Erica Procunier named SOCAN Breakout Composer of the Year 2025

We’re thrilled to share that Canadian composer Erica Procunier has been honoured with the Breakout Screen Composer Award at the 2025 SOCAN Awards. SOCAN

A milestone moment

Held in Toronto on September 29 2025, the SOCAN Awards marked the 100th anniversary of SOCAN, Canada’s music rights organization. The night celebrated a century of songwriting, composing and publishing excellence. SOCAN
Amid this milestone event, Erica’s recognition stands out as a signal that the screen-composing craft in Canada is being more deeply recognised and celebrated.

About Erica Procunier

Erica has built a versatile career scoring film, television and interactive media. Her works include:

  • The beloved children’s series Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!, for which she won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Music, Animation in 2024.

  • the award-winning CBC documentary The COVID Cruise, for which she received a Canadian Screen Award in 2022. Wikipedia+2Erica Procunier+2

  • the Apple TV+ series Ghostwriter, which earned her a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2021. Alliance for Women Film Composers+1

What this win means

Winning the “Breakout Screen Composer” category is a strong endorsement of Erica’s creative voice and momentum in screen music. It not only acknowledges her past achievements but signals the industry’s expectation of even greater work ahead.
In a year where SOCAN celebrated its centennial, this award also highlights the evolving role of screen-composers within Canada’s creative ecosystem—bringing attention, legitimacy and opportunities to the field.

What’s next?

With this recognition in her toolkit, Erica will continue expanding her body of work — across documentary, drama, animation and beyond. Her ability to move between mediums (from live-orchestra premieres to streaming children’s series) demonstrates a flexibility that is increasingly valued in today’s media landscape.
For fans, collaborators or industry professionals, this is a moment to keep an eye on her upcoming projects and the unique sound worlds she develops.

Other winners of the night included Drake, who shattered records with six awards; Boi-1da, honoured with the Global Impact Award; Lowell, bülow, and Nathan Ferraro for the International Achievement Award; Joni Mitchell, celebrated with the Cultural Impact Award; OZ as Producer of the Year; and Jordan Gagne, who received Screen Composer of the Year.

https://www.socan.com/drake-shatters-records-at-socans-100th-anniversary-awards/

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Feature Film "Please, After You" gets Theatrical Release

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The film "Please, After You" has had theatrical screenings in Canada, with a December 5, 2024 premiere at the Whistler Film Festival and a March 26, 2025 screening at the Canadian Film Festival. It also has upcoming showings at Galaxy Barrie (May 11), Cineplex Yonge-Dundas (May 21), Cineplex Vaughan (May 22), and Scotiabank Theatre Halifax (June 5). The film stars comedian Neema Naz , Juno Rinaldi, Kris Siddiqi, & Sammy Azero.


”Please, After You” is a story about how a young immigrant Ali’s life in Canada turns upside down when his naïve cousin Omid arrives from overseas under mysterious circumstances to live with him in a newcomers settlement house. On the cusp of achieving his goal to settle in Toronto, a tide of misadventures derails Ali's plans, costing him his job opportunity and romance, which ultimately drives him to his wits’ end.

DETAILS

  • DIRECTOR

    Rob Michaels

  • PRODUCER

    Khaled Sabbour, Bill Marks

  • SCREENWRITER

    Amir Kahnamouee

  • CINEMATOGRAPHER

    Christoph Benfey

  • MUSIC

    Erica Procunier

The Score for "The Covid Cruise" wins a Canadian Screen Award!

On April 4th. 2022, The Covid Cruise won ‘Best Original Score - Non-Fiction’ in the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards! The Awards were presented by the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television at The Documentary and Factual Awards. You can watch The Covid Cruise as part of the CBC show “The Nature of Things” season 60 on their app - CBC Gem.

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2021 Emmy Nomination

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Ghostwriter has been nominated at the 2021 Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Daytime Program!

To date, Ghostwriter has been nominated for 5 Daytime Emmy’s, with potentially more nominations to come on June 28, 2021 in the children and youth ceremony.

I share in this nomination with the fantastic composer Sasha Gordon.

Dancing Dogs of Dombrova Release Date Sept 22, 2020

I’m very excited to share that the feature film The Dancing Dogs of Dombrova will be released in the USA and Canada on Tuesday September 22nd, 2020! I will also be releasing the Soundtrack Album on multiple music platforms so lookout for that release wherever you get your music.

Synopsis

On a cold winter night, estranged siblings Sarah and Aaron Cotler arrive at an empty train station in Dombrova, Poland. With their only available ride being a silent Driver, they embark on a quest to fulfill their dying grandmother’s wish. They need to find, dig up, and bring home the bones of her favourite childhood dog, Peter.



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Ghostwriter wins at Daytime Emmys 2020

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Ghostwriter has won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Children’s or Family Viewing Programming! Ghostwriter was also the most nominated program (aside from the major soap operas) with 9 nominations! Congrats to all my co-collaborators!!!



Ghostwriter on Apple TV+

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Ghostwriter premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1st. 2019. The show is a reboot of the PBS show from the 90’s, a show I watched myself! I had the pleasure of composing the theme music as well as scoring season 1. You can check it out on the Apple TV app on your streaming device.

Detention Adventure Premieres on CBC Gem!

Check out the trailer for the new series Detention Adventure - Now streaming on CBC Gem!

Premise: Three nerdy friends and the school bully must get themselves thrown into detention to find the entrance to a labyrinth of trap-laden tunnels protecting the fabled hidden lab of Alexander Graham Bell.

Directed by: @joekicak 
Written by: @joekicak @carmalbano & moi
Produced by: @loco_motionpix@due_west @joekicak @carmalbano & moi
Starring: @simone.mcq@tomasosanelli @alinaprijono@officialjackfulton @benjaminayres@thestaceymcg @danbeirne@andrewmoodie
Cinematography by: @jordanoramdp 
Production design by: @rosaliemackintosh 
Score by: @erica_pro @tones85 @elizabeth.hannan
Edited by: @mikelobel 

 #CBC Gem! #trailer #cbckids #officialtrailer #tv #webseries #science #alexandergrahambell


Our official premiere on May 3rd, 2019!

Berlinale Talents 2019

I was selected from over 3400 applicants to participate in this years Berlinale Talents 2019. It is the The Berlin International Film Festival’s talent development programme for 250 emerging filmmakers and drama series creators from all over the world. Over the course of the week we participated in many workshops, networking, film screenings, and project labs. Such an amazing experience that I will never forget!

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Colours of Ubuntu

I had the pleasure of scoring a wonderful short film that documents a program put on by a wonderful organization called Lalela. Artist Jane Waterous travelled to the rural town of Ubuntu, South Africa to engage with the youth there-

From Jane’s youtube channel: “This is a story of Ubuntu - the universal bond and sense of community at the core of every human. When violent riots broke out in Hout Bay, South Africa, the volunteers at Lalela found themselves with a decision to make. Amidst the violence, Lalela opened its doors for the children, providing not only a safe-haven, but a place where they could develop courage, strength, and perseverance in themselves, and as a community. Through the art projects, the children were prompted to find and portray their identities, and express what community means to them. We were soon surrounded by the most spirited of artists – facing a backdrop of a deep and complex history with a passionate people and breathtaking landscape. Colours of Ubuntu is a celebration of community, and the discovery of the role of art in the human spirit. “

Helping me out on the track was the members of the Toronto group the Interro Quartet.

Music recorded and mixed by Gary Honess at Kuhl Muzik

Dancing Dogs of Dombrova Premieres at 2018 Festivals

The Dancing Dogs of Dombrova, Directed by Zack Bernbaum and starring Katherine Fogler and Douglas Nyback had it’s World Premiere in October 2018 at the Austin Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The film also was featured in the Napa Film Festival and had it’s Canadian Premiere at the Whistler Film Festival in Whistler, British Columbia. You can check out the trailer below, and stay tuned for more updates on the film’s release.

-Erica

On a cold winter night, estranged siblings Sarah and Aaron arrive at an empty train station in Dombrova, Poland. With their only available ride being a silent Driver, they embark on a quest to fulfil their dying grandmother's wish - find, dig up, and bring home the bones of her favourite childhood dog, Peter.
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"Precipice" at Nuit Blanche 2018

Photo: Arthur Lucena Alves de Sousa

Photo: Arthur Lucena Alves de Sousa

Nuit Blanche 2018 Artscape Youngplace

I have been commissioned by Seneca College's School of Creative Arts and Animation to compose a 4 minute piece of music that will be used to inspire students and faculty to create their own pieces of art based simply on what they feel and hear. I've titled the piece of music "Precipice" and I hope you will come to see all that this piece has evoked in others. 

Summary: Seneca students and faculty artists create a tapestry of art and media works in response to an original musical composition by Erica Procunier. The result is a journey through a multidisciplinary showcase of art-, screen- and sound-based works.

Nuit Blanche website https://nbto.com/project.html?project_id=707

Date: September 29, 2018 6pm-6am

Location: 180 Shaw Street (First Floor Hallways & Vitrines; Flex Studios 106 and 107)

Precipice can be found on Spotify and iTunes, Soundcloud and other streaming platforms.

Update!

Seneca’s Nuit Blanche exhibit on September 29th, 2018 was a great big giant success! Thank you to Mark Jones and Tara Dorey for their countless hours of commitment to showcasing this project. I want to show you some of the works that were inspired by the music, as well as some photographs from the event itself.