Germaine Franco is an American film composer, conductor, songwriter, arranger, record producer, and percussionist. She is a Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated composer. Her extensive resume, coupled with her curiosity, and inventiveness, has made her a trailblazer. Franco was the first Latina to win a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media with her score for Encanto (2021), and the first to receive the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature with Coco in 2018. In addition, Encanto received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, an SCL Award for Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film, an Annie Award for Best Music in a Feature, a Billboard Music Award, and a World Soundtrack Awards nomination for Film Composer of the Year in 2022. She is also the first Latina to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score, as well as the first to join the music branch of the Academy. She recently completed work on the Netflix smash hit The Mother directed by Niki Caro. The film is one of Netflix's most successful releases to date, going No.1 in 82 countries. She recently won a grammy
In 2018, Univision named Franco one of the Top 15 Latinas who are changing the world. Other film and television scores Franco has contributed to include Coco (2017), Tag (2018), Dope (2015), Vida (2018), Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019), and Little (2019). Her work has been performed at concert halls such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall with The Los Angeles Master Chorale, The Puerto Rico Symphony, The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra, and The Chicago Philharmonic, among others.
Early life Franco was born in California. She attended the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she studied percussion and composition, earning a bachelor's degree in 1984 and a master's in 1987. It was during this time she started writing music in addition to performing.
Filmography Year Title Director Notes 2007 3 Américas Cristina Kotz Cornejo 2009 Entre Nos Paola MendozaGloria La Morte A Crushing Love Sylvia Morales 2010 Visions of Aztlan Jesus Salvador Treviño 2012 Margarita Dominique CardonaLaurie Colbert 2013 Living on One Dollar Zach IngrasciSean LeonardChris Temple2014 The Book of Life Jorge Gutierrez East LA Interchange Betsy Kalin composer: additional music 2015 Dope Rick Famuyiwa Nominated — Black Reel Award for Outstanding Original Score 2016 Shovel Buddies Adam TownleySimon Atkinson 2017 Coco Lee Unkrich Score composed by Michael GiacchinoAdditional music and Songwriter with Adrian Molina and GiacchinoAnnie Award for Music in a Feature Production Walk with Me: On The Road With Thich Nhat Hanh Marc FrancisMax Pugh Coco VR Experience Motiongate Gary TrousdaleSteve Hickner2018 Tag Jeff Tomsic Public Disturbance Danny Lee Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor's Quest Gary TrousdaleSteve Hickner Chiefs Zenta Fuentes Composed with John Debney Life-Size 2 Steven K. Tsuchida Vida Various2019 Epcot Center: The Music of Coco Music Producer, Arranger and Curator Little Tina Gordon Someone Great Jennifer Kaytin Robinson Dora and the Lost City of Gold James Bobin Composed with John Debney Curious George: Royal Monkey Doug Murphy The Casagrandes Miguel PugaMike Nordstrom Main Titles Theme Composer/Songwriter; Score Composed by Jonathan Hylander The Loud House Michael Rubiner Songwriter/Composer – "Greatest One Of All Time"2020 Work It Laura Terruso The Sleepover Trish Sie Curious George: Go West, Go Wild Michael LaBash Kung Fu Panda Land of Awesomeness - Theme ParkDean OrionYearley Departed – TV SpecialLinda Mendoza 2021 Encanto Jared BushByron HowardComposerSongs by Lin-Manuel Miranda Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Nominated — Academy Award for Best Original Score Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score2022A Cloud Never DiesMarc J. FrancisMax Pugh 2023 The Mother Niki Caro
References
Further reading Disney/Pixar's Coco Songbook: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2017. Heran Mamo, "Germaine Franco Talks Scoring 'Tag' & The Lack of Female Composers in Hollywood: 'It's Not a Glass Ceiling, It's Made of Cement'" (Billboard, 6/14/2018).
External links Official Website Germaine Franco on Twitter
Germaine Franco on Discogs GERMAINE FRANCO - Getting into the business. Orchestral Tools (Mar 5, 2019). YouTube video.