He creates emotions. Navid Lancaster is the one who tells you when to cringe during a thriller movie, or when to cry. He is a film composer, sound designer, and musician who touches a global audience from his studio in Trinidad and Tobago. He has composed music for film, video games, mobile game apps, and animation.
Navid Lancaster discovered his love of music early. He used rock music as a way of letting his emotions out and expressions out, to quell any anger issues. When he learned about the Baha’i faith, writings he realized music was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
He would borrow his sister’s guitar without her permission.
“Every time she left the house, I used to go into a room and play with the guitar to try and figure out stuff.”
Once he pursued his music career, Lancaster learned he had to start at the bottom. He learned how to keep customers happy, learn programs quickly, learn production, and be fast on his feet regarding technical issues.
The key to a successful career in sound design is to serve the story and the vision of the director.
“Technical skills are nice, but how you treat people is human to human. I am always on very good terms with any director or producer that I work with. It’s usually the composers who get the final cut of a film. If I’m on good terms with a director, I can usually get the script beforehand.”
By getting a script before the final cut, it helps Navid and the director save time. He can discuss and create demos beforehand to help in telling the story.
Lancaster’s success is a result of his acumen in both networking and marketing. These are key elements to set yourself ahead of the pack. There is a lot of competition.
“It’s good that people have access to that technology to create music. The bad thing is that people have access to recording technology. You’re going to be handed a ton of crap.”
His composing success can be seen in every film Lancaster has worked on for the past 10 years. All have won awards. He has recently been tapped to compose the original score and sound design for the hour-long television special featuring The Anthony N. Sabga Awards, which aired January 20, 2022 in Trinidad and Tobago.