Jake Monaco is an American film and TV composer. He currently scores Amazon Prime Video's The Stinky & Dirty Show, Netflix's Dinotrux, and Warner Bros. Animation's Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!.

Jake Monaco
Monaco at the 2024 WonderCon
Monaco at the 2024 WonderCon
Background information
GenresOrchestral, Classical, Ambient, Rock
Occupation(s)Composer, Arranger, Instrumentalist
Instrument(s)Guitar, Piano, Bass
Years active2007-present

Career

edit

Monaco began playing guitar in high school,[1] later touring with a group while attending the University of Richmond in Virginia.[2] A few years after graduating, his bandmates opted to take up non-musical professional careers.

At the suggestion of a friend, Monaco enrolled in a film scoring course at University of Southern California. He has stated that although he had never had interest in scoring as a child, it was these classes that piqued his interest, explaining that he was "sucked in"[2] to the world of scoring almost immediately.

Monaco began assisting for composer Christophe Beck after graduating from the USC program, and through this connection he has contributed music to The Hangover film series, The Muppets, and Get Hard.[3] Monaco credits the time he spent assisting Beck as key to his success as a scorer, and has described assistant positions as "some of the best education and experience a young composer can receive".[4] After assisting Christophe Beck for eight years, Monaco made the decision to begin scoring on his own.[2]

Monaco credits some of his inspiration as a composer to a stable of unorthodox stringed instruments he acquired from Rich Briggs. Monaco's studio includes custom-built guitars including a hub cap guitar, a copper pot guitar and a wine box bass.[5]

Discography

edit

Feature films

edit
Year Title Director Notes
2010 Role/Play Rob Williams
2012 Struck by Lightning Brian Dannelly
The Men Next Door Rob Williams
2013 Kilimanjaro Walter Strafford
Living on One Dollar Zach Ingrasci
Sean Leonard
Chris Temple
2014 Out to Kill Rob Williams
Let's Be Cops Luke Greenfield Composed with Christophe Beck
Playing It Cool Justin Reardon
2016 Kindergarten Cop 2 Don Michael Paul
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Mandie Fletcher
A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits Michelle Johnston
Keeping Up with the Joneses Greg Mottola
2018 Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost Doug Murphy Composed with Matthew Janszen
Dumplin' Anne Fletcher
2019 Through the Windows Petey Barma
Bret 'Brook' Parker
A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish Michelle Johnston
2020 Walkaway Joe Tom Wright Composed with Christophe Beck
Think Like a Dog Gil Junger
2021 Flora & Ulysses Lena Khan
A Cinderella Story: Starstruck Michelle Johnston Composed with Brittany Dunton

Short films

edit
Year Title Director Notes
2005 Stuck Adam Kargman
2007 Routine Scott Brown
Union Station Beth Spitalny
2008 Better than Astronauts Jonathan Barenboim
Secret Circles, Hidden Prayers Amber Beard
The Orphan Dan Treharne
2009 Roses Trish Hadley
Elevated Jared Mark
Point of Entry Zeus Quijano Jr.
2010 Where Life Is Coyote Marino
A Tall Tale Brittany Biggs
I Suck Jason Bowers
2011 Blunderkind Zak Mechanic
The Lepidoctor Jonathan Barenboim
2012 The Road We've Traveled Davis Guggenheim
2013 The Magic Bracelet Jon Poll
2017 Again Alexis Jacknow
2018 Yellow is the New Black Serguei Kouchnerov
Fabien Polack
2019 Santa's Little Helpers Bruno Chauffard
Derek Drymon
2020 Lamp Life Valerie LaPointe
Out Steven Hunter

References

edit
  1. ^ "Interview: Composer Jake Monaco - Movie Mom". Movie Mom. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  2. ^ a b c Geektown (2016-10-01), Interview With Composer Jake Monaco (And His Interesting Collection Of Instruments!), retrieved 2017-01-19
  3. ^ "How Jake Monaco uses custom instruments in his fantastic scores". The Audio Spotlight. 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  4. ^ "JOB HACKS | How To Be A Self-Employed Composer". Inverse. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  5. ^ Composer Quest (2016-09-30), Jake Monaco's Studio Tour, retrieved 2017-01-19
edit