Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, known together as Pasek and Paul, are an American songwriting duo and composing team for musical theater, films and television. Their works include A Christmas Story, Dogfight, Edges, Dear Evan Hansen, and James and the Giant Peach. Their original songs have been featured on NBC's Smash and in the films La La Land, for which they won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "City of Stars", and The Greatest Showman. Their work on the original musical Dear Evan Hansen has received widespread critical acclaim and earned them the 2017 Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Original Score. In 2022, they won the Tony Award for Best Musical for serving as producers for the Broadway production of Michael R. Jackson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop.
Justin Paul is an American composer and lyricist best known for writing songs for films such as La La Land (2016) and The Greatest Showman (2017), and the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, all of which he co-wrote with his songwriting partner, Benj Pasek.
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench is a 2009 American romantic musical film directed, written, produced, shot, and co-edited by Damien Chazelle in his feature directorial debut. The film is an independent film shot in black-and-white in which the MGM musical tradition is reimagined in a gritty, vérité style. It stars Jason Palmer, Desiree Garcia and Sandha Khin. The film features a unique mixture of live jazz performances and choreographed tap dancing, as well as several more traditional musical numbers.
First Man is a 2018 American biographical drama film directed by Damien Chazelle from a screenplay by Josh Singer, based on the 2005 book of the same name by James R. Hansen. The film stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong, alongside Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Christopher Abbott, and Ciarán Hinds, and follows the years leading up to the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969.
Nicholas Britell is an American film and television composer. He has received numerous accolades including a Emmy Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and a Grammy Award. He has received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score for Barry Jenkins' Moonlight (2016) and If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), and Adam McKay's Don't Look Up (2021). He also scored McKay's The Big Short (2015) and Vice (2018). He is also known for scoring Battle of the Sexes (2017), Cruella (2021), and She Said (2022).
Whiplash is a 2014 American psychological drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle, starring Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, and Melissa Benoist. It focuses on an ambitious music student and aspiring jazz drummer (Teller), who is pushed to his limit by his abusive instructor (Simmons) at the fictional Shaffer Conservatory in New York City.
Damien Sayre Chazelle is an American filmmaker. He directed the psychological drama Whiplash (2014), the musical romantic drama La La Land (2016), the biographical drama First Man (2018), and the period film Babylon (2022).
La La Land is a 2016 American musical romantic drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love while pursuing their dreams in Los Angeles. The supporting cast includes John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, Finn Wittrock, and J. K. Simmons.
"Another Day of Sun" is the opening number from the 2016 musical film La La Land. The ensemble number portrays drivers in a Los Angeles traffic jam on a highway ramp singing and dancing about their aspirations to succeed in Hollywood. The song was filmed on location on a 130-foot-high express ramp of the Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange in three shots, edited with hidden cuts to give the illusion of a single six-minute take. The song was composed by Justin Hurwitz with lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and choreography by Mandy Moore.
La La Land: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 2016 film La La Land. The soundtrack album was released through Interscope Records on December 9, 2016. The album has peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 and number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. At the 89th Academy Awards, the film won the Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for "City of Stars".
"City of Stars" is a song performed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in the film La La Land (2016). The music of the song was composed by Justin Hurwitz while the lyrics were provided by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The song won numerous awards, including the award for Best Original Song at both the 74th Golden Globe Awards and 89th Academy Awards.
"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" is a song composed by Justin Hurwitz with lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for the musical film La La Land (2016). Sung by American actress Emma Stone in her role as Mia, the emotional ballad forms the film's climax. "Audition" sees Mia describing what it means to be someone who seeks a career in the arts; it has overall themes about dreamers and the importance of actors.
Babylon is a 2022 American epic historical black comedy drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It features an ensemble cast that includes Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P. J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, and Tobey Maguire. It chronicles the rise and fall of multiple characters during Hollywood's transition from silent to sound films in the late 1920s.
Whiplash is a 2013 American drama short film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It depicts the relationship between an impassioned and gifted jazz drummer and an abusive bandleader. It is the short film on which the feature film is based.
First Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2018 film First Man, directed by Damien Chazelle. The musical score was composed by Chazelle's usual collaborator and Harvard University classmate, Justin Hurwitz. The score uses electronic, orchestral and vintage sounds. In addition to a 94-piece orchestra, an electronic theremin, a moog synthesiser and several other instruments were used, fused with vintage sound-altering machines during the audio mix. The soundtrack released by Back Lot Music on October 12, 2018, received positive reviews from critics, who praised it for its balance of softer melodic passages and powerful themes. Hurwitz's score received several awards and nominations, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
Whiplash (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2014 film Whiplash, directed by Damien Chazelle. The soundtrack was released on October 7, 2014, by Varèse Sarabande and features 24 tracks, which were split into three parts. Each part, consists of varied musical selections, original jazz pieces, original underscore parts and classical jazz standards that featured various artists, including Stan Getz, Duke Ellington and other musicians. A deluxe edition of the soundtrack was released in March 2020.
Babylon (Music from the Motion Picture) is the score album to the 2022 film of the same name directed by Damien Chazelle. The original music composed by Justin Hurwitz, Chazelle's frequent collaborator, which is set for release on December 9, 2022 by Interscope Records, two weeks ahead of the film's release on December 23, features 48 tracks running over an hour. Two of the tracks "Call Me Manny" and "Voodoo Mama" were released on November 11.
