Joy Ngiaw
Composer for Film and TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joy Ngiaw (born November 23, 1994) is an Emmy Award-winning composer film and television composer. She won the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for an Animated Program for her work on WondLa ,[1] becoming the first Malaysian to win an Emmy Award. [2] She collaborated closely with John Lasseter on the series, and the score was featured in IndieWire’s 'Best TV Scores of the Year, According to Our Composers Survey[3]', alongside The White Lotus and Severance.
Joy Ngiaw | |
|---|---|
| |
| Background information | |
| Born | Jing Yi Ngiaw November 23, 1994 |
| Genres | Film and television scores, soundtracks |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Website | joyngiaw |
Her score for Apple TV+ and Skydance's debut animation Blush has won Best Music Award from Hollywood Music in Media[4] and was nominated for an Annie.[5] She also scored Skydance Animation's inaugural studio logo, and Angel Studios theatrical romantic comedy Solo Mio, starring Kevin James.[6]
Among her other projects include Monkeypaw Productions’ The Pigs Underneath,[7] Netflix and CBS's TV show Glamorous starring Kim Cattrall, Mattel and Netflix's Barbie Mysteries, Walt Disney Animation Studio's Short Circuit: Jing Hua,[8] and Netflix's Rescued by Ruby.
Joy was named a BAFTA Breakthrough USA honoree in 2024.[9] She was also featured on Apple 'Here's to the Dreamers' campaign, spotlighting ambitious creative talent across Southeast Asia. [10]
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[11] 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.[12]
Career
After moving to Los Angeles in 2016, she worked in the music department for television series such as Legion (FX), Cobra Kai (Netflix), The Night Of (HBO), films Impractical Jokers: The Movie (WarnerMedia), and video games What Remains of Edith Finch.[13]
In 2021, 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.[14] In 2022, she was also nominated with the inaugural David Raskin Emerging Talent award by the Society of Composers and Lyricists.[15] 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, Nathan Greno's Swapped and Brad Bird's Ray Gunn, going forward.[16]
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. [17] Her 3 season soundtracks for WondLa was released by Milan Records.[18]
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.[19]
In 2024, Ngiaw was selected to participate in the Universal Composers Initiative, a competitive two-year development program for emerging film and television composers run by Universal Film Music and NBCUniversal. [20]
In 2026, Ngiaw composed the score for the romantic comedy Solo Mio, distributed by Angel Studios and starring Kevin James. The film was the studio’s first romantic comedy release and opened to $7.2 million at the box office, receiving an A− CinemaScore and an 81% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.[21]
Ngiaw becomes the first Malaysian to win an Emmy Award. This milestone follows in the footsteps of Hollywood star Michelle Yeoh, who previously made history as the first Malaysian to win an Oscar and Golden Globe.[22]
Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Director | Distributors(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Solo Mio[23] | Chuck Kinnane Dan Kinnane |
Angel Studios | N/a |
| 2025 | The Pigs Underneath[24] | Charlie Dennis | Monkeypaw Productions | TIFF 2025 |
| 2022 | Rescued by Ruby | Katt Shea | Netflix | N/a |
| 2021 | Blush | Joe Mateo | Apple Original Films | Animated Short Film |
| 2021 | Petit Rat | Vera Wagman | PBS | Documentary Feature |
| 2021 | June & Kopi | Noviandra Santosa | Netflix | N/a |
| 2019 | In A New York Minute | Mandy Li | Gravitas Ventures | N/a |
Television
| Year | Title | Creators | Distributors(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | WondLa | Bobs Gannaway | Apple TV+ | Season 3 |
| 2025 | Barbie Mysteries | Seth Kearsley | Netflix | Season 2 |
| 2025 | WondLa | Bobs Gannaway | Apple TV+ | Season 2 |
| 2024 | Barbie Mysteries[25] | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Won | Children's and Family Emmy Award | Outstanding Music Direction and Composition | WondLa |
| 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[26] | 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[27] | Best Original Score | Fish Head[28] |