Composer Laura Karpman Takes On Captain America – Part 3

Don’t Miss Parts 1 and 2!

Captain America represents a willingness to stand up against unjust authority and fight for what’s right, and that’s what Laura Karpman is doing for women composers—standing up to an established system that has reinforced gender disparity. She advocates for inclusion. Moreover, she facilitates it.

Karpman helped to found the Alliance for Women Film Composers in 2014 and served as its first president through 2016. The group’s mission is to further the inclusion of women composers in the film/media industry and nurture young composers’ careers through the AWFC Mentorship Program, which gives them access to established composers for consultation, insight and guidance.

“When I started the Alliance, I wanted it to grow bigger than you possibly can imagine, and then for it to be gone in 10 years,” the composer explains. “It’s been 10 years and it’s not gone. We don’t want to be talking about gender; we want to be talking about our work, but we have to talk about gender in order to be able to talk about our work. It’s been a tough road, but there are more and more opportunities.

“Marvel has been one of the companies that really opened up opportunities for women,” she continues. “They’ve hired composers Natalie Holt, Pinar Toprak, myself and others. Lora Hirschberg was the re-recording mixer on Captain America: Brave New World. She was the head of the sound department, and I was the head of the music department. That’s awesome. We’ve proven that we can work at the highest level. It’s a pleasure working for Marvel.”

Karpman was also the first woman elected governor of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving two consecutive three-year terms in which she aided in the admission of dozens of underrepresented voices. She also cofounded the Academy Women’s Initiative. She’s currently chair of the LGBTQIA committee at the Motion Picture Academy and helped to create the Code of Conduct and update the bylaws with more inclusive, representative language.

Her five-year goal for the composing industry? “Gender parity,” she says.

Karpman’s latest endeavor, an organization called Media Musicians United, extends a helping hand to all composers suffering from the recent wildfires in Los Angeles. “It’s so heartbreaking,” she says. “It has knocked down numerous composers in our field. We’re trying to band together as a community to help them. We’re connecting people with gear. We’re raising funds. We’re hosting a silent auction coming up. If you have high-end instruments and gear in good shape that you want to donate and help people get back on their feet, please do that!”