Creator and showrunner David Shin has waited a decade to see his project House of the Owl come to life. The 10-episode drama premiered globally April 24 on Disney+ and Hulu features original music created for the series by Japanese artists. Shin took a new approach to sourcing the music for this series–using SURF Music, the platform bridging the gap between Asian music markets and the West, to find the right collaborators for the project.
“It can’t be overstated how important music is for television and film, and finding music with lyrics that matched the storyline and characters was even more important for House of the Owl,” says David Shin, Executive Producer and CEO of ICONIQUE PICTURES and creator of House of the Owl. “Being able to go to SURF with my ideas for an original song and find a composer to bring it to life made everything easier.”
The tracks that will be featured in the series are “Rise” produced by Shayon Daniels and co-written by Shayon Daniels and India Carney and “Aurora” co-produced 2SOUL Music and SUNNY BOY and co-written by 2SOUL Music, SUNNY BOY, and CANCHILD.
SURF Music (discover.surf) provided Shin with an efficient and effective workflow for finding and connecting with collaborators, saving him and the rest of the production team precious time to focus on crafting other elements of the show.
SURF offers a large catalog of music and projects in progress. Content creators can search through the expansive marketplace to find the right music that matches the exact vibe and claim it for exclusive placement. There is also a designated space for creators to connect and collaborate with artists, complete with real-time language translation tools baked in for seamless idea sharing.
“With SURF, I was able to efficiently and quickly sample thousands of unpublished songs, to match the overall creative vision of the series,” explains Shin. “One of the great benefits of SURF is you have all this music in front of you to reference and you can decide what you like and which direction you want to go before jumping into negotiations.”
David Shin has worked in Asia for over 25 years in senior management roles at major film, TV and media companies. The Japanese entertainment industry developed in such a way that left most power in the hands of talent agencies who often prioritized casting talent over the stories. With House of the Owl, Shin believes the opportunities to create premium content out of Japan is enormous, considering the global fascination with everything Japanese.
‘The success of Shogun, Tokyo Vice, and One Piece proved that there is global interest in Japanese stories. We just need globally-minded storytellers to tell them,” explains Shin.
“David shares with SURF Music a passion for Japanese music and culture, and his new series provides a massive opportunity to share that with the rest of the world,” says SURF Music CEO Ken Kobori. “SURF Music is proud to play a part in connecting creatives with artists, producers, and composers who can help them tell their stories through compelling music.”