Bonfire Conversations

Dave Presto is the Oscar-nominated makeup effects artist behind Crystal Lake, the Peacock series that brought back Friday the 13th with practical gore. His credits also include The Penguin, A Complete Unknown, The Beauty, and A Different Man. In this Bonfire Conversations episode, Dave breaks down how the exploding blood bag kill, the dangling jaw effect, and the real machete scene were pulled off...

Petri Alanko, the composer behind *Control Resonant*, *Alan Wake*, *Quantum Break*, *Control*, and *Alan Wake 2*, joins Bonfire Conversations to discuss his 22-year collaboration with Remedy Entertainment and his approach to composing music for video games. In this interview, Petri breaks down the music for *Control Resonant*, including the opening sequence featuring Dylan and the flute, and expla...

Ryan Lott (Son Lux) on Scoring Bungie's MARATHON, Everything Everywhere All At Once & Building Custom Instruments | Bonfire ConversationsRyan Lott is the composer, producer and founder of Son Lux - Oscar-nominated for Everything Everywhere All At Once, and the composer behind Bungie's new game Marathon, Marvel's Thunderbolts, and Swiss Army Man. His band Son Lux just released their...

Today on Bonfire Conversations, I'm joined by one of the most influential composers in video game history, Jesper Kyd, the genius behind Hitman, Assassin's Creed (Ezio's Family), Borderlands, Warhammer 40K: Darktide, Darksiders 2, Freedom Fighters and the acclaimed Indian film Tumbbad. In this 74-minute deep dive, Jesper opens up like never before about the canceled Wonder Woman game f...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with Jerk Gustafsson, Studio Director of MachineGames and Arkane Studios, to explore his journey through video game development. From leaving school at 15 to work as a bricklayer to shaping iconic first-person experiences like The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, The Darkness, the modern Wolfenstein series, and Indiana Jones and t...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I’m joined by Mariko Muranaka, a cellist, composer, and performer known for her work with Hans Zimmer and his live performances. Mariko shares her journey from studying classical music in Japan to becoming an internationally recognized cellist and performer. We talk about how she discovered the cello, her classical training, and how her approach to the ins...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with award-winning composer and music designer Olivier Deriviere, known for his work on Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, A Plague Tale: Innocence, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Vampyr, Remember Me, Get Even, Dying Light 2, GreedFall, and South of Midnight. We talk about Olivier’s career, his approach to composing for video games, and what makes intera...

Valerio Olgiati is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary architecture, known for the Yellow House in Flims, the Plantahof Auditorium, and the Perlen Site in Bahrain. In this Bonfire Conversations episode, Olgiati explains his influential concept of "non-referential architecture" , a philosophy that rejects narrative, ideology, and interpretation in favor of buildings that be...

Danish cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck (Copenhagen Cowboy, Her Private Hell, A Hijacking, Lean on Pete) joins Bonfire Conversations to talk about building the mist-drenched, Tokyo-inspired world of Nicolas Winding Refn's Cannes 2026 competition film Her Private Hell, starring Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton. Magnus opens up about discovering photography at 11 years old, the family st...

David Fleming is the composer behind HBO's The Last of Us, James Gunn's Superman, and the upcoming Marvel's Wolverine from Insomniac Games. In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, he breaks down the score for Widow's Bay, his Emmy-nominated, Guillermo del Toro, praised work blending horror and comedy — including the hand-built sound design behind it (close-miked violins, conch sh...

Jez Corden — Executive Editor at Windows Central and co-host of the XB2 podcast — sits down for one of the most personal interviews he's ever given. From growing up in one of England's most deprived areas with no career guidance, to a random email from Nokia that changed his life, to becoming one of the most trusted voices covering the business side of gaming — this is the full story, in h...

In this episode, I sit down with acclaimed Japanese-American composer and conductor Takeshi Furukawa to discuss his remarkable 20 year career in film, television, and video game scoring. From crafting the emotional, dialogue-free soundscapes of The Last Guardian and the Planet of Lana series (including Planet of Lana 2) to my guest's current work on Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender, Ta...

Shaun Tan is the Australian author and illustrator behind The Arrival, The Lost Thing, and Tales from Outer Suburbia, and the Academy Award-winning director of the short film adaptation of The Lost Thing. For over two decades, he's built entire wordless worlds out of a single doodle, using metaphor rather than direct depiction to explore migration, identity, and belonging. In this conversation...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with Dominic Vega, the Audio and Mission Director for 007 First Light at IO Interactive. Dominic pulls back the curtain on how the studio engineered an immersive, unpredictable sandbox for the ultimate espionage fantasy. We dive deep into his unique double-role at IO Interactive, the technical mastery behind combining Wwise and the Glacier engin...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I speak with narrative designer David Mervik, known for his work on LittleBigPlanet 3, Little Nightmares, Little Nightmares II, and the critically acclaimed Reanimal from Tarsier Studios. Originally planned around the game’s launch, this conversation was postponed due to the outbreak of war in my home country, Iran. During that period, experiencing real-wo...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with composer and sound designer Mick Gordon for an in-depth conversation about his career, creative process, and approach to music. Mick Gordon is best known for his work on video games such as DOOM, DOOM Eternal, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Prey, and Killer Instinct. His music for the DOOM franchise helped red...

Mac Quayle is an Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated composer whose credits include Mr. Robot, American Horror Story, Pose, Ratched, and The Last of Us Part II. He has scored more than 40 films and TV projects and is known for his versatile contributions to contemporary screen music. In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with Emmy-winning composer Mac Quayle for an in-depth conversati...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, host I down with Hugo Martin, the acclaimed Game Director behind*DOOM (2016), DOOM Eternal, and DOOM: The Dark Ages. Together, we explore the creative evolution of the modern DOOM trilogy, the philosophy behind making something truly “badass,” and the design decisions that shaped one of the most influential first-person shooter franchises in history. Hugo...

CYBERPUNK FASHION IS HERE, and THE FUTURE IS WEARABLEIn this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with Kamil Miniakhmetov, founder and CEO of ETHELING ; a futuristic fashion brand inspired by cyberpunk culture, sci-fi worlds, and the merging of humanity with technology. We talk about his journey from post-Soviet Russia to Indonesia, how Akira and Deus Ex: Human Revolution shaped his creati...

"Cinematographer Larkin Seiple (Weapons, Everything Everywhere All at Once, This Is America) joins Bonfire Conversations to discuss his creative process, building emotion through light, and crafting the haunting “woman with the scissors” scene in Weapons. Hosted by Hamidreza Nikoofar."In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I talk with award-winning cinematographer Larkin Seiple, the c...

Julian Winding, the Danish composer and electronic artist behind The Demon Dance from Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon, joins me on Bonfire Conversations. In this episode, we dive deep into his upbringing in Denmark and England, his early rock beginnings, and how he found his voice in electronic and film music. Julian opens up about collaborating with his uncle, Nicolas Winding Refn, on proje...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, host Hamidreza Nikoofar sits down with Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, the visionary artist and game director behind Hell is Us and the art director of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. Jonathan reflects on his journey from Montreal to the global stage, the creation of the iconic Cyber-Renaissance and Cyber-Noir aesthetics that redefined cyberpunk...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with award-winning filmmaker Mor Loushy, director of Netflix’s powerful three-part documentary series American Manhunt: The Osama Bin Laden Mission. With the remembrance of September 11 approaching, this story carries an even deeper weight. The series takes us inside one of the most dramatic manhunts in modern history — the decade-long search fo...

In this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with Emma Harvey, founder of Harvey Voices, one of the UK’s leading voice talent agencies. Emma shares her journey from drama school to building a powerhouse agency representing some of the industry’s most recognized voices. We discuss:- How Harvey Voices began and grew into one of the UK’s top agencies- What Emma looks for when signing new voic...

On this episode of Bonfire Conversations, I sit down with GmanLives — the Australian critic and YouTuber known for his sharp takes, dry humor, and love for first-person shooters. We talk about his journey from childhood gaming memories to becoming one of the most recognizable voices in video game criticism. Along the way, we dive into:The origins and history of the GmanLives channelHis unique appr...