Liberty University’s film scoring program gives students the tools and skills they need to enter an industry full of unique paths while performing their roles to the glory of God.
Kenji Standlee (’21) came to Liberty in the fall of 2017 to pursue a Bachelor of Music in Commercial Music: Film Scoring. After graduating, he settled in the Nashville area where he found a broader Christian filmmaking network. He has worked on four feature films and 12 short films, including Angel Studios’ feature film “Still Hope,” faith-based family adventure film “Dot Conner: Webtective,” which won Best Original Music Score at the 2026 Christian Worldview Film Festival, and the 2024 family adventure comedy “Sketch,” in which he collaborated with Cody Fry, a Grammy-nominated musician and composer.
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“It was a great experience for me to see what a really good composer does in the studio,” Standlee said about assisting Fry. “It kind of felt like the perspective of a Toyota Camry just watching an F1 car zoom by. It was a totally different experience of the same tools, the same kind of work environment.”
Standlee works largely as an independent contractor, managing his own time and resources to meet deadlines for the overall project.
“Every film is basically its own extremely short-lived small business … (where) you have different department heads that manage different budgets,” he explained. “I essentially become a department head for the film.”
Fellow graduate Sophia Blake (’21) grew up interested in film soundtracks. As she began considering a career in music, she discovered Liberty’s commercial music summer camp for youth, where she fell in love with the film scoring program.
“It was so fun and I got to learn so much while there,” Blake said. “It was my first introduction to seeing the different software that we use (in the industry), and it was a great group of people.”
At the same time, Blake entered an online scoring competition where she connected with industry professionals. Through this she discovered “The Future Is Female,” a concert dedicated to celebrating female composers, and was able to network with Lori Castro, then studio manager for Arata Music in Los Angeles, headed up by award-winning composer Steve Jablonsky, known for his work in the Transformers franchise.
“It was really cool because she was a female manager and this job is heavily male dominated,” Blake said. “When I got to know her, it was very inspiring to see someone in this industry doing what she was doing.”
That connection opened the door for Blake to join Arata Music. She was offered a position as a technical assistant in May 2019 and transitioned her studies to Liberty University Online Programs.
“I’m so grateful for how they worked with me,” Blake said of her professors at Liberty. “They were very flexible. They were amazing during that process.”
Blake now serves as the studio manager at Arata as well as an additional composer on many projects. She has worked on several projects, including Netflix’s “Red Notice,” Lionsgate studio’s “Borderlands,” Paramount Pictures’ “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” Warner Bros.’ “DC League of Super-Pets,” and more.
“I love the collaboration,” she said. “Getting to learn from my boss, Steve Jablonsky, who is such an amazing composer, is such a privilege. I’m learning something new every day. The mix team we work with is also stellar. … It’s such a cool process and world to be in.”
Liberty’s film scoring program equips students with the knowledge and skills they need to go virtually any direction in the industry.
For Standlee and Blake, their time at Liberty was formational in helping them arrive where they are today. Both credit their professors, classmates, and the overall atmosphere they experienced at LU for preparing them to walk into the industry as skillful and faithful musicians.
“My philosophy on making music right now is that it’s a way for me to serve people, (to ask), ‘What skill set has the Lord given me to do, as a Christian, and how can I use that to serve people?’” Standlee said.
“Liberty very much grounded me into the person that I am,” Blake added, “and my faith development was the crucial and most important aspect. Being surrounded by other believers who were so kind and so loving set me off in a good place to be able to work in this industry and have that foundation.”
Standlee’s and Blake’s careers were featured as examples of potential futures for film scoring alumni during a School of Music event for College For A Weekend highlighting Liberty’s film scoring program.
