Meet Derrick Werlé | Composer & Orchestrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Derrick Werlé and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Derrick, what principle do you value most?
Integrity and Honesty. I believe those principles are the most important to me because in Hollywood, very often people only look out for their own interests and do not care about anyone or anything else. They want to achieve by all means even actively putting others down. I have seen it first hand and it really does not correspond to who I am.

I believe that you can achieve great things without having to push people out of the equation. The world is not just a single cake. Everyone can coexist in peace and still achieve what they want to achieve in life.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a composer, orchestrator and pianist. I am currently working in Hollywood for Film, TV and Netflix as an orchestrator.

I think what sets me apart from the others is the fact that I wasn’t destined to be a composer, or even less of a musician. Most successful musicians have been going through vigorous training since a very young age. However, I wasn’t really into music at all.

I took some piano lessons with amateur musicians, but it wasn’t anything serious. Since I wasn’t sure if music was what I wanted to do, I went into Law School at Université Panthéon-Assas Paris II at the same time studying Piano and Music Theories at Paris Municipal Conservatoire as a hobby. Little did I know that after graduating from Law School, I would go to study Film Music Composition in the US. I always love film music but I never knew I would be doing this as a professional.

One specific event actually triggered me to want to invest more into film music. When I was presenting my composition to my orchestration teacher at Music School., he once told me in a degrading way: “Je vous arrête tout de suite, votre musique ressemble à une musique de film” meaning, “Stop right now! Your music sounds like film music”. At first I felt bad about it because I had all that false sense of what good and valuable music is supposed to mean for the professional musician. After going home and remembering listening to John Williams’ “Flying Theme” from E.T.. I realized that kind of music was more like me than the one I was studying. From that moment on, I geared myself towards studying music in the US and I hoped to go to work in Hollywood one day!

This wasn’t an easy road of course, especially for a late starter like myself. However, I put in as much as needed to learn everything I needed to know. I finally got into UCLA for the MA. and Ph.d. program. There with the help of Professor Roger Bourland, I was able to affirm myself as a composer and later on I was hired as an intern by Hans Zimmer, and eventually became his music assistant/ orchestrator. I never could have imagined that my dream actually came true: working in Hollywood as a composer/orchestrator. I have worked on Kung Fu Panda 3, Boss Baby, Dunkirk, and more recently as Orchestrator for the Netflix Nature Documentary series “Animal” and the BBC documentary “Princess Diana in her own words”. My very first orchestration project, the 2 hours long feature documentary “REM”, directed by Tomas Koolhaas, even premiered at the 73rd Venice Film Festival. I was even commissioned to write the Logo Music of Hollywood Florida Film festival this year. I would have never imagined in a million years that my music would be heard all over the world.

The lesson I’ve learned along the way is that if you put your heart and soul into what you want to achieve, nothing is too difficult. Do not let other people influence you in a negative way telling you that it’s too late, or it’s too much work. I’ve been told many times that you are not good enough, or you have passed your prime time as a musician, that you can’t learn music later on in life and be a professional musician. I’ve heard too much of that in my life. That’s why I appreciate people that helped me along the way and are supportive of my goal. However, the biggest supporter is yourself. If you don’t support yourself and believe in yourself, then no amount of help and support from others will help you achieve your dream.

And of course we need to be open to criticism. It helps us to improve along the way. I believe what helps me the most is that I was able to turn a negative situation into a positive force. It sounds cheesy to say that when life gives you lemons you turn them into a lemonade. I don’t believe things happen for a reason, they just happen and it is up to us to dictate the outcome of our own life. I truly believe in the inner drive that we have in each one of us no matter what the situation is.

What I want the world to know about me is that I was adopted. I want the world to have a different approach to adopted children and stop asking them if they want to know about their biological family. I believe that family is not only made of blood but also the unbreakable emotional link that you developed with your family. In America people usually ask, “don’t you want to know who your biological parents are”? I always answered that we are all from the same mother Lucy, some 3.18 million years ago. Why do we only go as far back as the limit of our memory capacity and define ourselves according to this limit? I understand the need for each one of us to feel a sense of belonging. I am the same but just in a broader sense. I don’t feel the need of belonging to a specific group in a traditional sense, but I feel that I belong to the human group and that we all have a common destiny in this global world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am actually a sucker for amusement parks. I love going to Universal Studios and also Disneyland. I am not trying to advertise for them but I genuinely enjoy them, especially Universal Studios Hollywood. I had for many years their yearly pass, but with the pandemic I didn’t renew it. Hopefully I’ll be able to go visit them soon! But beyond this LA-must, I actually would like to point out a spot that I’ve grown to admire: the surrounding of Port of L.A.

I am from France so everything is on a much smaller scale in France. Even the highway is narrow with 3 or 4 lanes max each direction and most of the time it’s 2 lanes per direction. Here in LA it is such a huge difference. 6-8 lanes of highway. I have never seen anything like this in my life. I was so scared when I started driving in LA.

The Ports of L.A. and Long Beach are the most interesting areas for me because I’ve never seen miles and miles of docks and cranes. Especially the height of Vincent Thomas Bridge. Wow! Simply Amazing! My stomach turns each time I drive on that bridge. The views are fantastic and somehow scary.

I would suggest going to the boat tours of the Ports of L.A. and Long Beach. Then just stroll by the rainbow harbor. I would also stop by the Yard house for their Happy hours. I really enjoy their happy hours menu. Although I don’t drink, I always order their half price pizza and appetizers while sitting by the water with the sunset towards the rainbow harbor lighthouse. The Queen Mary is also a must! You can even have your Sunday Brunch buffet there on the boat! It is also a hotel too so you can stay on this historical vessel.

I am a foodie and I absolutely love world cuisine. In L.A. there are a lot of amazing restaurants, especially the sushi and Asian cuisines. There is a sushi place I love going to in Cerritos called Sake2me. I love that place because the quality of their sushi is simply amazing. The sushi chef makes them when you order them and it’s just so fresh and delicious. I also love the hotpot place nearby called Broth Shabu Shabu. It’s actually also my dad’s favorite place. Every time he comes from France, he wants to go eat there.

I also love Vietnamese, Thai, Indian cuisine, and middle eastern cuisine. What’s amazing is that you can find all this in LA. In Paris, we can’t find so many varieties of cuisines. I love French cuisine, don’t get me wrong, but I also love world cuisine. The convenience of having all those cuisines in LA. really is a paradise for a foodie like me. There are so many places in LA and each unassuming commercial plaza will surprise you with their mom-and-pop restaurants. This is what I love about LA. and America. Everyone is free to do whatever they want to to achieve their dream.

Of course, the L.A. tour won’t be completed without the Getty Museum near Westwood. The view is simply breathtaking. I would dare to say that the UCLA campus is just a world class college environment for any Hollywood production.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Professionally and in the musical aspect, the person that I am extremely grateful for is Professor Roger Bourland from UCLA. He was the chair of the music department, and I had never heard of him before. I made a trip to the US before I applied for the Master’s and Phd programs, there were two schools under my radar. One was USC, the other one UCLA. I made appoints with the chair of the music department from both universities and the one at USC didn’t show up. I was waiting at the place that I was supposed to have an appointment with but no one was there. Then I went to talk with the secretary and the person told me that the chair wasn’t available but I was welcome to join one of their lessons. So I did. It was a good school and a good choice for many but life led me to UCLA.

When I went to the appointment at UCLA, Roger was there welcoming me. I remember the first question I asked was : am I allowed to make music that sounds like film music ?. He laughed and said did you see the box behind you? Open it. I did. It was the magic wand of Harry Potter. He jokingly anointed me with the magic one and said: “ I allow you to write whatever you want, even film music!!” I had such a great connection with him even though I didn’t know him personally, I am eternally grateful for him welcoming me into his music department.

Of course, I would like to thank my father Bernard Werlé. Without his support, I wouldn’t be here today doing what I love the most. He has always been very supportive of me and helped me to reach my dream.

Website: https://derrickwerle.wixsite.com/werle/home

Instagram: dewerle

Other: https://hans-zimmer.com/discography/239