#005 — 8 opportunities this week, including a $1,000–$1,500 horror RPG and a modal jazz brief that bans AI
Curated scoring opportunities for film, TV, and game composers.
Five of this week’s eight listings explicitly ban AI-generated music. That’s not a coincidence, it’s a hiring signal worth paying attention to. The briefs that ban it tend to be the ones that have actually thought about what they want: the horror RPG with a piano-and-dread atmosphere, the retro-noir game with a full music direction document ready to share, the visual novel with a playable demo. One Professional tier listing this week for a studio with an active community and a composer brief that goes well beyond “deliver tracks.” And a musical theatre collaboration that is genuinely rare: lyrics written, source material published, a real creative partner looking for the other half of the work.
PROFESSIONAL
Composer — Ritual Tides
Vertpaint · Rate not stated · Remote · Game soundtrack · No deadline stated
Vertpaint are looking for a composer to own the full creative direction of the Ritual Tides soundtrack — not just deliver tracks, but shape the game’s musical identity from the ground up. The brief calls for horror atmosphere, adaptive music, seamless loops, and the ability to compose, record, mix, and master independently. Ritual Tides has an active community and the studio frames this as a defining moment for the project, which suggests genuine investment rather than a placeholder hire. Rate is negotiated directly — include your availability and rates with your portfolio.
→ Apply: careers@vertpaint.com
→ Listing: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4428856627/
INDIE
Composer — Hilary’s Heroes
Independent · $150/song (3 songs available) · Remote · Animated pilot · Deadline: 2 July 2026
Hilary’s Heroes is an indie animated musical dramedy — anti-war, feminist, three original songs across one pilot. The musical references are specific and useful: upbeat merry jazz for Song 1 (Fallout Miami vibes), theatrical Broadway for Song 2 (Hazbin Hotel), swing revival for Song 3 (The Atomic Fireballs). Each song is around two minutes. Pay is $150 per song, half upfront and half on delivery, via PayPal — a structured payment approach that is more professional than most indie CCC projects. Separate lyricist roles are also open if you write music but not lyrics, or want to apply for both. A contract is required. Closes Thursday.
→ Apply: https://www.castingcall.club/projects/hilary-s-heroes-music
Composer / Original Score — Our Last Trip
Dark Passage Films · $300 flat · Remote · Short film teaser (2–3 min) · Deadline: 30 June 2026
A dialogue-light psychological thriller teaser for a Seed&Spark campaign, with comps including The Invisible Man, Mindhunter, and Hereditary. The $300 rate is low for the scope, and the listing notes IMDb credit as an additional perk — worth knowing that an IMDb credit is a standard industry entitlement, not a bonus. The real hook here is the follow-on: the composer hired for the teaser gets first consideration to score the full short film, a 5-day shoot in the Catskills planned for October. Worth it if you want the feature work and are happy to treat the teaser as the audition.
→ Apply: https://www.mandy.com/aa/job/3179802/our-last-trip-crew/5560968/
Note: applying via Mandy requires a Premium membership (~£20/mo). Free accounts can browse but cannot apply to paid roles.
Composer — Evercursed
Silversun Games · $1,000–$1,500 · Remote · Game soundtrack · No deadline stated
Silversun Games are building a story-rich horror RPG called Evercursed, following a theater actress pulled into a nightmare world by a sleep paralysis demon, and they want a composer who can match that atmosphere. Five tracks required: main menu, trailer theme, and three looping ambience pieces. Reference points are Witch’s House and Mad Father — unsettling silence, creaking wood, rising tension, piano. Full commercial rights required, no AI, portfolio with similar work prioritised. The studio has active development screenshots on X at @SilversunGames if you want to verify the project before applying.
→ Apply: https://www.reddit.com/r/gameDevClassifieds/comments/1u9bjqc/paid_looking_for_music_composer/
Composer — The Money Man
Fenyx Digital · Budget not confirmed · Remote · Game soundtrack · No deadline stated
The brief for The Money Man is one of the best-written in recent memory. Modal jazz at the root — not as background decoration, but as the DNA of the score. The studio wants that open, unresolved, searching feeling where the music never fully lands, mixed with analogue instruments (bass, piano, trumpet) and creeping synthesiser textures. The score needs to evolve across a 30-day narrative arc, starting claustrophobic and earthbound, gradually opening into wider synth territory. No Cowboy Bebop imitations, no sentimental melodies, no clean digital sci-fi. A full music direction document is ready to share. Include your rates when you reach out.
Composer — Hand-me-downs
Independent · Budget not confirmed · Remote · Game soundtrack · No deadline stated
Hand-me-downs needs a single looping track, 2–3 minutes, Mediterranean feel. The team has a 50-second trailer available and uses the existing trailer music as the reference point. No AI. They’re transparent about budget: they’re more likely to commission an aspiring composer than pay premium rates, which is honest framing for what this is. Small scope, clear brief — useful if you want a contained project with a specific sonic target.
Composer — Hallow Hollow
Independent · $525 flat ($35/track, ~10–15 tracks) · Remote · Visual novel · Deadline: 30 July 2026
Hallow Hollow is a cozy Halloween fantasy visual novel, and the soundtrack needs to cover warm autumn themes, whimsical magic, emotional character moments, and lively Halloween-inspired pieces. Pay is $35 per track across an estimated 10–15 tracks — modest but stated upfront. No AI accepted. The project is in active development with a playable demo and a team already in place, which puts it ahead of most CastingCallClub listings in terms of readiness. Best suited to composers who enjoy atmospheric, character-driven work and want a well-organised indie project to point to.
→ Apply: https://www.castingcall.club/projects/hallow-hollow#jumptorole1746729
COLLABORATIVE
Composer — Horatio Nelson: A Hero’s Life in Rhyme
Independent · Royalties/writing credits (terms negotiable) · Remote · Original musical · No deadline stated
Lyrics are substantially written, the narrative structure is established, and the poster — Andrew Olins — has a named published source work to build from. What’s missing is a composer to create the original music and shape the project’s artistic identity. This is a long-term creative collaboration, not a commission: the terms on offer are royalty splits, co-writing credits, IP arrangements, and a stake in any future workshop or production. Musical theatre, opera, choral, orchestral, folk, or crossover backgrounds all welcomed. If you’ve wanted to develop an original musical from the ground up with a collaborator who has already done the literary work, this is the kind of posting that rarely surfaces on a jobs board.
→ Apply: Andrew@olins.co.uk
→ Listing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/65831618108/permalink/10165609327003109/
Sources this issue: Mandy.com · LinkedIn · r/gameDevClassifieds · CastingCallClub · Facebook (Film Scoring Network)
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Applying via Mandy requires a Premium membership (~£20/mo). Free accounts can browse but cannot apply to paid roles.
ComposerWire is published weekly. Every listing is reviewed before it reaches you — if a budget is unstated, I say so; if a rate is low for the scope, I say so.
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— Antonio Innocente, Editor