It took Bruce Beresford and his producer Sue Milliken more than 20 years to bring Ladies in Black, based on Australian writer Madeleine St John’s 1993 novel The Women in Black, to the screen.

For the film’s composer Christopher Gordon, the time frame could hardly have been more different. “I got a call between Christmas and New Year just gone and I was basically pretty much starting the next day, so it was a sudden late start,” he says. 

“I wrote at high speed for three or four weeks and did the entire score in that time – fully orchestrated, final music. And then I gave it to them on high quality synthesised demos, which gives everybody a really good idea of what it will sound like.”

Ladies in BlackAlison McGirr as Patty, Angourie Rice as Lisa, and Rachael Taylor as Fay in Ladies in Black 

The film featuring Gordon’s appealing music was sent to executives at Sony Pictures in Los Angeles. He then reworked the score to fit the new edits, and his job was basically done.

Released in cinemas this month, Ladies in...