Frost School’s Carlos Rivera Scores Two Emmy Nominations for Netflix's Godless

The composer—and the world—will learn the winners of the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards in September.
Frost School’s Carlos Rivera Scores Two Emmy Nominations for Netflix's Godless

Carlos Rafael Rivera, assistant professor and director of the MADE Program at the Frost School of Music, scored big with his score for the Netflix show Godless. His original music was nominated on Thursday for two Emmy Awards in the following categories:

  • Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score)
  • Original Main Title Theme Music

"Creating the music for Godless was an amazing experience," Rivera said. "I am truly honored to be acknowledged by my peers in this way!"

The series, which is Rivera’s second collaboration with director Scott Frank, received a slew of Emmy nominations, including outstanding director, limited series, lead actress, supporting actress, supporting actor, and writing.

“We’ve found an unusual approach in which he’ll send me the screenplay, early on during pre-production, and I will begin scoring the written word, not picture,”  Rivera explained to AwardsDaily about his collaboration with Frank. “We call these ‘script movies,’ because I make a QuickTime of the screenplay, and start scoring it. What’s really cool about this is that it helps us realize what doesn’t work, while helping set the tone of the storytelling.”

Sharing more of his process for scoring Godless, Rivera previously released two YouTube videos, giving audiences a sneak peek at how he scored the characters and story about a notorious criminal who, while on the run, seeks refuge in an isolated mining town governed mainly by women.

“When it came time to write the main theme for Godless, we tried to find a singable melody, something that we could carry with us and would help encapsulate the story. Having the legendary T Bone Burnett as an executive music producer, as well as mix the main theme, influenced and inspired my approach to scoring the story,” said Rivera.

The Godless series is available on Netflix streaming devices and the Godless soundtrack is available on digital platforms, courtesy of Netflix and BMG.

70th Primetime Emmy Awards telecast will air on Monday night Sept. 17th, 2018 on the NBC network at 8 PM/ET, 5 PM/PT.

To read more about Godless and Rivera, please click here.