Weather 
The Society of Composers & Lyricists has announced details for the 7th Annual SCL Awards, which will take place February 6, 2026, at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony will honor achievements in film, television, interactive media, and musical theater music, and will include a special celebration marking the 50th anniversary of Rocky.
The Rocky tribute will feature a live musical celebration conducted by the film’s composer Bill Conti, who scored five films in the franchise and co-wrote the iconic theme “Gonna Fly Now” with lyricists Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins. The song earned an Academy Award nomination, reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart in 1977, and remains one of the most recognizable themes in film history.
The ceremony will be hosted by actor and musician Kevin Bacon and composer Michael Bacon, known collectively as The Bacon Brothers. A special performance by Melissa Manchester is also scheduled.
This year’s SCL nominees were announced December 17, 2025, and include many composers and lyricists whose work has since gone on to receive Oscar and BAFTA recognition.
Highlights
All five composers nominated for Best Original Score at both the Academy Awards and BAFTAs are also nominees for the 2026 SCL Award for Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film.
EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick, nominees for Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical for “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, are Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song following recent Golden Globe and Critics Choice wins.
Two SCL nominees for Outstanding Original Song for a Drama or Documentary are also Oscar-nominated, including Diane Warren for “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless and Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson for “I Lied to You” from Sinners.
Spirit of Collaboration Award
Composer Ludwig Göransson and director Ryan Coogler will receive the SCL’s Spirit of Collaboration Award, which recognizes an enduring composer-director partnership. Göransson is nominated for three SCL Awards this year and received BAFTA and Oscar nominations for his work on Sinners. The film earned 13 BAFTA nominations and a record 16 Oscar nominations, including Best Director for Coogler.
Since their first collaboration on Fruitvale Station, Göransson has scored Coogler’s films including Creed, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Sinners. Göransson won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Black Panther and received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for “Lift Me Up.”
Previous recipients of the Spirit of Collaboration Award include Harry Gregson-Williams and Ridley Scott, Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese, Thomas Newman and Sam Mendes, Terence Blanchard and Spike Lee, Carter Burwell and the Coen Brothers, and Justin Hurwitz and Damien Chazelle.
Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film
Jerskin Fendrix – Bugonia
Alexandre Desplat – Frankenstein
Max Richter – Hamnet
Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another
Ludwig Göransson – Sinners
Stephen Schwartz, John Powell – Wicked: For Good
Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film
David Fleming – Eternity
Fabrizio Mancinelli – Out of the Nest
Jónsi, Alex Somers – Rental Family
Dara Taylor – Straw
Sara Barone, Forest Christenson – To Kill a Wolf
Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams
Outstanding Original Song for a Drama or Documentary
Diane Warren – “Dear Me” (Diane Warren: Relentless)
Ed Sheeran, Blake Slatkin, John Mayer – “Drive” (F1)
Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – “I Lied to You” (Sinners)
Alice Smith, Miles Caton, Ludwig Göransson – “Last Time (I Seen the Sun)” (Sinners)
Sara Bareilles, Brandi Carlile, Andrea Gibson – “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” (Come See Me in the Good Light)
Nikhil Koparkar, Rammy Park – “The Hills of Tanchico” (The Wheel of Time)
Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical
EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick – “Golden” (KPop Demon Hunters)
Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, Jack Black – “I Feel Alive” (A Minecraft Movie)
Stephen Schwartz – “No Place Like Home” (Wicked: For Good)
Jack Black, Jared Hess – “Steve’s Lava Chicken” (A Minecraft Movie)
Stephen Schwartz – “The Girl in the Bubble” (Wicked: For Good)
Blake Slatkin, Shakira, Ed SHeeran – “Zoo” (Zootopia 2)
Outstanding Original Title Sequence for a Television Production
Jeff Beal – All Her Fault
Carlos Rafael Rivera, Scott Frank – Dept. Q
Amanda Jones – Murderbot
Dave Porter – Pluribus
Sean Callery – The Beast in Me
Cristobal Tapia de Veer – The White Lotus
Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production
Brandon Roberts – Andor
Dave Porter – Pluribus
Theodore Shapiro – Severance
David Fleming, Gustavo Santaolalla – The Last of Us
Antonio Sánchez – The Studio
Cristobal Tapia de Veer – The White Lotus
Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media
Gordy Haab – Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants
Wilbert Roget II, Cody Matthew Johnson, Jon Everist – Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune
Austin Wintory – Sword of the Sea
Maclaine Diemer – Wildgate
David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent
Raashi Kulkarni – A Nice Indian Boy
Greg Nicolett – Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches
Ching-Shan Chang – Laws of Man
Freya Berkhout – Ride or Die
Sara Trevino – The Map That Leads to You
Cameron Moody – Washington Black
