Nathan Matthew David is a Filipino and American film and television composer and musician. He is known for his scoring work on independent films and documentary features, and has served as composer for the television comedy series Angie Tribeca (2016–2018), the first season of the Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly (2019), the comedy film Joy Ride (2023), and on the DreamWorks animated film Forgotten Island (2026).
Early life and education Nathan Matthew David was born in the United States to Filipino immigrants, one from Manila and one from Pampanga; neither of them were musicians.
After writing some scores for student films and playing in bands, he studied music formally, graduating from the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program at University of Southern California. He studied a lot of western music, before turning to traditional Filipino music, including instruments such as the kulintang to the kutyapi, and has regarded himself as "an eternal student to these practices".
Career After graduating, David was brought on as composer for the 2008 independent Singaporean drama film The Olive Depression, directed by Joshua Lim. The film was noted for its sparse use of music, which Lim noted was a choice he and David agreed on during post-production. Among his other early solo work as composer was for the 2013 film Welcome Nowhere, directed by Kate Ryan and narrated by Ethan Hawke, which tackled the lives of Roma people in Bulgaria.
David later began collaborating with his mentors Ludwig Göransson and Theodore Shapiro on various projects, including We're the Millers, Community, Spy, Office Christmas Party, A Simple Favor, Bombshell, Tenet, and The Mandalorian.
He then began working on solo composition, and composed the score for the first season of the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly in 2019. He composed music on the HBO documentary Under the Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story.
David's other notable works include Satisfaction, Slice, Deadly Class, Young Rock (TV series, 2021-2023), Hypnotic (2021), Chang Can Dunk, Stephen Curry: Underrated, Joy Ride, Addicted to Fresno, The Last Word (2017), the 2022 Netflix comedy film Me Time, TV comedy drama series The Brothers Sun (2024), and Diarra from Detroit (2024). He also composed additional music for the 2015 Warner Bros. film The Intern.
He wrote the score for DreamWorks' 2026 animated film Forgotten Island. His score for this film combines elements from the 1980s and 1990s, especially Filipino and Filipino American music, and he wanted to incorporate a feeling of nostalgia. He included instruments from indigenous Filipino peoples, using traditional instruments such as chanters, the Las Piñas bamboo pipe organ, and a Filipino choir singing in Tagalog. "A Parallel World", co-written and produced by David and performed by Filipino girl group Bini, was released as a promotional lead single before the film's theatrical opening on September 26. The soundtrack also features other Filipino artists, including H.E.R., Sophia Laforteza, Lea Salonga, and SB19.
David has cited various influences for his music, including Alexandre Desplat, Dario Marianelli, Gustavo Santaolalla, Jon Brion, John Adams, Steve Reich, Explosions in the Sky, Imogen Heap and Sigur Rós among others.
Recognition and awards In 2020, David was the recipient of several awards for his work on Surviving R. Kelly: a Peabody Award, an ASCAP award, and the 2020 Dean and Mary Kay ASCAP Foundation award.
In 2021, he was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award for his work on Under the Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story.
Personal life David is a U.S. citizen. He engages in activism and volunteering, and is interested in the intersection of music with architecture.
Filmography
As composer Film Year Title Director(s) Studio(s) Notes 2006 Sweet Lullaby JC Gallego Short film Heartbreaker Christian Carroll Short film 2007 Roman Candles Christian Carroll Short film 2008 The Olive Depression Joshua Lim Malacca Pictures The Lost Coast Gabriel Fleming Year Zero Pictures 2009 Command or Truth Darine Hotait Cinephilia Productions Short film The Philosopher Kings Patrick Shen Transcendental Media Documentary film The Far Side of Laughter Darine Hotait Cinephilia Productions Short film My Homework Ate My Dog Crystal Page Short film The Afterlight Alexei KaleinaCraig William Macneill Wintersea Films 2010 Children of God Kareem Mortimer Mercury Rising Films Less Gabriel Diamond OutsideFilms with Ivy Ross, Hands, Dylan Trees, Tommy Rickard 2011 4.2.3. Ryan Colucci Spoke Lane EntertainmentFilmworks/FX Short film 2012 Tina for President Carmen Emmi USC School of Cinematic Arts Short film Veer! Patrick Barry Blue Llama Studios 2013 10 Rules for Sleeping Around Leslie Greif Screen Media Films with Alan Ett Welcome Nowhere Kate Ryan One Small Instrument Pictures Documentary film 2015 Don Quixote: The Ingenious Gentleman of La Mancha various Rabbit Bandini ProductionsUSC School of Cinematic Arts with Jeremy Lamb The House on Pine Street Aaron KeelingAustin Keeling E3W Productions with Jeremy Lamb Addicted to Fresno Jamie Babbit Andrea Sperling ProductionsGamechanger FilmsGravitas Ventures Drunk Wedding Nick Weiss Weston PicturesParamount Pictures Jane Wants a Boyfriend William Sullivan Orion Pictures First collaboration with William Sullivan 2016 Trust Fund Sandra L. Martin KC Film Office 2017 The Last Word Mark Pellington Bleecker Street Actors Anonymous Juel Taylor and others Rabbit Bandini ProductionsUSC School of Cinematic ArtsFront Row Filmed Entertainment with Jongnic Bontemps Dismissed Benjamin Arfmann BoulderLight Pictures 2018 The Game Changers Louie Psihoyos Oceanic Preservation SocietyRefuel ProductionsDiamond DocsThe Djinn Foundation Documentary film Summer '03 Becca Gleason Big Cat ProductionsBlue Fox Entertainment Slice Austin Vesely FrëhandN2ition CinemaA24 with Ludwig Göransson 2019 Hold On Tarek Tohme Flipped Out EntertainmentJoule EntertainmentStone Canyon Pictures with Jeremy Lamb 2020 Under the Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story Aaron Cohen HBO Sports Documentary film 2021 Accepted Dan Chen Jubilee MediaGreenwich EntertainmentConcordia Studio Documentary film Beauty Queen Myra Aquino Short film American Insurrection William Sullivan Saban Films Second collaboration with William Sullivan Hypnotic Matt AngelSuzanne Coote The Long GameNetflix A Man Named Scott Robert Alexander Mad SolarFilm 45Amazon Studios Documentary film 2022 Defy Jon Jon Augustavo A Bunch of Savages Short filmwith Christophe Beck, Matthew Wang, DeadMono 2023 Stephen Curry: Underrated Peter Nicks A24Apple TV+ Documentary film Chang Can Dunk Jingyi Shao Hillman Grad ProductionsMakereadyWalt Disney Pictures Joy Ride Adele Lim Lionsgate Films 2025 Take No Prisoners Adam CiralskySubrata De P3 MediaVanity Fair Studios 2026 Forgotten Island Joel CrawfordJanuel Mercado DreamWorks AnimationUniversal Pictures
Television Year Title Director(s) Production company Notes 2014-2015 Satisfaction USA Network 20 episodes, with Ludwig Göransson 2016-2018 Angie Tribeca TBS 30 episodes, with Ludwig Göransson 2018-2019 Deadly Class Lee Toland KriegerAdam KaneAlexis OstranderPaco CabezasAnthony LeonardiAmi Canaan MannWayne Yip Syfy 10 episodes 2019 Surviving R. Kelly Nigel BellisAstral Finnie Lifetime Documentary series 2021-2023 Young Rock NBC 37 episodes 2024 The Brothers Sun Kevin TancharoenViet Nguyen Brad Falchuk Teley-VisionNetflix 8 episodes Diarra from Detroit Chioke NassorBrennan ShroffSadé Clacken JosephAmerica Young BET+ 2024-2025 Chef's Table Brian McGinn Boardwalk PicturesNetflix Documentary series; 2 episodes
Additional music The Intern (2015) Office Christmas Party (as assistant to Theodore Shapiro; 2016) The Mandalorian (2019–2023) Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
References
External links
Nathan Matthew David on Rotten Tomatoes