Portraits ©2025 Arlo Pyne
About Jai Pyne
Jai Pyne is a composer living and working on unceded Gadigal/Wangal land in Sydney.
He builds scores from real instruments and unusual ideas — chasing texture and grain over polish. A score doesn't need to be perfect; it needs to breathe. That approach runs through his work for award-winning films, art installations, advertising and contemporary dance, always in service of the story.
His score for Facing the Numbers premiered at MIFF 2026, and he recently composed the music for the Specsavers x Fred Hollows Foundation TVC Atipalku Intjalki (2026). Other recent work includes the theme music for Jan Fran and Antoinette Lattouf’s We Used To Be Journos podcast, the score for contemporary dance piece Kyklopsia (Impact Festival 2025) and the documentary The Truth About The Telegraph (2024), directed by Kieran Mpetyane Satour for Garuwa. Mate (dir. George-Alex Nagle 2021) which featured Jai’s score won the Grand Prix for Best International Film at Clermont Film Festival, with selections at MIFF, Palm Springs International Film Festival and Sydney Film Festival amongst other all over the globe.
Before scoring for screen, Jai fronted The Paper Scissors (2006–2012) amongst Sydney’s indie renaissance as lead singer, guitarist and songwriter. The band released several critically acclaimed records, played Falls Festival and Peats Ridge Festival, and had music synced to Underbelly (Season 1) and a run of national ad campaigns. Their final album, In Loving Memory, was called "a feat of originality and discipline."
A film lover since watching classics probably too young and lurking in cult video stores, Jai carried that obsession into his studies at AFTRS — swapping guitar shreds for synth pads and spotting sessions, graduating in Screen Music.
Selected credits: Sydney Film Festival · Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival · Flickerfest · Latin Film Market · Melbourne International Film Festival · Dumbo Film Festival · Wildscreen Festival · Far South Film Festival · Bondi Harvest · Matchbox Pictures · Curiousworks · Nook Studios · Eb & Bow Dance Studio · Australian Dance Awards · Level Two Music · Province Studio · Chau Chak Wing Museum · Powerhouse Museum · ABC Radio · FBi Radio
Alongside composing, Jai teaches. He's a regular collaborator with Songlab, running music production workshops — including recent sessions inside Reiby Juvenile Detention Centre — and holds the role of Senior Trainer in Music at NAISDA Dance College, teaching music production and composition to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance students. He loves handing young creative people the tools to tell their own stories.
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