The Melody of History: Friends Talk With Emmy-Nominated Composer Kathryn Bostic

Host Marina Franklin chats with Emmy-nominated composer Kathryn Bostic & filmmaker Sharaé Nikai. Dive into their stories, career wisdom, and the power of community and vote for Kathryn for the World Soundtrack Awards.

Kathryn Bostic – Award winning, Emmy nominated (The Supremes at Earl’s All You Can Eat; Amy Tan-Unintended Memoir; Toni Morrison-The Pieces I Am) composer and singer-songwriter Kathryn Bostic is known for her original work on film,TV, Broadway and symphonic music. On Broadway, Bostic worked with iconic playwright August Wilson, creating the score for “Gem of the Ocean.” She also created the score for the Broadway production “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” featuring world renowned actor and comedian Robin Williams. She is a recipient of many awards and fellowships including the prestigious BMI “Streaming Media Award”; Hollywood Music in Media Award for “Best Score TV Streamed Movie”; Society of Composers and Lyricists “Outstanding Music for Independent Feature Film”; African American Film Critics Award for “Best Music in Film”; Sundance Time Warner Fellowship; Sundance Fellowship for Feature Film Scoring; and Sundance Documentary Film Scoring. Bostic served as Vice President for the Alliance of Women Film Composers. She is a member of Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Recording Academy, and Bostic is the first African American female composer in the Academy for Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Her end title song “High Above the Water” for the award winning film “Toni Morrison- The Pieces I Am” was Oscar shortlisted. Her work on Sarah’s Oil: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is up for the world sound track public choice award. You can vote for Kathryn at https://www.worldsoundtrackawards.com/.

Sharaé Nikai – Against industry odds, Jersey City native Sharaé Nikai wrote, produced, co-directed and starred in her very first feature film, “The Other, Gold.” It is a heartfelt dramedy that follows a TV writer living in Little Tokyo as she navigates grief, isolation and the rekindling of a former BFF-ship. Out of 13,016 submissions, TOG was invited to world premiere as one of only 10 films in Tribeca’s US Narrative Competition.

This acclaim led to Nikai being in consideration for the 2025 Oscars, Spirit Awards and Emmys in the Outstanding Television Movie, Directing & Lead Actress categories. It also makes her the first Black female quadruple threat (sole writer/producer, director & star) to qualify for the Academy Awards with no studio or major production company backing.

As a producer, Sharaé secured an exclusive Mental Health Awareness partnership for “The Other, Gold” at FOX-owned Tubi and sponsorship for its launch by Women in Film (WIF) and The Entertainment Community Fund. In March 2026, “The Other, Gold” was released worldwide in celebration of Women’s History Month exclusively on Apple TV.

In addition to TOG, Nikai appears in numerous ad campaigns, films and TV series including Grey’s Anatomy and opposite Alison Brie in Sundance’s “Horse Girl” (The DuPlass Bros/Netflix). Currently, she is the 2026 international voice of Nordstrom Rack all while developing her dramedy driven TV/film slate. In her spare time, Sharaé takes serious pride in the accent mark over her “e” and is the reigning (read: self-proclaimed) trap karaoke queen.

Always hosted by Marina Franklin – One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS’s The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO’s Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf. Writer for HBO’s ‘Divorce’ and the new Tracy Morgan show on Paramount Plus: ‘Crutch