Meet Nicolas Repetto | Composer for Film, Television and Multimedia

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

Hi Nicolas, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk is something that frightens many of us. When it comes to health, we do not want to hear or go near the word risk. When risk is applied to a career in a informed and strategic manner, it can be incredibly beneficial force for change. When I was creating my plan to pursue a career in film and television scoring, there were a few risk factors that I had to weigh in order to achieve my intended outcome. Note that each risk factor is associated with a certain stage of my career. In this Early Stage, I had to: 1. Let go of a secure, full-time job teaching music and conducting orchestras in Miami, FL 2. Drive 3,000 thousand miles to Los Angeles to pursue a career that had no guarantee of success 3. Meet many filmmakers at networking events, film festivals, and creative outlets. These meetings had no guarantee that it would lead to work in film scoring. 4. Take time each week to make cold-calls, cold emails, buy lunches, risk spending all the money I saved up to meet decision-makers in order to pursue what I wanted to do. 5. Spend countless hours creating and sending demos for music libraries, music workshops, seminars, and panels in hopes of being accepted into my music community as an emerging composer and leader. After that initial early stage, I can safely say that those risks helped me get to where I am today. This took several years to achieve and I can now safely say that I am making a living doing what I love. Have I achieved everything I would like to do? Of course not. This current stage, which can be considered either a Late Early Stage or the beginnings of the Middle Stage, is working even more in film especially focusing more on horror, fantasy, drama, romantic-comedy and sci-fi. In those same genres, I am also keeping my eye on the world of streaming and television. A few of my goals and risks in this current stage that I have done or will be doing include: 1. Recording live demos with orchestras in order to send to producers to demonstrate my dramatic abilities as a composer and my leadership skills within my music team, 2. Connecting with one of my favorite, beloved authors of a very well-known book franchise that has just been picked up by one of the most innovative cable networks of today for a chance to demonstrate my abilities as a composer for this television series. 3. Developing more relationships with various film music agents in order to pursue next-level projects together as a team. 4. Scoring spec scenes, free of charge, to new filmmakers in order to make sure I am good fit for their film, and finally, 5. Continuing to invest in my business, DogSmile Music LLC, to keep my growth momentum going. Every time my husband and I visit his mother in Vegas, we usually go to the casinos, and by the end of the night she usually always brands me as a “risk-taker”. She’s totally right. In conclusion, risk has been beneficial to my business and for my growth as a composer in film, television, and multimedia. There are many factors to consider to work in this business, but making informed, strategic decisions has helped me. My advice for anyone interested in pursuing a career in media music is to make sure to weigh all options in front of you and consider how much risk you are willing to take on.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a composer in the field of film, television, new media and concert music living in Los Angeles. What sets me apart from others? My unique life experience. I am an Argentine-American who grew up in Miami from immigrant parents. I became passionate with music at an early age when my mom would play Spanish ballads and tangos while she made-from-scratch gnochhi in the kitchen. My new found love for music and food came those early experiences. My musical experiences were shaped by being around the Latinx community in Miami during the 80s and 90s, as well my interest in classical music. In my upbringing, I was exposed to Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Dvorak, Piazzolla, Ginaestera as well as to Prodigy, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Celia Cruz, James Horner, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and American folk music and jazz. All these influences have shaped my musical life. Pursuing an artistic career is never easy and comes with tons of challenges. I’ve had to work hard to achieve where I am now. I have been told “No” many times in my life, but I keep going. There’s a fire in my belly that continues to motivate me. It’s the work ethic I learned from my parents. They are the kind of people who are hard-working and always strive for excellence. I am grateful to them for instilling this in our family.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Los Angeles is such a sprawling city with so many amazing sights. I think the first place we’d go is hiking near Los Liones Trail with a visit to Zuma Beach. We’d probably eat some healthy vegan in Santa Monica and then head out to West Hollywood for a few cocktails at The Abbey. There’s always something to do in Los Angeles. It’s such a wonderful place to live!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to take this moment to recognize my wonderful and supportive husband, my father, mother and brother, and my friend, and collaborator, James Kicklighter. Without my family’s support and encouragement, none of this would be possible. Thank you so much. A hearty thank you to my wonderful collaborator, James Kicklighter, for continuing to push the limits of what you do in film. You always ensure that all your team members have the freedom to be creative and and express themselves in their own unique and innovative way while serving your artistic vision and ultimately serving the film or project at hand. Thank you!!

Website: www.nicolasrepetto.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/repettomuzik/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nrepetto/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/repettomuzik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/repettomuzik/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW3FDjT7FseNhB8ni3PAv9w?view_as=subscriber