Biography
Paul Brill’s compositions span numerous award-winning films, TV series, NPR themes, and several acclaimed albums of original and innovative songwriting, demonstrating how diverse early experiences—as an herbal smokes salesman, street performer, valet, corporate errand boy, and marine biology instructor—can fuel creativity.
Paul has earned three Emmy Award nominations for his original scores for the films The Devil Came on Horseback, Full Battle Rattle, and The Trials of Darryl Hunt. Young American Recordings released the Hunt soundtrack, curated by Brill, featuring selections from his score alongside contributions from Andrew Bird, M. Ward, Dead Prez, Califone, Mark Kozelek, and others. He won the inaugural Best Music Award from the International Documentary Association for his score for Better This World.
Recently, Brill collaborated with rock legends U2 on the HBO film Burma Soldier, composing a new string arrangement for an acoustic rendition of their classic song “Walk On.” His recent projects include the documentaries Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (IFC), the Emmy-winning Page One: Inside the NY Times (Magnolia), and Sundance Festival winners Gideon’s Army, Trapped, and Love Free or Die. He also contributed to the Emmy, DuPont, and Peabody Award-winning six-hour PBS documentary The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, working alongside historian Henry Louis Gates and featuring additional music by Wynton Marsalis. Brill received a Golden Reel Award nomination for his work on the Netflix docu-series Bobby Kennedy for President. He recently made his Off-Broadway debut composing the score for Gabriel Jason Dean’s Terminus, starring stage icon Deirdre O’Connell, which premiered to critical acclaim at The New York Theatre Workshop. His music has also been performed and featured by the Phoenix Chamber Music Society.
