EmmoLei Sankofa is an American composer, producer, musician, and artist whose work spans music, visual media, and fine art. EmmoLei’s original music can be heard on the stand-out comedy, Three Ways on Hulu, Season 3 of STARZ’s of Step Up series, Lizzo’s Emmy-Award winning series, Watch Out For the Big Grrrls on Amazon, Shudder/AMC’s horror anthology film Horror Noire, and so much more.

EmmoLei received Reel Change funding to work on Three Ways — a comedy about sexually awkward Stacey Johnson who decides to take control of her life, cancel her ex, and conquer her fears by having a threesome with her new beau and a mysterious woman she’s never met. Directed by Jamal Dedeaux, Three Ways stars Andrea Lewis, known for her work in Degrassi: The Next Generation, Black Actress, and Cadet Kelly; Brittany S. Hall, who was recently nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for the film, Test Pattern and is known for her work in Ballers (TV series) and Nappily Ever After; and, Jerrell O’Neal who is an emerging talent among the top cast in the upcoming thriller, Phels High. Actress, model, and producer Toccara Jones also makes a cameo.

“The Reel Change Grant gave me the ability to hire and collaborate with musicians, a score mixer, and a music editor, which increased the production value of the music and helped me implement better systems that provided space for creative flow. Matthew Thompson (½ of the popular duo, April + VISTA) and Nate Laguzza were my musicians. Alvin Wee, who mixed the award-winning score, Encanto, came on board as my score mixer. Simon Poole, the music editor for the award-winning film, Learn to Swim, came on board as my music editor. Additionally, I was able to purchase many of the aux percussion instruments used throughout and financially support more of my contributions as the composer,” says EmmoLei. 

The score for Three Ways is fun and percussive, with hints of quirky vocal expressions and dreamy textures. The Morse Code spellings and rhythmic expressions of three, 3, 3some were the foundation upon which most of the motifs were built. 

“The source of inspiration for my music always starts with my curiosity about a topic, theme, sound, concept, etc. The Birdman score has always been intriguing to me because it’s an entire score played on the drumset. For years I’ve thought about what it would be like to create a score that was largely drums and percussion, and Three Ways was the project that gave me the space to explore that.”