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How do televisions composers find inspiration in each project? Which past scores do they really love with a passion? And how do they feel about the rise of AI music?

For our Meet the Experts: TV Composers roundtable, Gold Derby gathered six Emmy-nominated artists to discuss highlights of their work both this season and throughout their careers. Joining us were The Americas composers Anže Rozman and Kara Talve, Chef's Table composers Duncan Thum and David Bertok, The Penguin composer Mick Giacchino, and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story composer Ilan Eshkeri.

Watch the full group panel above. Click each person's name to watch their individual interview.

Gold Derby: Great composers know how to balance where music should lead and when it should step back, like highlighting only the key lines in a book. What strategies do you use to find that balance perfectly?

Duncan Thum: That's a great question. I...

Chef’s Table returned this year with Legends, a celebration of culinary visionaries over four fascinating episodes. Beloved for its cinematic visuals, score, and intimate storytelling, the series offers a behind‑the‑scenes look at the artistry and philosophy of four world‑renowned chefs. This latest season honors their groundbreaking impact on global cuisine, blending personal narratives with breathtaking food cinematography that has become the show’s signature.

Composers Duncan Thum and David Bertok scored an Emmy nomination this year for their work on the Netflix nonfiction series. The duo recently joined Gold Derby's Meet the Experts: TV Composers panel to discuss their work on the show. (Watch our full interview above.)

See ‘Chef’s Table: Legends’: How José Andrés, Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, and Jamie Oliver are changing the world through food

Thum and Bertok are nominated for Best Music for a Documentary Series or Special for the Chef’s Table: Legends...

Beyoncé is facing some particularly familiar competition for an Emmy this year: her own husband.

As the 2025 Emmy nominations were announced on Tuesday, both Queen Bey and Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) were listed as nominees in the outstanding variety special (live) category; Beyoncé for her Beyoncé Bowl halftime show for the NFL’s Christmas Day game on Netflix, and Jay as one of the executive producers for Kendrick Lamar’s Apple Music Super Bowl Lix Halftime Show.

It’s hard to track how many times a husband and wife have ever competed against one another in the same Emmy category in the past, though it’s certainly not a common occurrence.

Both Beyoncé and Lamar’s halftime shows were critically lauded and groundbreaking. Beyoncé performed the first-ever Christmas Day NFL halftime show, while Lamar broke records for the most-viewed Super Bowl halftime show of all time with over 133 million viewers.

A father-daughter composing team was nominated, Hans Zimmer could win his first Emmy, and a music supervisor was nominated for three different shows — just some of the surprises among nominations for the 2024-2025 Emmys unveiled Tuesday morning by the Television Academy.

Thomas Newman and his daughter Julia Newman were nominated for their music for Netflix’s miniseries “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” a first in Emmy history for a two-generation, same-family collaboration on a single television score. And in another musical-family story, Oscar and Emmy winner Michael Giacchino’s son Mick Giacchino was nominated for his original music for HBO’s “The Penguin.”

Zimmer, who has two Oscars and four Grammys, has never won an Emmy but could this year with his nomination in the documentary music category for NBC’s “The Americas” (shared with fellow composers Anze Rozman and Kara Talve).

Music supervisor Gabe Hilfer dominated the...