2021 ASCAP Screen Music Awards
May 17, 2021
The composers and songwriters of our favorite music for film, TV and video games lit up ASCAP’s socials May 17-20, as we celebrated our global screen music family at the 2021 ASCAP Screen Music Awards. The four-day campaign pulled back the curtain on these musical masterminds. It featured acceptance speeches, exclusive photos and intimate performances shot in their homes and studios, where they scored the on-screen entertainment that helped us get through 2020.
This year, our winners’ circle expanded to include more composers for streaming series and (for the first time) streaming films, reflecting changes in the way we watch and listen. Screen Awards veteran David Vanacore was the top winner for Most Performed Themes and Underscore for his work on shows like Survivor and Hell's Kitchen. Bear McCreary took Top Cable Television Series for his lauded music for The Walking Dead; Matthew Hawkins, Maurice “m.O” Jackson and Neil Martin won Top Network Television Series for their main theme to the long-running NCIS; and Rupert Gregson-Williams received the Top Box Office Film honor for The Eight Hundred.
To kick off the Awards on May 17, ASCAP revealed the winners of our peer-voted Composers’ Choice Awards, now expanded to five categories. We shared humble acceptance speeches from Jon Batiste (Film Score of the Year - Soul), Steven Price (Documentary Score of the Year - David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet), Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan (TV Theme of the Year - Tales from the Loop) and Gustavo Santaolalla (Video Game Score of the Year - The Last of Us Part II), plus special performance clips from Batiste, Leonard-Morgan and Santaolalla.
Film Score of the Year Nominees
Ammonite - Volker Bertelmann
Bad Education - Michael Abels
The Invisible Man - Benjamin Wallfisch
Mank - Trent Reznor
Soul - Jon Batiste & Trent Reznor
Wild Mountain Thyme - Amelia Warner
TV Documentary Score of the Year Nominees
Becoming - Kamasi Washington
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet - Steven Price
Naughty Books - Catherine Joy
The Reason I Jump - Nainita Desai
The Social Dilemma - Mark A. Crawford
TV Score of the Year Nominees
The Crown - Martin Phipps
His Dark Materials - Lorne Balfe
Lovecraft Country - Raphael Saadiq
Mira, Royal Detective - Amritha Vaz
Tales from the Loop - Philip Glass & Paul Leonard-Morgan
TV Theme of the Year Nominees
The Casagrandes - Lalo Alcaraz, Germaine Franco & Michael Rubiner
His Dark Materials - Lorne Balfe
Little Fires Everywhere - Isabella Summers
McMillions - Pinar Toprak
Tales from the Loop - Philip Glass & Paul Leonard-Morgan
Video Game Score of the Year Nominees
Cyberpunk 2077 - P.T. Adamczyk, Paul Leonard-Morgan & Marcin Przybylowicz
The Last of Us Part II - Gustavo Santaolalla
Metamorphosis - Mikolai Stroinski & Garry Schyman
The Pathless - Austin Wintory
Star Wars: Squadrons - Gordy Haab
TOP RATED TELEVISION SERIES
Honoring ASCAP composers and songwriters for their themes and underscore from the highest rated series during calendar year 2020
Todd Haberman
9-1-1
Todd Haberman, Justin Burnett
9-1-1: Lone Star
Rupert Gregson-Williams
The Alienist
Joey Newman
All Rise
Matthew Morgan & Jose Villanueva
America’s Got Talent: The Champions - Main Title Theme
Seth MacFarlane
American Dad - Main Title Theme
Tom Phillips
Antiques Roadshow
Mike Gao
Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens
Mark Petrie, Brad Segal, Matt Bowen
The Bachelor
The Bachelorette
John A. Pregler & Bill Schultz
Bar Rescue - Main Title Theme
Colin Stetson
Barkskins
Dave Porter; Main Title Theme: Little Barrie
Better Call Saul
David Vanacore; Main Title Theme: David Vanacore & Tyler Ewing
The Biggest Loser
Anne Dudley
Black Narcissus
Dave Porter
The Blacklist
Mark Snow
Blue Bloods
Bryan Winslow
The Bradshaw Bunch - Main Title Theme
AC Burrell
Braxton Family Values
John Adair
Bunk’d
Maurizio Malagnini; Main Title Theme: Peter Salem
Call the Midwife
David Fleming
Chicago Fire
Claudio Olachea
Chicago PD
Brad Segal
Chrisley Knows Best - Main Title Theme
David Vanacore
Common Knowledge
Luis Ignacio Guzmán Zaldívar, Roberto Sánchez Bustos, Jorge Felix Tena Martinez Vara; Main Title Theme: Jessica Díaz
Como Tú No Hay Dos
Dan Foliart & Howard Pearl
The Conners - Main Title Theme
Mel Wesson & Russell Emanuel
Court Cam - Main Title Theme
Marc Fantini, Steffan Fantini & Scott Gordon
Criminal Minds
Jeffrey Hayat, Dennis McCarthy
The Curse of Oak Island
Drew Yowell & Halley Bondy
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team - Main Title Theme
Daniel McGrath & Josh Phillips
Dancing with the Stars - Main Title Theme
Curtis Clacey & Christopher Lewis
Darcey & Stacey - Main Title Theme
Wade MacNeil & Andrew MacPherson
Dark Side of the Ring
Pinar Toprak
DC’S Stargirl
Michael Yezerski
Deputy
Segun Akinola; Main Title Theme: Ronald Grainer
Doctor Who
Ash Gibson Greig
Drain the Oceans
Nathan Whitehead
FBI: Most Wanted
The team from INTERLEAVE
Main Title Theme: Joacim Persson & Johan Alkenäs
Gabby Duran & The Unsittables
Didier Lean Rachou
Gold Rush
Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail
Dan Romer
The Good Doctor
Michael Brook
Good Trouble
Jack Lenz
Good Witch
Todd Haberman; Main Title Theme: Tim Lauer
Greenleaf
Elvin Ross
The Haves and the Have Nots
Kenny Segal
Impractical Jokers - Main Title Theme
David Vanacore & J.S. Greenier
Ink Master - Main Title Theme
LMFAO (Redfoo & 8ky Blu)
Jersey Shore: Family Vacation - Main Title Theme
Brandon Burton, Aaron Lammer & Francis Farewell Starlite
Keeping Up with the Kardashians - Main Title Theme
Carl Thiel
Last Man Standing - Main Title Theme
Jonathan “JJ the Genius” Jackson
The Last OG
Brandon Thompson, David Vanacore, J.S. Greenier, Russell Emanuel
Live PD
Michelle Lewis
The Loud House - Main Title Theme
Daniel Gould
Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta - Main Title Theme
Love & Hip Hop: Miami - Main Title Theme
Raphael Saadiq
Lovecraft Country
Loren Toolajian
Mark of a Killer - Main Title Theme
Jason Tarver & Louise Dowd
Married at First Sight - Main Title Theme
Married At First Sight: Couples Cam - Main Title Theme
Ian Honeyman & Vincent Ott
Master Minds
John DeFaria
Mike Tyson Mysteries
Brandon Roberts
Motherland: Fort Salem
James S. Levine
NCIS: Los Angeles - Main Title Theme
Bear McCreary
Outlander
Gregory Ripes
People Magazine Investigates
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson & Ben Raleigh
Power - Main Title Theme
David Lasman & Russell W. Howard
The Profit - Main Title Theme
Daniel Wohl
Project Blue Book
Marcelo Zarvos
Ray Donovan
Matthew McGaughey
The Real Housewives of Atlanta - Main Title Theme
Russell W. Howard
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
Randall Crissman & John Zuker
Robot Chicken
Andrew & Thom Mak
The Rookie - Main Title Theme
Howard Shore, Lenny Pickett
Saturday Night Live
Maribeth Solomon
Schitt’s Creek
Joshua Malerman
Shameless - Main Title Theme
Mic Rains; Aaron Keane
Sister Wives - Main Title Theme
Brian Langsbard & Justin Melland
Snapped
Blaise Smith, Derek Drymon, Mark Harrison & Stephen Hillenburg
Spongebob Squarepants - Main Title Theme
Aivi Tran (of aivi & surasshu), Jeff Ball
Steven Universe Future
Daniel James Chan
Supergirl
David Vanacore
Survivor: Winners at War
Robert Duncan
S.W.A.T.
Jason Akana; Main Title Theme: Lou Gramm
Tacoma FD
Vaquer Jordi Bachbush; Main Title Theme: Leonel Garcia & J. Eduardo Murguía
Te Doy La Vida
Tim Cullen
Teen Mom - Main Title Theme
Siddhartha Khosla
This Is Us
The Muzic Doctorz
Tosh.0 - Main Title
Elvin Ross
Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living - Main Title Theme
Chizzy & Mayila Jones
Tyler Perry’s Sistas - Main Title Theme
Evgueni & Sacha Galperine
The Undoing
Michael Lord
The Wall
John Sereda
When Calls the Heart
Jill Andrews
Wynonna Earp - Main Title Theme
Jeff Cardoni
Young Sheldon
Didier Lean Rachou
Your Worst Nightmare - Main Title Theme
TOP STREAMING SERIES
Honoring the ASCAP composers and songwriters of series that accumulated the most credits on select streaming services during the 2020 ASCAP survey year
Brendan Angelides
13 Reasons Why
Jesse Voccia
Bosch
Martin Phipps
The Crown
Joey Newman
Diary of a Future President
Mark Browne
Encore!
Cristobal Tapia de Veer
Hunters
Isabella Summers
Little Fires Everywhere
Anna Waronker
Shrill
TOP BOX OFFICE FILMS
Honoring ASCAP composers with music from the top 50 box office films of 2020
Justin Burnett
After We Collided
Lorne Balfe
Bad Boys for Life
Daniel Pemberton
Birds of Prey
John Powell
The Call of the Wild
Rupert Gregson-Williams
The Eight Hundred
David Schweitzer & Isobel Waller-Bridge
Emma.
Bear McCreary
Fantasy Island
Benjamin Wallfisch
The Invisible Man
Mark Snow
The New Mutants
The Rescue
Elliot Leung
Tom Holkenborg
Sonic the Hedgehog
Jon Batiste & Trent Reznor
Soul
Checco Zalone
Tolo Tolo
Marco Beltrami & Brandon Roberts
Underwater
Hans Zimmer
Wonder Woman 1984
TOP STREAMING FILMS
Honoring the ASCAP composers of new films that accumulated the most credits on select streaming services during the 2020 ASCAP survey year
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Hamilton
Lionel Limiñana & David Menke
Last Days of American Crime
Rob Lord
Troop Zero
Mateo Messina
The Wrong Missy
