Soundtrack creator Joshua Safran explains how his latest TV musical found its groove.
InSoundtrack,which drops its entire first season on Dec. 18, the musical numbers are lip-syncing extravaganzas.
Safran always conceived the series as a version of these lip-syncing fantasy sequences.
Credit: Parrish Lewis/Netflix. Inset: Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic
You hear Beyonce, you hear Stevie Nicks.
You do not hear yourself singing it.
That was where the concept came from.
It really just was these small character stories that have a beginning, middle, and end to them.
I was interested in diving deep into the characters.
Safran says even then not everyone was sold on the lip-sync idea.
Ultimately, Fox liked the lip-syncing, but passed, feeling it was too edgy for the web link.
I found the songs first, he stresses.
Before there was even a plot, there were songs in the pilot.
Safran cultivated lengthy playlists, guiding him through the writing process.
There was a Sam playlist and a Nellie (Hernandez) playlist and that informed the show.
The songs tell a story, he elaborates.
So theres only ever music, when if it wasnt there, you would miss something in the story.
I had a playlist for all the characters, hundreds of songs on a playlist.
Soundtrackhits Netflix Dec. 18.
Watch the trailer above.
