NYWIFT Blog

By Guneet K. Singh

Cue the music: it’s time to welcome our new NYWIFT member, Kira Belin! 

Kira is a New York based music editor with a career spanning film, television, contemporary art and more. She’s worked on a variety of high-profile projects including Barbie, And Just Like That…, and Los Espookys. She focuses on building an interdependent relationship between music and the story on screen. 

Read our full interview with Kira to learn more about her career journey and approach to film music editing.

NYWIFT Member Kira Belin (photo courtesy of Kira Belin)

Tell us about yourself! Give us some insight into your creative journey, your career aspirations and what drives you.

My family has a lot of musicians and music educators, so the music world always felt like a natural progression for me. At some point in my early twenties I was pursuing a composing career and attended a film scoring program at Juilliard, but I was really fascinated by innovations in music technology and sonic arts from a more conceptual perspective.

Before making a complete move into film, I had a long career in the contemporary art world which has largely shaped my instinct to connect visual and auditory senses. Film music editing became an ultimate combination of all those interests and experiences. 

What brought you to NYWIFT?

It is such a brilliant resource for the New York City film and TV community. The longer I work in this industry, the more glaringly obvious it becomes that women need all the support they can get in order to succeed in this often insular, highly-competitive field. It is especially important to share with and be connected to other colleagues, whether through professional development opportunities, networking, or by having a platform on which to share our voices and stories.

NYWIFT Member Kira Belin (photo courtesy of Kira Belin)

What does being a film music editor entail?

I see it as being a connective tissue of sorts. You are at the center of the Venn Diagram between a director, composer, picture editor, sound department and licensing team. Depending on how early in the post-production process you are brought in, you get to work with the director/showrunner on creating a temporary music score that helps inform the emotional language of the project, before the composer starts writing original music.

Then you work closely in tandem with the composer’s camp on organizing, recording and showcasing newly written material; you prepare and deliver final compositions to the mix; you help music supervisors narrow down and present licensable songs and source music options; you are heavily involved during the final mix, providing any support the sound team and re-recording mixer might need. You wear a lot of hats and it varies from project to project.

In your work, you focus on building an evocative, interdependent relationship between music and the story on screen. What are some elements you keep in mind to ensure that happens?

I am at the intersection of a multitude of opinions, visions and ideas. The key to distilling it all and assembling a successful musical map for a project is rooted in understanding the feelings and emotions unfolding on screen. It is less about personal aesthetics, and more about analyzing and supporting the emotional palette explored by the characters and their stories.

NYWIFT Member Kira Belin (photo courtesy of Kira Belin)

The Barbie movie was a cultural phenomenon with a very specific soundtrack that elicits feelings of positivity and empowerment. How did you approach your work on that film?

I was incredibly fortunate to work with a legendary supervising music editor [and 2007 NYWIFT Muse Honoree] Suzanna Peric on Barbie. I was involved during the temp score development before the soundtrack as we know it now took shape. I remember dedicating hours and hours to researching and exploring the differences in the sonic palettes for each character. What would Barbie’s self-inquiry be interpreted as musically? What instrumentation could represent Ken and his shenanigans? What does the real world sound like vs. Barbieland?

NYWIFT Member Kira Belin (photo courtesy of Kira Belin)

You’ve also worked on hit television shows like Los Espookys and And Just Like That…. How does working on a television show differ from working on a film? 

The difference in media is mainly timing. TV typically has a much more compact schedule; multiple episodes could be worked on at the same time. Sometimes, there is less time to explore, experiment, and perfect. That forces one to have to be confident and deliberate in making succinct choices in order to meet the deadlines.

What projects do you have coming up?

I am about to start working on a musical which is a first for me. It is set in an imaginary dreamland and relies on a plethora of musical genres. The director also happens to be a composer on the project. I’m very excited to be a witness/offer support to this creative process.

NYWIFT Member Kira Belin (photo courtesy of Kira Belin)

What’s the best piece of industry advice you’ve ever received?

We are cutting music to picture, not picture to music.

For more information on Kira, check out her IMDB and connect with her on Instagram at @kirakir.