A Keynote Q&A with Oli Julian and Nick Foster
What really happens between the first creative conversation and the final cue?
In this keynote, composers Oli Julian and Nick Foster discuss the collaboration between composer and director, and the processes that shape music for major international series. Having scored projects for Netflix, Disney, Sky and Apple TV, they will share their insights into the craft behind the collaboration: understanding a director’s language, navigating feedback, establishing the identity of a score, and finding the balance between creative instinct and production reality.
For directors, producers and other filmmakers, it offers a valuable look into the composer’s process and into how better conversations about music can lead to stronger, more distinctive storytelling. This is a rare chance to hear two internationally working composers speak openly about the composer-director relationship, the creative process behind major series, and what it takes to get from the first spotting session to the final mix.
Nick Foster
Composer for streamers, tv, film and games, UKNick Foster is a multiple BAFTA-winning composer of music for picture, based in London. Upcoming commissions include The Dreamlands for the BBC and Fury (w/t) for Netflix.
Notable work includes The Twister: Caught In The Storm for Netflix, RTS-nominated this year for Best Original Score, Renegade Nell for Disney+, RTS-nominated last year for Best Original Score, Lover Stalker Killer for Netflix, and In My Skin (BBC), along with Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy (Netflix), Sackboy (Playstation), Thunderbirds Are Go with brother Ben Foster, and films including The Balloonists (2026; Rise Films), Misha And The Wolves (2022), which premiered at Sundance, and Greatest Days, with Oli Julian.
Oliver Julian
Composer, Oli Julian Music Ltd, UKOli Julian is an RTS award-winning and Ivor-nominated composer, producer and arranger of music for TV and film. He has written scores for a wide range of drama and comedy projects, as well as collaborating with other composers and songwriters such as David Byrne, Nick Cave and Ezra Furman.
Recent work includes Sex Education (Netflix), The Twits (Netflix), Renegade Nell (Disney+), Amandaland (BBC), Us (BBC Two), The Full Monty (Disney+), Alma’s Not Normal, the features Fackham Hall, How To Build A Girl and Greatest Days and has scored TV series including Catastrophe (C4), Motherland (BBC), Breeders (Sky), Cuckoo (BBC3), Plebs (ITV2) and BAFTA-winning In My Skin (BBC).
Tessa Rose Jackson
Artist / Composer, UK/NLTessa Rose Jackson is a singer-songwriter, producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, based in London and Amsterdam. She puts out her own intimate, cinematic style of alternative folk under her own name, having released her latest album The Lighthouse to critical acclaim (★★★★ ”Folk Album of the Month” – the Guardian, #13 in the Official Folk Albums Charts) but also works as a composer and producer for film, TV and game. Most notably, she provided part of the score and soundtrack for the last two highly anticipated Life Is Strange videogames and, together with Darius Timmer, created the score for the feature film The Station, which premiered at Cannes film festival 2026.