Your network connection has been lost, so you may experience media playback
issues.
James T Sale
Composer and Conductor
Music has been a part of my life from the very beginning. I was fortunate to have been raised in an artistic environment with my father not only being a music lover but a passionate writer, my mother an opera lover and a recorder player. After years of orchestral music in my ears I discovered new bands and new styles of music when I started playing drums at the age of 10. Growing up in Washington DC meant playing GO GO, a percussive style of music unique to the DC area. A major milestone for me at 10 was seeing a new film in May of 1977 called Star Wars which knocked me out of orbit and into a new trajectory that would lead me to studying film music at Berklee College of Music in the late 80's. John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith's scores were always a part of my music life and I still adore their work to this day.
I hope you enjoy the music on this webpage. It was created with love and care and a many moments of sweat and sleepless nights. I am grateful to be a part of something moving, magical, and lasting.
Thank you for visiting.
James
MUSIC
ANIMATION
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS-Activation/Jello Dome
1:39
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS-The Meatier Shower
3:10
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS-Anaphylactic Love
1:41
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS-Flint Returns
3:31
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2-Barry to the Rescue
2:17
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA-To the Hotel
1:43
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA-The Labrynth
2:10
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA-Lady Lubove
2:40
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA-Dracula Tunnel
1:58
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2-The Hotel
1:18
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2-The Wedding
2:16
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2-Dennis' Birthday
1:03
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2-Arrival at Camp Winnepacaca
1:55
THE LEGO MOVIE-Prologue
1:00
THE LEGO MOVIE-Emmet and Wildstyle Escape
3:22
THE LEGO MOVIE-Cuckooland Battle
0:38
THE LEGO MOVIE-Requiem for Cuckooland
1:14
THE LEGO MOVIE-Metalbeard's Story
1:56
THE LEGO MOVIE-The Death of Vitrivius
1:02
THE LEGO MOVIE-Wildstyle Leads
1:24
BEY BLADE-Main Theme Demo
1:35
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED-The Zip Line
1:03
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED-Spidery Dreams
1:05
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED-Building the Raft
1:28
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: ROAD CHIP-Operation Ring Retrieval
1:54
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: ROAD CHIP-Miles Opens Up
2:39
ACTION
21 JUMPSTREET-Arrival at School
1:25
21 JUMPSTREET-Park Patrol
1:45
21 JUMPSTREET-The Gang Shows Up
1:32
22 JUMPSTREET-22 Jumpstreet
1:19
22 JUMPSTREET-Trail to the Library
2:39
FANBOYS-Trekkie Fight
2:07
FANBOYS-Adventures at the Ranch
1:10
FANBOYS-No One Move!
1:24
SAFE-The Russians Capture Mei
1:16
SAFE-The Safe
1:49
SAFE-The Triads Capture Mei
2:27
SAFE-The Showdown
3:16
IDAHO FALLEN-Main Theme
2:11
IDAHO FALLEN-The Showdown
3:51
ACTS OF VIOLENCE-The Raid
3:11
ACTS OF VIOLENCE-The Warehouse
1:09
ACTS OF VIOLENCE-The Waiting
2:28
ACTS OF VIOLENCE-The Rescue
1:22
TERMINAL ERROR-End Credits
2:15
DRAMA
MUSIC WITHIN-End Credits
3:43
LAST VEGAS-Sophie's Choice
1:37
SAINT JUDY-"I Have Some Friends"
1:03
SAINT JUDY-Case Files
0:57
SAINT JUDY-The Vision
2:02
SAINT JUDY-The Knife
2:46
SAINT JUDY-The 9th Circuit
4:47
SISTER CITIES-Love Letters
2:45
RETURN TO ZERO-Aaron and Dana
2:06
RETURN TO ZERO-This Pain
1:32
RETURN TO ZERO-Three Again
1:51
ENLIGHTENED-Whitewater Rafting
1:30
ENLIGHTENED-Memories
1:20
ALOHA-Iridum Flares
2:00
ALOHA-Will You Call Me?
2:12
ALOHA-Your Children
1:37
FORGETTING NOBODY-Magical Night
1:13
FORGETTING NOBODY-Forgotten
1:38
KIDS/COMING OF AGE
HERBIE: FULLY LOADED-Before the Race
3:26
HERBIE: FULLY LOADED-5 Laps To Go
3:43
HERBIE: FULLY LOADED-Herbie Wins The Race
2:06
JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER- Hunt For Big Foot
1:54
JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER-Setting A Trap
2:20
RAMONA AND BEEZUS-Longest Picture in the World
1:35
RAMONA AND BEEZUS-Beezus and Harry Walk
1:51
RAMONA AND BEEZUS-Ramona Apologizes
1:16
PITCH PERFECT 2-End Credit Suite
3:02
HORROR/THRILLER
THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY-I'm Scared
1:55
THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY-End Credits
1:52
MILTOWN-"That's Not Dad!"
3:30
MILTOWN-"It's You!"
3:55
DECADENT EVIL-Main Titles
3:04
DEADLINE
2:05
SONDER-Don't Stop Looking
1:28
SONDER-Scene of the Crime
1:37
HALLOWEEN 2000-Medley
1:21
THE FRANKENSTEIN THEORY-To Potter's Gulch
1:15
DR MOREAU'S HOUSE OF PAIN-LA Montage
2:05
BLEED-Medley
2:16
ZOMBIE ELEMENTARY-Lost Boys
1:19
DOCUMENTARY
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: THE STORY OF THE 1982 BREWERS-Bud's Story
1:56
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: THE STORY OF THE 1982 BREWERS-WS Game 2
2:46
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: THE STORY OF THE 1982 BREWERS-The Parade
5:12
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: THE STORY OF THE 1982 BREWERS-The Stadium
2:34
JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: THE STORY OF THE 1982 BREWERS-That One Dream
3:37
MAKING MEGAFORCE-The Hook
2:08
MAKING MEGAFORCE-It Wasn't a Cheap Movie
1:12
MAKING MEGAFORCE-Persis
1:21
MAKING MEGAFORCE-Smoke Stories
1:38
MAKING MEGAFORCE-The TAC Com
2:31
MAKING MEGAFORCE-Dune Buggy Bonding
2:10
CLIMB FOR PEACE-Rongbuk Road Trip
4:07
CLIMB FOR PEACE-Camp 1 to Camp 2
2:42
CLIMB FOR PEACE-Climb to ABC
2:02
SURVIVING HOME-Opening
2:06
SURVIVING HOME-We Are Not Alone
3:22
SURVIVING HOME-The Grave
2:06
SURVIVING HOME-End Credits
1:18
JFK A PRESIDENT BETRAYED-Escalation
1:43
JFK A PRESIDENT BETRAYED-Introducing Vietnam
4:05
NEWS
6/25/26 James graduated from Berklee College of Music with a Masters of Music degree in Film Scoring!
10/10/25 In September James wrote the score for No Packers, No Life in 2 weeks! 48 minutes of music in 2 weeks is an exhausting effort but James enjoyed the subject matter so much it was no problem. No Packers, No Life is the amazing true story of Japanese Green Bay Packers fans connecting with fans from Wisconsin culminating in a trip to Wisconsin to go to Lambeau Field to see their favorite team and meet Packers players! The hospitality of the Midwest is on full display along with the passion of football fans from both Japan and Wisconsin. The film premieres in Milwaukee Wisconsin at Marcus Theaters the weekend of October 17th!
7/23/25 Bob Euker will have a special memorial presentation including a biographical film about his life at Brewers Stadium August 24th. Many sports personalities and dignitaries will be attending. This presentation will feature original music by James.
6/25 MAKING MEGAFORCE was screened at the Film Invasion LA Film Festival on June 22nd! MAKING MEGAFORCE won the Best In Fest Award for the best of 64 films in the festival!
6/25 JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: The Story of the 1982 BREWERS is on APPLE TV! Now you can rent or buy the documentary on a premiere platform!
2/10/25 It is with great sadness that James learned of the passing of his longtime recording engineer and friend John Kurlander on Monday February 10th. John was a one-of-a-kind musical talent who began his career at Abbey Road on a Beatles Album! James learned a lot from John and always cherished the opportunity to not only make music with John, but to travel and share stories over a good Indian meal in London. He will be missed but James is grateful to have been able to work with him at all.
1/25 In 2024 James completed music for 3 feature films JUST A BIT OUTSIDE: THE STORY OF THE 1982 BREWERS for director Sean Hanish, MAKING MEGAFORCE for director Bob Lindenmayer (about a film from 1982!), and IDAHO FALLEN for director Robert Schumacher. IDAHO FALLEN and MAKING MEGAFORCE are currently on Spotify. JUST A BIT OUTSIDE is now on Spotify!
BIOGRAPHY
Iranian-American James T. Sale was born in Washington D.C. to music-loving parents who introduced him to classical and modern orchestral music and film music.
Sale began writing music for feature films in 1995 with The Cheshire Cat and worked on his own until becoming Mark Mothersbaugh’s head writer, orchestrator, and conductor after working with Mothersbaugh on Herbie: Fully Loaded in 2005. Sale worked for Mothersbaugh for 12 years writing the vast majority of the scores for top-grossing films such as Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 1 and 2, The LEGO Movie, Hotel Transylvania 1 and 2, 21 and 22 Jumpstreet, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked and Road Chip, as well as SAFE with Jason Statham, and Last Vegas. In 2014, Sale began a fruitful collaboration with director Sean Hanish with Return to Zero. He then scored Sister Cities in 2016 continuing with Saint Judy in 2019. In 2024, Sale scored Just A Bit Outside: The Story of the 1982 Brewers for Hanish which led the Milwaukee Brewers organization to recruit Hanish to create a memorial sequence for Bob Euker’s Memorial to be held at Brewers stadium August 24th with Bob Costas as the Emcee.
Sale also writes music for the concert hall including a concert piece called Dark Music for Bass Clarinet and Small Orchestra written in 2019 to be premiered by Bass Clarinetist Mark O’Brien of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. O’Brien is also premiered The Dublin Concerto in Dublin in August of 2024. Sale has had chamber music performed in Los Angeles and Denmark. He has conducted orchestras in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Salt Lake City, and Seattle.
In 2022, Sale won a Gold Remi Award for Best Feature Score at the Houston WorldFest International Film Festival for his score for the coming-of-age hockey film Playing the Crease. Sale has several feature film projects in the works.
Sale holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music. He has taught at USC, UCLA, and was the head of the Composing for Visual Media Department at Los Angeles College of Music before coming to the Peabody Conservatory.