Ryan Gibson
July 25, 2017
In The Mix

Music Man

Music connected Lee Daniels and Johnta Austin.

Libby Slate

“People tell me you’re good. Let’s just talk.”

So said Lee Daniels when Johnta Austin interviewed with him for the job as supervising music producer on his Fox music drama, Star.

In fact, Austin had won back-to-back Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song in 2006 and 2007, for cowriting Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You” and Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together.” But Daniels, creator and executive producer (with Tom Donaghy) of the show about an aspiring girl group trying to hit it big in Atlanta, was not familiar with his work.

“He knew nothing of my success. We started at zero and just talked,” recalls Austin of the meeting, which lasted more than two hours. “Music was the connector.”

Austin was hired to musically shape the show’s first season (comprised of 12 episodes). Since then Star has been renewed for a second season.

In producing the original music for the show’s girl group, Big Trouble — Star (Jude DeMorest), Simone (Brittany O’Grady) and Alexandra (Ryan Destiny) — “it’s a case-by-case basis, but we go according to their voices,” he says. “We might have Ryan be the lead or Brittany might have a solo. We have to find the right song, understand the strengths of each girl, showcase their sweet spots and push them out of their comfort zones.”

Austin is also on set when the performance scenes are filmed. (Queen Latifah, who appears in the show as a former R&B singer who now owns a beauty salon, has song selections as well.) Being an Atlanta native “helps with the music,” Austin says. “I know the happening people and places — I can say, the girls wouldn’t go see this artist, or they would go to this place.”

Before production started, Austin shared a favorite song, “I Don’t Know Why,” with Daniels; it was then performed by Star in episode 11, to express her feelings about her abusive romantic relationship. “A lot of times, the story will define the music,” he says. “We do have moments where music inspires the story. It’s a symbiotic relationship.” 


This article originally appeared in emmy magazine, Issue No. 6, 2017

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