Sinners, KPop Demon Hunters and Train Dreams topped the film winners at the 7th Annual Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) Awards on Friday night (2/6) at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
Two-time Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Grammy-winning composer Ludwig Göransson won Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film for his work on Sinners while Train Dreams composer Bryce Dessner earned distinction for Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film. Göransson and Raphael Saadiq won Outstanding Original Song for a Drama or Documentary for “I Lied to You” from Sinners.
In addition to winning SCL Awards for score and song, Göransson, alongside director Ryan Coogler, received the 2026 Spirit of Collaboration Award. The SCL recognized Göransson and Coogler for their longstanding creative partnership on films including Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Sinners. The latter received a record high 16 Oscar nominations, including a Best Director nod for Coogler. Most recently, Göransson won a Golden Globe for his Sinners score and received BAFTA and Academy Award nominations in the same category, as well as an Oscar song nomination for “I Lied to You.”
EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick won the SCL Award for Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical for “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters. The win marks the latest accolade for the song, which has already earned a Grammy Award, Golden Globe Award, Critics Choice Award, and an Academy Award nomination.
The SCL celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Rocky with a musical tribute and performance conducted by Academy Award-winning composer Bill Conti who scored five films in the blockbuster Rocky franchise and co-composed its iconic theme “Gonna Fly Now” (“Theme from Rocky”). Melissa Manchester performed for the In Memoriam segment, singing “I’ll Never Say Goodbye,” her Oscar-nominated song from the 1979 film The Promise, written by David Shire and the late Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman. Alan Bergman, who passed away in 2025, was featured during the segment.
In the television categories, two-time Emmy-winning composer Theodore Shapiro won the SCL Award for Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production for Severance, and Cristóbal Tapia de Veer won Outstanding Original Title Sequence for a Television Production for The White Lotus, his third career SCL Award in this category.
Austin Wintory won the SCL Award for Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media for Sword of the Sea, and composer Ching-Shan Chang was presented with the David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent for her score for Laws of Man.
The gala evening awards ceremony was hosted by The Bacon Brothers–award-winning actor and musician Kevin Bacon and Emmy-winning composer Michael Bacon. SCL Awards winners and nominees are judged and determined solely by member composers and songwriters.
Here’s a rundown of the evening’s winners:
7TH ANNUAL SCL AWARDS® WINNERS
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A STUDIO FILM
LUDWIG GÖRANSSON – Sinners
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN INDEPENDENT FILM
BRYCE DESSNER – Train Dreams
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG FOR A DRAMA OR DOCUMENTARY
RAPHAEL SAADIQ, LUDWIG GÖRANSSON – “I Lied to You” from Sinners
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG FOR A COMEDY OR MUSICAL
EJAE, MARK SONNENBLICK – “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL TITLE SEQUENCE FOR A TELEVISION PRODUCTION
CRISTÓBAL TAPIA DE VEER – The White Lotus
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A TELEVISION PRODUCTION
THEODORE SHAPIRO – Severance
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE FOR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
AUSTIN WINTORY – Sword of the Sea
DAVID RAKSIN AWARD FOR EMERGING TALENT
CHING-SHAN CHANG – Laws of Man