Germaine Franco

Composer, Songwriter, Orchestrator, Arranger, Conductor, Percussionist

GERMAINE FRANCO is the first Latina composer invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences music branch and to receive the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature (COCO). She was nominated for a Black Reel Award for her work on Dope, and is the first female composer to be hired by DreamWorks Animation and Pixar. She is a Sundance Music Sound Design Fellow, a Women In Film Music Fellow, and an Advisory Board Member of Women in Media. At the 2018 ASCAP Screen Music Awards, Franco was recognized with the Shirley Walker Award. Univision honored Germaine Franco on International Women’s Day 2018 as one of “15 Latinas Who Are Changing The World As We Know It”, alongside Rita Moreno, and Emma Gonzalez.

Germaine composes music and songs that reflect her extensive training as an orchestral musician, her electronic music programming prowess, her multi-instrumental expertise and her love of world music. Franco divides her time working on studio blockbusters and independent features. She has scored and/or written songs for a variety of award-winning and high-profile features, animations, and documentary projects.

Recently, Germaine completed work on Netflix’s soon to be released coming of age story, Work It directed by Laura Terruso and produced by Alicia Keys, Leslie Morgenstein, and Elysa Dutton. Germaine also recently co-composed the score for Paramount’s Dora And The Lost City Of Gold live action film with John Debney, directed by James Bobin, produced by Kristin Burr and executive produced by Tamazin Simmonds and Eugenio Derbez. Franco and Debney worked side by side to create a dynamic score with full orchestra, Andean flutes, ancient conch shells and chants. They incorporated Quechua lyrics for choir, as well as a Latin pop band.

Germaine Franco also scored the feature film Little for Universal Pictures with Tina Gordon Chism, which was released in theaters in April 2019. Her collaboration with Tina Gordon Chism marked the first time that two women of color collaborated as composer and director on a studio feature with a budget of twenty million dollars. Little was produced by Kenya Barris, Will Packer, and James Lopez, and executive produced by Marsai Martin. Germaine’s score for Curious George: Royal Monkey is available to stream on Hulu.

In 2018, Franco was one of three female composers to score a major studio project with her work on Tag, directed by Jeff Tomsic for New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Additionally, she completed the feature Life-Size 2 produced by Stephanie Allain for Freeform and the TV series Vida for the Starz.

Franco’s work on Disney/Pixar’s Oscar®-winning animated feature Coco was multifaceted, encompassing more than four years of creative collaboration with filmmakers Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina, and Darla K. Anderson. Germaine wrote five original songs including “Un Poco Loco” and “Proud Corazón” with co-director Adrian Molina. She arranged, orchestrated and co-produced the Oscar-winning song of 2018. Franco contributed additional music and co-orchestrated the score to give it an authentic Mexican sound. Additional film credits include, Dope directed by Rick Famuyiwa (Open Road Films), Margarita (HBO Canada), Walk with Me: On the Road with Thich Nhat Hanh, and Shovel Buddies (Awesomeness Films).

Franco also composes for immersive reality (4D) and theme park attractions, including DreamWorks Animation and Universal Creative’s Kung Fu Panda – The Emperor’s Quest currently playing at Universal Studios Hollywood. In 2016, she was composer, and music producer for DreamWorks Animation’s Motiongate Dubai.

Germaine began her ascent in the world of film music production by working alongside some of Hollywood’s top film and TV composers as an additional composer, orchestrator, arranger, midi programmer and/or music producer for John Powell, Hans Zimmer, Randy Newman, Gustavo Santaolalla, and Michael Giacchino. Her music production credits include thirty-five tent pole productions, including Kung Fu Panda 1, 2, & 3, How To Train Your Dragon 1 & 2, Bourne Supremacy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Italian Job, Book of Life, and Toy Story 3.

Franco’s compositions can be heard in concert halls around the world including Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico, and The Minnesota Orchestra. Her original songs, additional music and authentic Mexican orchestrations can be heard in the upcoming Disney Pixar’s Coco In Concert, currently touring worldwide with a live orchestra version of the film to picture. Her original songs, additional music and authentic Mexican orchestrations can be heard in a live orchestral version of the film set to picture, A Celebration of the Music From Coco. The concert was filmed on November 8th and 9th 2019, at the world famous Hollywood Bowl and is available to stream on Disney+. Franco has performed as a percussionist with several major international orchestras and artists, including the Belgian Radio Orchestra, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Franco holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.