For the sixth consecutive year, graduate students in the Music for Visual Media program at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will travel to Los Angeles to participate in a landmark collaboration with Film Independent’s Project Involve. This enduring partnership — founded by composer and IU faculty member Richard Marvin and his manager Ray Yee — reflects the program’s commitment to giving students immersive, real-world professional experience at the intersection of music composition and cinematic storytelling.
Project Involve is Film Independent’s flagship initiative supporting emerging filmmakers from communities historically underrepresented in the industry. Each cycle, it produces a slate of original short films, and IU’s master’s students are entrusted with composing and recording original scores for these works — a responsibility that mirrors the demands of professional scoring in today’s film industry.
The collaboration offers a rare pedagogical model. Students engage not merely in academic exercises, but in authentic creative partnerships with directors whose voices are being actively cultivated by one of the most respected independent film organizations in the country. The experience takes students through the full arc of the scoring process, from initial spotting sessions and thematic development to final delivery under professional deadlines.
Over six years, this partnership has become a defining feature of the Music for Visual Media curriculum, reinforcing the Jacobs School’s standing as a leading institution for training screen composers. The initiative was established by Marvin through his professional relationships in the Los Angeles film community, with the ongoing work and support of Jacobs professors Larry Groupé and Steven Thomas. Together, they have forged a connection rooted in a shared mission: help make the transition from academia to the real world easier for our composers.
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music – Music for Visual Media Program