Laura Karpman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Laura Karpman |
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| Birth name | Laura Anne Karpman |
| Born | March 1, 1959 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Film composer |
| Years active | 1994–present |
Laura Anne Karpman (born March 1, 1959) is an American composer. This means she writes music for many different things! Her music has been heard in films, television shows, video games, theater plays, and even in concert halls. She has won five Emmy Awards for her amazing work. Laura Karpman studied music at the Juilliard School, a very famous music school. She loved playing jazz during the day and singing jazz (called scatting) in clubs at night.
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Growing Up and Learning Music
Laura Karpman was born in Los Angeles, California. She grew up singing both opera and jazz music. Her mother, who was an artist, wanted Laura to become a composer. So, she made sure Laura was always surrounded by music, even before she was born! Laura started writing her own music when she was just 7 years old.
She learned from many great teachers. She studied at the University of Michigan and earned a Bachelor of Music degree. Later, she got her Master's and Doctorate degrees in Music Composition from the Juilliard School. One of her main teachers there was Milton Babbitt. She also got help and advice from Nadia Boulanger, another famous music teacher.
Her Music Career
Laura Karpman has written music for many important groups and events. Her pieces have been requested by the Los Angeles Opera, the American Composers Orchestra, and even the Czech Philharmonic. Her music has been played all over the world!
She has also written music for many TV shows and movies. Some of her well-known projects include Steven Spielberg's TV miniseries Taken and the PBS series The Living Edens. She received nine Emmy nominations for The Living Edens! Laura has also created music for popular video games, like parts of Halo 3 and her award-winning music for EverQuest II.
In 2009, her special piece called Ask Your Mama was performed at Carnegie Hall. This was a big event with famous singers and musicians. The music was based on a long poem by Langston Hughes. Laura Karpman also helped start the Alliance for Women Film Composers in 2014. This group helps women who write music for movies get more recognition and support. In 2016, she made history by becoming the first woman chosen to be on the music board of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
More recently, Laura Karpman has composed music for several Marvel Studios projects. She wrote the scores for the animated series What If...? (2021), the streaming series Ms. Marvel (2022), and the superhero film The Marvels (2023). She also composed the music for the 2023 film American Fiction. For this film, she received her first nomination for an Academy Award!
Her Life Outside Work
Laura Karpman is married to another composer named Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum. They have one son and live in Playa del Rey, California. Their home has a view of the ocean and a special music studio built right in!
Laura has always loved drama, from soap operas to classic plays and operas.
Films She Scored
Laura Karpman has composed music for many films. Here are some of them:
| Year | Title | Director | Studio(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Tournament | Scott Mann | Entertainment Film Distributors |
| 2010 | Nothing Special | Angela Garcia Combs | |
| 2011 | Something Ventured | Dayna Goldfine Daniel Geller |
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| 2013 | Black Nativity | Kasi Lemmons | |
| The Galapagos Affair | Dayna Goldfine Daniel Geller |
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| 2014 | States of Grace | Helen Cohen Mark Lipman |
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| Regarding Susan Sontag | Nancy Kates | ||
| 2015 | The State of Marriage | Jeff Kaufman | |
| Code: Debugging the Gender Gap | Robin Hauser | ||
| 2016 | Paris Can Wait | Eleanor Coppola | Lifetime Films American Zoetrope |
| The Cinema Travellers | Shirley Abraham Amit Madheshiya |
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| 2017 | Step | Amanda Lipitz | Artemis Rising Foundation |
| 2018 | Phil's Camino: So Far, So Good | Annie O'Neil | |
| Set It Up | Claire Scanlon | Treehouse Pictures | |
| Inventing Tomorrow | Laura Nix | Fishbowl Films HHMI Tangled Bank Studios |
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| 2019 | Sid & Judy | Stephen Kijak | Passion Pictures |
| 2020 | Paper Children | Alexandra Codina | CineMia |
| Love Is Love Is Love | Eleanor Coppola | American Zoetrope | |
| Senior Moment | Giorgio Serafini | Goff Productions | |
| Pray Away | Kristine Stolakis | Artemis Rising Foundation Blumhouse Productions Chicken & Egg Pictures |
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| 2021 | Resort to Love | Steven Tsuchida | AK Worldwide The Malina Yarn Company Story Ink |
| 2022 | Epic Bill | Quinnolyn Benson-Yates | Red Wrap Productions |
| 2023 | The Marvels | Nia DaCosta | Marvel Studios |
| American Fiction | Cord Jefferson | Orion Pictures MRC Film T-Street Productions 3 Arts Entertainment |
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| The Only Girl in the Orchestra | Molly O'Brien | LFR INDUSTRIES | |
| 2025 | Captain America: Brave New World | Julius Onah | Marvel Studios |
Television Shows She Scored
Here are some of the television series Laura Karpman has worked on:
| Year | Title | Produced By | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–2003 | The Living Edens | CBS Productions / BBC | 24 Episodes |
| 2002 | Taken | DreamWorks Television | 10 Episodes |
| 2002–2003 | Odyssey 5 | Columbia TriStar Domestic Television | 19 Episodes |
| 2007–2022 | Craft in America | N/A | 18 Episodes |
| 2016–2017 | Underground | Sony Pictures Television | 20 Episodes |
| 2019 | L.A.'s Finest | Sony Pictures Television Jerry Bruckheimer Television |
13 Episodes |
| 2019 | Why We Hate | Amblin Television | 6 Episodes Won - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special |
| 2020 | Lovecraft Country | Warner Bros. Television Studios Monkeypaw Productions Bad Robot |
10 Episodes |
| 2021–2024 | What If...? | Marvel Studios Animation | 26 Episodes |
| 2022 | From Scratch | Netflix | 8 Episodes |
| 2022 | 61st Street | AMC
BBC Studios |
16 Episodes |
| 2022 | Ms. Marvel | Marvel Studios | 6 Episodes |
Video Games She Scored
Laura Karpman has also created music for video games:
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2004 | EverQuest II |
| 2005 | EverQuest II: The Splitpaw Saga |
| 2006 | EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky |
| Field Commander | |
| EverQuest II: The Fallen Dynasty | |
| Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom | |
| EverQuest: Prophecy of Ro | |
| 2007 | EverQuest: The Buried Sea |
| 2011 | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| 2012 | Guardians of Middle-earth |
| 2014 | Project Spark |
Awards and Recognitions
Laura Karpman has won many awards for her music. Here are some of the most important ones:
- Academy Awards: In 2024, she was nominated for "Best Original Score" for the film American Fiction. This is a very big honor in the film world!
- Primetime Emmy Awards: She has won multiple Emmy Awards for her work on TV shows and documentaries. For example, in 2020, she won for her music in Why We Hate. She has also been nominated many other times for shows like Ms. Marvel and Lovecraft Country.
- News & Documentary Emmy Awards: She won several times for her music in The Living Edens series, including for episodes about Madagascar and Alaska.
- Game Audio Network Guild Awards: In 2004, she won for "Best Arrangement of a Non-Original Score" for Everquest II.
- Hollywood Music in Media Awards: In 2023, she won for "Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film" for The Marvels.
- Satellite Awards: In 2024, she won "Best Original Score" for American Fiction.
She was also invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2015, which is the group that gives out the Academy Awards.
