I’ve worked with the FT as a sound designer and composer.  This was a series of one minute promo videos for FT, Nikkei and Huawei.  The job included an animation for a Nikkei presentation that was to be used at a keynote speech by the CEO of Nikkei.  The audio had to be right the first time, in a room where the audience was watching the CEO.  

The commission was for score and sound design, but in actual fact delivering the final product also includes mixing and dialogue edit work.  This is time intensive but makes the difference between the film either landing or not. Music that works in isolation and then buries the narration hasn’t done the job.

Given the standing of the FT, the guiding principle was restraint over spectacle.  Music for institutions at this level does not need to announce itself. The FT, Nikkei and Huawei each carry weight already; the score's job is to confirm that weight, not manufacture it. Scoring corporate promotional work too aggressively is the most common failure mode, it can come across as trying too hard and potentially undermine the authority it was meant to project.

So the score aimed for sophistication and poise: enough forward motion to carry a 60-second film, enough space to let the narration and the visuals lead. Each cue was built to fortify the organisation's mission statement rather than compete with it.

Sophie Robin - Art Director - FT Studio

"Josh handled everything from composition through to the final mix, so the films came back finished rather than needing another round. That made a real difference to our timeline, and the quality was there throughout."