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  • What We Do
  • Our Work
    • Films
    • Trailers
    • Ads
    • Sample Libraries
  • Company
    • The Team
    • Our Culture
    • Team Resources
    • Job Opportunities
  • Contact Us

Outlier Studios

Music for Filmmakers

contact@outlierstudios.co

If you are consistently good to the people you work with, they will always say "yes" to you

September 27, 2023  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

Here are a few ways to build trust with people you hire on your projects.

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categories / Business Skills, Mindset

Welcome to the Outlier Studios Team!

September 29, 2021  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

You’ve just joined the team—welcome! We’re glad to have you. Here’s what you’ve gotta know…

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Outlier Studios Should Live Beyond Us

August 23, 2021  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

How Daniel Ciurlizza feels about Outlier Studios, our team culture, and how he wants people on the team to feel about what we do together now and in the future.

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categories / Mindset

The Foundations of Building a Good Team Culture in Your Music Studio

February 16, 2021  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

If you’ve ever wondered how we’ve established our team culture and how we make our hiring decisions at Outlier Studios, this is for you.

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categories / Mindset, Industry Insights
tags / Hiring, Culture, teamwork

Where to Find Filmmakers to Work With

October 30, 2020  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

Where can composers find filmmakers to work with?

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categories / Business Skills
tags / finding work, pitching, business skills

What's the best way for a Composer to study a score?

October 05, 2020  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

Rhyan D’Errico and Nestor Estrada discuss a way in which composers can effectively study scores.

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categories / Technical Skills
tags / Composing, Learning

Orchestration: Make Block Piano Chords Sound Like an Organized String Arrangement

April 15, 2020  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

How do you systematically approach an orchestration so that it has movement, without sounding messy? What’s the thought process?

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categories / Technical Skills
tags / scoring, orchestration, composing, string arrangement, orchestra, piano chords

The 5 Stages of Writing a Film Score

November 22, 2019  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

Everyone has their own process for writing a score, but here’s how I’ve broken it down…

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categories / Technical Skills, Mindset
tags / mindset, scoring, process

If you're currently directionless in your career...

October 07, 2019  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

If you're currently directionless in your career, establish your largest goals, then work your way backwards to figure out exactly where you need to go. Here’s an example…

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categories / Mindset, Business Skills
tags / mindset, goals, finding work, business skills

2 Ways A Film Composer Can Use Instagram

October 01, 2019  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

A couple ways a film composer can use Instagram to engage with an audience and connect with filmmakers.

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4 Likes
categories / Business Skills
tags / Social Media, Instagram, Branding, pitching, finding work

Don’t be replaceable, Make Yourself A Creative Necessity

May 21, 2019  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

The absolute minimum rate for any director on CAA’s roster was $3,000,000. Those directors got there by being essential, not by being replaceable.

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categories / Mindset, Industry Insights
tags / Michael Ovitz, Agency, CAA, Creative Artists Agency, Branding, Creative

How to make IMPACTS and BRAAMS

May 08, 2019  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

The process of designing IMPACTS + BRAAMS from scratch. Ideal for people in the sound design team

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categories / Technical Skills, Sample Development
tags / Sound Design, Sample Development

Truly Great Ideas Are Divisive (But You Should Keep Exploring Them)

April 02, 2019  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

New ideas can be interesting, innovative, and valuable. But not everybody will see what you see. (That said, maybe they’re seeing something you’re not.)

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categories / Industry Insights, Mindset
tags / culture, business skills, industry, innovation

How Much Should You Charge for Your Service?

January 11, 2019  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

“What’s your rate?” A client’s budget might be below or beyond what you personally think you’re worth, so answering that question isn’t always a straightforward process.

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categories / Business Skills
tags / how much to charge, business skills

How To Get Scoring Projects (and Connect With Filmmakers)

September 02, 2018  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

Being active in building relationships is important, even when we're busy. The precursor to this is The Pitching Process, which is something we'd used for 6 years to find work. The following write-up is a more minimal - but still very active - way of "pitching."

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4 Likes
categories / Business Skills
tags / pitching, finding work, business skills

How To Get A Job As A Composer's Assistant

September 02, 2018  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

Whether your dream has always been to work with a certain composer, or if you're looking for an experience the Outlier team can't provide you with right now; this is for those of you looking to find jobs at studios, with other composers, or just about any job in the music industry.

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9 Likes
categories / Business Skills
tags / pitching, finding work, business skills, assistantship

Hans Zimmer on Ghostwriters, Music Department Credits, and Studio Budgets

September 01, 2018  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

Hans Zimmer sharing insights on how ghostwriting, music credits, and studio budgets work. This is something many people don’t really understand unless we’re in that world on a daily basis.

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10 Likes
categories / Industry Insights
tags / ghostwriting, credits, studio budgets, Hans Zimmer

The Pitching Process

September 01, 2018  /  Daniel Ciurlizza

A process we’ve used to find work and connect with people we wanted to work with. Our team developed this pitching process through 6 years of actively using it. Here’s what we've narrowed it down to.

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14 Likes
categories / Business Skills
tags / finding work, pitching, business skills

Our Team Culture + Philosophy

September 01, 2018  /  Outlier Studios

We love passionate storytellers, helping people succeed, and positively impacting society through art + innovation. There's a very "people first" culture 'round here, and we're constantly looking for ways to contribute value to everyone we meet – whether we work together or not.

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8 Likes
categories / Mindset
tags / culture, mindset, teamwork