Germaine Franco
Advisory Board
Congratulations to film composer, Germaine Franco on her Oscar nomination for Disney’s Encanto!
Franco is the first Latina composer invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, music branch. Franco is a versatile composer who creates music and songs that reflect her extensive training as an orchestral musician, an electronic music programmer, a multi-instrumentalist, and a lover of world music.
Her recent project, Tag, directed by Jeff Tomsic for New Line Cinema and Warner Bros., is a hybrid score of electronica and action music. The soundtrack is available on Lakeshore Records. Franco is the first female composer to score an R-Rated comedy for New Line Cinema.
On Coco, Franco collaborated with the filmmakers Lee Unkrich Adrian Molina, and Darla K. Anderson for four years as an additional composer, co-songwriter of “Un Poco Loco” and “Proud Corazón”, song producer, arranger and orchestrator. She is the co-producer, arranger, and orchestrator of the Oscar winning song “Remember Me”. Germaine’s hip-hop and electronica score to Dope, directed by Rick Famuyiwa (Open Road Films) premiered at Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. Franco’s organic score for Tanya Saracho on Starz’ Vida includes indigenous Mexican chant, electronica, and latin music. Her immersive reality (4D) and theme park attractions include DreamWorks Animation’s Motiongate and the recently opened DreamWorks Animation and Universal Creative’s Kung Fu Panda – The Emperor’s Quest at Universal Studios Hollywood, directed by Steve Hickner and Gary Trousdale.
At the 2018 ASCAP Screen Music Awards, Franco was recognized with the Shirley Walker Award, which honors those whose achievements have contributed to the diversity of film and television music, as well as a Top Box Office Film Award for her work on Coco. Franco is a current Women In Film Music Fellow. She was nominated for a Black Reel Award for her work on Dope, and is the first female composer to be hired by DreamWorks Animation and Pixar. Univision honored her on International Women’s Day 2018 as one of “15 Latinas Who Are Changing The World As We Know It”, alongside Rita Moreno, Emma Gonzalez, among others.
Franco is a Sundance Music Sound Design Fellow, a Women In Film Music Fellow, an Advisory Board Member of Women in Media, a Board Member of the Alliance for Women Film Composers. Franco worked alongside John Powell on over 30 feature films including How to Train Your Dragon (1 & 2), Rio (1 & 2), The Lorax, Happy Feet (1 & 2), Kung Fu Panda (1,2 & 3), and The Bourne Supremacy. Germaine holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.