Scoring — Mark Henry Phillips

Scoring — Mark Henry PhillipsOriginal music for films, documentaries, narrative podcasts and audio drama.

SERIAL (Season 1) — Using simple and haunting piano, subtle strings and menacing synths Mark tried to highlight the ambiguity of the story and draw the listeners into the mystery without influencing their opinion on Adnan Syed's guilt or innocence.

MOST LIKELY TO MURDER (Lionsgate) — This film straddles the line between three genres: coming-home-for-the-holidays indie, murder mystery, and screwball comedy. The score works as the glue to bridge these three genres together and infuse it all with a cohesive feel.

THE SCARLET E (On the Media) — On the Media teamed up with author Matthew Desmond to make a special series on the eviction crisis in America. Phillips's score evokes the heartbreaking reality many hardworking Americans face as they bump up against a system that seems as if it was created to make it as difficult as possible for poorer Americans to find and keep an apartment.

THIS AMERICAN LIFE (WBEZ) — The iconic sound of TAL is baked into the DNA of public radio shows and podcasts. Phillips was commissioned to write a batch of songs to be used regularly during their show. The songs need to be used in a wide variety of stories and have that classic "This American Life" feel.

HOMECOMING (Season 1) — A sparse and haunting score for the critically acclaimed podcast starring Oscar Isaac, Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer and Amy Sedaris. The music infused the show with suspense and uneasiness and helped HOMECOMING win the Peabody Award and go on to become a TV show on Amazon Prime starring Julia Roberts.

BETYE SAAR: Taking Care of Business (Short film) — An official selection for Sundance and SxSW and featured as an Op-Doc on NYTimes.com, this short film shows the work and life of a 91 year-old, trailblazing black artist who's been making provocative pieces since the 60s. Phillips' score captures the eclectic, collage-like feel of her work.

STRAYS (Indie Short) — Using delay-drenched plucked cello, piano and other stringed instruments, the score captures the tension of this short film. Without much dialogue, it captures the quiet respite of the film's peaceful setting and the uneasiness of the main character's predicament.

EVERYTHING IS OK (Digital Series) — Written by and starring Cirocco Dunlap for Topic.com, the series is somewhere between Black Mirror and the New Yorker's Shouts & Murmurs (for which Dunlap has contributed). The score is at times scary, funny, and surreal — but always captured the ennui of being young and single in the 21st century.

BAYARD AND ME (Official selection — Sundance Film Festival 2017) — A score with a vintage feel that also carries the historical weight of the film's subjects: civil rights activist Bayard Rustin and his boyfriend Walter Naegle. The score complements the bittersweet emotions of this moving love story.

PASSENGER LIST (Season 1) — A suspenseful score and theme song for this narrative fiction podcast starring Kelly Marie Tran. In addition to editing and sound designing the series, Phillips created music that's helping solidify the genre of fiction audio scoring.

PLAYING POLITICS (The Guardian) — Playful cues for this short about a high school class in New York City doing their own simulation of the 2016 election. The score uses prepared piano and solo stringed instruments to give the classroom exercise a more serious feel than it would otherwise have.

GREENWOOD (Short) — From the acclaimed cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra, this meditative short film shot in a lush forest of upstate New York shows the transformation of an oak tree into a traditional rung stool. Using bowed piano strings and never-ending reverbs, Phillips created a score of peaceful, hypnotic drones.

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