Ariel Marx

Ariel Marx is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer of music for film and television. She is known for her scores of the 2020 film Shiva Baby, and National Geographic's miniseries A Small Light, which earned her an Emmy nomination in 2023.

Early life and education

Ariel Marx had an interest in playing and writing music from a young age, but studied ethnomusicology and plant biology during her time as an undergraduate at Hampshire College. After graduating, she pursued a growing interest in music composition, spending several years enrolled in private lessons to prepare for graduate school applications in film scoring.[1]

Marx was accepted into the NYU Music Theory and Composition program, from which she graduated in 2015.[2] She eventually narrowed her focus to music composition for film and television after repeatedly collaborating with filmmakers from various schools throughout the city.[3]

Career

While enrolled at NYU, Marx was accepted to the Columbia/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop,[when?] where she wrote the music for the short film Dear Mother, and received the Mancini Music Fellowship award for "Most Promising Composer."[4][5] Dear Mother co-director Reka Posta introduced Marx to writer and director Jennifer Fox, who she worked with to compose the music for Fox's film, The Tale, starring Laura Dern.[6] The Tale was screened at the 2018 Tribeca Festival alongside So You Like the Neighborhood and To Dust, both of which were also scored by Marx.[7]

Marx's career reached a turning point in 2020 when she was selected to score Emma Seligman's debut feature film, Shiva Baby.[8] The critically acclaimed indie film, starring Rachel Sennott, was widely praised for Marx's sparse, but textured and dissident score.[9] Following this, Marx scored her first major television project, Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer, a five-part true crime docuseries.[10] Her work attracted the attention of writers Robin Veith, Nick Antosca, and Michael Uppendahl, who Marx then collaborated with to compose the score for Candy, which aired on Hulu.[11]

Beginning in late 2022, Marx spent five months composing the score for National Geographic's A Small Light, after being selected for the project by director Susanna Fogel.[12][13] To help tell the story of Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who hid Anne Frank, Marx assembled a team of four musicians to pair with her own instrumentations, which included percussion, violin, cello, guitar, and synth.[14] Although the score was recorded remotely, Marx seamlessly weaved together a playful and experimental soundscape.[14]

She wrote the score for the 2025 Australian family drama film, Kangaroo Island.[15]

Recognition and awards

Marx received the Mancini Music Fellowship award for "Most Promising Composer" for her score of the short film Dear Mother while attending the Columbia/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop.[4]

Her score for Candy, described as both bewitching and sweet, was named third best score of the year on IndieWire's Best TV Scores of 2022 list.[16]

In 2023, for her work on A Small Light, Marx received an Emmy nomination in the category of "Outstanding Music Composition For A Limited Or Anthology Series, Movie Or Special",[17][1] and again in 2025 for her scores for the Hulu miniseries Dying for Sex and the Netflix anthology series Black Mirror.[18]

She was nominated for Best Score at the 2026 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards for Kangaroo Island.[19]

Select television credits

Selected film credits

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Solzman, Danielle (August 21, 2023). "Emmy Nominee: A Small Light Composer Ariel Marx on Her Organic Journey As A Composer". Below the Line. Archived from the original on September 25, 2023.
  2. ^ Lazarcheck, Jason (July 16, 2024). "Ariel Marx on The Tale, A Small Light, Candy and Throwing Pottery". Soundtracks Scores and More. Archived from the original on October 10, 2024.
  3. ^ Astle, Randy (April 24, 2018). "Tribeca 2018: Composer Ariel Marx on Scoring To Dust". Filmaker Magazine. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Bulayo, Ashley (January 12, 2018). "Music Interview: Ariel Marx". The Young Folks. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018.
  5. ^ "Marking 9 Years of Working With Film Directors: The 2015 ASCAP/Columbia University Film Scoring Workshop". ASCAP.
  6. ^ Wilson, Jason (January 19, 2018). "Ariel Marx, Composer on Sundance films "The Tale" & "Hair Wolf"". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on January 21, 2018.
  7. ^ Saito, Stephen (May 25, 2018). "Interview: Composer Ariel Marx on Finding the Right Musical Language to Tell "The Tale"". The Moveable Fest. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018.
  8. ^ Debernardini, Lucia (May 16, 2022). "'Shiva Baby' Reflects a Disillusioned Generation in the Same Way 'The Graduate' Did". Collider. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022.
  9. ^ Korpan, Andrew (March 24, 2022). "Interview | Ariel Marx Talks Shiva Baby Score". Coastal House Media. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022.
  10. ^ James, Daron (August 19, 2020). "Music to a Director's Ears: Pro Tips from 'Ted Bundy' Composer Ariel Marx". No Film School. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Reeves, Rachel (June 3, 2022). "Composer Ariel Marx on the Sweet, Sinister Sound of 'Candy'". Dread Central. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022.
  12. ^ Solzman, Danielle (August 21, 2023). "Emmy Nominee: A Small Light Composer Ariel Marx on Her Organic Journey As A Composer". Below the Line.
  13. ^ Willman, Chris (June 21, 2023). "Ariel Marx and Este Haim on How the Music of 'A Small Light' Brought Fresh Shadings to Heroic Holocaust Drama". Variety. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Danoff, Owen (May 1, 2023). "A Small Light Composer On The Show's Modern Approach To Anne Frank". Screen Rant.
  15. ^ "Closing Night Gala". Adelaide Film Festival. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  16. ^ Shachat, Sarah; Greene, Steve (December 17, 2022). "The Best TV Scores of 2022". IndieWire.
  17. ^ Burton, Bryan (July 12, 2023). "Composer Ariel Marx On Her First Emmy Nomination & Scoring Nat Geo's "A Small Light"". Awards Focus.
  18. ^ "Ariel Marx". Television Academy. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  19. ^ "FCCA announces new award in honour of David Stratton as 'Bring Her Back' leads nominations". IF Magazine. January 19, 2026. Archived from the original on January 19, 2026. Retrieved April 8, 2026.

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