About · Jan Šléška

Jan Šléška is a film composer and music dramaturg — a creative partner to directors and producers. He doesn't deliver tracks — he defines the dramaturgy of the score before a single note is written, approaching the film from the script stage as a living organism.

His aim is music that lights up what is hidden within the film — the essence.

Jan loves music with fewer notes and more room to breathe — space that resonates.

Film music has been through several technological upheavals in a hundred years, and each time the same things survived: taste, authorship, trust, and the willingness to stand behind a decision. That is what his work is built on.

“Sometimes the strongest note is the one left unplayed.”

Jan shapes the arc from exposition to finale and creates the musical palette that becomes the face of the entire soundtrack.

“My scores don't tell you how to feel — they let you feel it.”

Symphonic orchestration, unusual samples and hardware synthesis meet in his work in combinations that don't otherwise exist — because every story asks for its own sound, and no two projects are alike.

A graduate of FAMU in Prague, Jan has scored the sci-fi detective feature Restore Point, the true-crime feature Aneta and the animated short Everything We Missed. Alongside film, he composes bespoke music for commercials, collaborating with directors, producers and music production companies including MassiveMusic, The Elements Music and Audioforce.

His work has been recognised with Gold at the ADC Czech Creative Awards 2026, a Czech Lion nomination for Best Music for Restore Point, a Cannes Lions shortlist, a D&AD Award and a top-ten finish at the Berlin International Film Scoring Competition.

Working together.

The first conversation is about the film. Before composing, the director gets one page — the map — showing the shape of the score, so the big decisions are made while they are still free to change. Jan works remotely with directors and producers across Europe, sends work in progress rather than going quiet, and sets out scope, revisions and licensing in writing at the start — so the end of a project is about the music and not about terms.