# Joy Ngiaw

Joy Ngiaw (born November 23, 1994) is a Malaysian composer for film and TV. Her score for Apple TV+ and Skydance's debut animation Blush has won Best Music Award from Hollywood Music in Media and was nominated for an Annie. Joy's second Annie nomination followed for her score on Skydance Animation's sci-fi adventure TV series WondLa, where she collaborated with industry icons such as John Lasseter. She also scored Skydance Animation's inaugural studio logo.
Other projects include Netflix and CBS's TV show Glamorous, Walt Disney Animation Studio's Short Circuit: Jing Hua, and Netflix's Rescued by Ruby.
Joy was named a BAFTA Breakthrough USA honoree in 2024.

## Early life and education

Joy was born in Pahang, Malaysia and raised in Shanghai, China. She started playing classical piano at the age of 6, and had played piano for the New Shanghai Orchestra in her high school years. She then attended Berklee College of Music for a major in Film Scoring and minor in Video Game Scoring. At Berklee College of Music, Joy was one of the eight students chosen to compose a new score for F.W. Murnau's 1922 Classic, Nosferatu, which was performed by the Boston Pops at Boston Symphony Hall on Friday, October 30, 2015.

## Career

After moving to Los Angeles in 2016, she worked on the music team for TV shows Legion (FX), Cobra Kai (Netflix), The Night Of (HBO), films Impractical Jokers: The Movie (WarnerMedia), and video games What Remains of Edith Finch.
Joy scored Skydance Animation's first short film Blush, executive produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and John Lasseter. Her score had won the 2021 Hollywood Music in Media awards for Best Music, and nominated for an Annie award for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Media Production. In 2022, she was also nominated with the inaugural David Raskin Emerging Talent award by the Society of Composers and Lyricists. She then went on to score Skydance Animation studio's first studio logo. The animated sequence made its debut on the studios' first feature Luck, and will be attached to Skydance's animated film slate, which includes the Alan Menken-scored Spellbound and Brad Bird's Ray Gunn, going forward. She is also the composer for Skydance Animation's TV series WondLa, an animated sci-fi fantasy television series based on the books The Search for WondLa, A Hero for WondLa, and The Battle for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi.
In 2023, she scored her first episodic TV series, Netflix's Glamorous, created by Jordon Nardino (Star Trek: Discovery) and starring Kim Cattrall and Miss Benny. Her score was released by Lakeshore Records on July 7, 2023.
Her soundtrack for Skydance Animation's TV series WondLa was released by Milan Records on June 28, 2024.

## Filmography
### Films

| Year | Title | Director | Distributors(s) | Notes |
| 2022 | Rescued by Ruby | Katt Shea | Netflix | — |
| 2021 | Blush | Joe Mateo | Apple Original Films | Animated Short Film |
| 2021 | Petit Rat | Vera Wagman | PBS | Documentary Feature |
| 2021 | June & Kopi | Noviandra Santosa | Netflix | — |
| 2019 | In A New York Minute | Mandy Li | Gravitas Ventures | — |

### Television

| Year | Title | Creators | Distributors(s) | Notes |
| 2024 | Barbie Mysteries: The Great Horse Chase | Seth Kearsley | Netflix | Season 1 |
| 2024 | WondLa | Bobs Gannaway | Apple TV+ | Season 1 |
| 2023 | Glamorous | Jordon Nardino | Netflix | Season 1 |
| 2018 | Short Circuit | Jerry Huynh | Walt Disney Animation | Season 1 Episode 10: "Jing Hua" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Result | Award | Category | Work |
| 2024 | Nominated | Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Media Production | WondLa |
| 2022 | Nominated | The Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) Awards | David Raskin Award for Emerging Talent | Blush |
| 2022 | Nominated | Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television/Media Production | Blush |
| 2022 | Won | Music + Sound Awards, International | Best Original Composition in a Short Film | Blush |
| 2022 | Won | London International Film Festival | Best Original Score | Mutiny! |
| 2021 | Won | Hollywood Music in Media Awards | Best Original Score - Short Film | Blush |
| 2019 | Won | Asians On Film Festival | Best Original Score | Fish Head |