While composer Bear McCreary grew up in the Pacific Northwest during grunge’s heyday, he listened only to film music until age 14. ∙ McCreary studied under legendary composer Elmer Bernstein at USC’s Thornton School of Music. ∙ McCreary’s TV credits include every episode of The Walking Dead, Outlander, and his first Hollywood gig: Battlestar Galactica’s critically acclaimed reboot. ∙ In 2013, McCreary won an Emmy Award (Outstanding Main Title Theme Music) for the TV series Da Vinci’s Demons. ∙ In addition to scoring films, he has written an orchestral rock opera (Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem) and Viking folk-inspired video game music (God of War). ∙ Most of McCreary’s music for the movie Child’s Play was performed on handheld instruments and by a “toy orchestra” composed of tiny pianos, xylophones, drums, and guitars. ∙ In the movie Child’s Play, actor Mark Hamill sings McCreary’s ballad “The Buddi Song,” which one critic called “the creepiest thing I’ve heard all year.”