The natural history market has been changing with Sky and Netflix investing in high-end factual.

Sky and Netflix are at the apex of the industry in terms of premium nature productions. It’s all about innovation and quality. Their audiences gravitate towards character-led narratives. If someone just watched a big World Cup match or Game of Thrones or Stranger Things, a series like Predators has to hold its own in terms of its quality, emotional engagement and sophistication of the storytelling. That sense of immersive, real-life action, real animals in real places, doing the most extraordinary things, tonally feels like it’s the kind of series that would sit in a Netflix or Sky premium branded shop window.

Therefore when it came to the music, we felt we had to do the same! We have seen and heard these animals and stories over the decades and we questioned how we could make it fresh and exciting.

Traditionally, natural-history filmmaking has used classic orchestral soundtracks. We consciously wanted something very different and decided to go down the purely electronic and synth route but we also wanted to engage a younger demographic that are used to binge watching high end premium shows. We felt that using a very contemporary approach would suit that as well as match the innovati0on in camera techniques.

The score had to empathise what Tom Hardy’s style of delivery was saying, what the script was saying and what the images were capturing. The aspiration was to have a seamless journey of immersion combining all these elements.

I spent 15 months crafting the score for the series. It was a brave bold ambitious attempt to steer away from conventional strings and orchestra and work with a sound palette that I have never embraced with such authenticity before.

While there is a lot of music to support the narrative, the score has enough variety to keep the audience on the edge with action and dynamics.

One of the toughest scenes to write for was for when the Cheetah family have to leave behind their dying son, a delicate heart wrenching moment.

The potential concern about using only synths was that we wouldn’t be able to retain warmth , empathy and that emotional connection to the story telling that you can with organic elements. We also did not want the score to have any connection to contemporary electronic styles such as garage, house, techno music. It took a while to find the right approach in terms of sound palette and with much experimentation.

I feel we have managed to achieve the same richness and depth of storytelling as we would with a traditional sound palette. We also have an over arching thematic motif that occurs throughout the series that you hear in the opening titles.

"Predators is a superbly presented nature documentary that focuses on the challenges faced by animal populations on three continents."

- Cinema Daily