Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) Winners: ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ ‘Sinners,’ ‘Train Dreams’ and More
The Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL), the leading organization for professional film, television, video game, and musical theater composers and lyricists, announced the winners of the 7th Annual SCL Awards where top honors went to Sinners, KPop Demon Hunters, and Train Dreams.
The event was held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and hosted by award-winning actor and musician Kevin Bacon and Emmy-winning composer Michael Bacon (The Bacon Brothers).
Two-time Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and GRAMMY-winning composer Ludwig Göransson won Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film for his Sinners score, and Train Dreams composer Bryce Dessner won Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film. Göransson and Raphael Saadiq also won Outstanding Original Song for a Drama or Documentary for “I Lied to You” from Sinners and both the score and song are also Oscar-nominated. EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick won the SCL Award for Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical for “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters. The win marks the latest accolade for the song, which has already earned a GRAMMY Award, Golden Globe Award, Critics Choice Award, and an Academy Award nomination.
In addition to winning SCL Awards for score and song, Göransson, alongside legendary director Ryan Coogler, received the 2026 Spirit of Collaboration Award. The SCL recognized Göransson and Coogler for their longstanding creative partnership on Coogler’s films including Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Sinners. Sinners received 16 Oscar nominations, including a Best Director nod for Coogler. Most recently, Göransson won a Golden Globe for his SINNERS score and received BAFTA and Academy Award nominations in the same category, as well as an Oscar song nomination for “I Lied to You.”
The SCL celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Rocky with a musical tribute and performance conducted by Academy Award-winning composer Bill Conti who scored five films in the blockbuster Rocky franchise and co-composed its iconic theme “Gonna Fly Now” (“Theme from Rocky”). Melissa Manchester performed for the In Memoriam segment, singing “I’ll Never Say Goodbye,” her Oscar-nominated song from the 1979 film The Promise, written by David Shire and the late Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman. Alan Bergman, who passed away in 2025, was featured during the segment.
In the television categories, two-time Emmy-winning composer Theodore Shapiro won the SCL Award for Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production for Severance, and Cristóbal Tapia de Veer won Outstanding Original Title Sequence for a Television Production for The White Lotus, his 3rd SCL Award in this category.
Austin Wintory won the SCL Award for Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media for Sword of the Sea, and composer Ching-Shan Chang was presented with the David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent for her score for Laws of Man.
Here is the complete list of winners of the 7th annual Society of Composers and Lyricists awards.
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A STUDIO FILM
JERSKIN FENDRIX – Bugonia
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT – Frankenstein
MAX RICHTER – Hamnet
JONNY GREENWOOD – One Battle After Another
LUDWIG GÖRANSSON – Sinners (WINNER)
STEPHEN SCHWARTZ, JOHN POWELL – Wicked: For Good
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN INDEPENDENT FILM
DAVID FLEMING – Eternity
FABRIZIO MANCINELLI – Out of the Nest
JÓNSI, ALEX SOMERS – Rental Family
DARA TAYLOR – Straw
SARA BARONE, FOREST CHRISTENSON – To Kill a Wolf
BRYCE DESSNER – Train Dreams (WINNER)
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG FOR A DRAMA OR DOCUMENTARY
DIANE WARREN – “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless
ED SHEERAN, BLAKE SLATKIN, JOHN MAYER – “Drive” from F1
RAPHAEL SAADIQ, LUDWIG GÖRANSSON – “I Lied to You” from Sinners (WINNER)
ALICE SMITH, MILES CATON, LUDWIG GÖRANSSON – “Last Time (I Seen the Sun)” from Sinners
SARA BAREILLES, BRANDI CARLILE, ANDREA GIBSON – “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” from Come See Me in the Good Light
NIKHIL KOPARKAR, RAMMY PARK – “The Hills of Tanchico” from The Wheel of Time
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG FOR A COMEDY OR MUSICAL
EJAE, MARK SONNENBLICK – “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (WINNER)
MARK RONSON, ANDREW WYATT, JACK BLACK – “I Feel Alive” from A Minecraft Movie
STEPHEN SCHWARTZ – “No Place Like Home” from Wicked: For Good
JACK BLACK, JARED HESS – “Steve’s Lava Chicken” from A Minecraft Movie
STEPHEN SCHWARTZ – “The Girl in the Bubble” from Wicked: For Good
BLAKE SLATKIN, SHAKIRA, ED SHEERAN – “Zoo” from Zootopia 2
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL TITLE SEQUENCE FOR A TELEVISION PRODUCTION
JEFF BEAL – All Her Fault
CARLOS RAFAEL RIVERA, SCOTT FRANK – Dept. Q
AMANDA JONES – Murderbot
DAVE PORTER – Pluribus
SEAN CALLERY – The Beast in Me
CRISTÓBAL TAPIA DE VEER – The White Lotus (WINNER)
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION PRODUCTION
BRANDON ROBERTS – Andor
DAVE PORTER – Pluribus
THEODORE SHAPIRO – Severance (WINNER)
DAVID FLEMING, GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA – The Last of Us
ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ – The Studio
CRISTÓBAL TAPIA DE VEER – The White Lotus
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE FOR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
GORDY HAAB – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants
WILBERT ROGET II, CODY MATTHEW JOHNSON, JON EVERIST – Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune
AUSTIN WINTORY – Sword of the Sea (WINNER)
MACLAINE DIEMER – Wildgate
DAVID RAKSIN AWARD FOR EMERGING TALENT
RAASHI KULKARNI – A Nice Indian Boy
GREG NICOLETT – Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches
CHING-SHAN CHANG – Laws of Man (WINNER)
FREYA BERKHOUT – Ride or Die
SARA TREVINO – The Map That Leads to You
CAMERON MOODY – Washington Black
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