From Biotech to Bulosan: Composer Andres Luz on Music, Film, and Defending American Democracy

Please tell us about your artistic background. What made you fall in love with filmmaking and composing music? Tell us about your career and your projects up until BULOSAN: ON AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, Part 3.

Quite some time ago, I started off in an entirely different field from the one I occupy now.  I worked in Biotechnology for about 16 years, but for a large portion of that time I had been studying music theory, composition, technology, and performance in my spare time.  Between 2008 to 2013, I had worked on a second Bachelor’s degree, but this time in Music, while working full time; and then by 2014, I finally decided to leave my stable career to pursue a Master in Music Composition at the University of Redlands full-time.  I followed with the Doctorate in Music Composition from the University of Georgia, completed in 2022.  The large-scale musical composition for wind ensemble, BULOSAN: ON AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, was my dissertation project which I had professionally recorded by ABLAZE RECORDS, but it was not set to moving image until after I had begun some study in film editing in 2024.  Earlier at a Fall 2021 rehearsal, a student musician had approached me and commented how the music had a “cinematic” quality to it, and that stayed with me, helping to provide the impetus for my venture into film production.  The short film was made because I had wanted to provide a visual accompaniment to the music, reflecting the current political zeitgeist and the democratic challenges in the U.S. we are seeing at present time.  Little would I have been able to anticipate the considerable interest the short film has spawned!  Although the struggle to situate myself in academia in  a full-time job remains with me, I feel that the involvement in film production has broadened my skill set and could possibly lead to some promising directions.  BULOSAN is my first short, and I plan on continuing to make music videos moving forward as a part of my creative practice, and to teach this skill to aspiring students.

Which artists influenced and inspired you? Which films and film scores have affected you the most?

Although I have loved films since childhood, I continue to learn more and more about filmmaking.  I consider myself more of a composer, yet still one with much room to grow.  (Never stop learning!)  My artistic knowledge in this regard is drawn from the great Classical canon, so names such as Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mahler, Debussy, and too many others to name, particularly contemporary composers, come to mind.  As for the world of film, these would be the usual suspects, but insofar as those influences which directly inform my approach in BULOSAN, these would primarily be Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass in Koyaanisqatsi (1982) for the visual montage approach combined with music, and Oliver Stone’s impressive series, The Untold History of the United States (2012), for its comprehensive view of 20th/21st century American History.  The present day concern with the state of democracy also propelled my drive to work on this short film, greatly inspired beyond measure by the words of the Filipino-American labor activist and writer Carlos Bulosan (1913-1956).   His magnum opus, America is in the Heart (1943), broadly recounts the story of Carlos and his Filipino brethren struggling to cultivate a life in the U.S. at a time when the promises of American democracy clashed with the ever-present scourge of systematic racism in the country, and the spread of Fascism and authoritarian Communism around the world.  Both America is in the Heart and the essay “Freedom from Want” (1946) for the basis for the text around which the musical composition and short film are based.

What are the themes/issues you try to reflect in your works? What, in your opinion, is the most important quality of a film?

At the moment, I value those postmodernist aesthetics that define a lot of the current expressive style traits seen in film, music, and other artistic disciplines: pluralism, diversity, eclecticism, contrast, discontinuity, contradiction/opposition.  In film, we see these traits evidenced in works by Godard, Tarantino, Nolan, Aronofsky, and others. With respect to BULOSAN, I would say this applies to the film’s experimental qualities.  Despite its montage, rather than a straightforward linear approach, and the lack of main characters and setting, it yet manages to achieve cohesion and continuity because of the narrative thread that runs all the way through.  The most important quality of the film?  Well, I definitely value the adherence to proven and tested cinematic forms and conventions: the proportionality of its look, the use of color to create mood, and of course, the quality of the storytelling arc.  Taking all this to account, I am both drawn to the conventional and the experimental which I think is a constructive way of valuing what has been accomplished by great artists of the past, and bearing a mindfulness to continue to challenge, innovate, and move forward toward an evolution in creative approaches.

Since you are also a composer, please tell us about your creative process. How do you approach the subject and decide on the details for the music? When approaching a new project, do you begin with the thematic idea, a sound palette, or the story itself?

I have touched upon some of these above, but overall my answer really depends on what subjects or ideas inspire me, or the nature of the piece of music–especially if we are making a distinction between acoustic concert music versus electronic music (though these can be readily combined as well).  I find that I am less able to compose abstractly as in pure music.  Ideas, characters, concepts become the kernels of what musical ideas ignite in my vision, which are then drawn out and developed over the duration of a piece.  For BULOSAN, I immersed myself in the literary content and then proceeded to come up with the musical ideas as a reflection and expression of the text.  My aim was to magnify and illustrate the text in musical terms and gestures.  Without the text or idea, I would have definitely composed an entirely different piece of music in the end.

How do you perceive the current landscape of film scoring and screen music? Do you feel it’s evolving creatively, or has it become more constrained compared to earlier eras?

I am seeing so much creativity and promising diversity in film scoring these days and I find it very inspirational!  Given my background, I can speak more fully about music technology than I can about established milestones in film scoring history (though I know I need to address this more fully when I can).  The sound libraries and processing tools that are currently available with digital sound technology open up so many directions for composers and sound artists to make their mark in film scoring.  Although, live sound recording with musicians can never be replaced, the current and future technology offer so much creative possibility, particularly for newcomers to the field, or those on a tight budget!  Digital technology opens up new sound palettes that were beyond the reach of artists prior to its development, thereby making the impossible or inaudible more achievable and perceivable, respectively.  In this regard, the sound palette of film scoring is expanding and will continue to do so, and, I expect, in more affordable and readily obtainable ways than even we could completely anticipate at the present moment.

Please tell us about the production and your experiences of making BULOSAN: ON AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, Part 3. What made you want to tell this story? What are some of the challenges and difficulties you faced?

Oh boy!  The experience had more than its share of struggles.  Given the present circle of contacts, I had to learn film production independently, relying upon online streaming tutorials and whatever I could find to learn about film editing.  The entire short film is stitched together from excerpts from royalty-free stock video, extant government and historical reels, public domain news broadcasts, and my self-generated text card images.  I was a one-man production team and really the only thing that kept me focused was my passion and drive to bring Bulosan’s hopeful message to an audience which could be open enough to be inspired by and learn about American democracy once again.  Seeing the turmoil and disappointment in the news on a daily basis was heartbreaking, as was being a witness to the decline of the nation I was part of.  It took a toll on my pride as an American.  I had no scholarly guidance to consider my choices in the historical presentation seen in the film, relying upon my own knowledge to guide me.  A private viewing of the work-in-progress in October 2024 went disastrously bad, but I also came to believe this was the wrong audience to consider it in the first place.  After some rumination and refinement, and as the aggressive direction the current administration had embarked upon starting late January 2025, I persevered and released the short film in mid-March 2025.  I received rejection-after-rejection for the next few months from festivals I previously thought would be interested in it, but I wonder if this reception was in response to the current administration’s severe backlash against institutions that would openly question its authoritative wielding of power.  By that summer, I had resigned myself to continued loss: a waste of time, of money, of effort. 

Then an unexpected development occurred.  On August 15, 2025, I received my first-ever acceptance from a film festival in Sacramento, the capital of California.  Retrospectively, I still wonder if the concurrent push for California’s Proposition 50 on the state’s 2025 election ballot was the motivation needed for festival adjudicators to choose to showcase my film, a reflection of the building-up of energy to seriously challenge authoritarian power at that point. 

(For clarity, CA-Proposition 50 was a measure designed to offset the mid-decade gerrymandering of congressional districts in the state of Texas to maximize the number of Republican representatives in Congress.  Congressional districts are customarily revised in response to census data collected at the beginning of each decade, so the Texas revision was being made as a power grab, and without the consent of Texas voters.  California’s Prop 50 was therefore designed as a bulwark to favor the election of Democratic congressional representatives, and ratified WITH the will of California voters.  That is the difference!) 

Ever since August 2025, the film has seen a growing number of acceptances than I thought would have been possible.  At the time of this writing, there have been nearly 50 festivals around the world, across five continents.  It has made the entire experience so well worth it, and I could not be more thankful and relieved!  Here are the words of a poor, marginalized Filipino-American migrant worker who, despite experiencing the persecution, the rampant racism, and the challenges to the grand American experiment his whole life, he loved democracy and loved America profoundly with his whole heart.  He read widely, wrote prolifically, and felt deeply, and in the end believed that the answer to society’s problems and inequalities lay within the fundamental principles enshrined in the United States Constitution, guarded by those who continue to uphold its values.  This is precisely why I continued alone and despite the obstacles.  Long live representative democracy in the United States of America.

Tell us about your festival run. Have film festivals provided you with the experience and exposure you needed?

Yes, BULOSAN’s current film festival run has provided me with more exposure and experience than I could have ever anticipated since the beginning of my initial study in film production!  Although the short film had its rocky start as mentioned above, its later appeal among festivals has convinced me that there is promise in continued production of music videos/music-driven films.  With respect to future teaching goals, I have decided to make it a cornerstone in my career development to help music students possibly add this skill set to their creative arsenal, particularly living here in the Greater Los Angeles Area, relatively close to Hollywood.  I have also begun to network among prospective creators in film for possible collaborative ventures to score for film.  This is an area which I hope will develop more fully in time.

What advice would you give to emerging composers/artists trying to find their own voice?

Emerging composers/artists would do a great favor for themselves by appreciating and absorbing as much of the standard repertoires and representative works of their discipline.  The arts tend to continue to build upon preexisting traditions and by immersing oneself into the milestone works that have defined the craft, one is able to benefit from a reliable foundation of knowledge to base their own art, as well as carry on constructive dialogues with fellow artists to share ideas with.  Having said this, it is also important for one to branch out and consider other traditions and micronarratives as well.  It is vital that creatives are always open to new and unfamiliar ideas and voices, particularly those who may have been unjustly or unintentionally overlooked or relegated to the sidelines for whatever reason.  The most famous instance of this is in the “rediscovery” of the works of J.S. Bach (1685-1750) by Felix Mendelssohn in the early 19th century.  Although Bach was known within specialized musical circles, his creative and considerable output and his reputation for his craftsmanship was overshadowed after his death and reassessed over seventy years later, finally occupying the place it deserves as one of the towering musical oeuvres by any measure.  Aside from this, repertoires from indigenous traditions, or juxtapositions and artful combinations with popular literature, or largely forgotten ones are worth considering as well.  These form the seeds for innovation, originality, and individuality, which can lead to splendid and remarkable results to say the least.

Please tell us about your future project(s). What are you working on?

I have been planning the Parts 1 & 2 portion of BULOSAN: ON AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, communicating with plans for a collaboration with a local production company.  This portion will set the first half of the musical composition to film and someday complete the pair with the current Part 3 that was released in March 2025.  The decision to proceed in this order was because Part 3 touches upon all the major themes of the musical work and was completed by myself alone as my first foray into film production.  As I continue to network, my hope is to be able to proceed more meaningfully in creating more musically-driven works in film.  Since I am an educator by trade, my hope is to also learn how to use AI to provide instruction for students with limited resources to be able to consider film production as a “no-cost/low-cost” avenue in their creative practice.