//
We caught up with 2025 winner, composer Stuart Hancock, to discuss how his Music+Sound Awards win for the ‘A Friend of Dorothy’ score has helped ‘grease the wheels’ for future projects, his collaborative process with director Lee Knight, and his advice for composers on finding the ‘right’ musical formula rather than trying to steal the limelight.
Plus, he gives us a sneak peek into his upcoming slate – from live-to-picture concert plans to a ferocious new action feature starring John Hannah…
MASA: Winning a Music+Sound Award is a major stamp of approval from industry peers. How has the win specifically helped you in the months since, either in opening doors for new projects or in your conversations with directors?
STUART: It is indeed a terrific honour to bag a Music+Sound Award, especially, as you say, because it’s voted on by my industry peers. That means a lot. M+S are a well-established and very recognisable awards and carry a lot of kudos, so to have this win is super – and to follow it up with this little Q+A is useful exposure too!
Award wins never do us any harm: nominations and wins put the spotlight on our work, and can help grease the wheels with new contacts and future projects. My score for the short film Largo (a brilliant, poignant refugee drama) was also among the M+S finalists, and went on to be recognised as one of the top five short film scores of 2025 by the IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association). The Dorothy score has since won Awards of Excellence at the Accolade Global Film Competition and Global Music Awards, plus a nomination for the Crystal Pine Award at the ISFMF.
MASA: The film you won with, A Friend of Dorothy, has had an incredible run, including an Oscar nomination. Looking back at the score, which features intimate chamber music performed by solo strings, what was the creative spark that led you to that specific sound for JJ and Dorothy’s friendship?
STUART: Yes, the Oscar nomination was a wonderful surprise for the whole team! It’s a testament to the director Lee Knight’s tender story-telling, which clearly struck a chord with Academy voters. I’ve heard a lot of people reflect that it’s the sort of honest, uplifting sort of film that the world needs right now.
The starting point for the score was to nail down the music for the central montage sequence, where we see Dorothy and JJ’s friendship blossom. It reveals to us an intimate little love story between the two that I felt would be complemented with the layering up of live solo strings – not to create something massive and overbearing, but to help simply support the unfolding of a quiet joy at finding and ‘seeing’ each other. It was such a pleasure to write a score that didn’t need to work too hard: very much a supporting role to the excellent on-screen work of the film-makers and actors.
MASA: Short film scoring is a unique discipline where you often have to tell a massive emotional story in a very compressed timeframe. Do you have any advice for composers trying to make their scores stand out in such a succinct format?
STUART: As composers, we are there to support the director’s vision and the story being told on-screen. A Friend of Dorothy is a prime example: musically, it’s a pretty subtle piece of composing, and I think it does its job without stealing the limelight. Even in the central montage sequence I mentioned, where it leads in terms of sound, the music is still simply supporting what we’re seeing rather than trying to pull focus. It can’t become a distraction!
My advice for composers working on short films (or any film length, for that matter) is to be mindful that there are many ways to compose the music, but it’s about finding the right way. With A Friend of Dorothy, I went through many demo versions of that montage music; director Lee said ‘I love it!’ about all of them, but also ‘…but it’s not quite right’. He stayed true to his gut response and to his story. Eventually we did find the right musical formula that he both ‘loved’ and was ‘right’ – and that’s what you’ve got to strive for!
MASA: Can you tell us a little about any projects you are currently working on or that you have coming up?
STUART: Writer/director Lee Knight is developing the feature adaptation of A Friend of Dorothy, so I hope to be enlisted as composer for that when it gets off the ground – watch this space!
I have the sci-fi feature film Stargazers currently at the beginning of its festival run. The Stargazers music is a nostalgic traditional orchestral adventure score, not unlike my M+S Award winning score for Kensuke’s Kingdom (which I’m now in talks to bring to the concert stage, conducting it with orchestra and choir live-to-picture).
And I’m putting the finishing touches to the score for an absolutely ferocious action movie called Bad Day at the Office, from British-Chinese director Chee Keong Cheung and starring John Hannah and Radha Mitchell. That is slated to premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival in August.
MASA: The 2026 Music+Sound Awards are now open. For those creators who are currently debating whether their work is ‘ready’ or ‘good enough’ to enter, what would be your one piece of advice?
STUART: I would say ‘go for it’. The entry fee is worth it for the potential reward! Choose your clips wisely and show your story-telling prowess, and it might just bag you one of those iconic black trophies!
MASA: Winning a Music+Sound Award is a major stamp of approval from industry peers. How has the win specifically helped you in the months since, either in opening doors for new projects or in your conversations with directors?
STUART: It is indeed a terrific honour to bag a Music+Sound Award, especially, as you say, because it’s voted on by my industry peers. That means a lot. M+S are a well-established and very recognisable awards and carry a lot of kudos, so to have this win is super – and to follow it up with this little Q+A is useful exposure too!
Award wins never do us any harm: nominations and wins put the spotlight on our work, and can help grease the wheels with new contacts and future projects. My score for the short film Largo (a brilliant, poignant refugee drama) was also among the M+S finalists, and went on to be recognised as one of the top five short film scores of 2025 by the IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association). The Dorothy score has since won Awards of Excellence at the Accolade Global Film Competition and Global Music Awards, plus a nomination for the Crystal Pine Award at the ISFMF.
MASA: The film you won with, A Friend of Dorothy, has had an incredible run, including an Oscar nomination. Looking back at the score, which features intimate chamber music performed by solo strings, what was the creative spark that led you to that specific sound for JJ and Dorothy’s friendship?
STUART: Yes, the Oscar nomination was a wonderful surprise for the whole team! It’s a testament to the director Lee Knight’s tender story-telling, which clearly struck a chord with Academy voters. I’ve heard a lot of people reflect that it’s the sort of honest, uplifting sort of film that the world needs right now.
The starting point for the score was to nail down the music for the central montage sequence, where we see Dorothy and JJ’s friendship blossom. It reveals to us an intimate little love story between the two that I felt would be complemented with the layering up of live solo strings – not to create something massive and overbearing, but to help simply support the unfolding of a quiet joy at finding and ‘seeing’ each other. It was such a pleasure to write a score that didn’t need to work too hard: very much a supporting role to the excellent on-screen work of the film-makers and actors.
MASA: Short film scoring is a unique discipline where you often have to tell a massive emotional story in a very compressed timeframe. Do you have any advice for composers trying to make their scores stand out in such a succinct format?
STUART: As composers, we are there to support the director’s vision and the story being told on-screen. A Friend of Dorothy is a prime example: musically, it’s a pretty subtle piece of composing, and I think it does its job without stealing the limelight. Even in the central montage sequence I mentioned, where it leads in terms of sound, the music is still simply supporting what we’re seeing rather than trying to pull focus. It can’t become a distraction!
My advice for composers working on short films (or any film length, for that matter) is to be mindful that there are many ways to compose the music, but it’s about finding the right way. With A Friend of Dorothy, I went through many demo versions of that montage music; director Lee said ‘I love it!’ about all of them, but also ‘…but it’s not quite right’. He stayed true to his gut response and to his story. Eventually we did find the right musical formula that he both ‘loved’ and was ‘right’ – and that’s what you’ve got to strive for!
MASA: Can you tell us a little about any projects you are currently working on or that you have coming up?
STUART: Writer/director Lee Knight is developing the feature adaptation of A Friend of Dorothy, so I hope to be enlisted as composer for that when it gets off the ground – watch this space!
I have the sci-fi feature film Stargazers currently at the beginning of its festival run. The Stargazers music is a nostalgic traditional orchestral adventure score, not unlike my M+S Award winning score for Kensuke’s Kingdom (which I’m now in talks to bring to the concert stage, conducting it with orchestra and choir live-to-picture).
And I’m putting the finishing touches to the score for an absolutely ferocious action movie called Bad Day at the Office, from British-Chinese director Chee Keong Cheung and starring John Hannah and Radha Mitchell. That is slated to premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival in August.
MASA: The 2026 Music+Sound Awards are now open. For those creators who are currently debating whether their work is ‘ready’ or ‘good enough’ to enter, what would be your one piece of advice?
STUART: I would say ‘go for it’. The entry fee is worth it for the potential reward! Choose your clips wisely and show your story-telling prowess, and it might just bag you one of those iconic black trophies!
MASA: Winning a Music+Sound Award is a major stamp of approval from industry peers. How has the win specifically helped you in the months since, either in opening doors for new projects or in your conversations with directors?
STUART: It is indeed a terrific honour to bag a Music+Sound Award, especially, as you say, because it’s voted on by my industry peers. That means a lot. M+S are a well-established and very recognisable awards and carry a lot of kudos, so to have this win is super – and to follow it up with this little Q+A is useful exposure too!
Award wins never do us any harm: nominations and wins put the spotlight on our work, and can help grease the wheels with new contacts and future projects. My score for the short film Largo (a brilliant, poignant refugee drama) was also among the M+S finalists, and went on to be recognised as one of the top five short film scores of 2025 by the IFMCA (International Film Music Critics Association). The Dorothy score has since won Awards of Excellence at the Accolade Global Film Competition and Global Music Awards, plus a nomination for the Crystal Pine Award at the ISFMF.
MASA: The film you won with, A Friend of Dorothy, has had an incredible run, including an Oscar nomination. Looking back at the score, which features intimate chamber music performed by solo strings, what was the creative spark that led you to that specific sound for JJ and Dorothy’s friendship?
STUART: Yes, the Oscar nomination was a wonderful surprise for the whole team! It’s a testament to the director Lee Knight’s tender story-telling, which clearly struck a chord with Academy voters. I’ve heard a lot of people reflect that it’s the sort of honest, uplifting sort of film that the world needs right now.
The starting point for the score was to nail down the music for the central montage sequence, where we see Dorothy and JJ’s friendship blossom. It reveals to us an intimate little love story between the two that I felt would be complemented with the layering up of live solo strings – not to create something massive and overbearing, but to help simply support the unfolding of a quiet joy at finding and ‘seeing’ each other. It was such a pleasure to write a score that didn’t need to work too hard: very much a supporting role to the excellent on-screen work of the film-makers and actors.
MASA: Short film scoring is a unique discipline where you often have to tell a massive emotional story in a very compressed timeframe. Do you have any advice for composers trying to make their scores stand out in such a succinct format?
STUART: As composers, we are there to support the director’s vision and the story being told on-screen. A Friend of Dorothy is a prime example: musically, it’s a pretty subtle piece of composing, and I think it does its job without stealing the limelight. Even in the central montage sequence I mentioned, where it leads in terms of sound, the music is still simply supporting what we’re seeing rather than trying to pull focus. It can’t become a distraction!
My advice for composers working on short films (or any film length, for that matter) is to be mindful that there are many ways to compose the music, but it’s about finding the right way. With A Friend of Dorothy, I went through many demo versions of that montage music; director Lee said ‘I love it!’ about all of them, but also ‘…but it’s not quite right’. He stayed true to his gut response and to his story. Eventually we did find the right musical formula that he both ‘loved’ and was ‘right’ – and that’s what you’ve got to strive for!
MASA: Can you tell us a little about any projects you are currently working on or that you have coming up?
STUART: Writer/director Lee Knight is developing the feature adaptation of A Friend of Dorothy, so I hope to be enlisted as composer for that when it gets off the ground – watch this space!
I have the sci-fi feature film Stargazers currently at the beginning of its festival run. The Stargazers music is a nostalgic traditional orchestral adventure score, not unlike my M+S Award winning score for Kensuke’s Kingdom (which I’m now in talks to bring to the concert stage, conducting it with orchestra and choir live-to-picture).
And I’m putting the finishing touches to the score for an absolutely ferocious action movie called Bad Day at the Office, from British-Chinese director Chee Keong Cheung and starring John Hannah and Radha Mitchell. That is slated to premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival in August.
MASA: The 2026 Music+Sound Awards are now open. For those creators who are currently debating whether their work is ‘ready’ or ‘good enough’ to enter, what would be your one piece of advice?
STUART: I would say ‘go for it’. The entry fee is worth it for the potential reward! Choose your clips wisely and show your story-telling prowess, and it might just bag you one of those iconic black trophies!