#007 · 20 July 2026
13 opportunities this week, including a $3,000–$8,000 indie feature and a new musical that bans AI
Also: a BFI Discovery Fund feature at £250–£900 a day, and a sci-fi trailer entered in the Future Vision XPRIZE.
A background-checked production company is paying $3,000 to $8,000 for an indie feature scored almost entirely inside a car. A BFI Discovery Fund feature is hiring crew at a day rate and closes July 25. Alongside them: a boss-rush game demo with one of the most carefully written audio briefs in months, a new Dracula musical that explicitly won't touch generative AI, and an XPRIZE sci-fi trailer built around the sound of a starling murmuration. Film, games and theatre are all here this week, across paid, deferred and collaborative terms.
Professional
TV Commercials UK Ltd · £250–£900/day (est. £5,000–£18,000 over ~20 days) · Remote, UK nationwide · Feature film · Closes July 25
An ID-checked poster with 35 prior Mandy jobs, hiring crew for a BFI Discovery Fund feature at a genuine day rate. The public brief is an inclusion statement rather than a scoring spec, so the musical direction and schedule come at the application stage, and applications from people underrepresented in the UK screen industries are particularly encouraged. It closes July 25, so this one moves quickly.
Closed
Chelm Productions LLC · US$3,000–US$8,000 flat · Remote · Feature film · Closes August 4
A background-checked production company offering $3,000–$8,000 for a character-driven indie feature, a strong and clearly stated rate for an independent narrative score. The film is a dialogue-led, anti-rom-com set almost entirely inside a car on a single drive to Los Angeles, and they want a composer with a real track record on narrative features. A range this concrete on an indie feature is uncommon.
Closed
Midnight Media · US$1,000 flat · Remote (team NYC-based) · Short film (12:20) · Closes August 12
A background-checked poster with 80 prior jobs, a director just out of Tribeca and an editor who is a Sundance fellow, scoring a psychological thriller short with name talent attached. It pays $1,000 flat for a roughly 12-minute score, with delivery flexible up to October 1. Best suited to composers who can work to a festival-circuit standard.
Closed
Indie
Cambridge film and video company · £350 flat · Remote, UK nationwide · Short film (2 min) · Closes August 10
One of the most verified posters on Mandy — ID-checked with 107 prior jobs — hiring a composer and sound designer for a two-minute ecology rebrand film shot across the South West of England and Wales. Sound beds already exist and will be built into the score, and the work runs July 20–24, so availability this week is the deciding factor. A small, clean brief at a fair rate for the scope.
Closed
Independent developer (r/gameDevClassifieds) · Paid, rate not stated · Remote · Video game (demo) · No deadline stated
The most professionally written game-audio brief in this issue: a paid commission for a surreal, cinematic boss-rush demo needing roughly seven cues built from two or three core compositions and a recurring motif. Rights, credit, deliverables and payment are all spelled out, no unpaid test music is requested, and quotes are welcomed per-cue or per-package. The budget isn't fixed because they're actively gathering quotations, so come with your own pricing.
Closed
Student production · Paid, budget set aside (rate open) · Remote · Short film (12 min) · No deadline stated
A student production that has done the hard part first — locked edit, sound mixer engaged, placeholder tracks in place — and has money set aside specifically for the score. It is a 12-minute political allegory heading to festivals, wanting low, uncomfortable tension, reflective moments and a high-intensity escape sequence, with an immediate start. Organised enough to take seriously; apply with a rate.
Closed
Independent developer (r/gameDevClassifieds) · Paid, rate not stated · Remote · Video game (arcade) · No deadline stated
A paid commission for an arcade game with nine visually distinct arenas, each wanting its own musical identity while the soundtrack stays cohesive: one title/menu track plus up to nine themes, with reference tracks supplied. The engagement may cover some or all of the nine depending on fit, and they want rates broken down per track or as a package. A sizeable, well-scoped brief for a composer who can work fast and to reference.
Closed
Independent production (r/Filmmakers) · Paid, rate not stated · Remote · Short film (horror) · No deadline stated
The script is locked, filming is set for September and delivery is needed before October, for a short horror set entirely inside a single California hospital, with Nosferatu (2024) as the reference. It is explicitly a paid position with the rate open to discussion. Mastery of Persian instruments such as the santur or tar is called out as a strong plus, so this rewards a specific sonic signature.
Closed
Jordan Pring, dir. · Pay provided, rate TBD · Remote · Feature film · Closes July 30
An ID-checked director completing the post-production sound team on an independent feature shooting around Ballarat and Melbourne and aiming for the festival circuit. Pay is confirmed as provided, but the rate is not yet stated, so treat the figure as the open question at application. A remote post-production role.
Closed
Opaldune / Breathless Studio · Paid contract work · Remote · Animation (horror) · No deadline stated
Paid contract work for original music and sound design from the team behind Opaldune, whose post links an unlisted work-in-progress clip: a silent horror scene of a woman trapped in a broken elevator, attacked by a zombie-like creature, drifting in and out of consciousness before waking in a hospital bed. The written brief is minimal, so the video carries the tone — dread, physical tension, and a score built for a horror set piece. Best for composers who bring sound-design range alongside music.
Closed
Collaborative
A Fish in the Sea Productions · Deferred (paid once funded) · Remote, Greater Manchester base · Stage musical · Closes July 31
An ID-checked artistic director developing a new Dracula-inspired musical with a completed draft book, looking for a composer to write the music that unlocks full funding: deferred now, fully paid once financed, with profit-share on workshops and travel covered. Piano is essential and generative AI is explicitly unwelcome, with Company and Singin' in the Rain as reference points rather than Hamilton. A genuine collaboration for a composer who wants to own a project from the development stage.
Closed
Albert Njindou · Low-to-deferred budget · Remote, Sydney-based · Feature trailer (3 min) · Closes July 31
The best-written brief in this issue: a three-minute cinematic trailer for a hopeful near-future sci-fi project entered in the Future Vision XPRIZE, wanting a composer to build the score and sound world around the image of a starling murmuration. It is low-to-deferred budget at this stage, framed as founding creative crew rather than work-for-hire, with production backing in play for XPRIZE finalists. For composers who want a standout trailer credit and are willing to bet on the upside.
Closed
Jimmy Zeng (SCAD) · Paid student budget, or credit/portfolio · Remote · Animated short (3 min) · No deadline stated
An MFA animation student at Savannah College of Art and Design scoring a three-minute thesis film, offered as a paid collaboration on a student budget or as a credit-and-portfolio project depending on your preference. The timeline is flexible with the film due by year-end, leaving real room to write. A straightforward student collaboration with a named person behind it.
Closed
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