‘Severance’ Composer on ‘SNL’ Sketch, Popularity of Theme Song, Pressure of Working on Season 3: ‘Thank God the Main Title Theme Will Be the Same’

Theodore Shapiro, the American composer who created the acclaimed score for Ben Stiller's award-winning series "Severance," has taken note of the recent "Saturday Night Live" sketch where Amy Poehler and Bowen Yang referenced his now-famous theme music. He expressed profound gratitude for the public's embrace of his work, describing the entire experience as "wonderful." While speaking at a Film Fest Ghent roundtable for the World Soundtrack Awards—where he is nominated for Television Composer of the Year—Shapiro reflected on the cultural impact. "One of my great heroes is John Williams," he noted, referencing the legendary composer behind iconic scores for "Star Wars" and "Jaws." "To have written something that suddenly appears on 'SNL' or 'The Tonight Show' is crazy. I've felt like I might be in the middle of a dream that is about to end."

Shapiro dedicated approximately two and a half years to the music for Season 2, making the positive audience response especially rewarding. When questioned on whether this popularity increases the pressure for his ongoing work on the show's third season, he first joked, "Thank God the main title theme will be the same," before admitting to a genuine sense of responsibility. "I do feel some pressure," he confessed. "The challenge is to keep evolving the music and making it interesting, while still staying rooted to what has been established before." This balancing act between innovation and consistency will be central to his approach for the new episodes.

His collaborative process with director and executive producer Ben Stiller, whose career spans from acting in "Zoolander" to directing acclaimed dramas like "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," involves less conceptual discussion and more practical experimentation. Shapiro revealed that their conversations for the upcoming season focus on specific narrative destinations. "In the second season, we talked a lot about episode four, the one that takes place in the forest," he recalled. "We also talked about Ms. Cobel a lot. Ben has incredible instincts about music, so it was more about trying stuff out and finding those sounds that would help define the new places the story was going to."

Shapiro was joined on the Ghent roundtable by fellow World Soundtrack Award nominees, including Martin Phipps, nominated in the same category for the Netflix series "Black Doves," and Camille, nominated for both Best Original Song for "El Mal" from "Emilia Pérez" and Composer of the Year. Also present was Robin Carolan, the British composer nominated for Discovery of the Year for his score for the gothic horror film "Nosferatu." Carolan is already looking forward, having commenced work on his next project with director Robert Eggers, titled "Werwulf."

Carolan spoke highly of Eggers's famously meticulous approach, stating that the director's "obsession with detail" provides immense inspiration for composing. "In his sets, everything is period correct," Carolan explained. "Being on the 'Nosferatu' set and watching a scene being filmed, I immediately started getting musical ideas. Because Rob is so obsessed with everything feeling authentic, you can very easily lose yourself in that space." This commitment to historical accuracy, however, presents a unique musical challenge: all instruments used in the score must be appropriate to the film's time period. This was less demanding for "Nosferatu," set in the 1830s, but proved far more complex for Eggers's previous film, "The Northman," which is set in the 10th century. "A thousand years ago, people were playing very different kinds of instruments, and no one quite agrees on what they were," Carolan noted. "With 'Nosferatu,' I could just get stuck in. There was less research involved."