Selves – My First TV Premiere on Amazon Prime
Full Blog Post: Selves – My First TV Premiere on Amazon Prime
There are moments in your creative life that change everything — and for me, Selves was one of those moments.
Earlier this year, I had the incredible opportunity to compose for Selves, a brand-new comedy-drama about teenage relationships, coming soon to Amazon Prime. I worked on the project during the second semester of my second year at university, alongside two fantastic composers and close friends, Marley and Eliot.
It was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done — but also one of the most rewarding.
Scoring the Unknown
From the start, Selves was different. The writing was smart, funny, and emotionally grounded — a brilliant blend of awkward teenage moments and raw, heartfelt storytelling. It had all the makings of a brilliant show, except for one thing: we barely had any footage.
For the majority of the project, we were working almost completely blind — with only a PDF document that described each scene in words. No visuals!
So, we did what composers do best: we imagined. We guessed. We felt our way through the scenes and wrote based on what we thought they might feel like. It sounds mad, and maybe it was, but honestly — it was so much fun.
We leaned on instinct, tried to keep things minimal, and trusted the tone of the script to guide us. It was creatively liberating in a strange way. We weren’t reacting to edits — we were building mood and emotion from nothing but text. It felt more like writing for theatre than TV.
Teamwork Under Pressure
Working with Marley and Eliot made everything better. The three of us gelled quickly, bouncing off each other's ideas, sharing cues, and giving honest feedback without ego. There was this constant balance of pushing for better while still keeping each other sane.
When the footage finally came in — at the last second — it was a mad dash to adjust timings, rework cues, and make sure everything actually fit the picture. But by that point, we’d already built such a strong musical identity that the pieces fell into place pretty naturally.
Yes, there were stressful moments. There were late nights, rough feedback, and multiple "what even is this scene supposed to feel like?" moments. But looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing.
The Premiere Moment
When Selves finally premiered — with a full audience and the cast and crew in the room — it hit me just how far we’d come.
Hearing our music on screen, knowing it was born from a PDF and a ton of trust, was incredibly surreal. And watching the characters come to life with our music woven through their stories… that was pure magic.
This wasn’t just my first credit on a TV series heading to Amazon Prime — it was the first time I felt like a real media composer. Part of a team. Telling stories through sound.
What's Next
Selves taught me more than any course or assignment ever could. It taught me how to compose without a safety net, how to collaborate under pressure, and most importantly, how to trust the process — even when the process is a bit chaotic.
Huge thanks to Marley and Eliot for being such brilliant collaborators, and to the Selves team for trusting us with their vision (and giving us just enough chaos to keep things exciting). I can’t wait for you all to see the show when it drops on Amazon Prime.
Until then — back to the DAW.