7th edition of the SCL Awards – Winners

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® held February 6 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.  The event was hosted by award-winning actor and musician Kevin Bacon and Emmy-winning composer Michael Bacon (The Bacon Brothers).

Top honors went to Sinners, KPop Demon Hunters, and Train Dreams.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

Past recipients of the SPIRIT OF COLLABORATION AWARD have included composer Harry Gregson-Williams & Ridley Scott, Robbie Robertson & Martin Scorsese, Thomas Newman & Sam Mendes, Terence Blanchard & Spike Lee, Carter Burwell & the Coen Brothers, and Justin Hurwitz & Damien Chazelle.

About The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL)

The Society of Composers & Lyricists is a non-profit and primary organization for professional film, television, video game, and musical theater composers and lyricists, and those working in our industry, such as orchestrators, arrangers, music supervisors, music agents, music attorneys, music editors, copyists, recording engineers, and related jobs, with a distinguished, nearly 77-year history in the fine art of creating music for visual media. Current SCL Members include the top creative professionals whose experience and expertise are focused on many of the creative, technological, legal, newsworthy, and pressing issues of the film music, television music, game music, and musical theatre industry today. For more information, visit: www.TheSCL.com