up near Boston, Berklee was the school to go [to] if you wanted to be a serious musician,” Heder told the Hollywood Reporter. The film is not only set around the main character's aspirations to attend Berklee, it also uses a Berklee a cappella group in the film itself. Heder said that she ultimately chose Berklee for the film because it felt "aspirational...like a place you go to discover who you are as an artist."
