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The World Soundtrack Awards‘ Discovery of the Year prize has a knack for spotting emerging talent. Gustavo Santaolalla (“21 Grams”), Michael Giacchino (“The Incredibles”) and Nicholas Britell (“Moonlight”) all won it before reshaping the modern film score, and recent winners Daniel Blumberg (“The Brutalist”) and Jerskin Fendrix (“Poor Things”) look set to follow.

Meet this year’s five nominees.

Mari Fukuhara (“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”)

Mari Fukuhara started piano at three, before studying classical music at Toho Gakuen School of Music while playing in jazz and pop bands on the side. She later established herself as a solo artist. “Looking back, I don’t think I followed a straight path toward becoming a composer,” she says. “Rather, all these different musical experiences naturally led me toward film.”

In 2020, French producers approached Fukuhara about licensing one of her recordings for a new film. Within months, she had instead signed on to compose the original score for a pilot project that would eventually become “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain.”

“Being involved from such an early stage allowed the relationship between the film and its music to grow over time,” Fukuhara says. “It was very important to express a child’s perception and imagination, and what ‘reality’ means to a child. I felt that one of the important roles of the music was to make Amélie’s experience of the world feel real.”

Looking ahead, Fukuhara hopes to return to live performance while pursuing projects “driven more by images, atmosphere and feeling than by a clear narrative — a film where I could explore a different kind of musical space.”

Paris Hurley (“The Chronology of Water”)

Trained as a classical violinist from an early age, Paris Hurley earned acclaim for her autobiographical live project Object as Subject before turning to film. “I’d been told over and over that my music is very cinematic,” she says. “It has a forward momentum and a deep emotional core that takes the listener somewhere. That sense of leading someone through an emotional journey is what people were responding to.”

After working alongside Clint Mansell on “Love Lies Bleeding,” Hurley handled Kristen Stewart’s “The Chronology of Water” on her own, pursuing the project after tearing through the source memoir. “I read it in a weekend, and my whole body shot through with fire,” she recalls. “I immediately knew I was supposed to score the film.”

That visceral response reflects a lifelong fascination with music as a physical experience. “Sound is immersive,” she says. “I’m always looking to hold people in the sound, whether it’s hitting you in the face, inside your ear or all around you. Film is a fun way to explore that because it can be so grand. Music physically changes you, whether you make it or listen to it.”

Hannah Peel (“Midwinter Break”)

Hannah Peel got her start doing session work on violin, trombone and piano for a range of artists, all while angling for film and TV. When the Royal College of Music told her she wasn’t classical enough for its film music master’s, she went her own way, releasing records built around a hand-punched paper-strip music box. The unusual instrument eventually caught the attention of music advisors on projects including “Anna Karenina” and “Dancing With the Stars.”

Peel’s work on the 2019 documentary “Game of Thrones: The Last Watch” landed her an Emmy nomination and an agent, and she’s been working steadily since, refining a style balanced between acoustic and electronic textures. “It’s much more common now for people to create their own sounds, and that blur between sound design and music is where I like to sit,” she says.

She’s now scoring Netflix’s “Assassin’s Creed” series, drawing on the games while developing a sound that blends ancient and new. “Everything about it has been brilliant,” she says. “I’ve been able to explore instruments I can’t find in sample libraries, so I can build my own sound worlds. That gets me very excited, because I have something that doesn’t sound like anything else, and the production has been open and supportive.”

Kangding Ray (“Sirāt”)

Trained as an architect and born as David Letellier, Kangding Ray made his name in Berlin’s experimental music scene, quietly releasing music on Raster-Noton, the German label known for artists including Ryoji Ikeda, Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto. His experimental and ambient work gradually gave way to dance and, almost naturally, to film. His first score, for 2022’s “Kiss My Wounds,” caught the attention of German awards voters. Soon, director Oliver Laxe came calling, inviting him to score “Sirāt.”

The process began unusually early. Ray started work two years before the shoot, with Laxe spending five-day stretches at his Berlin studio. By the time cameras rolled, roughly 80% of the score had been written from the script. The result is about 62 minutes of music, concentrated in key scenes. “It’s either fully present or not there at all,” he says. He also pushed for silence, convinced the music hits harder when it arrives.

Sam Slater (“2000 Meters to Andriivka”)

Sam Slater fell into film scoring by accident. A self-described “studio nerd,” the Berlin-based composer started as a sound designer and creative engineer for Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dustin O’Halloran and Hildur Guðnadóttir, whom he later married (“which is lovely”).

“That catalyzed a love of not only film work but also the experimental underbelly of it, which has always been where my curiosity lies,” he says.

His work now spans formats, from the Emmy-winning documentary “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov, to the PlayStation 5 game “Saros,” which NME called “the stuff of nightmares.”

That range suits him. “Once you move into non-diegetic sound, an abstract expression of a story or emotion, you’ve entered a wonderful world,” he says. “Our generation wants to expand the palette as much as possible. The fact that we debate whether something is sound design or music means we’ve reached the strange and wonderful edges of what music is in these contexts, and I find that thrilling.”

Mattel is getting a new CEO: The toymaker and media company announced that Roger Lynch, who’s been chief exec of Condé Nast for more than seven years, will become its next CEO.

Lynch will become chairman of Mattel effective Oct. 2 and will assume the role of CEO “effective on or before” Nov. 2. He succeeds Ynon Kreiz, who will step down as chairman and CEO effective Oct. 2, “to take a senior leadership position at another public company,” according to Mattel.

Lynch has served as CEO of Condé Nast since 2019, leading the publishing and media company through a period of major disruption.

“Roger is a visionary leader with a track record of growing global companies at the forefront of changing industry and consumer trends,” Mattel board member Judy Olian, who has led the succession process, said in a statement. “Throughout his service on the board, Roger has been an invaluable contributor to shaping the company’s direction in the midst of its expansion into entertainment and digital products.”

Regarding Kreiz, Olian commented, “The board is most grateful for Ynon’s eight years of transformational leadership, and wishes him every success in his new role. Ynon leaves an invaluable legacy of transitioning Mattel from a toy manufacturer to a leading IP-driven play and family entertainment company. Knowing Roger as we do, we are confident that he and the talented Mattel team will build on that powerful foundation, and continue to advance our strategy to leverage our iconic brand portfolio.”

Lynch said: “I am honored by the Board’s confidence in me and couldn’t be more excited to lead the incredible team at Mattel. Throughout my years on the Board, I have admired Mattel’s brands, its talented people, and unique culture. I am especially grateful to Ynon for his many years of outstanding leadership and service to the company. During his tenure, Mattel has leveraged the power of its world-class brands, attracted exceptional entertainment partners, and strengthened its balance sheet. The company is well positioned for its next phase of profitable growth and its exciting new chapter.”

Kreiz said: “It has been a privilege to lead Mattel, with a global team dedicated to its mission and purpose, and I am proud of all we have achieved together. Mattel is in a position of strength, with a world-class brand portfolio, product offering, and global capabilities. I am grateful to the Board, management team, and entire Mattel organization for their commitment and collaboration during the past eight years, and I have every confidence the company will continue to thrive under Roger’s leadership.”

Mattel credited Kreiz with boosting its market share across key toy categories, ranking No. 1 globally in dolls, vehicles, and infant, toddler and preschool segments. Under Kreiz, Mattel also has won new or renewed entertainment licenses, including Disney Princess and Frozen, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Toy Story, KPop Demon Hunters, and DC.

Mattel also pointed to Mattel Studios’ first theatrical release, “Barbie,” was the top global box office film of 2023 and Warner Bros. Pictures’ highest-grossing movie of all time.

With Lynch’s departure from Condé Nast, the company announced that Mike Perlis, current lead independent director of the board of directors, will step in as interim CEO.

Mubi has taken worldwide rights to two iconic series from Movistar Plus International, the overseas distributor of the biggest Spanish pay TV and SVOD operator: “La Mesias,” from “La Bola Negra” directors Los Javis, and “Riot Police,” the first premium TV series from “The Beloved” director Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

Further headlines: Nominated on Sept. 23 for an International Emmy, four-part “The Anatomy of a Moment,” from Alberto Rodriguez (“The Tigers”), has rolled out in further territories in Europe.

The in-all 33 new deals were unveiled during the first day of trading at Madrid’s mega-market and forum Iberseries & Platino Industria, where Movistar Plus has a large market presence led by screenings or presentations of top titles bound for October’s Mipcom.

On Tuesday, Movistar Plus International hosted a showcase, screening and cocktail of Spain’s sex trade chronicle “El Castillo,” a standout at San Sebastián; a screening of withering LOL Millennial comedy “Many People Have to Die,” marking out creator Victoria Martín as a major Spanish comedic talent; and a presentation of “Killing a Bear,” based crime drama turning on the deep social conflict surrounding the death of brown bear Cachou, found dead in a ravine in the Pyrenees in 2020. The “small, local story vividly illustrated the polarized world we live in,” creators Jorge and Alberto Sánchez Cabezudo have told Variety.

‘La Mesías’

A Movistar Plus Original, large scale “La Mesías” delivered a first instance of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s full-on creativity, working with the budget they required, shooting each episode with different genre influences – psychodrama, sci-fi, procedural and musical – and a pop sensibility and varying formats across multiple timelines, all of which they have now repeated in “La Bola Negra.”

“La Mesías,” like La Bola Negra,” also explores legacy and repression, here the psychological trauma left by a messianic mother, who turns her family into a cult.

“The series talks about religion, but as a form of education and this is what makes it interesting,” told Variety on set in 2023.

Key territories for the Mubi deal were announced in exclusivity by Variety in July.

‘Riot Police’

World premiering at San Sebastián in 2020 and starring “The Beloved’s” Victoria Luengo, Riot Police confirmed Sorogoyen’s ability to bring a big screen punch to his first premium series.

A six part series “Riot Police” also underscored his ability to mix genre and social point, exploring the failures and fragility of the masculine psyche as a riot police squad become the subject of an internal police enquiry led by Luengo’s character after bungling an eviction. The series closed early deals with HBO Latin America and Canal+ in France.

“The series I’ve seen rarely evolve in style,”Soroyogen told Variety in 2020. But Riot Police does in the use of hand-held, anamorphic fisheye lense camerawork for the eviction moving to a 15 minutes sequence shot in final episode.

‘The Anatomy of a Moment’

Co-produced with Arte France, starring “Money Heist’s” Alvaro Morte, “The Anatomy of a Moment” delivers Rodríguez’s fictionalized vision of how three key figures of “Shakespearian stature,” Rodríguez has said– Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, Spanish Communist Party head Santiago Carrillo and armed forces chief Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado – wrestled democracy for Spain over 1976-77and almost lost it in a 1981 botched coup d’état. New international distribution takes in pubcasters RTP (Portugal), RTS (Switzerland), RTV (Slovenia) and Cinob0 (Greece).

More Top Sellers: ‘Querer,’ ‘The New Years,’ ‘The Nameless’

A top best series Grand Prix winner at Series Mania last year, Alauda Ruiz de Azua’s’s marital rape series Querer,” part family drama, part courtroom thriller, she has observed, continues to roll out around the world. Already acquired by Arte, Querer has now been licensed to Cinobo Poland, Italy’s MyMoviesOne, Latvia’s Latvia’s Mobilais and South Korea’s LG Plus.

Movistar Plus International has closed Greece and Poland, both with Cinobo, and Latvia (Latvijas Mobilais) on Sorogoyen’s “The New Years,” on-off couple romantic saga that played Venice in 2024 alongside Alfonso Cuarón’s Cate Blanchett starrer “Disclaimer” for Apple TV+, and Thomas Vinterberg’s big StudioCanal play “Families Like Ours.

France’s Filmo, Media4Fun and South Korea’s LG Plus have bought “The Nameless,” a portrait of evil family horror series from Filmax (“[REC]”), Pau Freixas (“The Red Band Society,” “You Shall Not Lie”) and Pol Cortecans (“You Shall Not Lie”),

A Drill-Down on More Deals:

*Cinobo Greece has picked up two seasons of “Bellas Artes” plus “A 100-Million Reward.”

*Filmo has also licensed “La vida breve.”

*Flow, the big Argentine streaming service covering Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, has become one of the first operators to buy “Many People Have to Die,” as well as “The Center,” “La Caza. Irati” and doc “Bisbal.”

*”Riot Police” also sold to Media4Fun.

*Italy’s MyMovieOne has acquired global electricity power outage anthology “OffWorld,” including episodes by Sorogoyen, Rodríguez, Isaki la Cuesta, Isa Campo and Rail Arévalo.

*Poland’s TVP has taken “La Canción,” from “Hierro” and “Rapa” creators Pepe Coira and Fran Araujo, placing Spain’s stunning 1968 Eurovision win in Spain’s dawn-of-democracy later liberty. Further acquisitions take in Costa del Sol mob lawyer comedy “Marbella,” crime investigation thriller “La Caza.Irati,” from Banijay’s DLO Producciones and two seasons of Canary Islands-set murder mystery “Hierro.”

*South Korea’s LG, a streaming service, has licensed “El centro,” “La Caza. Irati,” two ‘Hierro’ seasons, “El dentista’,” and “La vida breve.”

Beta Film has unveiled a broad international sales footprint for “Rex – Vienna Calling,” the latest incarnation of the three-decade-old “Rex – A Cop’s Best Friend” franchise, as production gets underway on a second season.

The series has been sold to SBS in Australia, Rai in Italy and TV 2 in Denmark. Elsewhere in Europe, buyers include Alpha TV in Greece, HRT in Croatia, Planet TV in Slovenia, STVR in Slovakia, Nova in Bulgaria and TVR in Romania, while Baltic deals take in Duo Media Networks in Estonia, SIA Tet in Latvia and LNK in Lithuania.

Action Channel in Japan and SHANT TV in Armenia are also on board, with further sales under negotiation.

The deals come as the evergreen IP continues to find traction in an increasingly on-demand television market. Audience analytics firm PlumResearch describes mature streaming markets as shifting “from hits to habits,” with much viewing taking place across the long tail rather than being concentrated solely around new releases.

The longevity of “Rex” offers a case in point. Over its 30-year history, the police-dog franchise has spawned multiple local adaptations. Canadian remake “Hudson & Rex,” another long-running Beta title, was recently renewed for a tenth season.

“Rex – Vienna Calling” stars Maximilian Brückner (“War Horse,” “Cherry Blossoms”) as detective Max Steiner, who teams with German Shepherd Rex to tackle cases across Vienna. Six new feature-length episodes are currently shooting at some of the Austrian capital’s most recognizable locations.

The first season opened to almost 1.6 million viewers on Germany’s SAT.1, posting a 7% overall share and 9.9% among 14-49s. In Austria, the six feature-length episodes averaged 701,000 viewers and a 27% share on ORF, while the Italian premiere on Rai 2 drew more than 750,000 viewers and a 5.6% share, rising above one million once on-demand and catch-up viewing was included.

Produced by MR Film in co-production with SAT.1 and ORF, “Rex – Vienna Calling” is distributed worldwide by Beta Film. The series is backed by FISAplus, the Austrian Television Fund and the state of Lower Austria.