To be honest, we don't fully trust anyone who doesn't love a good movie montage. This week, we break down our favorites... and the songs that fuel them. 

Plus, Liz is recently back from the UK and teaches us how to make this week's favorite thing: proper English scones and a good strong cup of British tea. 

Russell Emanuel is a pioneering leader, disruptor and music producer, serving as the CEO, Chief Creative Officer, and co-founder of both Extreme Music and Bleeding Fingers Music. By introducing world-renowned artists and composers—such as Hans Zimmer, Quincy Jones, Sir George Martin, and Snoop Dogg—into the music library space, he's elevated the standard for quality in production music. Russell also transformed the industry by championing the shift from purely instrumental tracks to vocal-led songs, recognizing the demand for music that could tell stories and evoke emotions more powerfully. His innovative approach attracted top-tier talent and redefined what a music library could be.

At Bleeding Fingers Music, co-founded in partnership with legendary composer Hans Zimmer, Russell has built a dynamic, collaborative environment where some of the industry's most vital new composers thrive. Headquartered in Santa Monica, the company is recognized for its unmatched balance of musical creativity, collaboration, and efficiency. The award-winning team at Bleeding Fingers has scored prestigious series and landmark projects, including The Simpsons, Planet Earth, Blue Planet II, Seven Worlds, One Planet, Frozen Planet II, and Apple TV+'s Prehistoric Planet, produced with Jon Favreau.

Here's what Trish is into this week: The Extended Mind, by Annie Murphy Paul.

Nothing kicks off a movie quite as effectively as the right musical choice, positioned perfectly to set the tone for the entire film. When executed well, the sequence introduces us to an entire world, conveys nuanced character details, relationships and plot points, and establishes a rhythm and mood that will carry us through the whole story.

This week, we share our personal favorite musical openings to movies.   

Plus, you here’s Liz’s current obsession,  SAUNA AUFGUSS.   

This week, we're getting into it with vocalist, songwriter, videographer and composer/producer KÁRYYN. 

The press has dubbed her “a sonic architect” (Dazed); “an electronic adventurer” (FACT) who “makes music as a way of travel, moving through memories with sound” (CLOT Magazine). In the album’s Pitchfork review, Sasha Geffen wrote: “Death hangs heavy over the record, but in its shadow, KÁRYYN projects herself into the future.”   

Following a prolific period of inward healing and creating, she readies her newest work, Calm KAOSS! EP, which she created in partnership with British record producer James Ford. In this new project, KÁRYYN communes with her past, present and future selves, traveling through time to reveal transformative premonitions from the future in scientific and spiritual language. 

She's deep and intense... but also joyful, silly, and seriously FUN. 

Plus, here’s what Trish is into this week:   
The Age Of Magical Thinking, by Amanda Montell.

Perhaps best known for writing and producing The Mexican and Dead Man Down, as well his work on the FOX shows Fringe and Almost Human, Joel is a multi-talented creator with a passion for storytelling, music, and metaphor.

We take a deep dive into his career and projects-- what inspires him, what's at the heart of a good narrative arc, and his take on music being integral to his creative process.

Plus, Liz is pumped about her new 3D printer.

For Venzella Joy Williams, also known as Joy The Drummer, Christmas of 1998 was “the most lit Christmas of all time” because at the tender age of ten, she received her very first drum set. These days, she plays with people like Beyonce, Eric Bellinger, Patti LaBelle, Janelle Monáe, and Ari Lennox. 

Joy gives us the dirt on her life behind the drumkit, as well as her thoughts on being a touring musical director, performing on camera, the flaws in our criminal justice system, and the unlikely lessons she learned from the film, The Founder.

Trish's favorite thing this week is musician Amythyst Kiah. 

Grammy-nominated K.Flay is a songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. Her music is a unique, bold, and thoughtful blend of hip-hop, indie rock and electronica. Inspired by artists ranging from Missy Eilliott to Garbage to Liz Phair, her sound is tough to pin down.

This week, we pick K.Flay’s brain on her unlikely musical story, her creative process, her recent and sudden hearing loss, her favorite songs and movies, and even her abstention from alcohol.

Some songs simply show up over and over again ad nauseum in movies, shows, adverts, video games and even sporting events. This week, we let our judgy, peevish sides out to play, dishing on the tracks we’re most sick of hearing in pop culture and media. 

Plus, Trish gets emo about firefighters, and her Tarot deck addresses weight gain and body image. 

This week, we’re discussing and debating our all-time favorite uses of songs in movies. From romance to cringe, from noise abuse to exquisite irony, we’re gonna yammer on about what makes for an unforgettable musical moment in a film. 

Plus, Liz has thoughts on a couple of humanity’s greatest inventions.

Award-winning composer Joy Ngiaw has an astonishing body of work. Her passion for experimenting with a diverse range of tones, textures, and vocal techniques infuses her music with a distinct and innovative touch, incorporating elements such as vocalized breaths, mouth percussion, hums, and nature-inspired sounds within her scores. Her passion lies in crafting emotionally driven scores for narratives that evoke nostalgia and bridge thought-provoking perspectives.

Check out her music in the brand new animated series Wondla and the award-winning short film Blush on Apple+ TV.

Do you know about music libraries? Where did they come from? Who creates all that music, and who gets to use it? What are the rules? Trish has so many questions… and Liz has so many answers. Plus, we talk about pet names and Harvey Wallbanger-- the man, the myth, the legend, the cocktail.

Ever dream of crawling inside a composer’s mind to see how a theme or musical nugget is hatched? This week, Jeff Cardoni cracks his brain wide open and gives us exclusive access to his early demos so we can all have a peek at his creative process; you don’t wanna miss this.

Jeff’s musical talents range from intimate indie fare to full orchestral majesty. With over 45 feature film scores and many network series to his credit, his unique ability to cross genres has made him a power player in the film composing industry.

Although as a kid he studied classical piano and played percussion in his school orchestra, it was rock and roll that brought Jeff to Los Angeles in 1997. After a brief stint as lead guitarist for the Warner Bros. band "Alien Crime Syndicate," he left to pursue film scoring full time. He was recently voted ASCAP 2019 TV Composer Of The Year.

As promised in our conversation, you can check out Dave Matthews starring in Where The Red Fern Grows (the movie that jump-started Jeff’s entire career) right here.

In this weeks episode we talk to documentary filmmaker, Stephen Kijak. Stephen’s been making critically acclaimed films for over 25 years, collaborating with and documenting an eclectic playlist of musical icons and legends such as Scott Walker (Scott Walker: 30th Century Man - Executive Produced by David Bowie), The Rolling Stones (Stones in Exile), The Backstreet Boys (Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of), Jaco Pastorius (Jaco), X Japan (We Are X), Lynyrd Skynyrd (If I Leave Here Tomorrow), and Judy Garland (Sid & Judy).

This week’s inaugural episode is an introduction to the world of On Cue. Meet your hosts, Liz and Trish, and get thlay of the land with us as we dive into our personal stories and experiences at the intersection of music and film.

In this weeks episode we welcome our first guest to On Cue. In addition to being our good friend, Jenny Oppenheimer has been in the music industry for thirty years… as a publicist, manager, music supervisor, marketing exec and live events specialist. She’s also an entertainment trivia savant, so we made up a special game just for her: TV Theme Songs for Jenny.

in this week’s episode we discuss on-camera music scenes, dance numbers and cover songs in film soundtracks. We also talk about the limited series, Baby Reindeer.

This week’s inaugural episode is an introduction to the world of On Cue. Meet your hosts, Liz and Trish, and get thlay of the land with us as we dive into our personal stories and experiences at the intersection of music and film.