Founders Matt Drenik and Johanna Cranitch, along with partner and executive producer Christina Tortorelli Carlo, have come together to launch Little Beast, a house providing full-service music for film, television, and advertising, from original composition and production to artist partnerships and music supervision.
Born from the longstanding friendship of musicians at competing music houses, Little Beast is built on creative partnership and community. Before forming Little Beast, Drenik worked as a creative director at SOUTH Music & Sound, where he was also partner; Cranitch was creative director at Barking Owl; and Tortorelli Carlo served as exec producer at Heavy Duty. With a focus on craft first, Little Beast’s core team works side-by-side at its studio in Los Angeles, collaborating with a deep network of touring musicians, composers, and producers to ensure every project is paired with the right musical voice, creating story-driven work that genuinely resonates with audiences.
Co-founder Cranitch elaborated on this principle, saying, “The priority is curating exceptional talent and producing meaningful work. We believe that sustainable success follows when creative decisions are guided by passion, integrity, and a genuine love of music.”
Cranitch is the co-composer (alongside Patrick Stump) behind the Tribeca Film Festival feature documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, directed by musician and filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund, and set for distribution later this year. She also composed for the documentary chronicling the Sunset Marquis music scene, If These Walls Could Rock, directed by Tyler Measom and Craig A. Williams.
Little Beast’s founders are also touring musicians: Cranitch was a touring member of The Cranberries and with Nina Persson of The Cardigans, while Drenik tours with Louise Post of Veruca Salt. Additionally, Drenik worked as a contributing composer to the FX hit drama Sons of Anarchy.
“As working artists, we felt there was room for a different point of view in the music-for-picture space,” said co-founder Drenik. “We spent summers writing and playing music together, and at a certain point, the idea felt inevitable. If we were already creating together in so many aspects of life, why not build something of our own?”
The founding partners’ collective background speaks to their creative instinct and technical precision with decades of work spanning global campaigns, studio production, and live performance. Surrounding them is a trusted circle of tastemakers, composers, and collaborators, whose multifaceted approach to musical storytelling balances commercial fluency with artistic credibility.
Little Beast is already making noise. The music house developed the custom music for Jeep and Highdive’s “Billy Goes to the River,” featuring a retro Big Mouth Billy Bass covering the Al Green classic “Take Me to the River.” Released during the saturated week of the Super Bowl, the spot cut through the noise and marked Little Beast’s first official project.
Partner and EP Tortorelli Carlo added, “At its core, Little Beast is a company built on friendship, shared values, and a belief that music is most powerful when it comes from a real place. We exist to create work that feels human and emotionally grounded, music that moves people as much as it moves brands. Ultimately, music that moves us as a company because that is who we are and what we love.”
