May 15, 2025
The Ceremony Also Celebrated the Previous Year’s Top Composers in Film, TV and Visual Media
LOS ANGELES, CA (May 14, 2025) – Tonight, BMI® paid tribute to its top performing composers of the past year at the 2025 Film, TV and Visual Media Awards held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Atticus Ross received the evening’s highest honor and was named a BMI Icon in recognition of his exceptional body of work across film and television. In addition, the evening celebrated the most successful films, highest rated series on TV, cable and streaming services, and the most popular video games of the previous year. The private ceremony was hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI Vice President, Creative, Film, TV & Visual Media, Tracy McKnight.
O’Neill presented Ross with the BMI Icon Award, expressing that his “innovative spirit and passion for pushing the boundaries of composition have literally reengineered the way we experience storytelling.” He went on to say, “we are very proud to honor your incomparable contributions to the world of music as a composer, a rock pioneer and an icon.”
Ross was emotional upon receiving the prestigious honor and stated, “The thing I love about film music is that there aren’t any rules, there aren’t any pros. Essentially, to my mind, it’s all about how we make people feel, and that’s what music is about.” Moreover, he voiced, “I put a lot of effort into making sure that this never feels like a job. I wake up every day grateful for the opportunity to make music, this is my dream, and I don’t take it lightly.”
Ross is a multifaceted musician, composer and producer who has received multiple awards and accolades, including one BAFTA Award, two Academy Awards®, two GRAMMY® Awards, three Critics Choice Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and countless nominations. He’s also won 18 BMI Film, TV and Visual Media Awards, as well as one BMI Country, one BMI Pop and one BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Award. In addition to his work as an acclaimed composer, Ross has had an enormously successful career as a member of Nine Inch Nails and a longtime collaboration with bandmate Trent Reznor. Together, they’ve created some of the most introspective and influential sounds in rock music, and some of the most memorable film and TV scores of the past decade, including The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Soul, Challengers and Watchmen, among many others. Ross is also notable for collaborating with his brother Leopold Ross and wife Claudia Sarne on movies such as The Book of Eli and Triple 9 and series like Black Mirror, Dear Mama and Shōgun.
In receiving this honor, Ross joins a prestigious list of BMI Icon Award recipients including Terence Blanchard, Mychael Danna, Alexandre Desplat, Ramin Djawadi, Harry Gregson-Williams, James Newton Howard, Christopher Lennertz, Thomas Newman, Rachel Portman (PRS), Mike Post, Alan Silvestri, Brian Tyler and John Williams, among others.
During the ceremony, many notable composers were honored for music featured in the past year’s top-grossing films, top-rated network television series, highest-ranking cable network and streamed media programs, and the most popular video games. The evening celebrated 29 first-time award winners including Kathryn Bostic, Goh Nakamura, Kara Talve, Dara Taylor and Zack Ryan, to name a few. Some of the night’s multiple award winners included Fil Eisler, Tom Howe, Andrew Lockington, Blake Neely, Julia Newman, Mike Post, Carlos Rafael Rivera, Atticus Ross, Tyler Strickland and Atli Örvarsson, among others.
For a complete list of winners, visit: https://www.bmi.com/award-shows/film-tv-2025/. (Page will be up by 7AM ET). To join the conversation on social media, follow us @BMI and use #BMIFilmTVAwards.
High-resolution photos and video footage can be downloaded here: https://publicity.gettyimages.com/event/2025-bmi-film-tv-visual-media-awards.
ABOUT BMI:
Celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, BMI® is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in over 22.4 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow us on X and Instagram @BMI or stay connected through BMI’s Facebook page. Sign up for BMI’s The Weekly™ and receive our e-newsletter every week to stay up to date on all things music.
