Horror composer Thornton alum nominated for Emmy
Holly Amber Church’s work has been nominated for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music.
By AUBRIE COLE
Holly Amber Church is known as the “Scream Queen of Scoring.” Church, who graduated from USC in 2001, has an affinity for dark media and a flair for horror that has carried her far in the entertainment industry. Now, thanks to her hauntingly melodic opening to “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities,” the horror film and television composer has the title “Emmy-nominated” under her belt.
On the morning of the Emmy nomination livestream, Church didn’t know she’d been nominated in the category of Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music until she was notified by her manager.
“[It was] very surreal … As I was watching [the livestream], my publicist texted me, ‘You got nominated,’ and I was like, ‘Wait, what? The livestream is still going, how do you know that already?’” Church said. “[When] I found it in print, I was so excited. I started getting phone calls from everyone. It was such a fun day.”
Church is no stranger to the unsettling; rather, she embraces it. With sinister titles such as “Open 24 Hours” (2018) and “Miranda’s Victim” to her name, Church has developed a reputation as a conjurer of everything creepy.
“[Scoring horror films] wasn’t necessarily what I set out to do,” Church said. “But I did one and I loved it. Then I started getting more and more movie offers that were all horror. So that’s just the path that happened. And I fully embraced it; I love it.”
The opening sequence of “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” landed Church her first Emmy nomination, celebrating her career in film and television scoring. (White Bear Public Relations)
Working on “Cabinet of Curiosities” was a dream come true for Church. Upon seeing the storyboard, Church immediately fell in love with how the first sequence “felt like a macabre ‘Masterpiece Theatre’” opening. Thanks to Church’s masterful, imaginative demo, producers offered her the opportunity to compose the title sequence.
Throughout her career, Church has worked with a myriad of different directors. Padraig Reynolds, director of “Rites of Spring” (2011) and “Open 24 Hours” (2018), has collaborated with her on multiple projects.
“[Church] is so easy to work with,” Reynolds said. “You can have the connection with people, they know what you want before you even say it. That’s her … When things click they just click and that’s why we used her for four movies.”
David DuBos, a film producer that Church worked with on films such as the documentary “Delta Justice: The Islenos Trappers War” (2015), echoed Reynolds’ sentiment, praising Church’s innate ability to know what a film score needs.
“[Church] is amazingly talented,” DuBos said. “She’s got a wide range of references and resources. When I had her do my documentary film on the Isleños … what she came up with in just two days was brilliant.”
Church completed a postgraduate certificate at Thornton School of Music in film scoring and recalls the impact her professors from the program had on her development as a composer. Christopher Young, an adjunct assistant professor of screen scoring, had a particular impact on Church’s career in scoring. Church drew inspiration for Young’s work in horror scoring.
Working as a woman in the entertainment industry, Church faced her own unique set of challenges while progressing through her career. Today, she’s excited for the future, pointing out a dramatic increase in women composers working on blockbuster projects.
“When I was at USC 20 years ago, there were only two other women in my class,” Church said. “I didn’t know very many [women] that were out there doing big movies. There was a handful you could talk about, but now, I’ve seen such a shift, and I love it. I have so many women composer friends now. They’re doing Marvel movies and Star Wars. I loved that shift.”
Though Church said she believes the industry can progress more for the future, she also celebrates how far it has come. Remembering the landscape of representation from two decades ago, she sees the past and present as incomparable.
“Statistics come out every year about [primarily] white men doing scoring. I don’t think that ever quite registered with me until the last few years. I just thought it was really hard [for women],” Church said. “I’m so happy to see the change happening now … There’s still more work to be done, but I’ve definitely seen progress.”
