Joy Ride is a party of a movie. Director Adele Lim‘s comedy has the highs and lows of too much of a good time or, in this case, a friendship. The ensemble film is a nuanced portrayal of the sometimes complicated love between old friends. There’s far more beneath the surface to unpack in Joy Ride, but on the surface, it’s a Costco-sized barrel of laughs.
The original comedy sees a group of friends – played by Sabrina Wu, Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, and Stephanie Hsu – travel to China and experience all sorts of hijinks, questions about identity, and epiphanies.
Composer Nathan Matthew David helps the filmmakers, including writers and producers Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao, navigate the wild ride of a tone with delicacy. David is the Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated composer behind Deadly Class, Angie Tribeca, and Surviving R, Kelly. Most recently, he scored Chang Can Dunk and Stephen Curry: Underrated.
Given the variety of the composer’s work, it’s no surprise he knew how to find the right tone for the cries and tears in Joy Ride. Recently, David took us behind-the-scenes of Joy Ride and talked to us about going from an assistant a composer.
