Cory Stillman
2025 was an excellent year in film for several reasons, but perhaps the most underrated element of the year’s success is the litany of innovative film scores that came along with it. As the Society of Composers & Lyricists prepare to honor the best of the best from this past year of film scoring, we had the chance to sit down with the SCL-nominated duo of Sara Barone & Forest Christenson, whose folk-inflected score for Kelsey Taylor’s To Kill a Wolf is nominated for “Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film” alongside such heavy-hitters as Bryce Dessner of Train Dreams and David Fleming of Eternity.
To take nothing away from the indie chops of its fellow nominees, To Kill a Wolf is an independent film in the truest sense of the word. A modern re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood, the film marks director Kelsey Taylor’s feature debut. Sara and Forest first arrived at the project, however, via its editor: Kelsey’s own brother Dawson Taylor!
“We were really keen to work with him after seeing his [short film Otherkin] and he then let us know about Kelsey’s film,” says Barone. “The script was excellent and we hit the ground running with some thematic ideas for a few key scenes, some of which stuck through to the final version of the score.”
The intimacy of the collaboration proved crucial to the tender musical palette that Barone and Christenson develop over the course of the film, leaning into the fairytale source material, as well as the film’s storybook structure.
“One of the main motifs of the score is a nursery-rhyme-inspired melody played very quietly on a celeste,” says Barone. “The lightness and simplicity of the sound also underscores the character Dani’s youth and innocence, which is an important aspect of her character.”
Indeed, Dani’s innocent nature is conveyed across the entirety of To Kill a Wolf‘s soundscape, which is gorgeously muted and cozy for much of its runtime.
“The tone and soft dynamic of the score is informed in relation to other elements of the film,” says Christenson. “For example, the reservedness of the protagonists, who often communicate non-verbally or with few words, as well as the stillness of the setting in the Pacific Northwest rural towns and wilderness.”
Check out my full conversation with this rising composer duo below!
Hi Sara and Forest! Can you walk us through how you both got involved with Kelsey Taylor’s To Kill a Wolf?
Sara Barone: We met Kelsey’s brother Dawson at a film festival after seeing his short film, called Otherkin, which we thought was incredible. We were really keen to work with him after seeing his work and he then let us know about Kelsey’s film that was currently in production, which he was editing. The script was excellent and we hit the ground running with some thematic ideas for a few key scenes, some of which stuck through to the final version of the score.
You each also have experience scoring both projects on your own as well as with a co-composer. How did your collaboration on To Kill a Wolf differ from your previous work?
Forest Christenson: This was our first time collaborating with each other on a film project from start to finish. All of our creative meetings and decision-making were collaborative where we would brainstorm until coming up with unanimously-liked ideas and approaches. I don’t think there’s anything that made it into the final score that we both didn’t have a hand in in some form.
The film is described as a modern reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood. How did that association with a traditional fairytale inform your creative approach to the score?
SB: One of the main motifs of the score is a nursery-rhyme-inspired melody played very quietly on a celeste, which evokes that storybook feeling whenever it appears. The lightness and simplicity of the sound also underscores the character Dani’s youth and innocence, which is an important aspect of her character. The film, like a storybook, is broken into chapters which are marked with shifts in the score.
The film’s overall soundscape is quite muted and soft. How did you aim to incorporate your sonic into this broader sonic palette?
FC: The tone and soft dynamic of the score is informed in relation to other elements of the film. For example, the reservedness of the protagonists, who often communicate non-verbally or with few words, as well as the stillness of the setting in the Pacific Northwest rural towns and wilderness, and the sensitive treatment of the film’s plot themes.
Did you use any unique or surprising instruments on your score for To Kill a Wolf?
FC: To capture the characters, setting and intimate story, we decided to use solo folk instruments as the main instrumental group, such as fiddle, guitars, banjo, clarinet, piano, and upright bass. We then experimented with various extended techniques and processing using those instruments to expand the sound palette into cinematic soundscapes and ambient textures. For example, a bowed banjo run through a plate reverb created an eerie motif that is used often throughout the film. Another example is the use of an ebow on a resonator guitar that created a high tone fluctuating from sad to unsettling through the film.
I sensed both an eeriness and a warmth within your score for the film. How did you balance those two elements throughout the film?
SB: The film itself captures those feelings as well. There is a great deal of mystery and unanswered questions at the beginning of the story, and as the relationship between the protagonists Dani and Jonah progresses, a friendship theme starts to emerge that adds warmth to the musical language.
Considering you both have experience scoring for major studio projects, do you find that there are any unique opportunities afforded by scoring for an independent film like To Kill a Wolf?
SB: What you are hearing in the movie and on the score album is the direct result of creative input from us and the film’s director/writer Kelsey, and producer/DP Adam Lee, no studio notes! So the result is our raw creative vision, and that creative flow is really special and unique to independent films like this. Of course the flip-side is that we had to be very resourceful with a limited budget, recording nearly every instrument ourselves in our home studio and doing the 5.1 score mix and soundtrack mastering ourselves as well!
Is there anything else you would like to share about this score or any other upcoming projects?
SB: This score is very special to us for many reasons, most of all because of the friends we got to know along the way. The soundtrack just came out on January 19th across all major music streaming platforms. The score is also nominated for an SCL award this year, which is a great honor. We’re looking forward to collaborating again and hope to continue writing music for independent films!
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