I Am Living Proof Of The American Dream: With Penka Kouneva

“I’m optimistic about the US’s future because its people are conscientious. The people I work with are hard working, honest people — the overachiever type. The privilege of aging is to choose whom I work with, and I surround myself with great people. America truly is the land of unlimited opportunities, because people will open doors for you if you are good. I am a perfect example of it — a hard working, idealistic person who came with raw talent and no money, followed my dreams and succeeded.”

I had the pleasure of interviewing Penka Kouneva. Penka is a pioneer woman composer for film, video games and emerging technologies (VR). She is known in Hollywood as an “exquisite talent” (NPR) and has arranged and produced soundtracks on studio blockbuster films and games grossing over $20 billion (Skyscraper, Elysium, Ender’s Game, Ninja Turtles, all Blizzard games — Overwatch, World of Warcraft, StarCraft II; Gears of War, Sims 3, Bloodborne). As a composer on her own, her scoring credits include Prince of Persia and…